
Crusaders have a variety of strong passives that are suitable to every single build, some of them being among the best passives in the game. Virtually every single Crusader build will use one either Fervor or Heavenly Strength, depending on which type of weapon you need to wear (and allowing the Crusader to wield a two-handed weapon with a shield as the only class in the game). Other strong passives are Finery, which is simply a solid mix of offense and defense that fits into any build, and arguably the best cheat death in the game: Indestructible. To learn more about details about all the passives, check below:
Blunt
Mechanics
20% additive damage boost to your Blessed Hammer.
Best use
Okay choice for Hammerdins
Nothing crazy, nothing bad. Works when you are using the Seeker of the Light set, but typically outclassed by other passives regardless.
Divine Fortress
Mechanics
1% Block Chance on your shield equals 1% Armor, stacking additively with other sources of % Armor (Paragons).
Best use
Decent choice if you need extra defense badly
Shields roll up to 20% Block Chance naturally, which can be increased by 11% from a primary affix, giving you up to 31% Armor.
Fanaticism
Mechanics
15% multiplicative Attack Speed bonus to your primary skills.
Best use
Important passive for primary-skill builds
Especially good for Thorns-based builds around Thorns of the Invoker, where it can be useful for extra stacks and single target damage.
Fervor
Mechanics
Straight up adds extra stats to your character as if wearing an item with 15% of both Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction, but inactive with a two-handed weapon.
Best use
Must-have passive when wearing a one-handed weapon
Extremely strong through the Cooldown Reduction alone, since many Crusader builds rely on Akarath’s Champion, the added 15% Attack Speed is a nice bonus.
Finery
Mechanics
Multiplies your total Strength by (typically) 1.15 (with 10 gems), giving you a 15% damage bonus on top of extra damage reduction from the Armor, which usually translates into 10-12% Toughness increase.
Best use
Top-tier passive for any Crusader build
Unless you need a very specific combination of passives for your build to work (or absolutely have to use Indestructible on Hardcore), this should always be included as the #1 option if you have a leftover slot. Due to the extra stats gained from any additional gem, you want to make sure to have the maximum amount on every single item (1x weapon, 1x helm, 2x ring, 1x amulet, 3x chest, 2x pants). Offhand is typically not really worth it, but also not as terrible as on other classes without the passive. You can’t go wrong with this one, if you can fit it in.
Heavenly Strength
Mechanics
Allows you to wear a shield with your two-handed weapon. The damage malus is 20% additive, which means you won’t feel it very much in most cases. This also means that other sources of additive damage bonuses become slightly more valueable, for example from support players or your item rolls.
Best use
Must-have passive when wearing a two-handed weapon
Playing a Crusader without wearing a shield is not an option. This passive is bread and butter for the class, use it when you have a big weapon in your hand.
Hold Your Ground
Mechanics
Sets your character’s Dodge chance to 0%. Naturally, Crusaders don’t have any dodge, but it can be acquired through buffs like Gogok of Swiftness (which is one of the core Crusader gems), Mantra of Salvation Agility or War Cry Veteran’s Warning. Additionally, Dodge comes first in the defense layers of your character, and a dodged attack cannot be blocked as well, so you can increase your overall number of blocks greatly.
Best use
Use only if you really need to block stuff
Losing a good chunk of your defense from not being able to dodge is a huge hit that needs to be compensated in another big way. Typically this applies only to builds using Ivory Tower, Justice Lantern, Akarat’s Awakening or wearing the Thorns of the Invoker set.
Holy Cause
Mechanics
Provides 10% additive damage bonus. The healing scales with proc coefficient, meaning that the more targets you hit, the more you are healed, depending on which skill you use.
Best use
Very strong healing passive with small damage perk
For builds using the Holy element damage type, this passive is a huge boon. Especially in heavy AoE situations, this can passive alone can outscale any other source of recovery, potentially healing you for your entire life pool every second (such as in Heaven’s Fury pushing setups.
