Best Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Builds in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred

King Kong ain’t got s**t on the Crushing Hand Spiritborn build in Diablo 4. Here’s how to set it up for leveling and the endgame.

Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion busted buildcrafting wide open with the introduction of new mechanics like Mercenaries and Runewords. Of course, its most prominent addition was the Spiritborn, a brand new class to tinker with from the ground up.

Seen by many as an evolution of Diablo 3’s Witch Doctor, the Spiritborn draws on the power of four different animal guardians for flashy moves and interesting playstyles. This build focuses on the offensive and defensive synergies of the Gorilla.

Our handy guide will run through the best leveling and endgame setup for the Crushing Hand Spiritborn build in Diablo 4. Prepare for ‘monke’.

Best Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn leveling build in Diablo 4 Season 6

While your primary damaging skills for this build are Gorilla skills, you’ll notice a few Eagle and Jaguar skills thrown in to take advantage of certain passives. This is particularly true for the early leveling stages before you hit endgame.

Best leveling setup

Follow the guide below to set up your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build to take you from level 1 to 60 in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred’s new leveling system.

Once you start your new character, invest your skill points in the following order:

Level	Skill
1	Rock Splitter
2	Enhanced Rock Splitter
3	Sharp Rock Splitter
4	Crushing Hand
5	Enhanced Crushing Hand
6	Sustenance
7	Soar
8	Ravager
9	Crushing Hand
10	Crushing Hand
11	Crushing Hand
12	Crushing Hand
13	Vigorous
14	Velocity
15	Velocity
16	Velocity
17	Rushing Claw
18	Enhanced Soar
19	Replenishing Soar
20	Enhanced Ravager
21	Replenishing Ravager
22	Endurance
23	Fueled
24	Vigorous
25	Vigorous
26	The Seeker
27	Harmonious Seeker
28	Exalted Seeker
29	Resolution
30	Spiritual Attunement
31	Supremacy
32	Supremacy
33	Supremacy
34	Vital Strikes
35	Mirage
36	Swift
37	Swift
38	Swift
39	Mirage
40	Swift
41	Swift
42	Swift
43	The Seeker
44	The Seeker
45	The Seeker
46	The Seeker
47	Focal Point
48	Apex
49	Apex
50	Apex
51	Patient Guard
52	Nourishment
53	Sustinence
54	Intricacy
55	Intricacy
56	Enhanced Rushing Claw
57	Invasive Rushing Claw
58	Ravager
59	Ravager
60	Ravager
Renown 1	Ravager
Renown 2	Resolution
Renown 3	Resolution
Renown 4	Auspicious
Renown 5	Auspicious
Renown 6	Auspicious
Renown 7	Resilient
Renown 8	Resilient
Renown 9	Resilient
Renown 10	Potent
Renown 11	Potent
Renown 12	Spiritual Attunement

Spirit Hall

At level 15, once you’ve completed the Sacred Hunt quest, set Eagle as your Primary Spirit. This will cause your evade to deal tremendous damage and inflict Vulnerable on enemies which will help take advantage of the ‍Vital Strikes passive skill.

When you hit level 30, your Secondary Spirit should be set to Jaguar. This will keep up your stacks of Ferocity which not only helps increase your attack speed but also eliminates cooldown time for Rushing Claw.

Best leveling rotation

• Soar
• Ravager
• Rock Splitter
• Crushing Hand
• The Seeker
• Rushing Claw

When facing down mobs with the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4, you’ll want to open by dropping in with Soar for some solid opening damage and some Vulnerable procs. Pop Ravager for a damage increase and begin using Rock Splitter to build Vigor and stack Resolve for defensive and offensive boosts from your passives.

When you have enough Vigor, start using your Crushing Hand in combos of three to take advantage of the Unrelenting Aspect which doles out an extra 10 hits every third time you use the skill. The Seeker can be used for big damage but also applies more Vulnerable which helps your Vital Strikes Key Passive replenish your health and Vigor.

Rushing Claw will keep you mobile and allow you to move between mobs or exit any overwhelming situations.

Best leveling Legendary Aspects

The following Legendary Aspects will enhance your core damage skill and we’ve thrown in more sources of Vulnerable to help with resource and health generation.

Aspect name	Effect	Where to get	Area
Unrelenting	Every 3rd consecutive Crushing Hand smashes an additional 10 times around you dealing [25-45%] of its Base damage per hit.	Remnants of Rage	Nahantu
Fell Soothsayer’s	When you cast an Incarnate Skill enemies around you become Vulnerable for 5 seconds. Killing a Vulnerable enemy echoes [15-55]% of the killing blow’s damage to another Nearby enemy	Ularian Sepulcher	Nahantu
Accursed Touch	Lucky Hit: Up to a 35.0% [20.0 – 40.0]% chance for your Skills to inflict Vampiric Curse on enemies. