I've never perused the Elder Evils supplement.
Perhaps those who have could summarize the sorts of nastiness they might dish, to help focus your build. In my experience, survivability tends to be relative, and true immortality tends to get houseruled.
5 free feats, 'nuff said. Most of them Cha, Wis, and Con focused. One of them in particular is amazing. Let me list a few good ones.
Evil's Blessing: Standard action to use, but lasts 5 rounds. Cha to one save, at will. If you have a Cohort or ally who has White Raven Tactics and is willing to blow it on you at the start of each encounter, then the Standard action is negligible. Better yet, multiple Belts of Battle for the extra Full Round so you can get in a Strike too.
Chosen of Evil: Not bad in and of itself, as the Con damage can be negated through Shape Soulmeld (Strongheart Vest) or being bound to Naberius. But the feat is a requirement for the next one up, Master's Will.
Master's Will: As an immediate action, roll a d20. If the result is odd, you get a +8 bonus to something for the next d20 roll you make (save, attack, skill check, etc). If you roll even, you take HP damage equal to your Character Level. Guess what? You lose nothing for using the feat, no matter the result of the roll. Odd number? Initiate Tombstone Mountain Strike. Even number? Full Attack, heal the damage with Martial Spirit and get the +4 bonus to Attacks/Damage for one round.
Insane Defiance: Works wonders if you have an enchanter in the party!
Willing Deformity: In and of itself, this is a bad feat and a wasted slot. But if you take it with the Elder Evils bonus feats, you actually have a use for it. While you can only select bonus feats from the list in the Elder Evils book itself, having this feat allows you to take Deformity (Tall) from Heroes of Horror and Deformity (Obese) from BoVD. One gives you a natural 10ft reach, the other improves your Con score at the cost of 2 points of Dex (but you don't care about Dex, you actually want enemies to hit you because you're an effing Crusader!).
Deformity (Madness): It hurts, but the benefits are amazing. Blanket immunity to Mind-Affecting spells and abilities, and a bonus to one Will save/minute equal to 1/2 your CL, at the cost of 4 points of Wis? I said it hurts, but it is worth it considering the next feat down.
Reflexive Psychosis: Let me get this straight; I can take an immediate action to gain DR 5/-, and the only thing that happens is I'm Confused at the start of my next turn for one round? Wait, doesn't the prereqs for this feat give me a blanket immunity to Mind Affecting spells/abilities? Isn't Confusion a Mind Affecting ability? *Checks* Yes, they are. This is, effectively, a constant DR 5/- for a Crusader. Which means it's effectively DR 10/-, considering your Steely Resolve ability. At level 1, that's pretty fucking retarded.
