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Among the slew of new features and content in the Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred expansion is the new Spiritborn class. Other than being a milestone for the series as the first new class in years, the Spiritborn offers an agile and multi-layered playstyle with massive damage potential that centres on channelling primal animal spirits – Eagle, Gorilla, Centipede, and Jaguar – to soup up a plethora of speedy, lethal skills. It’s also a whole lot of fun to play and perfectly geared to take on the challenging content bundled into the expansion.
While end game builds are fantastic, finding the best leveling build to make it through the new campaign act, reach the level cap, and dip into tougher difficulties is more useful to players jumping into the expansion. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best Spiritborn leveling build we’ve come across so far, which focuses on the Eagle.
Spiritborn build skills
The build is centered on the Eagle Quill Volley skill, a potent multi-target skill that you can unlock as early as level 2. Our aim with this build is to give you a setup that’s viable from level 1 and should see you through to the end of the campaign. The focal point is dishing out substantial damage to both groups and single targets while constantly replenishing Vigor by using Thrash and evade to repeatedly fire off Quill Volley. There’s some durability thrown in there for good measure as well. It’s fast and chews through enemy hordes in no time at all, making it extremely efficient when tackling lengthy dungeons.
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Aside from Quill Volley, these skills tap into the Vulnerable status, dishing out additional damage to any afflicted enemies. This is further enhanced by the Vital Strikes key passive that grants +45% damage to Vulnerable enemies, along with health and Vigor regeneration.
Our skill selection is Thrash, followed by Quill Volley, Ravager, Scourge, and Armored Hide, then The Hunter as the ultimate. Here’s a breakdown of the skill tree leveling path you should follow:
Skill | Description |
---|---|
Thrash 1/5 | Generate Vigor: 8 Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Dive at an enemy and slash into it dealing 18% damage. Your 3rd attack unleashes a rapid series of slashes around your target, dealing a total of 27% damage. |
Enhanced Thrash | After killing an enemy, your next Thrash generates 10 additional Vigor, up to 10 casts of Thrash. |
Quill Volley 1/5 | Vigor Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 12% Hurl 5 feathers that pierce through enemies, each dealing 26% damage. |
Enhanced Quill Volley | Quill Volley makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds if they are hit with at least 3 feathers at once. |
Advantageous Quill Volley | Quill Volley hurls out 3 additional feathers and deals 10%[x] increased damage to each enemy per hit. |
Ravager | Cooldown: 25 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 30% Passive: Minimum Ferocity increased by 2[+]. Active: Unleash a savage roar, causing each of your attacks to trigger an additional 40% damage strike per enemy for 6 seconds. |
Enhanced Ravager | Ravager’s duration is extended by 2 seconds per kill while active. This bonus is reduced by 0.25 each kill, to a minimum of 0.25 seconds. |
Measured Ravager | While Ravager is active, your Core Skills instantly dash to your target and all Vigor Generation is increased by 30%[x]. |
Accelerated Thrash | Thrash continues to unleash its 3rd attack if cast again within 1.5 seconds. |
Quill Volley 2/5 | Vigor Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 12% Hurl 5 feathers that pierce through enemies, each dealing 26% damage. |
Quill Volley 3/5 | Vigor Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 12% Hurl 5 feathers that pierce through enemies, each dealing 26% damage. |
Quill Volley 4/5 | Vigor Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 12% Hurl 5 feathers that pierce through enemies, each dealing 26% damage. |
Quill Volley 5/5 | Vigor Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 12% Hurl 5 feathers that pierce through enemies, each dealing 26% damage. |
Scourge 1/5 | Cooldown: 12 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 10% Call forth a wave of insects that bite enemies, Fearing and Slowing them by 50% for 3 seconds while applying 100% Poisoning damage over 6 seconds. |
Enhanced Scourge | Each time you hit an enemy with Scourge you gain 1%[x] increased damage vs Crowd Controlled enemies for 6 seconds, up to 50%[x]. |
