Diablo IV's Vessel of Hatred expansion just released, bringing an entire new class to play - the Spiritborn. The Spiritborn is a new class that has 4 different guardian spirits that change the class's gameplay. Here is an overview of the new class and tips for leveling in the Vessel of Hatred.
The Spiritborn is a new melee class that has similar abilities to the monk from Diablo III. This new Diablo IV class is centered around 4 Spirit Guardians: the Centipede, the Eagle, the Gorilla, and the Jaguar. Each Spirit Guardian unlocks new aspects of gameplay. For example, the Centipede gives the Spiritborn Thorns and poison damage, whereas the Gorilla is a tankier spec that focuses on defense.
Here is an overview of the Spiritborn class in Diablo IV:
Class Archetype: Melee Damage and Tank
Class Resource: Vigor
Damage Types: Physical, Poison, Lightning, Fire
Class Skill Groups: Basic, Core, Focus, Defensive, Potency, Ultimate, Key Passives
Class Skills: Thrash, Rake, Vortex, Soar, Counterattack, Touch of Death, The Devourer, The Seeker
Unique Class Mechanic: The Spirit Hall (choose primary and secondary spirit guardians)
Weapon Classes: Glaives, Quarterstaffs, Polearms
Unique Class Mechanic: Players will use the Spirit Hall to designate which spirits will be their primary and secondary guardian spirits. These choices will affect your gameplay. The Gorilla unlocks Physical Damage, the Eagle unlocks Lightning Damage, the Centipede unlocks Poison Damage, and the Jaguar unlocks Fire Damage.
For leveling a new Spiritborn character, players will have an advantage by creating a build focused around either the Gorilla or the Centipede. The Gorilla spirit guardian unlocks powerful physical skills and important damage reduction that can help if you're leveling solo.
Spiritborn Unique Class Mechanic - Spirit Hall
Spiritborn players have access to the Spirit Hall, a mechanic that allows players to select a Primary Spirit Guardian that unlocks a skill set, and a Secondary Spirit Guardian that unlocks passive effects.
Balazan the Centipede is also known as The Devourer, granting players Drain Life and powerful poison attacks. Kwatli the Eagle, also known as the Seeker, emphasizes mobility and movement speed. The Eagle grants Lightning Damage and applies Vulnerable Status to enemies.
Wumba the Gorilla is also known at The Protector, and this Spirit Guardian grants both powerful physical offense and defense. This spirit allows the players to build up damage reduction and leap into packs of enemies to deal powerful slam attacks. The final Spirit Guardian, the Jaguar, is also known as The Hunter. The Jaguar focuses on increasing cooldown reduction while ramping up fire damage.
Best Leveling Classes and Skills
Rock Splitter is a basic Gorilla skill where every 3rd attack strikes enemies around you. Rock Splitter has several upgrades that increase Block Chance, Thorns, and eventually grants resolve per hit.
Crushing Hand is an active Core skill for the Gorilla that creates two shockwaves that overlap, dealing 40% damage each. When leveling up to the Enhanced Crushing Hand, the player gains a Barrier equal to 10% of the damage dealt. This skill creates a shield that will definitely be useful for leveling the character.
Leveling the skill to Rampant Crushing Hand and Advantageous Crushing Hand adds increased damage dealt and a knockdown effect.
Basic Centipede skills revolve around slows, AOE attacks, and poison damage that will be useful for leveling. Withering Fist is the primary Centipede skill that jabs at targets several times, applying 30% Poisoning damage over 6 seconds. Your third attack damages surrounding enemies and also slows them for 3 seconds. Leveling up this skill allows players to gain Vigor, reduce enemy damage, and spread Poison to three additional enemies in AOE range.
The Centipede's Core Active skill is Stinger, striking a small AOE area that also deals damage to any poisoned enemies. Leveling this skill up to Enhanced Stinger applies 50% of its damage as Poison to all enemies. Leveling this skill up further increases damage by 40%, and lets this attack heal you for 10% if enemies are Vulnerable. The Centipede's fast-paced AOE damage and eventual Drain Life makes this Spirit Guardian perfect for leveling.
While the Gorilla and Centipede are both excellent choices for leveling, all four of the Guardian Spirits would make a great build for leveling in the Vessel of Hatred. Both the Gorilla and the Eagle emphasize barriers and damage reduction, while the Jaguar and the Centipede both build up Drain Life self-healing.
When leveling in Diablo IV, it's important to emphasize either Damage Reduction or Drain Life to keep yourself alive through large packs of mobs and boss battles.
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred released on October 7th, 2024 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. QuestAccepted! is a PC gaming news source with beginner guides and news for popular games like World of Warcraft, Elden Ring, Diablo and more. This information is subject to future changes by Blizzard.
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