Many classes in Diablo Immortal have it easy when crafting a PvP build. There are attacks that specifically state their effectiveness against opponents or the description suggests an obvious benefit in the Battlegrounds. The Crusader has to make some tough choices.
Few classes have the mobility, tank, and player selections like the Crusader has in Diablo Immortal. Going through the various servers and looking at win rates and leaderboards, there are definitely some skills and a full build that consistently makes it to the top.
Due to several factors, like gear, skills, reforging, and upgrades, it is impossible to list the exact quantities for many of the numbers detailed here. Any variable number has been replaced with an 'X' to signify its potential to change.
Skill Selection
Slot | Skill | Description |
Primary Skill | Sacred Fire | Ignite the air with holy flames from your weapon, dealing X to X damage to an enemy and X% as much to all other enemies in front of you. |
Skill | Spinning Shield | Hurl a spinning shield, inflicting X damage to all enemies in its path. The shield will return, pulling enemies in its path to you and dealing an additional X damage. Maximum X charges. Players can only be affected by Spinning Shield once every X seconds. |
Skill | Condemn | Build up a massive explosion, dealing X damage to all nearby enemies after X seconds. Activate again to detonate early, but for less damage in a smaller radius. |
Skill | Judgment | Pass judgment on all enemies within an area, dealing X damage and Slowing them by X% for X seconds. The center of the area will explode after a short time, dealing X damage to all nearby enemies and Stunning them for X seconds. |
Skill | Holy Banner | Plant a holy banner that inspires nearby allies for X seconds, increasing Critical Hit Chance by X%, but decreasing Critical Hit Damage to X% instead of double. Critical Hit Chance over X% will grant up to X%. |
The PvP Crusader should go all-in on area damage. Teams love to huddle up for protection. The Crusader can stun and deal devastating damage to the entire opposition before they regain control of their characters. Allies will also appreciate the Holy Banner giving guaranteed critical hits.
Gear
The bulk of gamers will be hunting down their ideal pieces of legendary gear after taking the time to beat the game. But don't forget to track down the set bonus pieces after choosing them from the list. A complete set gives three additional effects, on par with the legendary bonuses from the regular gear.
Primary Gear
Slot | Piece | Legendary Effect |
Head | Arrowkeeper | The inspiration from Holy Banner now moves with you. |
Chest | Iron Suzerain | Condemn now continuously drags enemies toward you. |
Shoulders | Cradle of Pebbles | Judgment instead summons a Guardian of Justice to fight for you. |
Legs | Permanent Reproach | Condemn radius increased by X%. |
Main Hand | The Bristle | Sacred Fire now also hurls waves of flame, dealing X damage to all enemies in its path. |
Off Hand | Pouncing Shield | Spinning Shield now bounces between several enemies instead of returning to you. |
The legendary gear absolutely destroys teams that try to stick together. They can stay bunched up and die together. Or run away and die alone. This win-win situation is why the Crusader is so feared on the Battlegrounds.
Set Items
Set Bonus | 2/6 Effect | 4/6 Effect | 6/6 Effect |
Grace of the Flagellant | All continual damage, Channeled damage, and persistent ground damage increased by X%. | Each time you damage an individual enemy X times, you will do X additional damage to that enemy. | Each time you deal damage, you have a X% chance to unleash a lightning strike, dealing X damage to all nearby enemies and Stunning them for X seconds. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Grace of the Flagellant may seem like an odd choice, but it's a near-unanimous selection for Crusaders in PvP. The extra punishment for enemies that receive repeated blows guarantees their death if they don't run from the safety of their allies.
Reforge Bonuses
Even for paid players, reforge attribute bonuses can be guided, but are not guaranteed completely. With enough rerolls, any player can eventually get the exact attribute they want, but this will take time and luck, even for those who have the money. Therefore, several different attributes have been listed within the same family, in order of preference.
Family Bonus
Family | Family Attribute |
Vengeance | Your primary attacks have a 2% chance to increase all damage you deal by 100% for one second. |
Unlike the family set, there is virtually no consensus pick on a best family bonus. Vengeance is a solid choice for Crusaders in PvP, since the Sacred Flame group attack will give it extra chances to trigger.
