The Vanquisher Paladin - Diablo 2 Build, Gameplay, & PvP

In this video, we do a deep dive on one of my favorite Diablo II characters of all time... The Vanquisher Paladin. Two versions are covered; PvP and PvM (for Ubers, Baal runs, etc). Hope you enjoy this build as much as I do!
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[@dustenthewind865]

You have no idea how happy I am that a D2 dueler finally started making KZbin videos

[@Zodiak747]

Agree!

[@instantpartyWTF]

How come you didn't just do it?

[@jerometruitt2731]

Facts because nobody would tell you anything back in the day

[@Hehegigglez1]

Man you have truly slapped me in the face with nostalgia. Dueling in D2 is some of the best pvp I have experienced growing up as a gamer. Unfortunately the account I had since I was young got deleted suddenly a few years back and I lost all my duelers. Tough pill to swallow, and I haven't yet tried getting back into it but watching this makes me want to try again. You've got a new sub from me! Keep up the fantastic D2 content.

[@Coooley]

Thanks for the sub, man! And sorry to hear about your accounts. It always sucks when that happens. But hey, we've hopefully got a D2 remaster right around the corner! Man, I can't wait.

[@booradley6832]

Coooley my dude! Ty so much for this build. I just made a smiter the other day after finding a 45 res eth sacred rondache, figured I had to. Ran ubers the first time, had to get my sorc to clear out the trash in matron's den and barely got to duriel because of those phys immune bugs. I wasnt struggling but I thought it was unusually hard. Then I saw this, and it instantly clicked that this is what I need. Just crushed ubers and all the trash was nothing. I owe you so much gratitude for all the frustration im not going to feel. (First run got a 20/12 pally torch, yay. Second run got a 12/10 assn torch. Biggest ooof's possible.)

[@Coooley]

So happy to hear that this helped you out so much! Good luck farming, man!

[@datiger39]

Geeking on your channel man d2 brings me back to good times played early 2012 also miss it d2 was such a good game one of the best the itemization is crazy in depth in this game

[@yizhouqian5899]

0:53, your merc is a huge distraction, lol. Thank you for the video. I really enjoy it.

[@Coooley]

Haha! That's hilarious. Good find. Glad you enjoyed it, man!

[@AV-wn7xz]

Dammnnn man, 2 hybrids, a 2-20 helmet and ammy.... definitely the best gear of all the youtubers I've seen.

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

Glad I *finally* watched this all the way through. This used to be a common build in pre-1.10, I'd see it pretty regularly. A beast PvM hammerdin setup with smite really is hard to fuck up, even with cheap gear. Awesome build, thanks for sharing it!

[@peter9style]

So cool to see some pvp after many years

[@Coooley]

My personal favorite way to play

[@peter9style]

EastDuels we usually did it after 100 baal runs and perhaps some gear upgrades. But somehow back then (13 years ago or so) my hammerdin was pretty OP, until you bump into a trap Assassin

[@MegaKirile]

I only subbed cuz your presence on KZbin is so positive n chill, gj & gl dude

[@Poochamoo]

Just discovered you! Love the few videos I stayed up (way too) late watching. Looking forward to catching up. :D

[@HeftyOwl]

When you suddenly Have 2 Mercs I was obsessed.

[@dmz1000]

just found your channel. I'm really liking your style and vids. thank you.

[@d_no_allyn_86]

Incredible builds. Wish I had ever got this good at this game. Mighta been even more fun. They should hire you at blizzard for diablo 4. You're very knowledgeable. Damn.

[@fatalradius]

Awesome vid, will you make a video for beginner Paladin classes that can work in Hell? Most of us have been on a 10-15 year hiatus from the game and will be starting fresh with resurrected. Would be great to hear your advice for beginners

[@TepidCritic]

Coooley! Great content. I'm glad you got a new mic in your newer vids. Also, is pronouncing "uber" as "yoober" an east coast thing?

[@saehyungdavidlee398]

One of the nicest guys in the world

[@adamzeller7979]

This is nice, I like the widowmaker action it definitely can catch people off guard, same with spamming hammers and charging them out of nowhere really blindsides people. however I like to put my extra points into smite for the % based damage it really has a multiplicity effect with grief. And a circlet with % attack power per level is really important too. Also ur GoD seems to not be 100% perfect which is weird because i was under the impression that all hybrid runewords were always perfect + always had perfect 15/3 base. Regardless GG overview keep the videos coming!

