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For other meanings, see Sanctuary and Sanctuary Rune Word.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary (Skill)

Class: Paladin
Required Level: 24
Skill Tree: Offensive Auras
Requires: Might, Thorns, Holy Fire, Holy Freeze
Active / Passive

Damages and does knockback to the Undead.

Damage Type: Magic
Synergies: Cleansing
Other Stats: Only one Aura can be active at a time; Only damages Undead enemies; Does not harm allies; Also removes Physical Immunity and Resistance from affected enemies
HolyBath

Sanctuary is a Paladin Skill in Diablo II.

Lore[]

This aura causes the Paladin to shine with an inner, holy light. This light is an anathema to the undead, summoned as they are through the machinations of the Prime Evils. The aura carries with it the essence of life and the strength and purity of the Paladin's convictions.

General Information[]

Sanctuary knockback

Sanctuary knockback / damage graphic

Effectively an area of effect Holy Bolt, Sanctuary passively damages all Undead (and only Undead) enemies around the Paladin. It does not affect minions of the player or allies such as Necromancers.

Damage scales based on distance to the caster. Aura deals double damage at melee range and linearly scales to normal damage at maximum range. The displayed maximum Area Damage value incorporates the maximum proximity damage bonus.

Sanctuary02

Sanctuary as seen in game

This skill also completely removes Physical Resistances and Immunities of any Undead monsters, so they are always guaranteed to suffer full damage from all Physical attacks of the Paladin and his allies. As Undead foes in general tend to have high physical resistance (and some, such as Ghosts, are flat out immune on Hell difficulty), this is an extremely powerful, though situational, tool against Undead.

In addition to damage and vulnerability, it is also knocking Undead back from the caster. This is especially effective on slower undead foes such as zombies.

Several weapons such as the rune word Lawbringer or the unique sword Azurewrath automatically causes their wielder to project this aura, and thus can become a good backup weapon for any attackers causing physical damage (this extends to characters who cast spells that cause physical damage too, such as Windy Druids).

This skill works on Super Unique Undead monsters (including Griswold and Radament), but not on bosses.

Steal Life/Steal Mana items work well with Sanctuary against Physical Immune monsters, as long as they have positive drain effectiveness.

Bugs[]

Depending on game version, damage bonus of this Aura may be bugged (applied mistakenly not to the projector of the aura, but its targets, effectively, it gives all Undead monsters in the vicinity enhanced damage against Undead).

Synergies[]

  • Receives Synergy from:
    • Cleansing: +7% Magic Damage Per Level to knockback effect only
  • Gives Synergy to:
    • None

Skill Progression[]

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Radius (yards) 3.3 4 4.7 5.3 6 6.7 7.3 8 8.7 9.3 10 10.7 11.3 12 12.7 13.3 14 14.7 15.3 16
Magic Damage 8–32 12–40 16–48 20–56 24–64 28–72 32–80 36–88 40–98 44–108 48–118 52–128 56–138 60–148 64–158 68–168 73–180 78–192 83–204 88–216
Damage
+X% To Melee Attacks vs Undead
150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480 510 540 570 600 630 660 690 720
Level 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Radius (yards) 16.7 17.3 18 18.7 19.3 20 20.7 21.3 22 22.7 23.3 24 24.7 25.3 26 26.7 27.3 28 28.7 29.3
Magic Damage 93-228 98-240 103-252 108-264 113-276 118-288 123-300 128-312 134-326 140-340 146-354 152-368 158-382 164-396 170-410 176-424 182-438 188-452 194-466 200-480
Damage
+X% To Melee Attacks vs Undead
750 780 810 840 870 900 930 960 990 1020 1050 1080 1110 1140 1170 1200 1230 1260 1290 1320
Level 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Radius (yards) 30 30.7 31.3 32 32.7 33.3 34 34.7 35.3 36 36.7 37.3 38 38.7 39.3 40 40.7 41.3 42 42.7
Magic Damage 206-494 212-508 218-522 224-536 230-550 236-564 242-578 248-592 254-606 260-620 266-634 272-648 278-662 284-676 290-690 296-704 302-718 308-732 314-746 320-760
Damage
+X% To Melee Attacks vs Undead
1350 1380 1410 1440 1470 1500 1530 1560 1590 1620 1650 1680 1710 1740 1770 1800 1830 1860 1890 1920
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