When it releases in October, the Diablo 4 DLC Vessel of Hatred will introduce the new Spiritborn class that's never been seen before in Diablo history, and it was Diablo Immortal that gave franchise boss Rod Fergusson the confidence to take this bold step.
Chatting with GamesRadar+ during Summer Game Fest 2024, Fergusson said "we hear very loudly" that Diablo 4 isn't fulfilling the sword and board paladin experience that some fans want, explaining that Blizzard wanted to "bring a new experience" with Vessel of Hatred and the new class. Diablo Immortal added the series' first new class in 10 years, the Blood Knight, almost a year ago, and more recently the Tempest was added to the mobile action-RPG. And apparently the fan reaction was such that Fergusson and co. felt confident adding yet another new-to-series class with Diablo 4's Spiritborn.
"I think I was more nervous when we did the Blood Knight for Immortal, because that was the first new class in a decade. And so for me, it was like, 'Oh, wow. We're about to do a new class in a decade', you know? And then when I saw how the Blood Knight went over, I was like, 'Oh, OK. People are open to new ideas and new ways of doing this, and then we released the Tempest, and the Tempest was hugely successful, too."
Not a whole lot has been revealed about the new Spiritborn class so far, but Blizzard has said it's the "apex predator of the jungle," seemingly native to the new region being added in Vessel of Hatred, Nahantu, a lush jungle area that lies to the south of Kehjistan in Sanctuary.
"So I'm like, OK, I'm feeling good about bringing something that's not instantly understood as a classic archetype of the D&D world," Fergusson said. "You're having stuff that's a little bit more nuanced in terms of what you're doing, but it's new and fresh. So yeah, I'm excited, but we hear very loudly the board and sword Paladin, Crusader fantasy that we are not currently fulfilling, but we wanted an opportunity to do something that was based within the region we were adding. We want to do something new that was creatively interesting and just bring a new experience."
While Spiritborn details are light to non-existent at the moment, Blizzard has said we'll learn a lot more about the new class in a July 18 deep-dive gameplay livestream. It's then that we'll presumably learn key details about the Spiritborn's stats and abilities.
In the meantime, the good Diablo 4 Season 4 vibes are holding strong as Steam reviews recently recovered to 'Mostly Positive'.
Elden Ring players are using the clunky "fat roll" to dodge Shadow of the Erdtree's notorious final boss, and at this point I'm convinced it's genius
Diablo 4 lead turns up at Whoopi Goldberg's weed event to bury the hatchet and present her with a 'Key to Hell,' 1 year after pissing her off because you can't play the action RPG on Mac