As Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion inches ever-closer, Blizzard has shared first gameplay and details for its new Spiritborn class during a lengthy deep-dive livestream.
In lore terms, the Spiritborn comes from the jungles of Sanctuary’s Nahantu and is described as “an apex predator with a deep connection to the spirit realm”. From a gameplay perspective, though, the Spiritborn is a dexterity focused class built around a spirit-infused martial arts move set – combining aspects of Muay Thai, taekwondo, karate, kickboxing, and boxing – that promises to make for Diablo 4’s “fastest, most aggressive” class yet.
It has multiple gap-closers built into its basic attacks, several movement skills with “very high damage”, plus various ways to upgrade its evades – and all its abilities are themed around four god-like Spirit Guardians that it summons during battle. There’s a jaguar representing courage and ferocity; a massive centipede embodying balance and persistence; a giant eagle reflecting awareness and finesse, plus a gorilla that’s a manifestation of protection and strength.
Breaking these down further, jaguar skills are all about speed and piling on constant pressure, and they generate a new stacking buff known as Ferocity through use. Ferocity increases the attack speed of all skills as it stacks, but also further enhances jaguar skills so they can be used more often.