There was an unexpected nerf to this Shield Throw Paladin build recently that causes block to be disabled when using Shield Throw. The build is still functional but far less tanky than anticipated.
Historically an under performing build compared to the Smite proccing variant, this build has seen a massive buff in 0.9 thanks to the addition of Throwing Damage on gear. This prefix allows us to scale Shield Throw's hit damage far beyond what it was capable of before, making it a high performing build.
The theme of this build is a popular fantasy in ARPGs and it doesn't disappoint in achieving that fantasy. With Shields ricocheting all over the battlefield and fire exploding on each hit, this build is pleasing to watch. it's also powerful thanks to great gear scaling and huge buffs from Holy Aura, Sigils Of Hope and Volatile Reversal.
This setup doesn't require any Unique to function and keeps the usage of these items to a minimum, making gearing much more straightforward. However, adding Throne of Ambition to the build really supercharges it for bossing. Fortunately, this is easily target farmed.
Overall, the Shield Throw Paladin is a satisfying build capable of defeating all of the content in the game. It's easy to play, has great Damage and is quite tanky. If you are looking for an iconic build that fills the screen with ricocheting shields and explosions, this is the build for you!
Volatile Reversal
Sigils Of Hope
Shield Rush
Holy Aura
Shield Throw
This build guide assumes you have a Level 70 Character. Reach Level 70 with our Paladin Leveling Guide.
If you are looking for a different playstyle, check all our Build Guides!
Flashy Visuals ✔
Excellent Mono Farmer ✔
Amazing Clear & Range ✔
Incredible Scaling With Gear & Idols ✔
❌ Heavy Buff Management
❌ Vulnerable To DoT Damage
❌ Typical Gear Doesn't Cap Block
❌ Requires Mana Sustain Investment
Skills
Shield Throw
Shield Throw is your primary Damage while also providing a huge Armor buff. You need Shield Barrage to remove the cooldown, while damage scaling comes from Molten Toss, Spiked Plates, and Rygar's Fury. Sharpened Rim is necessary to Crit cap, and Armoring Aegis provides Armor scaling.
Alternative Skills & Tips
Passives
Passives provide powerful effects that dictate the playstyle of a Class and its Masteries. Remember that you can allocate Passives on the first half of all Masteries regardless of the one you chose.
- Armour Clad grants Damage Reduction and is crucial for any Sentinel's survivability.
- Juggernaut, Abyssal Endurance and Holy Icon and Defiance provide tons of Resistances.
- Place at least 1 Point into Gladiator, Steel Aegis, Honour and Shield Wall for the Block Chance.
- The stats granted by Reverence of Duality are extremely powerful.
- Invest your final Points in Prayer Aegis, Light of Rahyeh or Weapons Master, depending on your needs.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
This Paladin uses Shield Throw] to destroy enemies with a high speed ricocheting Shield. Remember that you don't need Smite on your Skill bar. Make sure you are familiar with enemy mechanics to know when to use your Support Skills to stay alive. Pay attention to their telegraphed attacks!
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Cast 4 Sigils Of Hope for their buffs.
- Use Volatile Reversal to recover mana.
- Spam Shield Throw] at enemies.
- Use unspecced Shield Rush or Lunge to move across the map.
- Cast Volatile Reversal and Holy Aura on top of enemies for their buffs and extra Damage.
- Maintain 4 Sigils Of Hope up at all times.
Mapping
- Rush to the objective with unspecced Shield Rush or Lunge.
- Proc the Haste buff from Holy Aura's Expedite Node for the additional Movement Speed.
- Be careful not to backtrack when using Volatile Reversal.
- Group mobs before using Volatile Reversal and Holy Aura to maximize their Buffs.
Bossing
- Take advantage of all your defensive buffs and keep them active.
- Actively use Holy Aura to double the effect of its buffs.
- Use Volatile Reversal to ramp up your damage then spam Shield Throw].
- Keep unspecced Shield Rush off Cooldown for emergency situations or telegraphed Boss attacks.
Advanced Skill Tips
Learn more about how to maximize your gameplay in the Build Scaling section of this guide.
Gear
Gearing in Last Epoch revolves around finding Items and then using the powerful Crafting System to enhance them. As long as an Item has Forging Potential left, players can upgrade or modify their Affixes up to Tier 5. However, the powerful Exalted Tier Affixes are drop only and can't be modified by players.
Using the correct Item Bases allows you to make use of their amazing Implicits, this is fundamental for gearing efficiently. Combine Implicits, Passives, Idols and Blessings to cap your Resistances and other defensive layers, while fitting as much Health related Affixes or Endurance Threshold into your gear as possible. Plan ahead for your next upgrades and consider the final Blessings of your build while gearing. Finish up by farming Uniques with Legendary Potential and Sealing Affixes into Exalted Items to unleash all of your build's power!
