Diablo 4 launched with only returning classes from past entries to choose from, all instantly familiar to fans of fantasy RPGs: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Druid. One class that was notably missing was a Paladin-type--some kind of holy warrior to dole out divine punishment to demons and evildoers in kind. Many fans expected Diablo 4's first expansion would look to fill that gap in the base game's roster. Instead, Vessel of Hatred will introduce a brand-new class to the franchise, one that is fast, frenetic, and fun: the Spiritborn.
I got the chance to spend two hours putting the Spiritborn through its paces at a preview event, using four premade, level-30 builds and talking 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.
Welcome To The Jungle
Spiritborn are deeply tied to the new region being introduced in Vessel of Hatred: the dense jungles of Nahantu that players may remember from Diablo 2. During Diablo 4's development, Blizzard knew where the story would take Neyrelle and the soulstone of Mephisto. Rather than shoehorn in a class that had little to do with the new part of Sanctuary players were set to explore in the expansion, Blizzard instead opted to create a new one that would have a deep connection to Nahantu and establish a strong sense of cohesion with the expansion as a whole. It was from that goal the idea of the Spiritborn was conceptualized.
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