Attributes
Preference | Attribute |
First | Damage to players increased by X%. |
Second | Attack speed increased by X%. |
Third | Damage to enemies suffering loss of control increased by X%. |
The build only works if the Crusader's offense is strong enough. Pumping up damage to enemy players is a simple choice. From there, adding attack speed to make the Vengeance effect occur is also a worthy investment.
Gems
There are two kinds of gems to consider for this build: the legendary gems and the regular gems. Players of all income levels will be using this guide, so there are three charts for legendary gems to choose from. Probability demands that even paying for an advantage will still make it tough to get the right gems, so feel free to mix and match from the charts based on the character's most valuable stats.
Legendary Gems
5-Star Gem | Effect |
Blessing of the Worthy | When you take damage, you have X% chance to unleash retribution on all nearby enemies, dealing damage equal to X% of your maximum Life. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Blood-Soaked Jade | Increases all damage you deal by up to X% and your Movement Speed by X%, with less damage bonus the lower your Life, to a minimum of X%. |
Phoenix Ashes | Prevents fatal damage, and then grants a shield for 6 seconds that absorbs damage equal to X% of your base damage. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Echoing Shade | Your attacks have a X% chance to summon a shadow clone for X seconds that gains some of your abilities. |
Seeping Bile | Your attacks have a X% chance to poison enemies, inflicting X% base damage +X every second for X seconds. This poison spreads to nearby enemies if the victim dies. Cannot affect the same target more often than once every X seconds. |
Bottled Hope | Using a skill to grant a buff increases the target's damage done and movement speed by X% for X seconds. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds per target. |
As with many DPS classes in PvP, the "tanky" gems are still very valuable. A dead character deals no damage. In groups, the PvP Crusader will be setting up allies who also deal damage primarily. Be a good teammate and stay alive.
2-Star Gem | Effect |
Battleguard | Decreases all melee damage you take by X% from enemies within X yards. |
Fervent Fang | Each time you deal damage to an enemy, that enemy now takes X% increased from your attacks, up to a maximum increase of X% at X stacks. |
Lightning Core | Your Primary Attacks and movement slowly charge you up with electricity. When fully charged, your next Primary Attack will release chain lightning, dealing X% base damage +X to nearby enemies. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Power and Command | Power and Command alternate states every X seconds. Power increases your Primary Attack damage by X%. Command increases all other skill damage by X%. |
The Hunger | Heal X% base damage +X Life each time you defeat an enemy. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Cutthroat's Grin | Gain X% increase Critical Hit Chance when attacking from behind. |
Some players with incredibly high win rates still use Power and Command and Cutthroat's Grin, even after acquiring all the 5-Star gems. The 5-Star gems are usually considered better because of the Resonance bonus, but there is some serious value here.
1-Star Gem | Effect |
Berserker's Eye | Increases all damage you deal by X%, but increases all damage you take by X%. |
Ca'arsen's Invigoration | Increases the speed of your Primary Attack by X%. |
Chained Death | Increases damage done by your attacks by X% per target hit, up to a maximum of X% with X targets. |
Defiant Soul | Each time you block an attack you deal X% base damage +X to all nearby enemies. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Respite Stone | Decreases all damage you take by X% for every X% your Life is below maximum, up to maximum damage decrease of X%. |
The Black Rose | Each time you are attacked, you have a X% chance to summon vines that Immobilize the attacker for X seconds. Each enemy cannot be affected by this more than once every X seconds. |
Berserker's Eye and Ca'arsen's Invigoration, once again, find a use for some of the highest-rated gamers. So don't feel pressured to replace them with a gem of greater rarity unless it makes sense to do so.
Regular Gem Preference
Color | Gem | Effect |
Red | Tourmaline | +Damage |
Yellow | Citrine | +Potency |
Blue | Sapphire | +Armor Penetration |
In truth, there is a near-perfect balance between offensive and defensive regular gems. Offense is something this build needs, or else the build can be ignored by opponents. But if dying seems to be an issue, go ahead and plug some regular defensive gems in and see if that fixes the problem.
Diablo Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.