Here are the Stat Goals for this build:
- Capped Resistances
- Capped Critical Strike Avoidance
- Capped Endurance
- 4000 - 5000+ Health
- 40% - 50% Armour Mitigation (Pre Buffs)
- 2500+ Block Effectiveness
- 75% - 100% Block Chance
- 275%+ Critical Strike Multiplier
- 110+ Throwing Damage
- 100%+ Throwing Attack Speed (Pre Buffs)
Gear Progression
Milestone 1
Look for a Throne of Ambition from Empowered God Hunter Argentus in The Stolen Lance Timeline.
Milestone 2
Get Chance to Apply Frailty on Hit to decrease the Damage enemies deal to you. Get Chance to Chill on Hit and Chance to Slow on Hit on your Axe. These Ailments are really important and should always be kept in mind. Keep looking for any useful Idols.
Milestone 3
When all your core Defenses are covered, start working on your Damage. Get as much Throwing Damage as you can. Start pushing your Helmet and Body Armour with Increased Shield Throw Critical Strike Chance and Throwing Attack Critical Strike Chance to work towards being Crit capped, but don't prioritize these over Level of Shield Throw.
Milestone 4
If you have a good Adorned Rahyeh Idol with Chance To Cast Smite When You Hit With Throwing Attacks, start looking for Large Rahyeh Idol with Throwing Attack Critical Strike Multiplier and Chance To Shred Armor on Hit With Fire Skills. As you finish up your Empowered Blessings keep a decent Health pool, capped Resistances, Endurance and Critical Strike Avoidance. Your goal is to have Items with 4 valuable T5 Affixes, also known as T20.
Learn the basics for crafting gear with our Beginner Crafting Guide.
Check our Unique Item & Set Farming Guide and learn how to get them!
Want to know more about Legendary Items? Check our Legendary Guide!
Blessings
Completing a Timeline in the Monolith of Fate lets you choose one of several randomized Blessings from its unique pool. Their benefits are permanent and persist even outside of the Monolith of Fate.
Empowered Blessings are a fundamental part of all builds, so getting the correct ones for each is key.
The sooner you reach Empowered Monolith, the faster you can start farming your desired Blessings!
Normal Blessings are not important as they are eventually replaced by Empowered Blessings. However they can still be a great source of Resistances, Critical Strike Avoidance or Life Leech for your build early on.
Pick up these Normal Blessings on your way to Empowered:
- Wrath of Rahyeh
- Bastion of Divinity
- Survival of Might
- Persistance of Will
- Bones of Eternity
- Embers of Immortality
- Body of Obsidian
- Breath of Cinders
Note: Don't target farm Normal Blessings. Get to Empowered Monolith as fast as you can.
Learn how to farm Blessings fast with our Advanced Monolith Strategies.
Idols
Idols grant your character bonuses when equipped in the dedicated Idol Container. Unlock all the slots of your Idol Container by completing the Campaign and some of its Side Quests. Remember that some Idols are Class specific and you won't be able to equip them with other non-compatible Classes.
These are the Idols recommended for this build:
- Farm Throne of Ambition from Empowered God Hunter Argentus. Find an Adorned Rahyeh Idols with Chance To Cast Smite When You Hit With Throwing Attacks and Block Effectiveness, Health or Chance To Shred Armor on Hit With Fire Skills.
- Get 2 Large Rahyeh Idol with Throwing Attack Critical Strike Multiplier and Chance To Shred Armor on Hit With Fire Skills.
- Get 2 Small Eterran Idols with Increased Stun Chance and Void Resistance. These grant enough Void Resistance to cap it when combined with your Passive Tree. Finish off with 2 Stout Lagonian Idol with Health and Health.
Other useful Idol Affixes
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Idol Slots.
Learn how to be efficient with Idols with our Advanced Idols Setups Guide.
Build Scaling
This Paladin uses Shield Throw to quickly ricochet projectiles through enemy packs. Scale your Throwing Attack Speed and Flat Throwing Damage as much as possible. This build also has good survivability thanks to the multiple defensive layers it can take advantage of.
- Throwing Attack Speed: This build gets a ton of it thanks to the buffs provided by its Skills and Passives. The more you have, the faster you deal damage and apply ailments with Shield Throw.
- Flat Throwing Damage: Shield Throw doesn't scale with the base damage of our weapon, so we need to stack this as high as possible on our Gloves, Belt, Amulet, and Relic.
- Strength: Shield Throw gains 4% Damage per point of Strength. Additionally it grants 4% Armour per point, which adds a nice defensive layer for the build.
- Critical Strike Chance: Critical Strikes deal double damage by default and scale with Critical Strike Multiplier. Try to get this capped to guarantee a Crit from every hit. Prefixes on our Body Armour and Helmet plus Eagle Wing and the Shield Throw passive Sharpened Rim make this much easier.
- Critical Strike Multiplier: Increases the Damage your Crits deal. We can stack a lot of this on our gear thanks to Idols and our Helmet implicit. Build as much as you can.
