The new Diablo 4 class is the Spiritborn, which brings monk-style gameplay to D4

The newest class coming to the Diablo franchise is the Spiritborn, joining the lineup with the Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion. Previously we only knew that the expansion’s class would be brand new to the franchise, and datamining way back in October hinted at ways the class might be connected to the jungles of Nahantu, the new zone in Vessel of Hatred. But now we’ve had a good look at Spiritborn abilities and gameplay, and even had a chance to check out the Spiritborn ourselves pre launch.

Described as “battle-hardened with mystical synergies,” the Spiritborn seems a great deal like the Diablo 3 Monk class… but with a few extras. The class has a quick melee playstyle and high mobility, which, I admit, could describe quite a few classes in the Diablo franchise. But the Spiritborn is defined by its connection to the spirits, and I don’t mean that metaphorically: the entire class is built around its Spirit Guardians, animal spirits that can be called on to aid the Spiritborn in battle. Here’s a rundown of how to unlock Spirit Guardians for yourself.

There are four Spirit Guardians: Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle, and Centipede, each embodying a different style of combat. The Jaguar is a more-or-less straightforward damage-dealer, focused on fast attacks and fire damage. The Gorilla is your tank option, bolstering your defenses and controlling your enemies. Eagle focuses on hard-hitting precision strikes, dealing lightning damage. The less-than-appealing-sounding centipede is perhaps my favorite of the lot, focused on poison damage over time and crowd control, to keep your foes stuck in your attack range (and/or poison clouds). I suppose I like this because it reminds me of the Javalin Amazon; it was always fun to spread clouds of poison and just wait for your enemies to walk into them and die.

Each of the Spiritborn’s abilities will be tagged with one of these spirits — which feels rather like D4’s Druids — and you can mix and match between them or specialize. At level 15, a class quest lets you designate one spirit as your primary spirit and one spirit as your secondary spirit (and, yes, you can double up and pick the same spirit as primary and secondary), providing passive buffs depending on the spirit. For example, here’s the Gorilla primary spirit effect:

Casting a Gorilla Skill deals 100% Thorns to enemies you hit and grants a Barrier for 10% of Maximum Life, up to 40%, for 3 seconds. All Skills are now also Gorilla Skills.

These are powerful effects, but the most powerful may be that last one, which makes all of your skills Gorilla Skills to benefit from any skill synergies you have. That will give Spiritborn a lot of build flexibility, which is emphasized by a set of key passives that seem to encourage build diversity rather than heavily investing in a single spirit.

Most of the information about builds is still more theorycrafting than practical advice, but Wowhead has a list of the Spiritborn’s skills based on previews, which should give you a fair idea of the options this new class has. But there are still a few more months to wait, so you have time to figure out what kind of Spiritborn you intend to play when Vessel of Hatred comes out.

Originally published June 9, 2024; updated October 7, 2024.