Reinforced Scourge | Casting Scourge grants 60% of your Maximum Vigor over 6 seconds. |
Armored Hide 1/5 | Cooldown: 25 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 30% Passive: Gain 1 Resolve every 5.0 seconds. Active: Encase yourself, becoming Unstoppable and gaining 100%[+] Block Chance for 3 seconds. |
Enhanced Armored Hide | Activating Armored Hide grants you Maximum Resolve and increases your Thorns by 400 for the duration. |
Reinforced Armored Hide | While active, Armored Hide increases your Blocked Damage Reduction by 5%[+] for every Nearby enemy, up to 20%[+]. |
The Hunter | Cooldown: 45 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 15% Bound across the battlefield with the Jaguar Spirit, dealing 50% damage upon landing and then rapidly slashing enemies in the area for 200% total damage over 7 strikes. |
Harmonious Hunter | The Hunter overfills your Ferocity by 4 stacks and causes you to deal 100%[x] increased damage to Injured enemies for 8 seconds. |
Exalted Hunter | Killing an enemy while The Hunter is present has a 40% chance to instantly reset its Cooldown. This chance is halved after each consecutive reset. |
Vigorous 1/3 | Casting a Core Skill increases all Vigor Generation by 5%[x] for 3 seconds. |
Vigorous 2/3 | Casting a Core Skill increases all Vigor Generation by 5%[x] for 3 seconds. |
Vigorous 3/3 | Casting a Core Skill increases all Vigor Generation by 5%[x] for 3 seconds. |
Acceleration 1/3 | Gain 1[+] additional Evade Charge. After you Evade your next Eagle Skill deals 10%[x] increased damage. |
Acceleration 2/3 | Gain 1[+] additional Evade Charge. After you Evade your next Eagle Skill deals 10%[x] increased damage. |
Acceleration 3/3 | Gain 1[+] additional Evade Charge. After you Evade your next Eagle Skill deals 10%[x] increased damage. |
Brilliance 1/3 | Your Eagle Skill damage is increased by 3.0%[x] of your Movement Speed. |
Focal Point 1/3 | Gain a bonus based on the weapon type you wield. Casting a Focus Skill doubles this bonus for 5 seconds. Glaive: 5%+ Bonus Lucky Hit Chance Quarterstaff: 3%+ Blocked Damage Reduction Polearm: 10% Lucky Hit Chance to make enemies Vulnerable. |
Vital Strikes | You deal 45%[x] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. After making an enemy Vulnerable, your next Direct damage dealt to them: Heals you for 2% of your Maximum Life (0) Generates 5 Vigor Removes the Vulnerable effect |
Endurance | Casting a Defensive Skill grants 5 Vigor. |
Perseverance 1/3 | Gain 0.5% additional Damage Reduction per stack of Resolve. |
Perseverance 2/3 | Gain 0.5% additional Damage Reduction per stack of Resolve. |
Perseverance 3/3 | Gain 0.5% additional Damage Reduction per stack of Resolve. |
Potent 1/3 | Hitting enemies with Jaguar Skills increases the damage they take from you by 0.1%[x], up to 10%[x]. |
Potent 2/3 | Hitting enemies with Jaguar Skills increases the damage they take from you by 0.1%[x], up to 10%[x]. |
Potent 3/3 | Hitting enemies with Jaguar Skills increases the damage they take from you by 0.1%[x], up to 10%[x]. |
Velocity 1/3 | If you’ve dealt damage within the last 5 seconds and are moving, you generate 1 Vigor per second. |
Velocity 2/3 | If you’ve dealt damage within the last 5 seconds and are moving, you generate 1 Vigor per second. |
Balanced Exertion 1/3 | Your Core Skills cost 3% more Vigor, but deal 5% increased damage. |
Balanced Exertion 2/3 | Your Core Skills cost 3% more Vigor, but deal 5% increased damage. |
Balanced Exertion 3/3 | Your Core Skills cost 3% more Vigor, but deal 5% increased damage. |
Armored Hide 2/5 | Cooldown: 25 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 30% Passive: Gain 1 Resolve every 5.0 seconds. Active: Encase yourself, becoming Unstoppable and gaining 100%[+] Block Chance for 3 seconds. |
Armored Hide 3/5 | Cooldown: 25 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 30% Passive: Gain 1 Resolve every 5.0 seconds. Active: Encase yourself, becoming Unstoppable and gaining 100%[+] Block Chance for 3 seconds. |
Apex 1/3 | You deal 3%[x] increased Vulnerable damage. Double this bonus vs Elite enemies. |
Apex 2/3 | You deal 3%[x] increased Vulnerable damage. Double this bonus vs Elite enemies. |
Apex 3/3 | You deal 3%[x] increased Vulnerable damage. Double this bonus vs Elite enemies. |
Diminishment 1/3 | Vulnerable enemies deal 5% less damage to you. |
Diminishment 2/3 | Vulnerable enemies deal 5% less damage to you. |
Diminishment 3/3 | Vulnerable enemies deal 5% less damage to you. |
Resolution 1/3 | Casting an Ultimate Skill grants 5%[x] increased damage to Elites for 3 seconds. Double this bonus if you are only fighting one enemy. |
