Ladies, gentlemen, and Paladins of all ages! With the release of the new endgame "Tower" activity and its prestigious leaderboards, the time has come to showcase your true strength. For those dedicated Paladins aiming to climb as high as possible, ensuring you have the resources for optimal gear and upgrades is crucial; for many, the decision to buy Diablo 4 Gold can accelerate this process. This guide details a specialized, powerhouse Judgment-based build. While it evolves from the hefty Pit-pushing variants, it's optimized for the Tower's unique challenges. With perfect gear, including mythic uniques, this setup can push Tier 140. Let's break down everything you need, from skill trees to strategy.

Skill Tree Breakdown

Core Concept: We focus on triggering Judgment explosions constantly via the Adjudicator Oath, using Blessed Hammer as the engine. Survivability and damage scale massively with Armor and Block Chance.

Skill Points & Key Choices:

· Basic Skill (1 Point): A mandatory point. Choice is irrelevant as we won't use it.

Blessed Hammer (1 Point + Enhancements):

· Purpose: Not for damage. This is our core skill to instantly detonate Judgment via the Adjudicator Oath.

· Enhanced Blessed Hammer: Allows multiple hits per throw.

· Shattering Blow: Makes each hit explode into more hits, triggering Judgment explosions even more frequently.

Defensive Passives (Early Tree):

· Onguard Passive (3 Ranks): Bonus armor and block chance. We'll get more ranks from tempering. This scales our damage via Paragon.

· Riposte Passive (3 Ranks): Increased damage after blocking. With 100% block chance, this is always active.

Fanaticism Aura (5 Ranks + Right of Vengeance):

· Provides stacking crit chance and attack speed.

· The active weakens enemies, reducing their damage.

Defiance Aura (1 Rank + Right of Might):

· Passive boosts armor/resistances.

· Active provides Unstoppable to break crowd control.

· Bonus damage on gaining Resolve (infrequent, but boosted by Shroud of False Death).

· Longevity Passive (1 Rank): Allows 3 ranks in Renewal, which heals us when we block. With 100% block chance, this is constant healing.

· Best Offense (3 Ranks) & Fortitude (3 Ranks): Extra damage and crit damage while fortified (which we will be).

Consecration (1 Rank + Hallowed Ground):

· Heals us and damages enemies in the circle.

· Enemies inside take 15% more damage, and we spend 15% less resource. Also weakens them.

Spear of Heavens (1 Rank + Enhancements):

· One of our main Judgment application sources. Knocks down enemies.

· Enhancements reduce its cooldown when we consume Judgment (which we do constantly).

Key Passives (Mid-Tree):

· Righteousness (3 Ranks): Increased Holy/Fire damage.

· Pacify (1 Rank) -> Dizzying Blow (3 Ranks): Bonus damage to crowd-controlled enemies.

· Crack the Armor (3 Ranks): Bonus damage to Vulnerable enemies.

· High Charity vs. Press the Advantage: This is a critical decision point.

· Goal: Reach 75% Cooldown Reduction (CDR) in combat (including the Relentless Paragon node).

If you need CDR, put points into High Charity.

If you're already at the 75% CDR cap, put 3 points into Press the Advantage for tankiness.

· Iron Sharpens Iron (3 Ranks): Increased crit damage.

· Break the Line (3 Ranks): Crit chance/damage vs. weakened enemies.

· Heavyweight (3 Ranks): Bonus crit damage when healthy.

Ultimate Cluster:

· Arbiter of Justice (1 Rank + Reach of the Law): Our other main Judgment source. Wing strikes apply judgment. Maintaining 100% Arbiter Form uptime is essential for damage scaling.

· Shining Armor (3 Ranks): Bonus damage and armor from our equipped uniques.

· Giant Slayer (3 Ranks): Bonus damage to elites and healthy enemies (stacks for healthy elites).

· Master Craftwork (3 Ranks): Large armor bonus based on shield block chance.

· Key Passive: Judgment Day. Judgment explosions re-apply Judgment and increase damage dealt to judged enemies (stacking).

· Oath Selection: Adjudicator. Lets core skills (Blessed Hammer) proc Judgment instantly and applies a stacking damage-taken debuff on judged enemies.

Gear & Aspects: The Pillars of Power

Mythic Uniques:

· Shroud of False Death (Chest): Nearly mandatory. +1 to all passives provides an immense power boost. Ideal Greater Affix/Masterworking: All Stats.

· Air of Predition (Helm): Best-in-slot for damage. Huge multiplier, crit chance, and lucky hit.

· Alternative: Harlequin Crest if you struggle to hit CDR caps, but you sacrifice top-end damage.

Regular Uniques:

· Griswold's Opus (Sword): Core weapon. Provides up to 100% crit damage (like a mini-Grandfather) and has lucky hit effects for healing and double damage. Prioritize Heavyweight passive ranks.

· Seal of the Second Trumpet (Ring): Makes Judgment deal massive extra damage and chance to explode twice. Also provides crucial CDR and "chance for Judgment to deal double damage." Prioritize its passive ranks.

· Flickerstep (Boots): Crucial for Tower. Reduces Ultimate cooldown when you evade through enemies. This lets you reset Arbiter of Justice faster, building the Ascension aspect stacks more quickly—vital for shorter Tower timers.

