Auradin and Tesladin Paladin Build Guide - D2R 2.7

Build Introduction

The Holy Shock Auradin, also known as Tesladin or Dream Paladin is a very strong melee build that has huge single target damage, decent area damage in a big radius, and can easily solo the whole game.

It uses the attacking skill Zeal to deliver a great deal of lightning and physical damage simultaneously, with super fast attacking speed. Party members love it due to the multiple auras it provides, but if you decide to do a Baal or Diablo run on your own you will face no difficulties.

The build has average survivability, so I wouldn't suggest it for Hardcore, especially because it requires very expensive gearing (two Dream Runewords, meaning 2 Jah runes). You will even be able to clear Uber Tristram, as the build also has high Crushing Blow and Open Wounds damage.

With the addition of Sundered Charms, you could beat enemies that are naturally immune to certain damage types. Since we are only concerned with physical and lightning damage, there are SunderedCharms you can use for that. More on this later in the guide.

Basics

The "Auradin" in Diablo II: Resurrected is a Paladin build that utilizes certain auras to great effect. The Tesladin, which is a variation of that, makes effective use of the Holy Shock Aura. This is an offensive aura that electrocutes nearby enemies, thus dealing lightning damage in the process.

There is also a build known as the "Dragondin" that utilizes Holy Fire to deal elemental damage in an area. Compared to the Tesladin, the Dragondin is a bit lower in damage output. Still, it is an option you can take if you want to play as an Auradin in D2R.

With the help of Zeal, you can slay any monster in the game without breaking a sweat. Of course, you need to maximize your damage by using the appropriate gear, specific Runewords, and skills.

Speaking of Runewords, the Auradin uses a couple of "Dreams", specifically on the helmet and shield. If you are new to the game, Dream grants you a level 15 Holy Shock aura when equipped. In Diablo II: Resurrected, Runewords stack, so going with two Dreams will net you a level 30 Holy Shock aura as a result.

is an amazing Runeword specifically because the Holy Shock it provides is active in the background. This means that you can run an active aura on your Paladin (like Conviction Aura) and Holy Shock will still be in effect.

The only problem with the Dream Runeword is that it needs a "Jah" rune to create. This is one of the most expensive runes in the game, so if you want to attempt a Tesladin, you need to be ready to cough up copious amounts of currency for sure.

Gameplay

Attacking skills:

The gameplay with this build is very simple and relaxing, if you aren't an experienced player you will still be able to play it with ease. Just use Zeal as your attacking skill, and click on monsters, that's it. You do not even have to worry about Holy Shock Aura because it remains active in the background, so it does not require any user intervention at all.

Usually, the supporting offensive aura should be Conviction, which is capped at level 25 at -150% resistance, so if your gear provides extra skills to it, don't waste more skill points. If you face Lightning-resistant monsters, you can switch to Fanaticism Aura in order to deliver more physical damage.

Movement:

For quick movement, you should use Vigor Aura. Having % faster run and walk modifiers on your gear will also boost your movement speed, and can make farming runs like Mephisto and Andariel much quicker. If you decide to play the build on hardcore, walk instead of run to not lose any block chance and make yourself vulnerable. If you face any obstacles, you can use the Charge skill to get through it.

Survivability:

The Tesladin's survivability is not as good as some other Paladin builds, but if you can afford the two Dream Runewords, having a Call to Arms as a secondary weapon to provide you with Battle Orders, and having an Annihilus and a Paladin Hellfire Torch, and charms with +life and +resistance should be in your budget.

Call to Arms is a Runeword that requires you to combine the following runes in order:

Amn + Ral + Mal + Ist + Ohm

Take note that Call to Arms can only be placed on a War Scepter. What's great about it is that it enables you to cast Battle Orders - a Barbarian-exclusive skill, when you weapon swap from a sword to a war scepter.

Battle Orders improves your chances of survival by upping your mana, life, and stamina for you and your allies that lasts for a relatively long duration. Keep an eye out on your buffs and make sure that Battle Orders is up.

Annihilus is a unique small charm with some pretty useful stats, including +1 to all skills, +20 to all attributes, +20% to all resistances, and 10% increased XP gain. If you play the Auradin early on in a new Ladder, you'll have to wait until a sufficient number of D2R players sell Stone of Jordan rings to a vendor before this unique small charm drops from killing Diablo on Hell difficulty.