Resolution 2/3 | Casting an Ultimate Skill grants 5%[x] increased damage to Elites for 3 seconds. Double this bonus if you are only fighting one enemy. |
Resolution 3/3 | Casting an Ultimate Skill grants 5%[x] increased damage to Elites for 3 seconds. Double this bonus if you are only fighting one enemy. |
Spiritual Attunement 1/3 | Your maximum Vigor is increased by 10 while you have an Ultimate Skill equipped. |
Spiritual Attunement 2/3 | Your maximum Vigor is increased by 10 while you have an Ultimate Skill equipped. |
Spiritual Attunement 3/3 | Your maximum Vigor is increased by 10 while you have an Ultimate Skill equipped. |
Supremacy 1/3 | Any enemies you kill while an Ultimate Skill is active grants a stack of Supremacy, each increasing your damage by 1%[x], up to 10%[x]. When an Ultimate Skill ends, you gain 5 stacks of Supremacy, but you begin to lose one stack every second. |
Supremacy 2/3 | Any enemies you kill while an Ultimate Skill is active grants a stack of Supremacy, each increasing your damage by 1%[x], up to 10%[x]. When an Ultimate Skill ends, you gain 5 stacks of Supremacy, but you begin to lose one stack every second. |
Supremacy 3/3 | Any enemies you kill while an Ultimate Skill is active grants a stack of Supremacy, each increasing your damage by 1%[x], up to 10%[x]. When an Ultimate Skill ends, you gain 5 stacks of Supremacy, but you begin to lose one stack every second. |
Spirit Hall
One of the more interesting elements of the Spiritborn is the class specialization known as the Spirit Hall that unlocks once you hit level 15 and complete the The Sacred Hunt quest. Star with the Eagle as your primary spirit for the simple reason that whenever you cast Quill Volley any follow up evades within 4 seconds will deal 125% Lightning damage and make enemies Vulnerable for 5 seconds, which synergises with the skills above.
For the Secondary Spirit at level 30, opt for Jaguar, which stacks Ferocity for every kill (up to four stacks), greatly enhancing the attack speed of skills like the Quill Volley and Thrash, which in turn means better Vigor regeneration.
Legendary Aspects
The single most important Aspect for this build is Rebounding Aspect, which causes Quill Volley feathers to explode at their apex and return to where they were cast, dealing up to 55% of their standard damage. In other words, it makes Quill Volley even more lethal and borderline OP.
As always, don’t waste Aspects on weapons as you level because you’ll invariably swap out for better ones. Instead use them on longer-lasting items like amulets and rings.
Here are several other Aspects worth getting if you can:
Aspect | Effect |
---|---|
Aspect of Falling Feathers | Moving with a Mobility Skill or Evade spawns Storm Feathers along behind you. Storm Feathers now drop from the sky as they are spawned, each dealing 75 – 96 Lightning damage on impact. |
Reaper’s Aspect | Enemies you Poison have 100% Reduced Healing and your Eagle Skills gain 10 – 30% increased Critical Strike Chance against them. |
Aspect of Exhilaration | Lucky Hit: Hitting a Vulnerable enemy has up to a [15-35%] chance to reduce your Evade Cooldown by 5 seconds. Each stack of Ferocity you have increases this chance by 3% |
Mercenaries
There’s no right or wrong picks when it comes to Mercenaries. Raheir is solid early-game pick, simply because he’s available as soon as you reach Nahantu but also because he’s acts as damage sponge tank, which is especially while your still working to cut down on cooldowns and upping your Vigor regeneration to spam Quill Volley.
As you venture into higher levels, you’ll want to pivot to Subo as your hired Mercenary and Raheir as your Reinforcement. Subo’s Seeker Passive Perk, which marks an enemy then grants you 50% Vigor regen when you kill them further helps the Quill Volley Spam. Here’s a breakdown of where you should invest skill points for both Mercenaries:
Mercenary | Skills |
---|---|
Subo | Wire Trap Ready At Hand Cover Fire Opening Fire |
Raheir | Ground Slam Raheir’s Aegis Bastion Inspiration (Set The Hunter as the Reinforcement summon Opportunity then Bastion as the skill) |
As with all Diablo 4 builds, there’s scope for experimentation so don’t hesitate to fine-tune this build to suit what your prefer and what works best for you. For example, if you’re feeling squishy in chaotic fights, setting Gorilla as you Secondary Spirit can help with survivability. It’s also possible to weave in a few Centipede-focused skills to tap into poison damage, another very potent part of the Spiritborn class.
Diablo 4
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
- Genre(s): Action, Action RPG, RPG