3.5-5% Strength for 3.5s on Hit. Stacks 5 times.
Up to 5-20% Strength based on the charge time of your heavy attacks. Stacks 3 times.
4.5-6% Close Range damage on Repeated Hit. Stacks 5 times.
Gain 7-10% Close Damage for 3.5 seconds after killing an enemy at close range, stacking 5 times.
A thunder hammer build modified from this excellent video by Tetuous: https://youtu.be/eKRn9kOZBtQ
Probably won't oneshot most full-size monstrosities, but it'll come close enough while not being complete shit at everything else like a thunder hammer meme build.
Ironhelm is chosen for superior horde clear and ease of killing specials in hordes. No reason Crucis couldn't work with this build but ironhelm is stronger when you aren't dueling monstrosities if you have the attack pattern down.
Columnus is a powerful generalist option for dealing with enemy shooters and rager/dog spam alike, but you have a lot of wiggle room with what you want to run.
Curios are preference. I like x2 toughness & x1 health but you can invert that. Wounds are ok but between until death and shroudfield, you should not be going down often enough for it to make a difference. Stamina isn't worthwhile.
Talent explanation:
Purge the unclean/backstabber: Big damage
Blood redemption: You're getting more out of this than scourge
Second wind: 15% toughness on dodge is ridiculously good. Get into a good rhythm of dodging in and out between thunder hammer swings and you'll get a lot of mileage out of this. Works well with later dodge perks
Blades of Faith: the objectively worst blitz but it saves points that can be spent on thy wrath be swift. Still useful for picking off specials just outside of thunder hammer range or nailing ragers that rush you between swings without skipping a beat. Considering you already have two get-out-of-jail free cards with Until Death and Shroudfield, you're probably okay without the other grenades.
Dance of Death: on the way to TWBS and that recoil/spread reduction makes the columnus a lot more reliable when dealing with enemy shooters.
Thy Wrath Be Swift: Never get your heavy attack interrupted again. Essential for any zealot build.
Until Death/Holy Rev: You will not die as long as you have two minutes of breathing room between every bad spot you get in. With shroudfield and good positioning, that's an entirely achievable goal. Make sure you get stuck in and keep swinging to at least get something out of holy rev, or else you're left at 1hp and two hits will down you like you're playing cod zombies without juggernog. Ranged damage gives much less health but something is better than nothing; if it triggers when you've got no enemies nearby, at least try to plink some enemies so you can take an extra hit or two. Also a useful perk when you lock in on that monstrosity you didn't quite oneshot and suddenly, oh shit, my health is gone.
Benediction: the only good aura
Shroudfield: Big backstab damage and a get out of jail free card that also lets you complete objectives. No explanation needed.
Master-crafted shroudfield: Less likely to oneshot than perfectionist but better at literally everything else.
Invigorating Revelation: Makes it easier to get back in the fight after panic-popping shroudfield when your toughness breaks. If you find this unnecessary, duellist can be nice for the extra weakspot damage for horde clearing and, when the stars align, monstrosities.
Sustained assault: On the way to momentum/swift certainty/pious cut throat.
Swift Certainty: Triggers on-dodge perks (read: second wind) and makes shooters a lot easier to ignore while also getting you into the fight quicker.
Pious Cut-Throat: No explanation needed
Momentum: Blazing Piety isn't super useful because shroudfield gives guaranteed crits, and martyrdom is hard to use safely. Also, we probably already wanted the two perks above it. Free damage and swing speed for just playing the game is quite good.
Retributor's stance: 20-40% free toughness every 8s. Helps you stay topped up while horde clearing, which goes a long way towards preventing chip damage.
Inebriate's Poise: Helps you make the most of momentum while horde clearing since you probably aren't moving enough to get more than 10 stacks/8s without it. Also works with swift certainty.
