Diablo 4: Best Thorns Paladin build (Shield of Retribution)

Diablo 4 Paladins have an amazing Thorns build available in the form of the Shield of Retribution build. It’s easily one of their strongest builds, and can transition from a leveling build easily. Ideally, it does run quite a few Uniques to get the most out of it, but none of them are a hard requirement. Nonetheless, I’m going to mention them because they really help increase the power of the build.

The only place the Thorns Paladin build truly suffers, even a little in Diablo 4, is the lack of really great AOE. Other than that, it shreds everything to pieces, and the more pulses of Thorns you can get on a target, the better. Here’s what you need to know about this build.

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How does the Thorns Paladin build work in Diablo 4?

The Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4 uses the power of Blessed Shield, alongside its Shield of Retribution talent, and a few Uniques to turn the shield into a Thorns-pulsing wave of destruction. Thanks to the Thorns and Thistles talent, Defiance Aura, and the Clash ability, we get mountains of Thorns damage every time we throw that shield.

Shield of the Righteous is the main engine that helps make this work (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

It cuts through most foes with the greatest of ease, as it pulses Thorns damage into your opponent. Sadly, it doesn’t run the classic Thorns item Razorplate, but maybe sometime in the future it could be factored in. If you have one, it could be worth trying for a lark.

You’re going to use Fanaticism and Defiance Auras to weaken opponents, and add Thorns to your build. Rally helps build Faith, while also making us run faster. Speaking of movement, Falling Star is our movement power, but when you’re starting out, you may want Consecration instead, to help manage Faith.

If you’ve already got a Ward of the White Dove, problem solved. It decreases your cast cost of Blessed Shield for three casts, after you cast another skill first.

Ideal Rotation

• Activate Clash every 6 seconds to get the Crusader’s March buff (Thorns, Retribution Chance, Thorns Damage).
• Mash Blessed Shield for damage.
• Pop your Auras and Rally anytime they’re off cooldown

You want to stay a short to medium distance from your targets to get the most out of your pulses on Blessed Shield as a Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4. It takes a little practice, but you want the Thorns pulses to overlap as they hit enemies to get even more damage.

Your hotbar should have the following abilities

• Blessed Shield
• Clash
• Defiance Aura
• Fanaticism Aura
• Falling Star
• Rally

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Ideal talents and Oath for Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4

Like other Paladin builds in Diablo 4, we’re stacking absolute mountains of passives. They are really too good to ignore. Since we don’t need more than one baseline rank of any ability, we get way more points to invest into all of those amazing passives, not to mention the incredibly powerful Coat of Arms Key Passive.

Despite being a Blessed Shield build, we’re going to be using Juggernaut Oath, because Shield of Retribution turns it into a Juggernaut Skill. It also makes your shield not return, but also pulse our Thorns damage as it travels. All this does is make us tankier, and more satisfying to play than regular Blessed Shield builds.

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Who is the best Mercenary for a Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4?

Like other Paladin builds, such as the Zealadin, we’re going to be using Varyana and Aldkin as our Mercenary combo. The damage and healing you receive from having Varyana active cannot be underestimated. Aldkin, on the other hand adds some CC and damage reduction, and that’s almost as good as what Varyana brings to the table.

Varyana picks

• Cleave
• Recklessness
• Whirlwind
• Taste of Flesh

Aldkin pick

• Field of Languish + any skill in combat

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Ideal equipment, Legendary Aspects, and Tempers

One of the downsides is that while this build doesn’t require any Uniques to function, there are several that make it function better. With that in mind, I recommend Godslayer Crown, Mantle of the Grey, Griswold’s Opus, and Ward of the White Dove for this setup.

Of course, in the late game, if you can get a Heir of Perdition and Shroud of False Death, do run those. They’re two of the best, tankiest Mythic Uniques you can get. Also make sure to Masterwork your gear, and if you are playing during Season 11, take the time to Sanctify each piece at the end to get the absolute most out of it.

As far as Runes go, I recommend Tam+Wat (Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill to Invoke Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify) to curse enemies and also execute them. In addition, Igni+Jah (Stores Offering to make next evade Sorcerer’s Teleport), so we can get even farther, faster, than just having Falling Star.

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Paragon Boards for Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4

Here are the Paragon Points for a Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment & D4 Builds App)

Below are the Paragon Boards we’ll use for the Thorns Paladin in Diablo 4. There are still plenty of points to work with after this setup. You have 52 points to play with, assuming you grind to 300. We’ve also included the Glyphs you need, so you know what to focus on. This build, like many, includes the incredible Castle Board, which gives you more damage based on your armor.

Paragon Boards/Glyphs used

• Starting Board (Spirit Glyph)
• North to Castle (Honed Glyph): Two Rotations
• West to Relentless (Outmatch Glyph): Two Rotations
• South to Preacher (Revenge Glyph): Two Rotations
• West to Shield Bearer (Chip Glyph): Three Rotations

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Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

• Diablo 4 Season 11: Hadriel’s Divine Missive walkthrough
• Diablo 4 Season 11: Call of the Paladin walkthrough (Path of the Paladin)
• Diablo 4 devs walk back major Masterworking change ahead of Season 11
• Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred DLC: Release date, known features, and more
• Diablo 4: What to do with Unique Purified Essences?

Edited by Jason Parker