Nova Hammerdin Paladin Guide
The Nova Hammerdin Paladin is an exceptional build with screen-wide clear and effortless playstyle. Enra's Technique combined with Avatar of the Spire transforms Hammer Throw into an AoE skill, filling the battlefield with Hammers and allowing you to crush your enemies from a very far range.
Use Holy Aura and Symbols of Hope for great passive buffs. Shield Throw grants extra Damage with its buffs. Smite provides mobility in this setup, along with some extra Attack Speed.
This setup doesn’t require any Uniques to function, but it can take advantage of many. Items like Razorfall, Li'raka's Claws and Countenance of Majasa turn this build into an absolute powerhouse.
Overall, the Nova Hammerdin Paladin is an amazing build that performs well in endgame. It’s easy to play, has great Damage with massive range and AoE and it can get tanky. If you are looking for a fast build that can fill the screen with hammers, this setup is perfect for you!
This build guide assumes you have a Level 70 Character.
Reach Level 70 with our Sentinel Leveling Guide.
Check our Tier Lists to know how this build performs in the current patch.
If you are looking for a different playstyle, check all our Build Guides!
Skills
Hammer Throw
Hammer Throw is your main Damage skill. Enra's Technique combined with Avatar of the Spire enables the Nova playstyle. Hammer Vortex provides Base Crit Chance with Enra's Technique. Mana Starved Forging allows you to ignore Mana management. For Bossing, specialize Collision and Ricochet. This will make you throw only one projectile, but with triple the DPS. Move Points out of Overwhelm, Force of Impact or Avatar of the Spire for this setup.
- For your Movement Skill, Healing Hands is an alternative. This Skill is especially good for Bossing. Check out the FAQ section of this guide to learn how to specialize it.
Specialize Collision and Ricochet. This will make you throw only one projectile, but with triple the DPS. Unallocate Points from Overwhelm, Force of Impact or Avatar of the Spire for this setup. For quick respeccing, you can unequip and re-equip an item that has +Levels to Hammer Throw.
Skills showcase extra Skill Points in case you find +Level of Skills that may not be included in the Planners.
Passives
- Juggernaut, Abyssal Endurance, Holy Icon and Defiance provide tons of Resistances. Use them as needed.
- Siege Captain provides both survivability and Damage.
- The Resistance Shred granted by Shield Breaker is extremely powerful.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Blast through enemies with screen-wide AoE Hammers.
- Maintain the buffs from Shield Throw.
- Use Smite or Healing Hands to move across the map.
- Activate Holy Aura for its buffs and extra Damage.
Bossing
- Take advantage of all your buffs and keep them active.
- Use the Bossing Setup for Hammer Throw. Check out the FAQ section of this guide to learn how to specialize it.
- For tough Boss encounters, use Healing Hands as your Movement Skill. Check out the FAQ section of this guide to learn how to specialize it.
- Activating Holy Aura will Cleanse ailments with Purification.
Gear, Idols & Blessings
- Get Throwing Damage, Throwing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost and Throwing Attack Speed in every possible gear slot.
- Eagle Wing is the Weapon of choice for its Flat Crit. As an Axe, it also grants Attack Speed with the Blademaster Passive. Traitor's Tongue is also usable, especially in early progression.
- Razorfall provides +2 to Hammer Throw and speeds up the build considerably.
- Get Throwing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost on your Rings to scale your Damage and to reduce the Mana cost of Shield Throw. Flames of Midnight is used for its Swiftness buff, which grants 20% Increased Movement Speed at Level 100. If you don't mind losing your Evade, use Carcinization of Momentum instead. Phantom Grip is an option if you lack Crit Chance.
- Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros provides %Health and Strength. Only use it as a Legendary with Level of Hammer Throw crafted on it.
- Li'raka's Claws are amazing for Damage. Only use them with Legendary Potential.
- Nihilis and Aurora's Time Glass are great options for the Amulet slot. If you don't have the Grand Wrath of Rahyeh Blessing, use Bleeding Heart.
Learn the basics for crafting gear with our Beginner Crafting Guide.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Idol Slots.
Build Scaling
Offensive Stats
- Flat Physical Throwing Damage
- % Increased Throwing Attack Speed
- % Increased Throwing Damage
- % Increased Physical Damage
- Strength
- % Increased Critical Strike Chance
- Critical Strike Multiplier
- Physical Resistance Shred
- Physical Penetration
- Armor Shred Chance
Defensive Stats
- Health
- Armor
- Endurance
- Block Chance
- Block Effectiveness
- Health Regen
- Leech
Scaling Tips
- As a Throwing Attack, Hammer Throw doesn't scale with the base Damage of your Weapon.
- Countenance of Majasa: A percentage of Block Effectiveness applies to Damage Over Time.
Our Damage Explained Article covers all you need to know to scale Damage.
Learn all you need to know to scale Defense with our Defense Explained Article.
Loot Filter
Loot Filters are critical in Last Epoch. Making sure you highlight all the related valuable Item Bases, Affixes, Uniques and Idols is necessary to ensure your character's progression. Click on the Generate Loot Filter button down below then use the Paste Clipboard Contents button in-game to import it!
Here is the Endgame Loot Filter for this build:
Learn how to load and make Filters with our Loot Filter Guide.
FAQ & Mechanics
Once a guide is released, many players have questions on why and how we are approaching certain choices. In this section you can find the answers to the questions that have been asked the most.
Specialize Collision and Ricochet. This will make you throw only one projectile, but with triple the DPS. For quick respeccing, you can unequip and re-equip an item that has +Levels to Hammer Throw.
- 26 total Points in Hammer Throw is required to efficiently specialize this setup. If you have fewer Points than this, you can move Points out from Zealot's Conviction.
Specialize it as shown below. This setup provides Damage Immunity with Sun Shroud and Damage Reduction with Halted Scourge and Turn Undead.
Avatar of the Spire together with Enra's Technique enables the Nova playstyle. Make sure you have both of these Nodes specialized.
Mana Starved Forging removes the Mana cost of Hammer Throw when you are OUT of Mana. Make sure you have this Node specialized.
Video Guide
Updated Video Guide coming soon!
Summary
The Nova Hammerdin Paladin fills the screen with Hammers in a spectacular nova. Overall, this Paladin is an excellent setup that performs well in endgame. It has great AoE, DPS, range, survivability and speed.
- Blast through enemies with screen-wide AoE Hammers dealing high Crit Physical damage.
- Use the Bossing Setup to triple your single target DPS. Check out the FAQ section of this guide to learn how to specialize it.
- Move across the map with Smite or Healing Hands.
- While they are not mandatory, Razorfall, Li'raka's Claws and Countenance of Majasa are great Uniques that you want to get to scale the build to its full potential.
Credits
Written by Volca.
Content Reviewed by Lizard_IRL.