The first major expansion for Diablo IV launches on October 8th, 2024, and ahead of the official release date, we learned everything there is to know about Vessel of Hatred and the expansion’s new class, The Spiritborn.
Recently, we had the exclusive opportunity to visit Blizzard HQ in Irvine, California, for an in-depth, hands-on session with the Spiritborn and Vessel of Hatred. We came away incredibly eager to get into the new expansion when it goes live later this year.
Introducing the Spiritborn
Despite a widespread demand for adding a classic sword-and-board class like the Paladin or Crusader from previous games, the developers at Blizzard have chosen a different and distinct path. Committed to pushing the boundaries of the iconic Diablo universe, they’ve introduced the Spiritborn, a class that promises to imbue the critically acclaimed game with fresh combat, gameplay dynamics, visuals and more.
Originating from a mysterious and ancient civilisation deep within the perilous jungle region of Nahantu, the Spiritborn are apex predators, deeply connected to the spiritual and natural elements of the region they call home.
During our hands-on session, we were free to explore Nahantu through one of four pre-built level 30 Spiritborn characters.
Welcome to the Jungle
Almost right away, I was struck by how different the environment felt compared to the existing Diablo IV aesthetic. Whereas Sanctuary has long been characterised by its brooding, blood-red hues and oppressive gothic architecture, Nahantu envelops players in an environment defined by its rich, vibrant greenery. The jungle is a sprawling tapestry of dense foliage, towering ancient trees, and a labyrinthine network of overgrown paths. The sunlight that filters through the thick canopy creates dappled patterns on the forest floor and exposes the thicket, teeming with exotic and unfamiliar flora and fauna.
It’s undeniably distinct from the base game’s familiar dreary ruins and hellish landscapes, offering a novel and attractive backdrop for the game’s next narrative-driven chapter.
Early Gameplay
The Spiritborn class operates around the unique concept of Spirit Guardians. Players use the Spirit Hall to choose a primary and a secondary Spirit, each offering distinct abilities and passive skills. For example, choosing the Jaguar as your primary Spirit imbues all your skills with Jaguar attributes and grants a passive ability that deals additional damage with every fourth direct hit. The secondary Spirit provides supplementary passive benefits; the Centipede, for example, can heal a percentage of your maximum life for each recently poisoned nearby enemy.
The versatility of the Spiritborn class is genuinely exciting and impressive. You can select the same Spirit for both primary and secondary roles or mix and match between the four available Spirits. Regardless of your choice, you can still integrate abilities from all four Spirits into your skill customisation, allowing for countless build possibilities. This customisation opens up extensive opportunities for players to experiment with different skill combinations and synergies, potentially reshaping meta gameplay and PvP strategies.
My three-hour exploration with the Spiritborn began with the pre-configured Jaguar build, but my curiosity soon led me to experiment with other Spirit Guardians. Each dungeon and challenge provided a new opportunity to visit the Skill Tree, testing various Spirit combinations to see how they could be tailored to suit my playstyle and any upcoming battles. The depth of customisation available encourages players to continually refine their approach, especially when gearing up for significant encounters. I had the most fun with one particular configuration: a build centred around the Jaguar as the primary Spirit and the Centipede as the secondary Spirit. This combo offered a dynamic and powerful playstyle that perfectly suited my natural affinity for fast-paced, intense melee combat with the added bonus of area-of-effect capabilities and enduring damage over time.
With the Jaguar as my primary, my Spiritborn became a relentless force in close-quarters combat, utilising a suite of abilities that delivered rapid, repetitive and increasingly damaging melee attacks that reflect the Jaguar’s hallmark speed and ferocity. Unleashing a flurry of violent swipes, the Jaguar’s unique passive ability further enhanced this aggressive style with the fourth direct hit with a Jaguar skill triggering additional slashes, dealing 100% of the damage of the previous four strikes. This effect ramped up the damage output and created a visually striking chain of attacks that felt as satisfying as it was effective.
I paired the Jaguar with the Centipede as my secondary Spirit, which introduced a complementary layer of tactical depth and created a different spectacle, introducing glowing auras and eerie creepy crawly visuals to the screen. One of the standout features of the Centipede is its ability to inflict lingering poison damage. Using the Centipede’s skills, I could lay down venomous fields that poisoned enemies over time, gradually sapping their health as they remained in the affected area. This increased my overall damage output and facilitated more strategic engagement. Watching enemies stumble into my toxic traps, I felt more in control of the battlefield than with the chaotic intensity of the Jaguar alone. This approach allowed me to deal significant burst damage while wearing down enemies over time, making it highly effective in solo bosses and large encounters. It delivered a thrilling and dynamic gameplay experience that kept me engaged throughout the session, and I couldn’t believe how quickly three hours had passed by the time it was over.
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is already proving to offer a new flavour of D4 gameplay, brimming with new gameplay potential. The Spiritborn’s new suite of mechanics offers a fresh and dynamic experience that’s sure to give the game a shot in the arm when it arrives in October.
Spiritborn is exclusive to Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, available October 8th, 2024 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Battle.net or Steam.
You can check out our full review of Diablo IV here, where we scored it a massive 9/10 by saying, “Diablo IV is an unquestionable win for Blizzard and one of their foundational franchises when it needed it most. An unrelenting commitment to vision, redefined Sanctuary, never-ending player progression, and excellent boss fights are just a few of the reasons Diablo IV isn’t held back by uneven pacing and recycled content.”
The author of this post travelled to California as a guest of Blizzard.
