The Smite Paladin, commonly known as the Smiter, has been a staple build in Diablo 2 for many years. It excels at killing Bosses, especially Ubers. There is no better build to start farming Hellfiretorches!
Smite is a powerful single target Skill capable of destroying the toughest demons. It always hits regardless of Attack Rating, making the build easy to get started. Fanaticism Aura, Crushing Blow and Increased Attack Speed (IAS) further increase Smite’s damage capabilities.
Not only does this build have ridiculous damage, but it also is capable of tanking the most dangerous bosses. Smite deals Physical Damage, benefiting from Life Tap for Life sustain. High Resistances, Cannot Be Frozen and Holy Shield (Defense and Chance to Block) are key to the Smiter’s survivability.
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Paladin Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.
Very Tanky ✔
Cheap Starting Gear ✔
Effective Against Uber Bosses ✔
Great Late Game Gear Options ✔
❌ Clunky Early Game Mechanics
❌ Only Has A Single Damage Type
❌ Good Mobility Requires Teleport
❌ Few Skill Actions and Very Repetitive
Sunder Charm Setup
The Smiter focuses on killing the Ubers with Physical Damage. None of his main targets are Immune to Physical which nullifies the positive effect of bone break. You only suffer the negative effect, which just increases the difficulty.
Terror Zones
This build does not successfully farm the Terror Zones. It excels at killing the Ubers. It is not effective at farming large areas with lots of enemies for Magic Find or Experience.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cleansing
2. Vigor
3. Salvation
4. Charge
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Resist Lightning
2. Fanaticism
3. Smite
4. Holy Shield
5. Zeal
Damage
Utility
Attributes
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to reach max Chance to Block (75%). More Dexterity is needed at higher character levels. In addition to Dexterity and character level, shield bases also affect Chance to Block.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Don't allocate any Stat Points into Energy. This build gets enough Mana from gear, buffs, Charms, and Mana Potions.
Essentials
Gear Options
Farming Spots
Mercenary
Playstyle
Breakpoints
Hardcore
Build Variants
Setup
The Smite Paladin needs specific stats to become successful at fighting Ubers. These things include a source of Life Tap for Life sustain, Cannot Be Frozen, x% Chance of Crushing Blow for big boss damage, x% Chance of Open Wounds to prevent the monster's healing, and a large amount of Resistance to counter Uber Mephisto's Conviction Aura.
Wand of Life Tap, Black Flail, Rhyme Targe, and Blood Crafted Belt are cheap sources for some of these Stats. Alternatively, in the helmet and shield slots you can use the new runeword Hearth and a paladin shield with 4 Perfect Diamonds.
Note: Prevent Monster Heal doesn't work on Uber Bosses.
Mercenary
Mercenaries are not worth trying to keep alive in Ubers. However, a Might Aura Mercenary is useful for basic farming. To keep your Mercenary alive outside Ubers, equip him with a Body Armor and Helmet that provides Resistances and Life. Insight is a fairly easy Runeword to find that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Hire the Holy Freeze Aura Mercenary to gain extra Crowd Control.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cleansing
2. Vigor
3. Salvation
4. Charge
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Resist Lightning
2. Fanaticism
3. Holy Shield
4. Smite
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear and Dexterity to maintain 75% Chance to Block with Holy Shield active.
Setup
The Standard Smiter uses Grief Phase Blade for the Damage +x. It applies to Smite even though it does not show on the tooltip.
Guillaume's Face and Goblin Toe are used for Crushing Blow.
Dracul's Grasp mainly provides Life Tap and +x% Chance of Open Wounds, in addition to extra survivability and stats.
Mercenary
Mercenaries are not worth trying to keep alive in Ubers. However, a Might Aura Mercenary is useful for basic farming. Both Might Aura and Decrepify from The Reaper’s Toll increase your Smite damage. Vampire Gaze provides increased +x% Life stolen per hit and Damage Reduction.
At the very least, the Mercenary can hold Treachery until you need to proc Fade on yourself.
Note: Be sure to make the Mercenary's Treachery in a non Ethereal base.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cleansing
2. Vigor
3. Salvation
4. Charge
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Resist Lightning
2. Fanaticism
3. Smite
4. Holy Shield
5. Zeal
Note: One of your biggest threats is Uber Mephisto and his level 20 Conviction Aura. If you have a level 21 or higher Conviction it cancels out his Aura leaving you unaffected.
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear and Dexterity to maintain 75% Chance to Block with Holy Shield active.
Setup
This version of the Smiter has a lot more Quality of Life to it, as you can just hold down Smite and let the gear do the work for you. There is 95% Chance of Crushing Blow between the Last Wish Phase Blade, Blood Crafted Gloves, and Gore Rider. This build is extra tanky with Crown of Ages and 2 sources of Life Tap coming from Exile Vortex Shield and Last Wish Phase Blade. This setup is powerful for both kill speed and survivability.
Mercenary
Mercenaries are not worth trying to keep alive in Ubers. However, a Might Aura Mercenary is useful for basic farming. Both Might Aura and Decrepify from The Reaper’s Toll increase your Smite damage. Vampire Gaze provides increased +x% Life stolen per hit and Damage Reduction.
At the very least, the Mercenary can hold Treachery until you need to proc Fade on yourself.
Note: Be sure to make the Mercenary's Treachery in a non Ethereal base.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cleansing
2. Vigor
3. Salvation
4. Charge
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Resist Lightning
2. Fanaticism
3. Smite
4. Holy Shield
5. Zeal
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear and Dexterity to maintain 75% Chance to Block with Holy Shield active.
Video Guide
Mechanics
Smite
lifetap
Summary
- Keep your Battle Command, Battle Orders, Holy Shield and Fade buffs up at all times.
- Allocate enough Dexterity for 75% Chance to Block.
- Position yourself well during combat and pay attention to the monster’s positioning and movements.
- Whenever attacking with Smite make sure Fanaticism is on to deal maximum damage.
- Use Zeal against large amounts of mobs.
- Make sure Life Tap is always on the target you're attacking to ensure safety.
- Crushing Blow, Open Wounds, Resistances and Cannot Be Frozen are your most important stats.
- Have fun!
We hope you enjoy this build! It can be extremely satisfying and rewarding once you take down your first Uber. There is nothing like absolutely melting the hardest bosses in the game!
Good luck!
Credits
Updated and Maintained by Jymnasium
Originally Written by BTNeandertha1
Reviewed by Lexyu