Proc coefficients of a few select skills:
Heaven’s Fury Fires of Heaven: 1 (x3 with Fate of the Fell)
Heaven’s Fury: 0.05 per tick (5 times/sec)
Blessed Ground: 0
Fist of the Heavens Divine Well: 0.1 on main attack, little bolts and zaps
Blessed Hammer Limitless: 0.1
Condemn Vacuum: 0.83
Indestructible
Mechanics
Instead of dying, you are protected for 5 seconds with extra damage done and life per kill. Keep in mind that you don’t heal automatically during the effect, so you might still die if you’re not careful. If Akarath’s Champion Prophet is active, that proc will be consumed to save you before the passive is.
Best use
Best cheat-death passive in the game
Very solid choice for any Crusader build, if you have enough slots for another passive. Due to it’s long duration and the damage buff, it can also be used offensively for heavy nuking on a Convention of Elements rotation once every minute. (However, keep in mind that Iron Skin Flash which normally allows you to move through enemies could get you trapped during the effect, as you are invulnerable to damage.)
Insurmountable
Mechanics
Each block restores a flat amount of Wrath.
Best use
Extremely niche resource passive
Can be useful for very lazy builds, but typically Crusader is not resource-starved at all.
Iron Maiden
Mechanics
Multiplies your Thorns by 1.5.
Best use
Must-have for any Thorns build
Simply the biggest DPS gain you can get for Thorns-focused builds. Should always be included.
Long Arm of the Law
Mechanics
Effectively doubles the active duration of your Laws.
Best use
Decent supporting option
The best combo of this passive is going along with Laws of Valor Unstoppable Force paired with Captain Crimson’s Trimmings, giving you a solid 50% damage reduction for a long amount of time. Typically, with high Cooldown Reduction values or Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac, you will be able to keep up any law permanently (or even at least close to when your character is still unoptimized).
A second solid option is Laws of Hope Wings of Angels for speedfarming setups, where extra damage might not be needed, for example in Torment Rifts or Bounties.
Lord Commander
Mechanics
The damage increase for Phalanx is 20% additive, the Cooldown Reduction for Steed Charge and Bombardment is multiplicative.
Best use
Situational movement passive
Mostly useful for builds that really need some extra mobility and can’t fit in better options such as Swiftmount or the Flail of the Charge + Shield of the Steed combo. Otherwise useful for Bombardment Barrels of Spikes builds to allow you to nuke on every single rotation of Convention of Elements.
Renewal
Mechanics
Heals you by a flat amount when you block.
Best use
Insanely strong when heavily optimized, otherwise very weak
To really get most of out this passive, you need to have very high Block Chance, very All Resistance and Armor (preferably with a lot of paragons), and eventually you will become immortal as you approach the breakpoint where most attacks don’t deal enough damage to you anymore to go through the healing. Without all of these factors combined on one character, this passive can be discarded.
Righteousness
Mechanics
Adds a flat bonus to your generated Wrath and Maximum Wrath.
Best use
Pretty useless passive
Crusader is typically not in trouble with resources, as most builds self-sustain pretty well.
Towering Shield
Mechanics
The damage bonus to the mentioned skills is 20% additive, the Cooldown Reduction multiplicative.
Best use
Useful for specialized builds
Can be useful for using Shield Bash builds using Roland’s Legacy (and perhaps Flail of the Ascended), LoN / LoD Blessed Shield or support Crusaders.
Vigilant
Mechanics
Multiplies damage taken by elemental attacks by 0.8, and adds a marginal amount of Life Regen.
Best use
Useful if you’re really struggling against elites
Not really a great passive, but if you want to go all in on defense, it’s an option worth considering. Typically you want to fill your passive slots with more useful things however.
Wrathful
Mechanics
Heals you when you spend Wrath, just like the stat you can roll on items.
Best use
Rather weak healing passive unless heavily optimized
Typically not used because there are better options for healing and defense, but if you find yourself with lots of Health Globe bonus rolls on your items, it could be a great addition.