Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred DLC expands the game with a ton of new Diablo 4 Items and more. It continues the major story of Mephisto and Neyrelle and introduces a whole new jungle setting – the historical Nahantu. This expansion introduces a new class to players – Spiritborn.
The backstory of Spiritborns is deeply rooted in the culture of Nahantu jungle. According to legend, Spiritborns were born from the jungle through a series of initiation rites designed to identify those individuals who were powerful.
The rites were performed to open their “visions”, connecting them to the Spirit Realm, shedding their past physical existence, and perhaps one day reborn as one of these Spirit Guardians.
This means that each Spirit Guardian has been trained in some form of martial arts, which makes the class feel a bit like the Monk, but with the added power of summoning spirits.
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Spiritborns Are Highly Adaptable.
This class is incredibly adaptable. Whether we use Jaguar, Gorilla, Centipede, or Eagle as our primary Spirit Guardian, each playstyle is distinct. Using the class’s Spirit Hall feature, players can set a guardian as their primary guardian, and among other effects, that guardian’s tags will be applied to all skills in Diablo 4 Skill Tree.
Later on, players will choose a second animal for their Spirit Hall to gain additional effects and Diablo 4 Gold. It’s an interesting class structure, and while we’re locked at level 30 in our preview, the sheer possibilities are mouth-watering.
Diablo 4’s Spiritborn Class
Players can summon four Spirit Guardians to customize their Spiritborn class
Jaguar. Uses attack/fire attacks repeatedly and increases lethality. His Incarnate skill is Ferocity, a stackable buff that increases attack speed and reduces cooldown.
Gorilla. Specializes in defensive/physical skills, can shrug off incoming damage, and focuses primarily on damage reduction and blocking.Incarnate skill known as Resolve can be stored and provides additional damage mitigation.
Centipede. Specializes in poison/debuffs, draining enemy power through constant poison damage and devastating crowd control.
Eagle. Applies a move/lightning focused blast to priority targets while darting across the battlefield. Mechanically focused on movement speed and amplified evasion.
Other Features Of Diablo 4’s Spiritborn Class
Glaives, polearms, and quarterstaffs are the weapons of choice for the Spiritborn. Spirit Hall allows you the freedom to further customize your build with spirit-based bonuses. Your first choice will grant you a powerful thematic mechanic, and your second choice will grant you additional secondary bonuses.
In Diablo 4, Incarnate Skill represents a new skill class that grants Spiritborn characters the ability to gain soul attributes. When players activate these skills, they will enjoy passive effects that align with the traits of their chosen soul. In addition, the game will introduce a host of Spiritborn-related New Legendaries and Diablo 4 Uniques.
Diablo 4 Spiritborn Impressions
Gorilla Spiritborn is a powerful tank that fulfills that power fantasy perfectly as you face hordes of new enemies and delve deeper into dungeons. But the opposite is true with Jaguar. We killed enemies faster, but we died faster. We were more potion-reliant, but the combination of speed and damage feels well-established.
Eagle Spiritborn is more mobile than other Spiritborns, combining skills and evasion to leap around the battlefield for damage and attack multiple enemies at once. Eagle Spiritborn seems to live up to the philosophy that if it doesn’t stand, it can’t be touched, while Centipede Spiritborn has a more traditional Diablo 4-style mix of crowd control, AoE, and slow death.
Build Crafters Will Have A Go
While players can only have one primary Spirit Guardian, you can mix and match skills and enhance your build with a second Spirit Hall. This is where build crafting in Diablo 4 will come into play.
While mixing Jaguar and Gorilla abilities works and seems feasible, it’s definitely more cumbersome than a full Jaguar or full Gorilla build. However, a few key changes could make it work, especially with Unique and Legendary Diablo 4 Items, and more time to build.
If you’re struggling with item scarcity, there’s a giveaway channel in IGGM discord that posts product giveaways from time to time. Remember to stay active in the discord group so you don’t miss out.
Each Diablo 4 Spiritborn ability and fantasy is unique enough that there are obviously a lot of builds. Not only are there ways to tweak individual Spirit Guardian builds, but the various combinations complement each other in different ways. It seems certain that Spiritborn class will be a build crafter’s dream.
Whenever a game launches a new class, there are always a lot of people wanting to try it out, and it seems like a given that anyone who digs into Diablo 4’s Spiritborn will find a strong contender for a new main class, and it will be interesting to see how it performs at a high level and solidify its own identity among Diablo 4’s other classes.