Posted:2024-09-15
Source: IGZ
Recently, the Diablo IV expansion playtest event captured the attention of many players. The focus of this event was the new class, Spiritborn. Blizzard provided players with a level 30 trial account, with characters pre-set with basic gear and skill points, allowing players to jump right into the experience. However, with only two hours of playtime, players found it challenging to explore every skill in depth or experiment with various builds, so the gameplay mainly centered on combat feel.
According to the designers, Spiritborn is a brand new class within the Diablo universe, originating from the jungles of Nahantu, and is classified as an agile warrior. Spiritborn primarily wields long knives, polearms, and staff. While the gameplay experience bears some resemblance to the Monk in Diablo III, Spiritborn also brings its unique characteristics.
Spiritborn features four spirit guardians, each with distinct abilities that can be summoned to fight alongside the player. These spirits are the Eagle, Gorilla, Jaguar, and Centipede.
The Eagle spirit’s core skill unleashes lightning attacks on primary targets in a cone area, creating explosive feather effects when combined with legendary powers.
Its ultimate ability summons an Eagle spirit, dealing initial minor damage and larger explosion damage after a few seconds, while also providing crowd control by knocking down enemies for 4 seconds and applying vulnerability. With a cooldown of 30 seconds, it pairs well with cooldown reduction strategies.
The Gorilla excels in physical attacks and boasts high survivability, featuring multiple damage reduction and blocking skills. Its core skill can create shockwave damage and provide a shield.
The ultimate ability summons a Gorilla spirit, dealing area damage and granting shields and health to the player. Although powerful, the Gorilla's slower pace may make it more suitable for support roles.
The Jaguar focuses on fire attacks, exhibiting faster attack speeds and more visually striking skills. Its core skill involves claw attacks that burn and explode upon impact.
The ultimate can execute seven rapid strikes on enemies, with a chance to reset its cooldown if a kill occurs. While the Jaguar's skills seem impressive, its damage output in early gameplay may not match that of the Centipede.
The Centipede specializes in poison damage, with its core skill “Poison Sting” delivering both direct and lingering damage.
Its ultimate summons a Centipede spirit that sprays poison in front and disperses toxic balls in all directions. Players noted that the Centipede shines during early gameplay phases, making it one of the strongest spirits.
Spiritborn’s specialization allows players to choose two spirit focuses, enhancing their skills with different buffs. For example, selecting the Gorilla spirit turns all skills into Gorilla-themed abilities, applying thorn damage to enemies while granting self-healing and shielding; choosing the Centipede spirit enables continuous healing.
In summary, Spiritborn presents a fresh experience in gameplay. Although only basic mechanics were tested during the event, the class shows immense potential for customization. As players mix and match various spirit skills, diverse build strategies could emerge, especially given the Centipede's impressive poison damage capabilities.
Lastly, the playtest also showcased the main city, the Kulrath Market, which is designed to be quite expansive. Currently, useful NPCs are concentrated on the left side of the city, while the right side primarily features non-functional NPCs. Additional NPCs and interactive content may be added upon the official release.