Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion just came out, and it has proven to be quite divisive among fans for different reasons, such as the Dark Citadel raid or the story campaign and its epilogue. One element that seems to be generally well-received is the game’s sixth class.Diablo 4’s Spiritborn is an amazing class that is arguably far more polished than the base game’s five starter classes, as it was built from the ground up with hybridization and customization in mind, fusing together different playstyles and guardian spirits. One of the problems with the class, however, is that it lends itself quite easily to comparisons with the Druid, for better or for worse.
At face value,Diablo 4’s Spiritborn and the Druid are simultaneously pretty similar and nothing alike, with the former being a sort of protector of the Spirit Realm and Nahantu with a lot ofDiablo 3Monk inspirations, and the latter being the ultimate guardian of nature that likes to cast spells and change its form. The Spiritborn is a martial artist at its core, with a lot of its skills being more melee-adjacent, thoughDiablo 4’s strongest skill in Vessel of Hatredis probably Quill Volley, a ranged skill from the Eagle line. The comparison between Spiritborn and Druid makes sense, and it could bear fruit or become a problem.
Why Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred’s Spiritborn Class Can Make the Druid ‘Obsolete’
Diablo 4: The Spiritborn and Druid’s Approach to Spirits and Nature Explained
The first and most glaring similarity between the Spiritborn and the Druid is that both have their animal spirit determine what they can achieve in terms of gameplay.Diablo 4’s new Spiritborn classcan choose between four different spirits as its primary and secondary guardians in the Spirit Hall screen. These are the Jaguar, the Gorilla, the Eagle, and the Centipede, and all of them have defined identities in terms of mechanics, with the Jaguar revolving around Ferocity and multi-attack skills, the Gorilla focusing on Resolve and Barriers, the Eagle featuring Evade-based skills and projectile attacks, and the Centipede heavily promoting damage over time via Poison.
Each of these spirits has its merits and associated builds, but what makes them so different compared to theDruid’s Spirit Boons inDiablo 4is that they directly influence gameplay choices and the way the Spiritborn works. Combining different spirits will lead to unique playstyles and builds that can have a much larger degree of customization than the Druid’s Spirit Boons can offer, as they are passive bonuses that can influence a Druid’s build to a lesser extent.
How Diablo 4’s Spiritborn and Druid Compare Based on Gameplay and Builds
Another comparison is that the Druid’s biggest pain point is mobility combined with a subpar leveling experience in respect to other classes, which is not something the Spiritborn truly suffers from thanks to Eagle skills increasing mobility and several other abilities making the early game a breeze.Diablo 4’s Druidis naturally tanky and slow, with some hard-hitting skills that combo with each other, such as Werewolf and Werebear skills or Nature and Earth skills, whereas the Spiritborn is more agile even if it chooses mostly Gorilla skills because it has access to more mobility tools overall.
The Druid’s Werewolf skills are arguably the class' most mobile, but incidentally, they are also generally considered some of the weakest for the class, if not in the game overall.
Furthermore, with the Spiritborn being new and taking the spotlight in Vessel of Hatred, it only makes sense that it will be used much more than the Druid for a while, especially seeing how some traits are similar between the two. This ends up calling for the question of whetherDiablo 4needs new classes or just subclasses for the existing ones in the first place. On the other hand, this comparison can further highlight the weaknesses of the Druid for future seasons, making it so Blizzard does something more concrete than skill balance to address underlying issues with the class' design. As such, the fact thatSpiritborn builds inDiablo 4are so powerful to overshadow other classes is not necessarily bad news for the Druid’s future. On the other hand, this could also get the Spiritborn nerfed without an actual “benefit” for the Druid.
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Diablo® IV is the ultimate action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Embark on the campaign solo or with friends, meeting memorable characters through beautifully dark settings and a gripping story, or explore an expansive end game and shared world where players can meet in towns to trade, team up to battle world bosses, or descend into PVP zones to test their skills against other players – no lobbies necessary – with cross-play, cross-progression, and couch co-op on Xbox.This is only the beginning for Diablo® IV, with new events, stories, seasons, rewards, and more looming on the horizon.
