Smiter Build Guide - D2 Resurrected
The Smiter is the fastest, cheapest way to farm Uber Tristram and torches. Physical Smite damage ignores most magic-immune tricks bosses use, gearing is a handful of items, and a competent Smiter can solo the Uber trio well before most characters can afford to try.
Build overview
Smite is a shield-bash skill on the Paladin's Combat tree that hits with your shield instead of your weapon, scaling off Strength and the shield's own defense and damage. Because Smite deals pure physical damage with a huge stun on every hit, it is essentially immune to the tricks that make other builds struggle against Diablo Clone, Uber Izual, and Uber Lilith: no elemental immunity matters, and the permanent stun-lock means the bosses simply never get to act.
Pros:
- Cheapest reliable Uber Tristram killer in the game — a full Uber kit can be assembled for a few dozen high runes
- Stun-locks nearly everything, including uber-tier bosses, trivializing fights that wreck squishier builds
- Very tanky: high block, high life, and a merc that keeps enemies frozen
- Doubles as a strong Duriel/Mephisto farmer and a solid PvP stun-locker
Cons:
- Damage output outside of Uber fights is mediocre against normal monster HP pools
- Single-target only — no real AoE clear speed, so it is a poor choice for magic-find running
- Needs a genuinely fast weapon and specific charm setup to hit good attack speed
- Weak against physical-immune monsters with no way around it besides Amplify Damage or Ruby-heavy sundering
Stat allocation
- Strength: enough for your gear, then more for Smite damage — Smite scales directly with Strength, so most min-maxed Smiters push Strength well past their gear requirement, often 300+ with charms and blessed aims
- Dexterity: enough for max block (usually a low investment since shield block bonuses do most of the work), no more
- Vitality: everything else — Uber fights punish low life pools hard, target 2,500+ life unbuffed if you can get there
- Energy: base only; a Smiter barely casts anything
Skill order 1-99
- Smite to 1 point early for leveling, then hold — most of your Smite "damage" comes from Strength and shield stats, not hard points, so 1 point is often enough once your gear is strong. Some builds put 20 points in for the extra base damage; either is viable
- Holy Shield — max this. It boosts your block chance, block recovery speed, and Smite damage directly (Holy Shield is a listed synergy for Smite)
- Fanaticism — max this for the attack speed and damage aura buff to your whole party and merc
- Vigor — 1 point, or a few more for movement/merc survivability if points remain
- Prayer / Cleansing — optional 1 pointers for sustain and curse resistance
- Prerequisites — 1 point each into Sacrifice, Zeal (if used), Charge, Defiance, Resist Fire (prereq chain), Salvation as needed to reach Holy Shield and Fanaticism
A common late-game spread is 20 Smite, 20 Holy Shield, 20 Fanaticism, 1 Vigor, remainder into Salvation/Cleansing/Defiance, with the rest as prerequisites.
Breakpoints
Smite's attack speed depends on your currently equipped weapon's WSM, and your Faster Hit Recovery keeps you from getting interrupted during a fight. Fanaticism grants +40% IAS while active, which stacks into your IAS total below.
| FHR % needed | Frames | Notes |
|---|
| 0% | 9 | base |
| 7% | 8 | |
| 15% | 7 | |
| 27% | 6 | |
| 48% | 5 | comfortable Uber target |
| 86% | 4 | ideal, hard to reach without gear sacrifices |
| Weapon class (Smite WSM) | IAS needed for fastest breakpoint |
|---|
| Fast weapon (e.g. Sabre, Scimitar, WSM 0) | ~86% total IAS (with Fanaticism counted) |
| Very fast weapon (Katar/Claw-class dagger, WSM -20) | ~42% additional IAS on top of Fanaticism |
| Crushflange / Mace-class (WSM 10) | rarely used; needs excessive IAS |
Practically: equip a fast one-handed sword or dagger-class weapon, stack IAS from gloves and charms, and let Fanaticism carry the rest. Most Smiters land their fastest breakpoint with just Fanaticism plus one or two IAS items.
