Spiritborn Class Impressions | Diablo 4 Vessel Of Hatred Preview

Two Hours With Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred's Spiritborn Reveals A Diablo Class Unlike Any Other.

Vessel of Hatred will introduce a brand-new class to the franchise: the Spiritborn. I got the chance to spend two hours with Spiritborn at a preview event, using four premade, level-30 builds, and talked to Blizzard about how the new class came to be. 

The Spiritborn isn't a Paladin, but that's for the best--it's something entirely new, and a class that doesn't feel like anything fans have ever seen before in Diablo. That being said, it does provide some of the same power-fantasy those who had hoped for a holy warrior might find appealing, as the Spiritborn channel the power of gods themselves to rip their foes apart.

Those who had hoped to see a class from Diablo's past make a return for Diablo 4's first expansion may initially be disappointed. But even as a huge Paladin fan, I found it refreshing to see a new idea brought to life. It's no small task to create a new class that feels right at home in the gothic fantasy world of Diablo while also not relying on standard fantasy archetypes. I came away impressed at the attention to detail and thought that had gone into the worldbuilding, visuals, and gameplay for the Spiritborn. There's still much we don't know about the story of the Spiritborn and the expansion as a whole, but I'm excited to dive in and see if Blizzard can stick the landing. 

Diablo 4's Vessel of Hatred expansion, and its new Spiritborn class, launch on October 8.