There are many endgame setups in Diablo 2: Resurrected, and with the Sundering Charms added in Ladder Season 2, some of the builds have shifted. More unique builds have become possible, while some builds remained strong or have become even stronger. Here is the endgame for the Blessed Hammer Paladin build.

Hammerdin Build

One of the most popular builds in Diablo 2 is the Hammerdin build. Its biggest advantage is that there are very few monsters that are Magic Immune. That being said, the Hammerdin can farm in almost all areas even without the Sundered charms. The minimum needed skill points for the Hammerdin is 88, which means you can have the full potential unleashed at Lv. 77.

The skills you’ll actually be using are Blessed Hammer, Concentration, and Blessed Shield. From time to time, you might want to use Vigor for faster movement speed and Holy Bolt to finish off Magic Immune monsters. Although Concentration was removed from the Blessed Hammer synergy skill list, the aura still increases the damage, so you should master it.

You can diversify your build with your remaining skill points. You might want to spend at least one skill point on Redemption, which helps manage your HP and mana. If you plan to do the Pandemonium Event quest and farm Hellfire Torches yourself, you will need Fanaticism and Salvation. Some additional skill points on Smite and Holy Shield could help as well. Keep in mind the higher the level of Holy Shield gets, its efficiency decreases, so you won’t need too many skill points on it.

Equipment

Helm: Harlequin Crest / Rare Paladin +2 skill+FCR(+20%) Circlet

Weapon: Heart of the Oak (KoVexPulThul) / Call to Arms Scepter (AmnRalMalIstOhm)

Shield: Herald of Zakarum / Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn)

Armor: Enigma (JahIthBer)

Gloves: Magefist / Trang-Oul’s Claws

Belt: Arachnid Mesh

Boots: War Traveler / Rare resist boots

Amulet: Mara’s Kaleidoscope / Crafted FCR(+20%) +2 skill amulet

Rings: Stone of Jordan / Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band / Rare FCR ring

Swap: Call to Arms (AmnRalMalIstOhm) & Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn)

The endgame equipment for the Hammerdin is difficult to achieve, as Hammerdins have to breach the +125% FCR breakpoint. The basic FCR equipment is Heart of the Oak (+40%), Magefist (+20%), and Arachnid Mesh (+20%). These three pieces of equipment alone grant +80% FCR, which is enough to surpass the +75% breakpoint but to see the endgame for the Hammerdin, you’ll want to surpass +125%.

There’s an easy way and a hard way to breach the +125% breakpoint. The easy way is to use Spirit on a Paladin Shield. You’ll be able to gain up to +35% FCR from Spirit, so you only need to swap one of your Stone of Jordans into an FCR ring to get +125%. 

The hard way is to use the Herald of Zakarum. Since the Herald of Zakarum doesn’t have any FCR, you’ll have to find additional FCR in other equipment. In this case, you’ll need a +20% FCR circlet, a +15-20% FCR amulet, and one FCR ring.

A Call to Arms Scepter with +3 Blessed Hammer / +3 Concentration is another great choice for your weapon. In this case, you won’t need to swap to shout out Battle Command and Battle Orders, but since it doesn’t have any FCR, you’ll need some tweaks.

Theoretically, a rare scepter with +2 Paladin all skills, +10% FCR, +3 Blessed Hammer, +3 Concentration, 2 sockets, and some additional stats would be the best there could be, but we need to be realistic.

Since you need to be in the center of the action to swing around your hammers, Enigma is your no.1 choice for your armor. All boots are good, and since you usually have more than enough all resist from your other equipment, just use War Traveler for better farming results.

Stats

The stats for Paladins are trickier than most classes, but here’s the gist. You need enough strength to equip Enigma, including your additional stats from the Hellfire Torch, Annihilus, and other equipment. The next is your Dexterity. You want enough Dexterity to have a 75% chance to block after activating Holy Shield. Check it in your status by hovering your mouse over your Defense. The remaining stats should be allocated in Vitality.

Mercenaries

Act 2 Holy Freeze / Prayer

Helm: Andariel’s Visage / Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest / Vampire Gaze / Crown of Thieves

Armor: Fortitude (ElSolDolLo) / Treachery (ShaelThulLem) / Gloom (FalUmPul)

Weapon: Insight (RalTirTalSol on Polearm)

*Since the durability of the equipment mercenaries use doesn’t wear out, you always want to use Ethereal equipment on your mercenaries.

The best choice is the Act 2 mercenary since you can equip Insight. The Lv. 17 Meditation aura is a valuable source for your Mana, and the Holy Freeze aura will help you survive in the middle of the mobs of monsters. Since Prayer has good synergy with Meditation, it is a good choice as well.

There are several choices for the helms and armors, but Andariel’s Visage and Fortitude should always be your no.1 choice. The additional attack speed and life steal from Andariel’s Visage, and the enhanced damage from Fortitude is too big to ignore. Make sure you make a socket on Andariel’s Visage to equip a Ral rune or a jewel with +30% fire resist and 15% attack speed to make up for the -30% fire resist.

Transition for the Pandemonium Event

You need to change a few pieces of equipment to go for Hellfire Torches in the Pandemonium Event. It won’t be as fast as the Smite Paladins set up for the purpose of getting Torches, but you can still do it with the following equipment. The key attributes are crushing blow, attack speed, all resistances, and Life Tap.

Dracul’s Grasp

The reason you want Dracul’s Grasp is the Life Tap. If you have Exile, it is better to use a crafted glove that has chance of crushing blow and attack speed.

Raven Frost

You don’t want to get frozen while you Smite.

Guillaume’s Face

The +35% chance of crushing blow comes in handy. 

Goblin Toe

+25% chance of crushing blow.

Rune word Exile (VexOhmIstDol)

Life Tap and the Defiance aura are very useful. Since it repairs itself, you can use an ethereal base.

Wizardspike

Although it doesn’t have crushing blow, the base attack speed is great. The additional all resistances and FCR come in handy as well.