Thorns Invoker
Crusader Build
Diablo 3 Patch 2.6.1

Invoker is the only set in Diablo 3 that revolves around the Thorns mechanics. Unlike all the other builds, Thorns require an entirely different set of attributes on the items. Thorns damage cannot critically hit, which means the stats you were after in any other build are redundant here. Thorns Invoker Crusader is a very powerful build, which has a Greater Rifts 100 and above solo capability. It is however not suitable for party play. 

To check the full list of our Best Diablo 3 builds visit:  The Best Diablo 3 builds by Odealo

Table of contents

1. General information
2. Recommended items
3. Recommended skills

General information

The entire build is based on the Thorns of the Invoker set which provides the following bonuses:

• Thorns damage now hits all enemies in a 15-yard radius around the Crusader. Each time an enemy is hit with Punish or Slash, or an attack is blocked, Thorns damage is increased by 140% for 2 seconds (Crusader Only) (2/6)
• Take 50% less damage for 20 seconds after casting Bombardment (4/6)
• The attack speed of Punish and Slash are increased by 50%, and these skills deal 5400% of effective Thorns damage to the first enemy hit (6/6)

Thorns Invoker Crusader build is all about dealing increased thorns damage with Punish or Slash attacks. Because thorns' damage cannot crit, and each hit deals fixed the amount of Thorns damage, this build relies on very high attack speed and cooldown reduction. This build has extremely high single target damage but lacks area attacks, which makes it more suitable for high Greater Rifting, rather than Bounty farming.

Recommended items

Equipment
	Head - Crown of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Strength 3) Vitality 4) All Elemental Resistances Socket:  NOTE: We do not include Thorns on the set parts since Invoker items always roll Thorns as the secondary affix
	Chest - Heart of Iron Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) Thorns 4) All Elemental Resistances Sockets:  Special power: Gain Thorns equal to 250–300% of current Vitality
	Pants - Renewal of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) All Elemental Resistances Sockets:
	Gloves - Pride of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Attack Speed 3) Cooldown Reduction 4) Area damage 5) Secondary res.
	Boots - Zeal of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) Armor 4) All Elemental Resistances
	Pauldrons - Burden of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) Cooldown Reduction 4) Area damage 5) All Elemental Resistances
	Bracers - Shackles of the Invoker Stat priorities: 1) Physical damage% 2) Strength 3) Vitality 4) Thorns 5) All Elemental Resistances
	Amulet - Traveller's Pledge Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Physical damage% 3) Strength 4) Vitality 5) Thorns (Part of the Endless Walk set) Set bonuses: While moving, all damage taken is reduced by up to 50% While standing still, all damage dealt is increased by up to 100%
	Ring - Compass Rose Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Cooldown Reduction 3) Attack Speed 4) Area damage 5) Strength 6) Vitality 7) Thorns (Part of the Endless Walk set)
	Ring - Justice Lantern Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Cooldown Reduction 3) Attack Speed 4) Area damage 5) Strength 6) Thorns Special power: Gain damage reduction equal to 45–55% of current Block Chance
	Belt - Belt of the Trove Stat priorities: 1) Strength 2) Vitality 3) Thorns 4) All Elemental Resistances 5) Life% Special power: Every 6–8 seconds, call down Bombardment on a random nearby enemy
	Weapon - Pig Sticker Stat priorities: 1) Socket 2) Cooldown Reduction 3) Attack Speed 4) Area damage 5) Strength 6) Vitality Sockets:  Unique affixes: +15–30% Damage to Beasts +15–30% Damage to Humans
	Off-hand - Akarat's Awakening 1) Thorns 2) Strength 3) Cooldown Reduction 4) Area damage 5) Vitality Special power: Every successful block has a 20–25% chance to reduce all cooldowns by 1 second
Kanai Cube powers
	Blood Brother Grants a 15-20% chance to block attacks. Blocked attacks inflict 30% less damage. After blocking an attack, your next attack inflicts 30% additional damage
	Aquila Cuirass While above 90–95% of the primary resource, all damage taken is reduced by 50%
	Convention of Elements Gain 150–200% increased damage to a single element for 4 seconds. This effect rotates through the elements available to your class in the following order: Arcane, Cold, Fire, Holy, Lightning, Physical, Poison
Legendary Gems
	Bane of the Trapped Increases damage done to enemies under the control-impairing effects by 15% Upgrade: +0.3% additional damage per Rank Gain an aura that slows the movement speed of enemies within 15 yards by 30% (Requires Rank 25)
	Bane of the Stricken Each attack you make against an enemy increases the damage it takes from your attacks by 0.8%. Upgrade: +0.01% damage per Rank Gain 25% increased damage against Rift Guardians and bosses (Requires Rank 25)
	Boyarsky's Chip Adds 16000 Thorns. Upgrade: +800 Thorns damage per Rank Taunt the first enemy hit by Primary skills for 2 seconds (Requires Rank 25)
Buy Crusader Multibox services

