AoV Fist of the Heavens Crusader Guide

Last Updated: September 17th 2023

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Introduction

AoV FotH Solo T16
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The Aegis of Valor (AoV) Set, while mainly focused on Heaven's Fury, also applies its massive (6) Bonus to Fist of the Heavens thus giving rise to an entirely different set of builds.

All the Fist of the Heavens multipliers are unconditional, you just have to cast the skill, there's no rotation, preparation or anything like that. This makes Fist of the Heavens builds ideal for speedfarming, especially when game difficulty is limited: in Nephalem Rifts and Bounties.

Season 27 and Sanctified Items surprisingly buffed the build to an incredible level with the seasonal exclusive Sanctified Fist of the Heavens allowing the Crusader to become a living machinegun on the battlefield! In Season 29 the nerfed version of this power was added to the Vigilante Belt making Fist of The Heavens Crusader the top build on the AoV leaderboards.

This is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Fist of the Heavens can proc it. Fist of the Heavens' large area of effect and unlimited range, combined with mobility granted by Steed Charge and Norvald's Fervor set, produce the best Crusader build when it comes to farming keys and bounties. This guide will go over everything you need to know to rock this build successfully!

Mobile ✔
Easy Playstyle ✔
Excellent AoE Damage
Easy to Get Starter Gear ✔

Random Targeting
Inconsistent Toughness
Low Single Target Damage

❌ Clunky due to Low Attack Speed

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Aegis of Valor set provides 50% damage reduction, nearly infinite Wrath and 20,000% Fist of the Heavens damage increase.
  • Norvald's Fervor set gives 200% DPS increase and also lets you stay mounted 24/7, if you so desire.
  • Darklight increases Fist of the Heavens damage by 1,000% and adds an extra explosion to each cast, effectively providing a x22 damage multiplier.
  • Khassett's Cord of Righteousness increases Fist of the Heavens damage by 170%.
  • Vigilante Belt provides another x3-4 damage multiplier and automatically casts Fist of the Heavens when we use Steed Charge.
  • Squirt's Necklace provides up to 100% damage buff, which is fairly easy to keep up on a ranged build that is killing everything on the screen in seconds.







Season 29 Paragon Cap

Season 29 brings several features, first the brand new Visions of Enmity mechanic. They are an optional and rewarding mini dungeon system where players slay monsters in quick succession of portals. These portals have a chance to spawn upon killing any monster in the open world and they hide many rewards for you to reap! Read the full guide on the Visions of Enmity Mechanics by Chewingnom to learn everything about this fantastic feature!

As if it wasn't enough, Season 29 also shakes things up with a Paragon Cap and a Paragon Distribution Twist! You can only assign a total of 800 Paragon Points to your character. Previously, you were only able to assign a total of 50 Paragon Points to each attribute within the Core, Defense, Offense and Utility categories, but now you can assign up to 200 in each attribute. Each category can only have 200 Paragon Points placed into them.

This forces you to make choices while also enabling crazy possibilities such as 200% Area Damage or 40% Cooldown Reduction! Note that Movement Speed now only grants 0.125% per point but can also go above the 25% Movement Speed cap from items. With that in mind, here is the Paragon Distribution you should follow for the Solo Push build. Variants may differ, see below.

Season 29 Paragon Distribution

Global Stat Priorities

Stack as much Cooldown Reduction (CDR) as possible; there aren't any Breakpoints to hit but you need every bit of it to get permanent Steed Charge. After that focus on increasing your DPS via Elemental Damage, Critical Hit Chance & Damage, Fist of the Heavens Damage, Area Damage and Attack Speed. Make sure to get Resistance to All Elements and Vitality on your defensive slots: Boots, Pants, Chest, Belt.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
Bounties
GR Solo Speeds
Solo Push
Echoing Nightmare
T16 FotH

Concept
This variant of the build uses the standard for Nephalem rift combination of Gold items: Goldwrap, Avarice Band and Boon of the Hoarder. Together, these three give you a screen-wide pick up radius, 30% Movement Speed, nearly infinite toughness, and a steady supply of gold. Fist of the Heavens Divine Well is used for it's screen-wide AoE coverage. All the other items and skills are focused on maximizing Movement Speed: Warzechian Armguards, Rechel's Ring of Larceny + Pandemonium Loop, Provoke Flee Fool and Laws of Hope Wings of Angels. We also try to get Chance to Fear on hit wherever possible to get some Rechel's Ring of Larceny procs when Provoke is on cooldown.

Gameplay
This build is extremely easy to play: you ride the horse and enemies die around you. At the same time you can leisurely spam your buffs without paying attention to their cooldowns. One thing you should pay attention to, is to only use Provoke when there are enemies in range, otherwise you get no Movement Speed.

Setups
If you play in groups, equip Nemesis Bracers and cube Avarice Band. At around 2,000 Paragon you can also include Sage's Journey for extra Death's Breath drops. For this you need to lose Goldwrap but the toughness is not a big issue because you kill most enemies before they have a chance to attack you.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Darklight

Iron Skin Flash

Fear on Hit

Steed Charge

Vigilante Belt

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Aegis of Valor set.
  • Stack Cooldown Reduction to make your life easier.
  • Ride your horse forward and watch everything explode around you.
  • Spam all the buttons in-between Steed Charge casts.

Charge onward to victory!

Credits

Written by Northwar.

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