[@Coooley]

Thanks, man! Yeah, putting points into smite really does do a lot more damage and is definitely an option. And good observation! I've never been a fan of 100% perfect items, as they're not necessary in most cases;. Non-perfect hybrids exist, for sure. I got lucky with the GoD, but a high Grief is just as good in that slot, for the most part.

[@Purriah]

A hammerdin with grief = my all time favorite. Ran it all season 3 for duels Edit: and upped hoz for the shield. Way better smite damage. Usually ran gore rider for cb, sometimes used last wish instead of grief. Kept it in stash mainly for ubers tho (Arach, Trang 2/20 amulet, 2/20 circ hits the 75% fcr bp)

[@Chouby3]

man that build is insanity i love it

[@DAILYSMAK]

Are you on bnet?? And how do you have the hybrid runewords?🤔🤔

[@Coooley]

Yeah, they exist on battlenet, which is where I play mostly

[@DAILYSMAK]

@@Coooley I'm playing right now! What server are you on

[@ruizhenrik]

i remember playing private melee duel games on us east back in the day, you ever dabble in that? they were mostly gm duels

[@Laxim19]

How many IAS do you need to hit the bp without fana? Can u reach it by only usin a 1s helm with 15 ias and grief pb?

[@Coooley]

65% with a phase blade. So with a perfect grief, you'd still need 25% more

[@Laxim19]

So replacing mara with a 2pala 20fcr and then replacing gloves with ias gloves would be an option if you cannot find/trade a 2os 2 pala 20 fcr helmet? Less effective becaus of the lack of resist but works to get the needed breakpoints?

[@Coooley]

Absolutely. We actually have a setup like that in the stash, too. I can be effective if you use bow on the switch. Keeps your ias high during swap.

[@Zodiak747]

Your build is great! Really like it. 1 think I would like to propose. What do you think about silence? In some circumstances it would match perfectly in PvP. Is grief 400 dmg working on smite? Or only when charging?

[@916kartoon]

that helm is godly

[@c3n0dr33v]

Why not Giant skull instead of CoA, still got 2os but extra crushing blow? Or is knockback not helpful for smiting? Btw there's an addon for plugy to get minions in uber tristram. Cheers for the excellent content!

[@MrZami916]

instead of resist light and cold, why not put points into holy shield so that you get more damage. Also it lets you put less points into dex so more points for vitality

[@Coooley]

In MOST duels where we need max block, we already have an advantage (hammers). Other casters/elemental characters pose a larger threat and this build just gives a bit of a leg up on those builds. Good question!

[@danielsoriente2426]

Against that Necro match up I feel like a combination of widow maker + smite would have been more optimal than the hammers.

[@justinjones5281]

One trait your pvp is missing is defends against missiles, and crushing blow doesn’t help pvp. Once you hit the second break point on faster hit recovery block chance and defends against missiles your immortal

[@orcshaman2000]

Good content, love to see more! Just curious, for the PvM version isn't it more powerful to cast hammer with CTA? It has +1 to all skills and can be even better if you found a +3 BH scepter base.

[@sylvainh2o]

if you Pvm then you prolly want some Mf.

[@chiinesepeople]

hi, nice content on your channel. Thanks. i play ladder east. i would like to know more about that hybrid shield you got there, what are the benefits from using it? i see the phoenix runes but the spirit stats, i dont get it. ive read something about ir on jsp but it wasnt too clear. Sry if i cannot make me understand, english is not my main language. Greetings from argentina!

[@chiinesepeople]

and also why does your merc has stun and knockback? i thought he had insight, andy helm and... fort i guess? thanks again

[@DirtyWorm12]

What key bindings are you using to switch between everything. F1-F9 isn't appealing

[@gaberealrc7355]

interesting build. looks fun.

[@johnskiff3495]

I had a pally named iohns very similar to this 3.6k smite and 14k hams with the right gear combo and 5.2k life. Most of the time it's was 3.1k smite 9k hams 4.6k life with coa chamber in it ik gloves boots duel 10fcr rings 2 20 pally ammy god and sop. Also had a fohcta on switch I hit 86fhr 75fcr 65ias 46dr and dueled like that most of the time

[@nathanwante8035]

For the above build, once your switch over to your max DR build. How do you still maintain that 65%ias, use fant aura or what?

