Diablo 4 launched with only returning classes from past entries to choose from, all instantly familiar to fans of fantasy RPGs: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Druid. One class that was notably missing was a Paladin-type–some kind of holy warrior to dole out divine punishment to demons and evildoers in kind. Many fans expected Diablo 4’s first expansion would look to fill that gap in the base game’s roster. Instead, Vessel of Hatred will introduce a brand-new class to the franchise, one that is fast, frenetic, and fun: the Spiritborn.
I got the chance to spend two hours putting the Spiritborn through its paces at a preview event, using four premade, level-30 builds and talking to Blizzard about how the new class came to be. The Spiritborn isn’t a Paladin, but that’s for the best–it’s something entirely new, and a class that doesn’t feel like anything fans have ever seen before in Diablo. That being said, it does provide some of the same power-fantasy those who had hoped for a holy warrior might find appealing, as the Spiritborn channel the power of gods themselves to rip their foes apart.
Welcome To The Jungle
Spiritborn are deeply tied to the new region being introduced in Vessel of Hatred: the dense jungles of Nahantu that players may remember from Diablo 2. During Diablo 4’s development, Blizzard knew where the story would take Neyrelle and the soulstone of Mephisto. Rather than shoehorn in a class that had little to do with the new part of Sanctuary players were set to explore in the expansion, Blizzard instead opted to create a new one that would have a deep connection to Nahantu and establish a strong sense of cohesion with the expansion as a whole. It was from that goal the idea of the Spiritborn was conceptualized.
Before unlocking their full power, those seeking to become Spiritborn undergo a coming-of-age ritual deep in the forest, one that the vast majority of participants don’t survive. Those who come out the other side undergo a metamorphosis in the Spirit Realm after communing with powerful Spirit Guardians: massive, ghost-like animals that are the embodiment of the laws of Nahantu’s unforgiving jungles. Ever since the events of Diablo 2, the Spiritborn have been lying in wait, anticipating the return of evil to Nahantu. The arrival of Mephisto’s soulstone to the region sees them pushed into battle against the forces of Hell once more.
Spiritborn wield glaives, polearms, and quarterstaffs while channeling their Spirit Guardians to devastating effect.
The Spiritborn channel the power of the Spirit Guardians, but they are formidable martial warriors as well, wielding glaives, polearms, and quarterstaffs to attack enemies with a rapid flurry of blows. Their fighting style is inspired by different real-world martial art styles, bringing a dash of Diablo 3’s Monk to the class. Meanwhile, their look takes inspiration from a number of pre-Columbian civilizations like the Aztec and Mayans. Eleni Rivera-Colon, associate narrative designer on Diablo 4, said Blizzard made sure not to “copy and paste” an existing culture. Instead, Blizzard imagined what such a culture might look like in the dark world of Sanctuary. Spiritborn don’t wear armor in the traditional sense, as their clothing is not meant to protect them so much as to help honor and channel the Spirit Guardians, while also enabling the acrobatic and rapid movements seen in the class’ gameplay.
“[Spirit Guardians are] not just protecting the Spirit Realm, but they’re also protecting the Spiritborn that’s calling upon them, [so Spiritborn] don’t really need this heavy armor,” Rivera-Colon said. “They need something that’s going to make them very fast and can move very well. All of those things played into [the look of the class].”
Choose Your Spirit Guardians
It’s hard to overstate how big an impact the Spirit Guardians have on the Spiritborn’s gameplay. Each Spiritborn skill is associated with one of the four guardians, and players can choose to focus on skills of one particular type or mix and match for a playstyle all their own.
Jaguar abilities are aggressive and mobile, with combo attacks that deal fire damage and generate Ferocity, a stacking attack-speed buff.Skills channeling the stalwart Gorilla Spirit Guardian are designed for frontline warriors who want to absorb damage and dish it out in equal measure, with many Gorilla skills generating Resolve, an additional form of damage mitigation.Eagle Spirit Guardian skills revolve around precision, movement, and lightning damage while also generating Focus, a buff improving evasion and increasing movement speed.Most terrifying is the Centipede Spirit Guardian, the embodiment of decay and rebirth in the jungle, and whose skills deal poison damage to enemies and restrict their movements.The Centipede Ultimate skill blasts enemies with beams of concentrated poison.
These Spirit Guardians truly are the star of the show. Basic abilities and core abilities give players just a glimpse of each Spirit Guardian’s power as their essence is channeled through the Spiritborn’s weapon. Unleashing one of the class’s four Ultimate skills (one for each Spirit Guardian) brings the gods of the Spirit Realm crashing down onto foes in their full glory.
The Centipede Ultimate ability executes low-health enemies and fires beams of poison at distant threats.The Jaguar unleashes a fiery hurricane of attacks.The Gorilla’s Ultimate mimics its “stand your ground” playstyle, pummeling a designated area repeatedly.For the Eagle’s Ultimate, the bird of prey crashes down and unleashes a storm of lightning in a location, knocking down foes.
