Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred showed off the new Spiritborn class in a preview as it enters the fray as the popular action RPG's most customizable and varied class so far.
The addition of the new class opens up a whole new unexplored aspect of Diablo 4's lore and even allows you to summon a giant spectral gorilla.
The preview of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred focused on the new area known as Nahantu which showcases spooky jungles and dark dungeons.
Diablo 4's New Spiritborn Class
The gameplay that many players were able to experience was limited as it did not include any story, NPCs aside from vendors, or feature the new hireable mercenaries feature.
However, it made up for this with an expansive dive into the Spiritborn class and what makes it unique.
The Spiritborn class comes with its own lore that is tied up in the ancient civilization of Nahantu. Unlike the game's other classes, this one gives players much more freedom as it gives them a choice over four guardian spirits to build into, according to IGN.
These four spirits are; the eagle, the gorilla, the jaguar, and the centipede, and each one will focus on certain gameplay mechanics. The eagle is the one that is centered around mobility, evasion, and lightning damage.
On the other hand, the gorilla focuses on survivability and physical damage while the jaguar is at the top for DPS, attack speed, and fire damage. Lastly, the centipede focuses on status such as poison, debuffs, and lifesteal.
Every single one of the four guardian spirits is represented by a massive ghostly avatar that imbues the player's character with power. It also occasionally takes to the battlefield in order to lay waste to your enemies.
Blizzard's addition of the Spiritborn class ties into the lore that players experienced at the end of the original game's main story campaign.
They have been lying in wait and anticipating the return of evil to Nahantu, which is the arrival of Mephisto's soulstone to the new region, said GameSpot.
A Customizable Fighter
The new class is capable of wielding glaives, polearms, and quarterstaffs to great effect to perform a rapid flurry of blows. It was said that the Spiritborn's fighting style was inspired by different real-world martial art styles.
Design-wise, the Spiritborn takes inspiration from a number of pre-Columbian civilizations, such as the Aztecs and Mayans. However, associate narrative designer on Diablo 4, Eleni Rivera-Colon, said that Blizzard did not want to "copy and paste" an existing culture.
Rivera-Colon said that the studio instead imagined what such a culture could look like if it was found inside the dark world of Sanctuary. She added that guardian spirits do not just protect the Spirit Realm but also Spiritborns who call out to them.
Game director Brent Gibson and class designer Bjorn Mikkelson also talked about the thought process behind bringing the Spiritborn class to Diablo 4.
The former said that one factor that played into the decision was that they wanted to make the new class feel fresh, even for longtime fans of the franchise, according to Forbes.