The Hellfire Torch takes up a couple of slots in your inventory than Annihilus due to it being a large charm, but that is fine considering what it gives you. This thing is best known for granting +3 to skills of a random class. If you are going to purchase one, make sure that you are getting the version with "+3 to Paladin Skill Levels".

In addition, always have Holy Shield up as it will immensely boost your block chance and block rate. Once you play on Hell difficulty, make sure to have 75% of all resistances. Putting a skill point on Redemption allows you to heal quicker. Besides that, wearing Dracul's Grasp gloves gives a high chance to cast Life Tap and heal yourself almost immediately.

You can also utilize Salvation Aura to boost your and your party's resistances, which can be the most important at Uber Tristram while under the influence of Uber Mephisto's Conviction Aura.

A Raven Frost ring also comes in handy in order to not get frozen. This accessory also boosts your damage output a bit thanks to that added cold damage and up to 250 increased attack rating.

Party and Solo play:

You won't have any difficulties soloing the game, as you deliver both elemental and physical damage, so no immune monsters will be able to resist your attacks. To ensure that you kill all enemies, put two Sundered Charms in your inventory, specifically Bone Break and Crack of the Heavens.

For the uninitiated, Sundered Charms are a new type of charm in Diablo II: Resurrected that makes monsters that are immune to certain damage types vulnerable to attacks. Instead of not taking physical damage, for example, their resistances will be set at 95%.

It is important to note that while Sundered Charms allow you to slay enemies that are naturally immune to certain damage types, your resistance to that damage type is reduced as well. If you have Bone Break in your inventory, your resistance to physical damage will be decreased by a considerable percentage. This results in increased physical damage taken when you are hit by monsters. This is why it is imperative that you have your defenses sorted out before putting any of the Sundered Charms in your inventory.

Aside from the aforementioned Sundered Charm, you need to put Crack of the Heavens as well. This grants you the power to slay monsters that are immune to lightning damage, which is mandatory if you are playing the Tesladin. Of course, you have to sort out your lightning resistance. Otherwise, enemies can dispose of you in a quick and untimely manner.

Sundered Charms can be acquired by defeating Champion, Unique, and Boss monsters in the Terror Zone. In case you didn't know, a Terror Zone is a special area in D2R that contains enemies that are much tougher to defeat. However, this comes with the promise of better loot and vastly increased experience gain compared to the normal version of the areas. Be on the lookout for which area in the game will be "terrorized" and then teleport there immediately after the announcement is made.

Anyway, you will also cut through Bosses and Mobs with lightning speed. If you play in a party, every member will benefit from your Dream aura's added damage, and from your secondary aura which can either be Conviction, Fanaticism, Concentration, or Meditation depending on the party member's needs.

Magic Find:

Your gear will have some magic find from the Dream Runewords, but if you really want to use the Tesladin for MFing (Magic Finding), you should fill up your inventory with a Gheed's Fortune and 7% Magic Find small charms.

Gheed's Fortune is an incredible unique grand charm that boosts your chance of getting valuable loot. Yes, it does take up three inventory slots considering that it is a grand charm, but it is such an incredible item to include in your bag, especially if you are still starting out.

Now, if you want to get your hands on it, you can target farm Andariel in Act I on Hell difficulty. According to the D2R community, this particular boss drops charms like crazy, so your likelihood of getting Gheed's Fortune is probably higher here than in other areas.

Stats

Strength: Put just enough points on it to be able to wear your items.

Dexterity: Put just enough points on it to have a 75% chance to block with Holy Shield activated.

Vitality: Put all the rest of your available points on it.

Energy: Don't put any points on it

Skills

• 20 points on Zeal
• 20 points on Sacrifice
• 1 point on Smite, Holy Bolt, Charge, Blessed Hammer
• At least 1 point on Holy Shield (you can put more points on it to boost your defense)
• Enough points on Conviction to reach level 25.
• 1 point on Might, Blessed Aim, Concentration, Fanaticism, Holy Fire, Holy Freeze, Holy Shock, Thorns, and Sanctuary.
• 20 points on Resist Lightning
• 1 point on Cleansing and Vigor
• 20 points on Salvation

Zeal is your main attack skill as an Auradin, so it is only fitting that you max it out. You could allocate 10 points to it first, then go for the other skills, and then level it up to the highest as soon as everything is sorted out.

Sacrifice is an incredible skill that you could use as a backup. This is because it is a high-damaging ability that uses life rather than mana. Since you do not put any stat points to Energy, Sacrifice is a valuable addition to your repertoire. Only max this out when Zeal is fully leveled up.