In my two hours with the expansion, I spent time playing a number of different builds, fighting my way through some of Nahantu’s new strongholds and dungeons. Some builds featured skills that focused largely on only one Spirit Guardian. Others featured a combination of skills from two or three Spirit Guardians, shoring up the weaknesses of one Spirit Guardian with the strengths of another. Even for those who go all-in on one Spirit Guardian, the Spiritborn’s unique class mechanic, the Spirit Hall, allows players to access some of the strengths or unique features of other Spirit Guardians without necessarily having abilities native to those Guardians on their action bar. Players can pledge devotion to two Spirit Guardians in the Spirit Hall, the first at level 15 upon completing the Spiritborn’s class quest (which is said to be longer and more involved than the class quests seen in the base game) and another at level 30.
The Jaguar Ultimate skill deals massive fire damage to nearby enemies, and, if you’re lucky, can be used multiple times in quick succession.
Diablo 4 class designer Bjorn Mikkelson said the team wants to give players the tools to make whatever build they want to make, whether it’s sticking largely to one Spirit Guardian or branching out into multiple.
“From the start, something we were interested in was really exploring what it would look like for a class that kind of has the ability to mix-and-match,” Mikkelson said. “That was something we always really wanted. ‘Play Your Way’ has always been something we’ve said for Diablo 4, and Spiritborn was like, ‘Can we take that to another level?'”
Deadly Build Possibilities
Combat can feel wildly different depending on which Spirit Guardian’s abilities players opt to use. Playing an all-Gorilla build feels slow and steady, focusing less on mobility or evading damage and instead on standing your ground before pounding enemies into the dirt. Conversely, a Jaguar build feels kinetic and frantic. Many Jaguar skills dash to enemies and can be used multiple times in quick succession, including the Jaguar Ultimate ability, resulting in a combo-like flow state. Eagle builds are more ranged-focused and extremely mobile, but require careful positioning and ability usage. Centipede, meanwhile, debuffs enemies with slows and poison, offering a more passive playstyle as enemies die all around you, in turn creating more death and decay.
Of the four, I found myself drawn most to Jaguar, largely due to its quick-paced gameplay and the ability to chain attacks together. Especially fun was that, thanks to a talent point, there was a decent chance of the Jaguar Ultimate abilty’s cooldown being instantly reset whenever I killed an enemy while it was active. That allowed me to continue summoning the Spirit Guardian repeatedly for a limited number of times, after which all surrounding enemies had been reduced to ash.
The Spiritborn’s class mechanic, the Spirit Hall, lets players gain additional benefits from up to two different Spirit Guardians.
While I didn’t have time to dive into the deep end and meticulously theorycraft my own unique build featuring skills from multiple Spirit Guardians, I can already see the potential. Jaguar builds are more fast-paced and fragile, but splashing in a few defensive Gorilla skills might help to make the build sturdier. Meanwhile, combining the evasiveness of Eagle skills with the debilitating effects of Centipede skills could result in a build that would allow players to run circles around their slowed and poisoned enemies, all the while picking them off at range. There are tons of possibilities, but players can certainly stick to one particular playstyle (made simple by the color-coated nature of each Spirit Guardian’s abilities displayed in the skill tree) and find success doing so. However, the true potential of the class comes from blending different Spirit Guardian skills. Mixing in different abilities to help eliminate some of the weaknesses inherent to builds that focus on a single Spirit Guardian is entirely the point, associate class designer Stephen Stewart said.
“That’s where the beauty of the class really starts to sing,” Stewart said.
From my time playing it, I’m inclined to agree. The Spiritborn makes for a fascinating cocktail of gameplay variety. I was never bored trying out the different builds, and as I saw more of what the class had to offer, lightbulbs began to go off in my head as I started piecing together ideas for how I could combine my favorite elements of each playstyle into one all my own. Mixing together abilities from different categories already exists in Diablo 4, but the strongly defined identities of each Spirit Guardian and their corresponding skills make it even easier at a glance to understand how a particular skill could slot into a build.
Those who had hoped to see a class from Diablo’s past make a return for Diablo 4’s first expansion may initially be disappointed, but even as a huge Paladin fan, I found it refreshing to see a new idea brought to life. Creating a new class that feels right at home in the gothic fantasy world of Diablo while also not relying on standard fantasy archetypes is no small task, but I came away impressed at the attention to detail and thought that had gone into the worldbuilding, visuals, and gameplay for the Spiritborn. There is still much we don’t know about the story of the Spiritborn and the expansion as a whole, but I’m excited to dive in and see if Blizzard can stick the landing. As for the Diablo 4 team behind the class, the Spiritborn is a chance for them to put their own stamp on the franchise, rather than simply following in the footsteps of what came before.
“It’s the idea of the open space of creativity, right?” Stewart said. “Because the five existing classes are ones that we’ve seen in the Diablo world before, but getting that opportunity to just go free your mind… We’ve done a really good job of being stewards of the franchise, and now let’s add our footprint, our DNA, to a brand-new class. For me, there’s a lot of reverence and apprehension and fear and excitement and all that, because I was a fan of these games before I worked on these games. And so it’s cool to say, ‘I made that, the new thing,’ rather than taking a thing that had already existed and putting a new spin on it.”
Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion, and its new Spiritborn class, launch on October 8.