- Sigils Of Hope: They grant increased Damage and Added Fire Damage.
- % Increased Damage: We get most of this from our Passive tree, Buffs and Strength. Any extra on gear is a bonus.
- Volatile Reversal: The Time Rifts and Harbinger of Dust Nodes apply a powerful debuff on your enemies that makes them take additional Damage.
- Fire Penetration: Causes enemies to take extra Fire Damage. The Conviction Passive grants a good amount.
- Level of Sigils Of Hope: Get this Prefix on your Relic to invest more Points into its Skill Tree.
- Grand Breath of Cinders: Since the build attacks so fast and has so many hits, it is extremely easy to apply 10 stacks of Fire Resistance Shred to your targets. 10 stacks increase the Damage enemies take by 50% (20% for Bosses). This Blessing plays a big part on your Damage output, so make sure you roll it nicely (45%+) and as early as possible.
- Block Chance: Not typically a Damage stat, but the nodes Spiked Plates and Rygar's Fury in Shield Throw turn this stat into a damage multiplier. For every 1% Block Chance we get 1.5% more damage, so get as much as you can.
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.
Recommended End Game Activities
Last Epoch has multiple end game activities with completely different roles and rewards. All the builds in Maxroll.gg have been tested and are designed to complete all available content. However, not all builds excel at doing the same activities. Make sure you are familiar with the end game strengths and weaknesses of your character.
The Monolith of Fate is the main end game system. Most of your character gear upgrades are found here. Once you get all of your desired Empowered Blessings, you can start pushing Corruption to increase your chances at finding incredible Exalted Items. The Monolith of Fate rewards speedy builds that are able to target farm Echo Reward Nodes or stack Timeline Stability as fast as possible.
This Paladin is an incredible Monolith of Fate farmer. It has great AoE and good single target DPS. Since it's also a fairly tanky build, it's an amazing setup for farming content in high Corruption.
Monolith Goals
Your goals in the Monolith of Fate will differ greatly depending on what build you play and what stage your character progression is at. Here are the objectives you should aim at when playing this build:
- Reach Empowered Monolith as fast as possible.
- Farm your Combat Empowered Blessings. Prioritize gaining Timeline Stability and fight the Timeline Bosses as often as possible. Once you are done with one Timeline, move to the next one. Reach 200 Corruption to farm your desired Blessings faster, as it unlocks a 5th option to choose from after you defeat a Timeline Boss. Defeat the Shade of Orobyss to gain and transfer Corruption between Timelines.
- Finish up the rest of your Drop Rate Empowered Blessings.
- Farm for key Uniques.
- As you farm for Uniques, stack Corruption as high as your gear can handle. The higher Corruption you do, the more Items you find. Get your character ready for the other end game activities.
Monolith Modifiers
Every time you choose an Echo a Modifier comes attached with it, adding difficulty and changing how enemies behave. These Modifiers stay active for a maximum of 6 Echoes and stack with each other. Some Modifiers can handicap your build immensely while others can almost be ignored. Monolith Modifiers scale with Corruption and increase the Item Rarity of Echoes. Ideally you want to do the hardest content possible, without delaying your clear times. Keep up Item Rarity as high as you can without it slowing you down.
Easy Modifiers
- Enemy Critical Strike Chance (Once you have 100% Critical Strike Avoidance).
- Increased enemy Movement Speed.
- enemies have a chance to shred armour on hit (You have so much it won't matter)
Avoid these Modifiers
- Enemy Critical Strike Avoidance.
- High health enemies take less damage.
- High health enemies deal increased damage.
- Enemy chance to Dodge.
- While bossing: enemies Enrage at half health and enemies gain Frenzy and Haste when hit.
Learn more about the Monolith of Fate with our Empowered Monolith Guide.
Loot Filter
Loot Filters are critical in Last Epoch. Making sure you highlight all the related valuable Item Bases, Affixes, Uniques and Idols is crucial to ensure your character's progression. As your gear gets better, remember to hide the rules that are no longer useful to avoid screen clutter.
Here is the Endgame Loot Filter for this build:
Learn how to load and make Filters with our Loot Filter Guide.
Video Guide
Summary
This Paladin fires shields like a machine gun, ricocheting them through packs of enemies. Overall this Paladin is an excellent setup capable of completing all the content in the game. It has great AoE, survivability, speed and good single target DPS.
- Blast through enemies with ricocheting Shields dealing high Crit Fire damage.
- Scale Block for both defense and offense thanks to the Shield Throw nodes Spiked Plates and Rygar's Fury.
- Bless yourself and allies with Holy Aura, a powerful support ability.
- Maintain 4 Sigils Of Hope up at all times for the amazing buffs they provide.
- Use Volatile Reversal on top of enemies for extra Damage.
- Turbo Charge your damage and defenses on bosses with Throne of Ambition, a powerful multiplier in 0.9.
Credits
Written by McFluffin.
Reviewed by Facefoot