Blizzard is finally introducing a new class to Diablo 4, and since this is the first one of its kind, the devs didn’t want just another MMO-type class that allows companions to take the lead.
Hunters in World of Warcraft mainly focus on taming beasts and using them in battle to keep an enemy focused on them rather than the hunter. According to GamesRadar, Blizzard did not want to simply introduce another Hunter class that allowed the companion to enjoy all that combat has to offer.
The Spiritborn class is said to be an apex predator from the jungle that will call upon different animals to aid them in battle. This, of course, is a bit reminiscent of a hunter, who also tames beasts to do their bidding, but this new class will come with a bit of a twist. Rather than just blasting enemies with arrows from afar, the Spiritborn will be face-first in the action, bashing, blocking, and dodging as they are “masters of hand-to-hand combat.”
Blizzard wanted to introduce another class that could utilize the aid of beasts and creatures without the sole focus being on said companions, as they wanted the focus to be more on the character going back and forth between their spiritual side and their human side. Game designer Bjorn Mikkelson states,
“One of the initial nuggets that was driving a lot of the ideation was that we didn't want it to be, for lack of a better term, like a pet class. We always wanted it to be very interwind with like, coming from the core of the class itself, right?”
This took a lot of work, as Blizzard went through over 60 different prototype skills to find the best ones for the Spiritborn to feel and play the way they had in mind. The new class will become available once Vessel of Hatred goes live on October 8th, so we will have to wait until then to sink our teeth into all the Spiritborn has to offer.
