D4 Shield of Retribution Paladin Endgame Build

Paladins in Diablo 4 are the stalwart defenders that stand against the darkness with their shining armor and holy light. Don't let all that armor fool you; Paladins can dish out damage as well as they take it. The Lord of Hatred expansion changes the skills tree and adds new set charms to further diversify builds.

This endgame Paladin build for Diablo 4 focuses on the defensive nature of Paladin by stacking Armor, Block Chance, and Thorns. There aren't a ton of Uniques required for this build, so it is great if you want to quickly jump into endgame.

Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred Paladin Thorns Build

There are two main sources of damage: Thorns and Shield of Retribution. There are two Uniques that greatly improve the build:

• Mantle of the Grey
• Ward of the White Dove

Mantle of the Grey consumes Resolve stacks when in Juggernaut Oath to increase Juggernaut skill damage. Since Shield of Retribution is a Juggernaut skill variant, this greatly increases the damage.

Ward of the White Dove increases Blessed Shield Damage, and casting another skill doubles the effect for the next three casts of Blessed Shield. This amplifies Shield of Retribution damage even more.

All of these tie into stacking the Thorns stat because Shield of Retribution deals Thorns damage. The higher your Thorns damage, the harder the ability hits.

This creates a playstyle of running in, using setup abilities, and tossing out Shield of Retribution to deal pulse damage in a small area. This build also works as a perfect transition from leveling.

Active Skills

Clash is the basic skill to use because the Punishment upgrade grants Thorns, extra Thorns damage, and increased Retribution chance. Retribution is the chance for Thorns damage to pulse around your character when blocking an attack. It also counts as Juggernaut skill damage, so there is a lot of benefit.

Shield of Retribution (Blessed Shield) pulses Thorns damage for 3 seconds, then explodes in a burst of damage. The Damage Bonus upgrade also makes its damage scale with Block Chance.

Fanaticism Aura and Defiance Aura are fantastic because of their passive bonuses. Fanaticism Aura increases Crit Strike Chance, Attack speed, and even Crit Strike Damage with the Rite of Vengeance upgrade. Defiance Aura provides additional Armor, a bonus to All Resistances, and Thorns with the Rite of Thorns upgrade.

Aegis grants increased Block Chance while active, which synergizes well with multiple parts of this build. The Impunity upgrade also grants Thorns and Retribution chance.

Fortress is the Ultimate cooldown, and where all the burst damage comes from. Standing in the area grants Resolve stacks, but the Rampart of Thorns upgrade is where it really shines. This deals 500% of your Thorns damage to all enemies within Fortress every second. After using your other abilities and stacking a ton of Thorns, this can be used to quickly nuke bosses.

Paladin Oaths

This build uses the Juggernaut Oath. Diablo 4 Paladin Oaths greatly change the play style, and every build revolves around them. Juggernaut Oath will consume stacks of Resolve to greatly increase the damage and size of Juggernaut skills.

Resolve increases Armor, and there are multiple skills and legendary powers that grant Resolve. This allows Juggernaut Paladins to stack high armor while also dishing out serious damage.

Gear, Legendary Aspects, and Stats

Heir of Perdition is a Mythic Unique that greatly boosts damage. It provides additional Crit Strike Chance, Lucky Hit Chance, Movement Speed, and +2 to Core Skills. The Unique effect increases damage dealt by 80%.

Godslayer Crown is the Unique Helm to use if you don't have the Heir of Perdition. When you try to Incapacitate an enemy, Godslayer Crown will mark them and all surrounding enemies, then pull them in to deal damage to them. This is great for grouping enemies, especially since the build revolves around close-range damage.

Redirected Force, Juggernaut's Covenant, Chastisement, and Lapa's Scripture are the offensive legendary aspects. They each interact with the core gameplay of Thorns, Blocking, or Resolve.

• Juggernaut's Covenant and Lapa's Scripture interact with Resolve and Juggernaut's Oath.
  • Juggernaut's Covenant grants additional damage by consuming Resolve stacks, while Lapa's Scripture grants extra Thorns when losing Resolve.

• Chastisement grants additional damage to Juggernaut skills against Bosses and Crowd Controlled enemies.
• Redirected Force increases Critical Strike damage equal to your Block Chance. The effect is doubled for 10 seconds after a block.

Indomitable and Spiked Armor are the defensive legendary aspects. They both provide better survivability, but Spiked Armor has additional offensive capabilities. They both offer synergy with Block Chance, further increasing the stat's importance in the build.

• Indomitable grants Damage Reduction and Impairment Resistance based on Block Chance.
• Spiked Armor grants increased Total Armor, Thorns, and Block Chance.

Dominance is the Utility legendary aspect. It grants Resolve for crowd-controlling enemies, which is done often in this build.

Gear Stat Priority

Overall, Thorns and Crit are the main ones to go for because the majority of your damage comes from them. You can never go wrong with more Strength and Maximum Life to stop bosses from one-shotting you. Life on Hit also helps with survivability, so you won't need to use as many potions.

Charms, Seal, Runes, and Gems

The Lord of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4 added the Talisman system, which grants new set bonuses. This greatly enhances the Paladin's Juggernaut Thorns build.

Cathan's Righteous Will is the charm set used for this build.

• 2-Piece Bonus: Enemies become Feared or Immobilized for 0.5 seconds the first time they see you, or when you block them.
• 3-Piece Bonus: You reflect Stun and Knockback effects.
  • Your minimum and maximum Resolve is increased by 2.
  • You gain 10% Damage Reduction for each minimum Resolve you have.

• 5-Piece Bonus: Gain 500% increased damage for 10 seconds when you try to Crowd Control an enemy that cannot be Crowd Controlled.

Ideally, you will want to get a seal that has 6 slots. This lets you equip an extra Charm. Godslayer Crown is a good Unique Charm to use if you have the Heir of Perdition helm.

Runes and Gems

For runes, you want to use Poc+Gar, and Cir+Ceh. PocGar gives increased Crit Strike Chance for spending Resource. Since this build eats through Faith by using Shield of Retribution, you'll easily activate it.

CirCeh summons a Spirit Wolf after using 5 skills, then getting Exhausted for 3 seconds. The Exhaust happens only once. This rune word is overflowed, so you'll summon multiple wolves. The Wolves are very good because they apply Vulnerable and Crowd Control, something this build needs.

For gems, you want to use:

• Armor: Ruby
• Weapon: Skull
• Jewelry: Any for Resistances

Paragon

The Paragon Board setup is similar to the Best Juggernaut Paladin Leveling Build in Diablo 4.

Mercenaries

• Hired: Raheir
• Reinforcement: Aldkin

Raheir provides multiple benefits:

• Increases All Resistances.
• Cause enemies to take increased damage
• 90% of damage you take is redirected to him during Bastion.

Aldkin's Field of Languish skill reduces the damage enemies deal.

Paladins in Season 13 may not be as overpowered as some classes, but they can still do well in the endgame. This Diablo 4 Endgame Paladin build will give you all the tools you need to crush high Torment tiers.