When enough points have been spent on the two damaging abilities, you should then take certain skills to unlock your endgame auras. Conviction, which is an offensive aura that reduces the defenses and resistances of nearby monsters, is one that you will use for the most part. It requires you to get Might, Thorns, Holy Fire, Holy Freeze, and Sanctuary. Therefore, put a skill point on each one just to satisfy Conviction’s requirements.

Once you are at level 30, you can then take Conviction Aura. You should level it up only to 25 because there is a -150% cap on resistances. If you have items that increase the level of all skills, then adjust Conviction's level accordingly.

Resist Lightning actually serves two purposes for the Tesladin. First, it provides increased resistance to lightning damage when active. The maximum lightning resistance bonus provided by this defensive aura is there even if it is not enabled.

Second, Resist Lightning synergizes with Holy Shock in that it grants +12% lightning damage per level. These are the reasons why Resist Lightning should be maxed out.

Now, if you love partying up with other people, a level 20 Salvation Aura is pretty useful. Unlike Resist Lightning, Salvation increases you and your party's elemental resistances. Not only that but this synergizes with Holy Shock as well by providing it with +4% lightning damage per level.

It is important to note that between Resist Lightning and Salvation, you are better off activating the former on solo play because it gives more oomph to Holy Shock than the latter.

Cleansing and Vigor are there just for utility. These are defensive auras that reduce the duration of detrimental effects on you and increase your running and walking speed, respectively.

If you are wondering what Smite, Holy Bolt, Blessed Hammer, and Charge bring to the table, they are included in the build primarily for leveling. Charge can also be treated as a movement ability, particularly if you want to kill off enemies that are on low life and are trying to escape.

Breakpoints

In Diablo II: Resurrected, breakpoints refer to certain animations, including your casted skills, attacks, and blocks, to happen one frame quicker than they normally would. This allows for more effective gameplay, thus maximizing your character's damage potential.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, take a gander at our comprehensive D2R breakpoints guide for Paladins.

Items and Gearing

The listed items are organized by slots.

The usefulness rating of an item is based on how good it is for farming.

The price rating reflects the cost of the item (cheaper ones are available after the Ladder starts as budget options) higher price ratings reflect exponentially higher costs for an item.

Magic Find ratings are added to items that are good options for MFing.

Adding sockets and improving your items

If you complete the Act 5 quest Siege on Harrogath, Larzuk will grant extra sockets to your items. Use the quest to add sockets to your gear and put useful jewels, runes, or gems in your item sockets.

You can also upgrade your unique items from normal to exceptional quality and from exceptional to elite by using Horadric Cube recipes. After upgrading, your armor pieces will have more defense, and your weapon pieces will have more damage. The downside of upgrading is the increased strength/dexterity requirements.

Helm

"Dream" Bone Visage -usefulness 10/10, price 9/10

Dream, as mentioned earlier in the guide, is a Runeword that requires you to socket three specific runes in order. These runes are Io, Jah, and Pul. The Jah Rune is the most expensive one of the bunch, so be sure to have enough currency at the ready before making the purchase. It should also go without saying that you need three sockets in your helmet to transform it into Dream.

Dream contains a lot of defensive modifiers, but what makes it very useful for the Tesladin is that it grants a level 15 Holy Shock Aura when equipped. When paired with the "Dream" shield, you will have this particular aura leveled up all the way to 30 for more damage!

Amulet

Mara's Kaleidoscope unique amulet - usefulness 8/10, price 7/10

Highlord's Wrath unique amulet - usefulness 10/10, price 6/10

Mara's Kaleidoscope may not offer much, but its "+2 to all skills" modifier amplifies the effects of your abilities, making them even more potent.

However, since you deal physical damage with Zeal or Sacrifice, you will find a greater benefit to using the Highlord's Wrath. This amulet is known for its high attack speed and deadly strike bonus, in addition to the "+1 to all skills".

Deadly Strike in D2R pertains to the ability to deal double damage with your attacks. With the inherently fast attack speed of Zeal, you can demolish Hell's minions in a cinch!

Weapon

Oath runeword - usefulness 6/10, price 5/10

Grief Phase Blade - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

Last Wish runeword - usefulness 10/10, price 10/10

Among the weapons listed above, Oath is probably the most affordable. It grants a huge 50% increase in attack speed and up to 340% enhanced damage. The latter provides a percentage boost to your overall damage, which is great for eliminating monsters in the endgame. Grief is a Runeword that requires you to put the following runes in order: Shael, Pul, Mal, Lum.