Recommended skills

Active Skills
	Punish Strikes the enemy for 335% damage as Physical and gain Hardened Senses, increasing Block Chance by 15% for 5 seconds Celerity Blocking an attack will increase your attack speed by 15% for 5 seconds Your main skill.  Punish provides very high attack speed which makes it the best choice for optimizing your DPS
	Steed Charge Mount a celestial war horse that allows the Crusader to ride through enemies unhindered for 2 seconds Draw and Quarter You drag up to 5 enemies within 15 yards when charging Your main mobility skill. It also helps you group up enemies
	Laws of Valor Passive: Recite the Law, granting the Crusader and their allies 8% increased Attack Speed Active: Empower the Law, granting the Crusader and their allies 15% increased Attack Speed for 5 seconds Invincible Also increases your Life per Hit by up to 21457 at level 70 Since this build relies on Attack Speed this is the best Law available
	Provoke Taunts all nearby enemies and instantly generates additional 5 Wrath for every enemy taunted. Taunted enemies will focus their attention on the Crusader for 4 seconds Hit Me Increases your current block chance by 50%  Great defensive buff, which increases your block chance and grants increased damage reduction from Justice Lantern
	Iron Skin The Crusader's skin turns to iron, absorbing 50% of all incoming damage for 4 seconds Reflective Skin Also increases your Thorns by +300%  Mandatory skill for this build. Provides amazing damage reduction and thorns bonus. With high block chance and Akarat's Awakening shield, it is possible to have nearly 100% uptime on this buff
	Akarat's Champion The Crusader explodes with the power of their order, increasing damage dealt by 35% and increasing their Wrath regeneration by 5 per second for 20 seconds Prophet Gain 150% additional armor while under the effect of Akarat's Champion. Also when taking fatal damage instead of dying you are healed to full Life. May happen only once per activation Core Crusader skill that boosts up all your main attributes (damage and toughness)
Passive Skills
	Finery Gain 1.5% increases maximum Strength by every gem socketed in your gear
	Fervor While wielding a one-handed weapon, you gain 15% increased Attack Speed, and all your cooldowns are reduced by 15%
	Fanaticism Increases the Attack Speed of all your primary abilities by 15%
	Iron Maiden Increases your Thorns damage by 50%
Buy Diablo 3 Legendary and Set Items on Odealo.com

Other Season 13's Starter Builds:

Earthquake "Leapquake" Barbarian

Shadow Impale Demon Hunter

Sunwuko Wave of Light Monk

Inarius Corpse Explosion speed-farming Necromancer

Jade Harvester Soul Harvester Witch Doctor

Firebird's Channelling Meteor Wizard

We hope you will enjoy this build as much as we did. And see you soon in the world of Sanctuary.

If you have any ideas how this build could be improved, or if you have suggestions for other Necromancer Guides we should make, please let us know in the comments below. You can also join the discussion on our Facebook fan page. 

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment.