Diablo 4 Season 13 has seen a huge meta shake-up thanks to the changes added in Lord of Hatred, such as the reworked Skill Trees and new Talisman mechanic. As a result, some of the worst Diablo 4 classes have become top meta contenders, while the inverse also seems to have happened as well. What was once the clear meta class for past Diablo 4 seasons has unfortunately become a shell of its former self, which is unfortunate considering that the Paladin is one of the two classes added with Lord of Hatred.
In a surprising move, some of the best classes in Diablo 4 Season 13 are the Rogue and Barbarian, which have historically been among the game’s worst. The Sorcerer is another class at the top of the meta in Season 13, largely thanks to the Skill Tree rework. While the new Warlock class has some solid build options, it doesn’t quite reach the same Torment tier clearing potential as these other classes. However, the Paladin is the most unfortunate casualty of the Skill Tree update, given that it has gone from dominating the meta in Season 11 to being barely passable in Season 13.
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Diablo 4 Season 13 Gives Paladin the Short End of the Stick
Despite technically being a new Lord of Hatred class, the Paladin has been available for Diablo 4 players to use since Season 11, when it debuted for players who pre-purchased the expansion. During this season, the Paladin was incredibly overpowered, with the Aura Paladin build being one of the best the game had ever seen. Even without running an Auradin build, nearly all Paladin builds in Diablo 4 Season 11 were at the top of the meta.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
Part of what made the Paladin so broken in its debut season of Diablo 4 was the Castle Legendary Paragon Node, which increased damage proportional to the Damage Reduction granted from the player’s Armor. Season 12 nerfed this Paragon Node significantly, reducing the Paladin’s overall strength and limiting its meta build diversity to mainly the Auradin. Now, even the Auradin struggles to compete in the highest Torment tiers of Diablo 4, showing just how far the holy warrior has fallen since its launch season.
The Paladin’s Best Build Was Nerfed Hard in Season 13
The core of the Aura Paladin build is the class’s three Aura Skills: Holy Light Aura, Fanaticism Aura, and Defiance Aura. Each of these Aura Skills has a passive and active effect, with Holy Light Aura being the primary damage dealer of the bunch when combined with the Dawnfire Unqiue Gloves. The result is a build that can rack up damage without the player having to actively input skill actions.
Holy Light’s passive now deals [390 – 450] Fire Damage every second in a small area around you. Each time an enemy dies within this aura, it increases its damage by 15%[+] and burn area by 10%[+] for 20 seconds, up to 10 times. Activating Holy Light Aura refreshes this duration.
“Kindle your inner flame. With it, we are the dawn that breaks the night.” – Paladin Justelle
Paladin
However, the removal of passives from the Paladin’s Skill Tree and the transition to class-specific Set Charms with Lord of Hatred’s new Talisman mechanic have left a pure Aura Paladin build somewhat underpowered. The Set Charms dedicated to the Auradin archetype are Cathan’s Iron Conviction Charms. Unfortunately, the set bonuses offered by the charms are a far cry from the utility the Paladin’s passives granted under the old Skill Tree structure, leaving the class wanting in this department.
How the Paladin Could Be Improved in Future Diablo 4 Seasons
Since the main source of the Paladin’s passives now comes from Set Charms, a future season of Diablo 4 could add new Set Charms for each class that help support different build archetypes. The Paladin currently has five different Sets of Charms: Cathan’s Dauntless Faith, Cathan’s Iron Will, Cathan’s Righteous Will, Heaven’s Radiant Fire, and Light’s Epiphany. Right now, Light’s Epiphany is the best option, as it drastically improves the Paladin’s Arbiter form while also allowing them to cast all Ultimates whenever they cast Arbiter of Justice and increasing the power of Disciple skills by 500%. This leaves builds that can’t take advantage of this Charm Set at a substantial disadvantage that could be fixed in the future with a greater diversity of useful Set Charms.
Paladin Builds That Are Still Worth Using in Diablo 4 Season 13
- Wing Strikes Paladin
- Blessed Hammer Paladin
- Shield of Retribution Paladin
Although the Paladin is generally underpowered this season and may struggle on Diablo 4‘s highest Torment difficulty tiers, there are still a few builds worth using. These builds largely revolve around the Light’s Epiphany Charms Set, but Cathan’s Righteous Will can also be useful with the right setup.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
By far the best Paladin build for Diablo 4 Season 13 is the Wing Strikes Paladin, which emphasizes a playstyle that keeps the Paladin constantly in their Arbiter form and utilizes the Legendary Aspect of Tyrael’s Jurisdiction to power up and turn the Arbiter form’s Wing Strikes into enemy-seeking attacks. This build also benefits from the synergy between Arbiter of Justice and the Set Bonus of Light’s Epiphany to deal serious damage when casting this Ultimate.
Arbiter’s Evade triggers a random equipped Core Skill for every 2.0 meters traveled. Core Skills deal [5 – 15]%[x] increased damage during Arbiter’s Evade and for 4 seconds after.
“And the moon looked upon the pilgrims and wept a path of light. Through her tears they walked, and night remembered them no more.” – Orison XVII: Creed of the Dove
Paladin
Blessed Hammer Paladin also makes great use of the Light’s Epiphany Set Bonus that buffs the damage of Disciple Skills once Blessed Hammer is upgraded to the Disciples’ Halo variant. This build also utilizes the synergy between the Arbiter form and Argent Veil Unique Ring to constantly spam Blessed Hammer whenever the Paladin evades in Arbiter form. While not quite as strong as the Wing Strikes build, Blessed Hammer is still a decent option in Season 13.
For a build that moves away from Light’s Ephiphany and trades it for Cathan’s Righteous Will Charm Set, the Shield of Retribution is a solid option that can take Diablo 4 players through Torment tiers 8 and 9 with ease. The Shield of Retribution upgrade for Blessed Shield turns it into a Juggernaut Skill and allows it to deal damage based on the Paladin’s Thorns. Between its emphasis on Thorns damage and Cathan’s Righteous Will’s Set Bonus reflecting Stun and Knockback crowd control effects, this build can punish groups of enemies that get too close to the Paladin without relying on the class’s Aura mechanics.
- Released
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June 5, 2023
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
