If you’re playing Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, there’s a very high chance you’ve picked up the new Spiritborn class. Not only is it fresh and shiny, making it more appealing than the options we’ve had for the past year of the base RPG, but it also boasts the strongest builds in Season 6 right now. As we near the midseason update, Blizzard stalwart and Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson asks whether some of its more broken aspects should be brought back in line, or if everyone is enjoying themselves too much to stop.
Personally, I’ve been having a lot of fun blasting through the Diablo 4 endgame as a Spiritborn. It’s got a lot of viable builds at its disposal, but almost all of the most popular ones lean on interactions that are more powerful than intended. Blizzard has already brought one of these back in line with an evade Spiritborn nerf, which prevented animation canceling during the dodge, but it’s yet to address some of the other mechanics making the Spiritborn stand out as the dominant force in the RPG.
Without delving too deeply into numbers, these include paragon nodes and legendary aspects not working quite as designed, leading to almost every Spiritborn build looking similar regardless of skill loadout. You lean into stacking Resolve, build high armor values to convert into bonus weapon damage with the Aspect of Unyielding Hits, and score unspeakably large critical hits using the size and damage amplification effect of the Diablo 4 Rod of Kepeleke.
Taking to X (Twitter), Fergusson asks, “Should we fix the Spiritborn so that it’s closer in balance to the other classes, or should we leave it as it is because you’re having fun?” He notes that this is a “Non-binding poll. Just me being curious again,” but also makes it clear that he’s just focused on the Spiritborn for now: “No, I’m not offering ‘break the other classes.’”
Of course, in making these proposed changes, the Spiritborn’s potential power level would naturally drop slightly – Fergusson even says that this is the intention. This has led to many replies begging the team not to “nerf” the class during Season 6, to which Fergusson responds, “Interesting [that] some people don’t recognize the difference between ‘fix’ and ‘nerf.’
“I’m not saying we’re doing anything,” he continues, “I’m just saying that a class that’s been out for three weeks versus 16 months is going to have some issues that need to be addressed. [The] real question is when.” While the distinction between a number-slashing nerf and a fix for something that’s not working as designed certainly exists, however, the result in both cases will be a class that feels weaker.
So far, the poll sits at just 36.8% asking Fergusson to fix the Spiritborn, with 63.2% of respondents in favor of leaving things as they are for now. Personally, I’m inclined to agree with the majority – most players have built their characters around the current state of the game, and are having fun with it, and snatching that away might be the push for them to take a break until the Diablo 4 Season 7 release date.
There’s an easy comparison to Season 2’s Ball Lightning Sorcerer, perhaps the most popular build we saw during the first year of Diablo 4’s lifespan. Its power also came from a miscalculation, yet Blizzard left it in place for the remainder of the season, only adjusting it as we moved into Season 3. That felt like a good balance, and it’s probably the right move here.
Diablo community manager Adam Fletcher also notes the investment players have made, explaining that balance discussions are typically kept for midseason updates. “The Spiritborn has some very large outlying bugs that are causing their numbers to be beyond what they should be doing. I think the community is aware of them, as we are. We also know many people have built around those and dedicated time on the gear [and] builds.”
Whatever decision Blizzard makes, including potential buffs to other Diablo 4 classes, we likely won’t see it until the next developer update, when the team will sit down to talk through the midseason patch notes.
Until they arrive, make sure you have one of the best Diablo 4 mercenaries by your side as you plow through Season 6. Or, if you fancy a break, maybe try one of the best games like Diablo instead.
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