[@gameelgameel5167]

After deep look in ur NY ..if u can get a 40ias grief ...consider dual IK (glove and boot ...sweet 25 IAS ) and get FCR from 2 20 ammy and an arach .. u can use your COA all the time.

[@Coooley]

Amazing take on this. I do like the 30ias on the helm in case we're using widow, but I might look into this! Thanks for the idea, man

[@gameelgameel5167]

20 20 on Ik glove will save plenty of stat points too ,🧐

[@gantzao]

That godly diadem, this i would like to find/have, but cant afford in trade :( is there a specific place, where diadems drop more often?

[@mylifeisfunny8911]

Very nice

[@thomasdolphin9540]

Your vids are dope.

[@Matzehhhhh]

Hello! Any replacement for the weapon? I m playing sp plugy atm and the runes are hard to find. Got the entire setup excepting the weapon. Tnx! :)

[@carlosmachado4757]

Where does this diadem drop? And what better puzzle for this Shroud or mage plate combination?

[@c3n5i]

Spirit of Phoenix? how do you make Hybrids on B.net?

[@Promethuus]

Curious what if you are really good at aura swapping? I feel like a shako or a CoA could be baller could be way wrong. I just always used coa on mine but vanquisher isn’t my bread and butter

[@Darkshogun7584]

Why phase blade instead of berserker axe?

[@blob1024]

any reliable breakpoints updated table around the internet by now? I long time ago checked arreat summit and some other forums, which I dont know if still exist, lol

[@jeanninedemaeseneer1060]

this is the most allround build in the game !

[@GO-nf5bp]

Nice. Charger hammer is more fun. The 25 fcr from forty are very nice.

[@Coooley]

Indeed! We've experimented with Fort against certain builds and there are cases where it's technically the best option (BvC's). It has it's merits and, as you can see, this guy's stash is already packed to the max! haha

[@TungKeSo112]

I sold my 50k bugsmite 2014, miss him now..

[@TungKeSo112]

forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=70503923&f=54

[@Sistik123]

Is this project Diablo or something? Cause why does a phoenix shield have spirit stats.

[@picosdrivethru]

aura lock tele stomp man

[@mikimikicevic375]

Can anyone help me about battlenet problems. I just bought both battlenet kay's, after 10 years not playing D2 and now can't connect. Game is downloaded by Blizzard, got 1.14d version and still cant log. Anyway cool paladin bro!!

[@kittykisses2257]

You mentioned hybrid runewords a few times. Is that a bugged item? Can you please do a video about hybrid runewords?

[@Coooley]

Look for "The History of Hybrids"

[@Coooley]

I apologize in advance for my audio/visual skills at that point in time...

[@kittykisses2257]

@@Coooley no worries man. Thanks for the reply. Do you plan to make D2R videos?

[@garrettfiliatreault8931]

What is a hybrid runeword???

[@mrmobiusrm]

Where are you getting 65 ias when you switch your gear? 37 from Grief, 20 from gloves. That's 57. Maybe something is missing from the video that you swap as well?

[@Coooley]

The helm. 2x 15\15s. :)

[@mrmobiusrm]

@@Coooley But you put on a BerBer Crown of Ages?? I saw your PvM setup and main Circlet had the 15/15s.

[@Coooley]

@@mrmobiusrm there's two coas. When you use BerBer, you rarely need to smite (vs barbs, windys, etc), so we drop from the BP.

[@mrmobiusrm]

@@Coooley Thanks makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain it. Much appreciated!

[@KokesmushOfficial]

So you mixed the ranger paladin with a hammerdin and call it a vanquisher. Standard hammerdin dueling you already have charge and smite also, so the only difference is really the one point you put into fanat, which any hammerdin that also does ubers should do

[@calebcyr5804]

Can you make an updated pvp pally build? I’ve been theory crafting a few builds but need some guideance as I’m very new

[@Coooley]

The PvP version in this video should be pretty close to what I have now. You on our Discord? Happy to help with any details on there :)

[@calebcyr5804]

@@Coooley dude I’d love to link up on discord man, I fell in love with the pvp scene and your def my favorite KZbin/streamer rn this content is literally perfect lmao I’ll be around as long as you are!

[@calebcyr5804]

@@Coooley and I just mean an updated pd2 version as some skills changed but we will link up in discord!

[@D2ezbmu]

Isn’t this a Liberator Pally? I always thought V/T were the hardest to duel back in the day.