Legendary Aspects & Affixes:

· Amulet: Celestial Strife Aspect. Gain increased Vulnerable damage per kill in Arbiter Form. At 100% Arbiter uptime, this stays maxed.

· Affixes: Ideal: 4x damage passives (Righteousness, Heavyweight). CDR if needed. Tempering: Onguard passive ranks.

· Ring: Judicator Aspect. Huge Judgment damage increase and larger AoE (helps spreading).

· Affixes: CDR (Priority), Lucky Hit: Apply Vulnerable, Crit Chance, Attack Speed. Tempering: Chance to Restore Resource on Hit.

· Shield: Ascension Aspect. Gain up to 12% damage each time you use a skill that begins Arbiter Form while already in it (stacks 10x). This is why 75% CDR is needed—to stack this fast.

· Affixes: Damage Reduction, CDR, Max Life/Strength. Tempering: Chance for Judgment to deal double damage (aim for 100% combined with your unique ring).

· Gloves: Golden Hour Aspect. Doubles Judgment damage and causes explosions to proc other explosions.

· Affixes: CDR, Crit Chance, Attack Speed, Max Life/Strength. Tempering: Damage while in Arbiter Form (swap to Resource-on-Hit if attack speed is high).

· Pants: Indomitable Aspect. Bonus armor & impairment resistance based on block chance (massive for us).

· Affixes: Potion Capacity (key for the Ember glyph), Fury per Second, Strength, Max Life. Tempering: Onguard passive ranks.

Runewords, Gems & Divine Gifts:

Runewords:

· Sear Soul: Casts a Frost Nova, applying Vulnerable and crowd control.

· Au Cax: Lucky Hit grants "Offering," dumping all resource for a massive 1-second damage boost.

· Gems: Emerald in weapon, Rubies in armor/shield, Diamonds in jewelry.

· Divine Gifts (Purified Slots): Essence of Lies (Fury gen), Essence of Screams (Resist), Essence of Sin (Armor). Note: If you have a sanctified Retribution aspect, use Essence of Hellfire for stun chance instead.

Mercenaries:

· Main: Rahier (right-side path) for Rah's Aegis resistance bonus.

· Reinforcement: Vana with Bloodthirst for occasional attack speed.

Paragon Board: Scaling to the Heavens

Glyph Priority & Pathing:

1. Starter Board: Spirit Glyph. Scales crit damage with Willpower. Bonus: Crits increase damage enemies take.

2. Castle Board (Attach Here): Legendary Node (Castle): Damage = 1.8% of your Armor (massive scaling). Glyph: Law. Judgment damage scales with Strength.

3. Preacher Board: Legendary Node (Preacher): Damage = 65% of Attack Speed. Glyph: Judicator. Boosts Judicator skill damage with Intelligence.

4. Relentless Board: Legendary Node (Relentless): 80% more damage and 30% CDR after moving. You MUST move every 2 seconds. Glyph: Canny. Non-physical damage scales with Int.

5. Shieldbearer Board: Legendary Node (Shieldbearer): Damage = 110% of Block Chance. Glyph: Ember. Damage while healthy scales with Willpower. Its bonus gives up to 50% increased damage based on missing potions—why we stack Potion Capacity.

6. Paragon Strategy: Fill glyph radii with required stats (Str, Int, Willpower). Prioritize rare/magic nodes that give Armor, Block Chance, CDR, Max Life, and Resistances. Use leftover points to fill valuable magic nodes.

Tower-Specific Playstyle & Strategy

The Tower differs from the Pit in one major way: There is no leash range. You can pull an entire floor of enemies at once if you can survive it.

For this Judgment build, that's perfect. Our damage scales with enemy density. The optimal strategy is to gather large packs before unleashing your cooldowns.

Rotation & Gameplay Loop:

1. Start: Activate Arbiter of Justice immediately.

2. Engagement: Gather enemies while constantly using Blessed Hammer to proc Judgment explosions.

3. Cooldown Usage:

· Spear of Heavens: Use on cooldown for Judgment application and knockdown.

· Consecration: Drop on grouped enemies for damage amp and healing.

· Fanaticism Aura: Spam for buffs and weakening.

· Defiance Aura: Use to break CC or spam for extra damage.

4. The Flickerstep Dance: At the start, spam Dodge through enemies to reset Arbiter of Justice cooldown rapidly. Get 10 stacks of the Ascension aspect as fast as possible. After that, dodge just enough to maintain 100% Arbiter uptime.

5. Movement is Mandatory: Remember the Relentless node. Keep moving to maintain its huge damage and CDR buff.

Final Notes & Climbing the Leaderboards

This build is about precision, aggression, and momentum. It demands specific gear and attention to CDR caps but rewards you with staggering damage capable of conquering the Tower's highest tiers. Acquiring the right gear can be a grind, so for players looking to optimize efficiently, we recommend MMOEXP as a trusted source to find cheap Diablo IV Items.

Remember:

· 75% CDR in combat is your golden ticket.

· 100% Block Chance and Arbiter Uptime are non-negotiable.

· The Tower favors bold pulls. Use its lack of leash to your advantage.

· Good luck, Paladins. May your Judgment be swift, your block unwavering, and your name etched high upon the leaderboards. Now go claim your glory.