Gear by budget phase
Starter (leveling / first Countess or two):
- Weapon: any fast normal sword; Shield: any large shield with high block, a Sigon's Shelter or Stormguard works
- Armor: Stealth or any resist runeword
- Helm: Rockstopper or a rare
- Boots/gloves/belt: whatever caps resistances, resist charms fill the rest
Mid (Nightmare into early Hell):
- Weapon: Hand of Justice or Rhyme (Shield: Rhyme in a Monarch — the FHR and resists carry the build)
- Shield: Sigon's or a rare Monarch with high block/resist
- Armor: Smoke or Duriel's Shell
- Helm: Vampire Gaze or a rare +life/resist circlet
- Boots: Sander's or Gore Riders; Gloves: Bloodfist or a +Strength rare; Belt: Goldwrap or a rare
Endgame (Uber-ready):
- Weapon: Hand of Justice, Fleshripper, or an Ali Baba/Highlord's fast crushing/slashing weapon with +damage
- Shield: Stormshield in a high-defense base — the single best defensive item in the build, boosting block, resist, and physical damage reduction
- Armor: Fortitude or Chains of Honor for the resist/damage combo
- Helm: Vampire Gaze (life leech is critical against Uber Lilith's damage) or Guillaume's Face
- Boots: Gore Riders or War Traveler; Gloves: Laying of Hands (extra fire damage and demon damage helps vs Izual/Diablo Clone) or Dracul's Grasp for open-wounds sustain
- Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord for the huge vitality bonus and FHR
- Rings: two Raven Frost (mandatory — cannot-be-frozen is non-negotiable against Uber Lilith and the cold-heavy Uber trio) or one Raven Frost + a rare
- Amulet: Highlord's Wrath for the deadly strike and +1 skills, or Mara's for resist/skills
- Charms: Strength and life small charms, an Annihilus and Torch once available, Gheed's for MF-adjacent utility
Mercenary setup
Act 2 Nightmare Might or Holy Freeze mercenary. For Uber fights specifically, a Might merc with Infinity (Cryptic Sword/Colossus Voulge) shreds the physical resistance of the trio and dramatically speeds kills; the Conviction aura pairs with your stun-lock to keep everything negative-resist for the duration of the fight. For general farming, a Holy Freeze merc with Insight or an ethereal Reaper's Toll keeps normal packs frozen and mana-fed. Gear the merc in Vampire Gaze or a Guillaume's Face, plus Treachery or Fortitude for the body armor.
Farming targets
- Uber Tristram (Diablo Clone, Uber Izual, Uber Lilith) — the Smiter's signature job. Physical stun-lock trivializes all three; a well-geared Smiter clears the trio in a few minutes and the reward torch/annihilator charms are the best small charm upgrades in the game
- Duriel — cold-immune-proof physical damage and a fast kill without needing a Cold Sorceress
- Mephisto — solid secondary target once you have Infinity on the merc, since Fanaticism plus Conviction covers most of his resistance
- Ancient Tunnels / Pit — usable for general leveling and gearing runs, though clear speed is mediocre next to AoE builds
Leveling route and respec timing
Level with Zeal or a hybrid Zeal/Smite spread through Normal and early Nightmare — Zeal gives you multi-hit clear speed that pure Smite lacks at low levels. Pick up Fanaticism and Holy Shield as soon as their prerequisites allow, since both are core to the final build. Most players respec into the dedicated Smite/Holy Shield/Fanaticism spread once they have farmed enough runes for Hand of Justice or Rhyme and are ready to start Uber runs, typically around clvl 80-85. There is no reason to delay the respec once your gear supports it — Smite's damage floor is high enough to farm Duriel and Mephisto even before the Uber-specific pieces (Raven Frosts, Stormshield) are in place.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Skipping Raven Frost. Getting frozen mid-fight against Uber Lilith's cold nova is how most failed Uber attempts end; cannot-be-frozen is not optional
- Neglecting Strength. Smite damage is Strength-scaled, and players who stop at their gear requirement leave a huge amount of damage on the table — push Strength with charms and gear once resistances and life are covered
- Using a slow weapon. A WSM-10 crushing weapon feels thematically "paladin" but tanks your attack speed; a fast sword or dagger-class weapon with Fanaticism gets far more swings in
- Underinvesting in Holy Shield uptime. Letting Holy Shield expire mid-fight drops both your block chance and your Smite damage synergy at the worst possible moment — recast it proactively, not reactively
- Fighting Diablo Clone without Conviction or Infinity support. His physical resistance is high enough that an unbuffed Smiter can take a very long time; a merc with Infinity or your own Conviction charge shortens the fight dramatically
For deeper context on the class fundamentals and breakpoint math referenced above, see the Paladin class overview and the full Paladin breakpoints reference. If Uber Tristram mechanics are new to you, read the Uber Tristram guide before your first attempt, and check the Hammerdin guide if you want a second Paladin build for general farming once your Smiter is funded.