U4GM Diablo 4 Paladin Reforge and Sanctify guide

Season 11 has been wild for Paladins, and the "Divine Intervention" patch is the first time in ages it feels like the devs actually want us to mess around with builds instead of just copying whatever is on a tier list. Once you start juggling Reforge and Sanctification, the whole gearing game changes, and you stop thinking about single upgrades and start thinking about how every small tweak stacks up across your whole setup, a bit like rebuilding your entire diablo 4 gear from the ground up.

Reforge Priorities That Actually Matter

Reforge is where most people either print a monster build or burn all their mats on junk. The big thing people learn too late: do not sink serious resources into mid-tier gear. Blue stuff, early yellows, anything you will swap in a couple of levels, just let it go. Save your rolls and dust for the legendaries that are going to sit in your build for a long time.

When you are reforging, you are basically hunting for a tight bundle of stats: anything that buffs Judgement and Blessed Hammers first, then Cooldown Reduction and resource tools to keep the whole thing running. Both skills show up in pretty much every S‑tier Paladin setup right now, so if a piece cannot roll something for them, it is already a bit suspect. The moment you hit a line that boosts Judgement damage or Blessed Hammer hits, you lock it in and then try to build the rest of the item around that. You will notice pretty fast that CDR is what makes the build feel smooth; without it, you end up just standing in front of a pack waiting for buttons to light up, which feels awful.

Not Dying Is A Stat Too

A lot of players get baited into chasing pure damage, then slam into a wall the second they step into higher Pit tiers or pull a messy elite combo. You only need a few runs where you get one‑tapped by some off‑screen nonsense to realise defense is not optional. When you are reforging, you want to mix in Armor, Fortify, and a bit of mitigation instead of pushing every line into crit and skill damage.

The trick is to think about how you actually play. If you are the sort of Paladin who is always in melee range and never kiting, you stack Armor and Fortify until you are comfortable face‑tanking most hits, then layer your damage on top. If you like dancing at mid‑range, you can get away with slightly less tankiness, but you still want at least a couple of defensive rolls on the big slots. It is the difference between a build that only works in clean runs and one that survives random mistakes, lag spikes, and bad map layouts.

Sanctification And Making Your Kit Click

Sanctification is where the build stops feeling "good" and starts feeling busted in the best way. You are basically taking the powers that already define your playstyle and pushing them way past what normal gear can do. The safest play is to pump your Core Skills first. Anything that gives extra Holy damage or cooldown help to Judgement is usually worth a hard look, because it speeds up both clear and boss phases at the same time.

The catch is that Sanctification mats are not unlimited, so you can not just throw them at every shiny legendary that drops. If you are getting shredded in Helltides, you put points into Fortify or other defensive bonuses before you double down on damage. Once you are not dying to random spikes, then you go back and start juicing the offensive side. Over time you want your Reforged stats and Sanctified powers to talk to each other: if a set bonus unlocks some wild effect when you hit a certain condition, you roll your gear so that condition is happening all the time, and that is when the build really wakes up and starts printing value from those cheap Diablo 4 Items.