Last Wish allows you to deal incredible amounts of damage. It also gives you a higher chance of getting magic items, which makes it quite an appealing choice for farming gear late in the game. Defensively, this thing casts a level 11 Fade skill when you are hit by the enemy's attacks, increasing your resistances, and granting you the power to resist curses for a short period. The Last Wish is one of the most expensive Runewords in the game mainly due to the presence of three "Jah" runes. The specific Runeword is: Jah, Mal, Jah, Sur, Jah, Ber.

If the Last Wish is too expensive for you or you want a viable alternative that has some attack speed as well, then Grief is probably your thing. It does contain +30-40% increased attack speed, though it does have other useful modifiers, such as 20% Deadly Strike, Ignore Target's Defense, and +340-400 damage. This is why it is considered by many as the best Runeword for melee builds in Diablo II: Resurrected. Anyway, the specific Runeword is: Eth, Tir, Lo, Mal, Ral.

Shield

Dream Sacred Targe, preferably with @allresist paladin shield -usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

As mentioned earlier, the "Dream" Runeword should be on your helmet and shield so that you can have a level 30 Holy Shock Aura active indefinitely. Use a Sacred Targe as the base as it has the highest block chance of all the shields in the game.

Switch Weapon

Magic wand with Life Tap curse charges - usefulness 5/10, price - 1/10

Call to Arms Crystal Sword - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

Switching to a different weapon is a viable strategy many players use in Diablo II: Resurrected. This is done primarily to take advantage of skills that boost your offense and defense.

In the case of the Tesladin, a magic wand with a Life Tap curse charge is helpful to grant you the ability to gain life based on the damage you deal to affected enemies.

However, if you have the money to spend, you might as well go all in and use Call to Arms. This Runeword is very useful for a melee build such as this one due to the "Battle Orders" buff. When utilized, this buff increases your life, mana, and stamina for a relatively long duration.

Keep an eye out on the Battle Orders buff and switch to Call to Arms when needed. This Runeword requires a five-socket weapon with the following runes placed in order: Amn, Ral, Mal, Ist, and Ohm.

Switch Shield

"Spirit" Monarch -usefulness 10/10, price 2/10

When you are going to switch to Call to Arms, make sure that you have the "Spirit" shield as well. This is a Runeword in D2R that raises the level of all your skills by two. As you can tell, this affects Battle Orders too!

Now, to take advantage of this, get a Monarch Shield and insert the runes in this specific order: Tal, Thul, Ort, Amn. Why use the Monarch Shield? Because this shield has the lowest strength requirement among those that have four sockets.

Body Armor

Guardian Angel unique armor - usefulness 5/10, price 4/10

Duress Archon Plate -usefulness 9/10, price 5/10

Fortitude Archon Plate - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

Guardian Angel is a particularly strong body armor that does not cost an arm and a leg. This raises your maximum resistances by 15%, which makes it ideal for farming ubers in the endgame. This also bolsters your Holy Shield by increasing your block chance and making your block rate faster.

Duress is a Runeword that provides you with +40% faster hit recovery. This is a lifesaver, especially if you are surrounded by a swarm of enemies. The slight chance to deal a Crushing Blow and the fact that it increases "Enhanced Damage" make Duress a great choice for tackling both offense and defense. The specific order of runes is: Shael, Um, Thul.

If all you care about is destroying monsters with ease, then look no further than Fortitude. Unlike its namesake, Fortitude is actually known for improving your damage. This Runeword gives +300% Enhanced Damage, a 20% chance to inflict a Deadly Strike, and an acceptable +50 points to attack rating. Yes, it is a bit pricey because of the runes that are used (El, Sol, Dol, Lo), but you are getting something special in return that is definitely worth the investment!

Be sure to use the Archon Plate for its low strength requirement and high defense numbers.

Belt

String of Ears unique belt - usefulness 10/10, price 4/10

String of Ears is a unique Demonhide Sash that reduces the damage and magic damage you take by up to 15%. Its Enhanced Defense of +150-180 is no slouch, which makes it a suitable choice for the Auradin without breaking the bank.

Rings

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band unique ring - usefulness 9/10, price 6/10

Raven Frost unique ring - usefulness 9/10, price 4/10

The Raven Frost is a must if you want to survive on Hell difficulty. This ring makes you immune to being frozen, making it a valuable addition to your kit.

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band is a unique ring that raises the level of your skills by one. Moreover, you steal up to 5% of life per hit, which also helps improve survivability.