[@D2ezbmu]

Ok nvm hybrid runewords I’m out..... yikes. Why not just use Siggurds and duped tri res fhr boots etc. is this how gm duels go these days????

[@Coooley]

V/T's are nasty if built right. And yeah, but as stated in the video, they're not necessary to be competitive.

[@Coooley]

Also, Liberator and Vanquisher builds are quite similar builds, with the big difference being base weapon choice and IAS breakpoints for smite!

[@troyschulz5865]

What shield is that?

[@jonm1066]

Lol why the pb say destruction not grief

[@TaurusGaming717]

why do you say Uber like that XD You-Ber.. lol. Not hating, i love ur vids man!

[@Coooley]

😂😂

[@DirtyWorm12]

Cooley. HOW!?!? TF do you have 60 res on your CoA. You said jewels are just 15% ias both... what gives gandalf?

[@Coooley]

Lol! "15/15's" 15ias/15all res in each jewel

[@ilikeanimeverymuch]

Why not simply calling it hybrid smite/hammer.

[@blackknight6403]

how did Cain get to the stash ?

[@Coooley]

He's there on the Realm when in Act5, but not in Single Player

[@eaze789]

Dope

[@blun7m4n85]

How do you hotkey healing your merc with pot?

[@Coooley]

Shift + (potion button)

[@blun7m4n85]

Thx

[@Marknorlin]

"u just need 6 hr"!

[@tylergaddy7410]

“Youber”

[@andetheo4215]

Got to hate hammerdins in duels

[@ForgvnThyName]

How much fg was this char lol

[@ForgvnThyName]

I’m actually curious to how much that GoD was

[@bulgingbattery2050]

Shallow howl

[@alexandervos6939]

US west or East?

[@Coooley]

East!

[@gspuag]

So...the fecking pally is the strongest char in the game...

[@Coooley]

Haha! Depends on the pilot, man. Though some people have argued that for years. IMO, D2 did a great job of balancing a wide variety of classes in PvP.

[@dsxz]

Always found charging desynching hammers to be the cheapest pvp builds, they cant see where you are, half your hammers are invisible... u just spam shit and hope they run into em...

[@gameelgameel5167]

I'm not a fan of duels and I like hardcore more . So I have gone for the best paladin build ever (The immortal) ..A modified build of yours ..This build is invisible (95 all res 46% DR on both switches) hybrid hammar( 10k- 75 FCR)/ smite( 11k) .... Gear ...head COA ber Lo ...body guardian angel.ber ..grief pb (your grief of destruction may be better) ..shield e-buged exile sacred targe( all e bug def is capped @355 and sacred targe is the highest block try to find 45 all res one) amu ..Mara's ..rings SOJ/Raven ..belt arach. Gloves magefist ..boots gorerider...switch CTA scepter with +3 to hammar ( if there is additional 3 to holy shield it will be banana )and 35 fcr spirit sacred targe ) Merch. Might ..pride trachery andriel's IAS/ED jewel Inv ..Anni torch combat skillers/ Fhr and small charms to complete 86FHR and res) Skills 1 prayer 1 defiance 1 cleansing 20 vigor ...1 might 20 blessed aim 1 conc 20 fanat. ..1 smite 1 holybolt 20 hammar 1 charge 1 holyshield 1 in meditation 1 in salvation ( Uber meph before LT break ) then dumb rest in smite.. Stats def for Max block enough str rest vita. Merc's Pride in thresher or giant thresher for fastest attack speed .in switch( hammar) I use vigor and make use of merch' concentration and might need meditation... ..borrow trachery from merch to get 60 all res and 15 % DR ...... Drink antidote potions for lilith and salvation for Uber meph..

[@Coooley]

Sounds like an amazing build. We also saw a really weird build on stream yesterday which ended up doing really well in duels! I know you're not a fan of those so much, but what do you think of FoH/Hammer hybrid? The build presented some very strange barriers to hurdle in the dueling arena and, with 1 pt into smite and the right gear, I feel like it could be very effective in regular gameplay, as well.

[@gameelgameel5167]

@lvl 99 the build will hit lvl 20 smite .it is the last area to dumb points .....I'm now lvl 98 .....grinding😂

[@Coooley]

@@gameelgameel5167 Nasty!

[@Dipsy827]

My god that helm is disgusting.

[@hyperlitestud]

This guy supports RMT, dont subscribe