Deadset: Hello! My name is Vladislav, but you might have seen me under the nickname Deadset on either my youtube channel or twitch stream. I’m the type of gamer that enjoys the rarely overlapping universes of theorycrafting and lore, but fortunately I love the world of Sanctuary – which is rich in both! I’ve spent the better part of my 25 year life in and around Tristram, I think.

Deadset: Outside of playing computer games, I strive to meet up with friends on a regular basis for tabletop hobbies – either pen’n’paper roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, or board games of varying complexity

Deadset: I was 10 years old when Diablo 2 came out; I vividly remember picking up a local games magazine with the Barbarian on the cover and a 5-page article about the game. At the time in Bulgaria, PCs at home was a rare luxury, but lan gaming places were booming – and a lot of them were smart to have Diablo II installed asap. The rest was history, including playing through Diablo 1 a few years later!

Deadset: Outside of Blizzard’s catalogue, I enjoy much of BioWare’s catalogue – especially the old Infinity Engine games: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. For my post-apocalyptic needs, I turn to Fallout (both the 2D predecessors and the new 3D ones). Or if I want to roam freely, the Elder Scrolls series has that in abundance!

Deadset: I’ve expanded my horizons greatly outside of my main Crusader; I have a lot of fondness for all the classes. I played Sorc exclusively in D2, and finished the game in the oldest Inferno with the Wizard – he has a special place in my heart! I’ve spent the majority of my D3 vanilla playtime on the Demon Hunter, so there’s that. The Barb is a classic, I love the visuals of the Monk, and lately the Doctor has impressed me with build variety… How can I stick to just one?! :P

Deadset: Deciding ‘there isn’t going to be a higher production value guide than mine, period’ was a harsh, but worthwhile decision. I start by studying a spec laboriously, researching into skill synergy and proc coefficients, and consulting high level dedicated players of a class if necessary. I play with the build for a while; write down the script for the guide itself, and then capture Greater Rift footage as proof of efficiency. Then I edit in my voice, cut and paste the individual gear pieces, and insert sound effects at the end. Phew!

Deadset: Prior to my appearance on Play Your Way Thursday last summer, we had a short pre-show warm up for technical purposes. Inspecting CM Nevalistis’ character, I exclaimed ‘You have a great chest!’ with no context whatsoever… The correction ‘…on your Crusader!” came a laughter session too late. :)

Deadset: When I see a build come together. When I suggested the early versions of the Phalanx Crusader, before the Unrelenting Phalanx shield existed, no one believed this would be a build. But you see runes and items clicking together, like cogs of a machine… A tiny, demon slaying machine… Best feeling ever.

Deadset: The first previews I saw of the Crusader, crashing down on his enemies with Falling Sword awesomeness. I remember thinking ‘this is all I wished the Paladin was’. Plus, you have a horse. No other class has a mount. That’s OP! :P

Deadset: I was definitely drawn into the ‘Mage Knight’ fantasy – thick layer of armor, impenetrable shield, burning the enemies with fire and light before they even approach me. That being said, the 2.2 rework of Rolands might sway me with its Dark Souls, in-your-face charm!

Deadset: I split my love between Bombardment and Falling Sword; I love their bombastic, impactful animations, even if the skills themselves aren’t practical when building for endgame.

Deadset: I’m testing the reworked Rolands on the PTR and spending my season time as an XP-optimized support Crusader. Vastly different playstyles, each proficient in its field and awesome for its own reason – that’s why I love the emergence of the DPS/Support dichotomy in the meta!

Deadset: A perfect Flavor of Time – critical stats, elemental damage, socketed, high CDR. The hardest to perfect jewelry in the game after the Hellfire Amulet, in my opinion. This opens up a belt slot for Crusaders to experiment as they see fit!

Deadset: To make the Phalanx army builds stronger just by virtue of making the Phalanxes smarter. Either by enabling target priority (guardian-elite-trash) for Phalanx followers, by manually picking their targets, or them simply mimicking whatever I focus.

Deadset: Lately, I’ve been thinking of Fist of Heavens and how it fell out of favor since Darklight’s proc doesn’t work with Fire Starter anymore. (Unintended?) If that gets fixed, and a set emerges based on prolonging and boosting the on-ground effect of FoH… Darklight will return into the fold of desired weapons, as it was last summer.

Deadset: ‘I took his shield and his name, and on that day I became a Crusader. Armored by faith, driven by duty, bound to kill the enemies of Zakarum. Sworn to live as a Crusader, and to die as one.’ The Crusader intro gives me chills, even now.

Deadset: You are a master of mobility and crowd control, perhaps more than you think. Instead of charging in, let the enemy come and die on your terms – immobilized, pulled, blinded. You walk your own path, so optimize your movement – the enemy will die trying to reach you.

Deadset: I nominate tundra#2466, a fellow EU theorycrafter and Crusader aficionado!

Deadset: ‘Name one change of your build and playstyle when you switch from solo to group play.’
With the increasing popularity of GR grouping for farming purposes, it will be interesting to see how people accommodate the efficiency trend!

Deadset:The Bard, of course! Let’s breathe life into that near-forgotten D1 concept. :P