Gloves

Dracul's Grasp unique gloves - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

Dracul's Grasp is mainly used to give you access to a level 10 Life Tap on hit. Life Tap enables you to gain HP on hit when attacking monsters affected by the said curse.

Boots

Gore Rider unique boots - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

Deadly Strike and Crushing Blow on a pair of boots? Yes, that's right! The Gore Rider is famous for having both! That is why the boots are a staple among melee builds that deal physical damage, such as the Tesladin/Auradin!

Charms

Any charm with +skill, life, faster hit recovery or faster run and walk - usefulness 4/10, price 1/10

Annihilus unique small charm - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

Hellfire Torch unique large charm - usefulness 10/10, price 6/10

Magic grand charms with +1 to paladin combat skills - usefulness 7/10, price 5/10

Magic grand charms with +1 to paladin combat skills and +life, +faster hit recovery or +faster run and walk - usefulness 8 to 10/10, price 6 to 10/10

Magic small charms with resistances and life - usefulness 8 to 10/10, price 6 to 9/10

7% to magic find magic small charms - magic find 10/10, price 3/10

Gheed's Fortune unique grand charm - magic find 10/10, price 4/10

Bone Break sundered charm - usefulness 10/10, price 10/10

Crack of the Heavens sundered charm - usefulness 10/10, price 10/10

The sundered charms, Bone Break and Crack of the Heavens, are non-negotiable. These unique grand charms enable you to kill enemies who are naturally immune to physical and lightning damage, respectively. That is why their inclusion in the build is a no-brainer.

Gheed's Fortune is nice, especially if you are planning to farm highly coveted items yourself. Take note that because this is also a grand charm, you will lose a considerable amount of inventory space if you include Gheed's Fortune.

Annihilus and Hellfire Torch are quite useful for the reasons that are mentioned earlier in the guide. Always remember that when purchasing the latter, make sure that it has "+3 to Paladin Skill Level" for maximum benefit!

The rest of your inventory can be populated with small charms that grant life, resistances, damage, and magic find.

Mercenary

Have a Nightmare Act2 Offensive Mercenary to provide you with Might aura, or an Act1 Cold Arrow merc.

Once hired, equip the Mercenary with The Reaper's Toll for damage and Decrepify, Treachery (Runeword) for a significant attack speed boost, and Guillaume's Face for a chance to land a Deadly Strike or Crushing Blow. The Runeword for Treachery is: Shael, Thul, Lem.

Ethereal items don't lose durability if your mercenary wears them, so having ethereal item bases for each gear slot is preferred due to their increased defense on armor items and increased damage on weapons. In many instances, ethereal items that are great for mercenaries will be much more expensive than non-ethereal ones.

Act 2 Mercenary gear:

Helm

Guillaume's face set helm - usefulness 8/10, price 4/10

Andariel's Visage unique helm - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

Andariel's Visage is a great alternative to Guillame's Face, particularly for its Poison Nova, increased attack speed, and +2 to all skills. It might be a bit pricier depending on the market, so just pick between the two helmets stated above.

Weapon

Ethereal The Reaper's Toll unique weapon - usefulness 9/10, price 6/10

Pride runeword in elite base - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

A quick look at the Pride Runeword and you will find that its stats are mediocre at best. However, the level 20 Concentration Aura it provides cannot be ignored. For the uninitiated, Concentration reduces the likelihood of your attacks being interrupted by anything. Since you will use Pride on the Mercenary, you do not even have to do anything. It just gets automatically activated in the process!

Anyway, Pride requires the following runes to be placed in order: Cham, Sur, Io, Lo.

Body Armor

Treachery Archon Plate - usefulness 9/10, price 4/10

Fortitude Ethereal Archon Plate - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

Act1 Mercenary gear:

Helm

Andariel's Visage unique helm - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

Weapon

Faith runeword bow - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

Body Armor

Treachery Archon Plate - usefulness 9/10, price 4/10

Fortitude Ethereal Archon Plate - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

Don't want to get through all of the hassles of acquiring the more expensive items for the Tesladin? Do not fret! We have got you covered!

Rpgstash.com will have D2R items in its Ladder selection already on day 1. We will be doing our best to let you buy 2.4 ladder items right at the beginning of the season including the new runewords, so you can climb the ladder rankings as fast as possible!

So, there you have it! We hope that you have enjoyed our comprehensive guide for the Auradin/Tesladin in Diablo II: Resurrected!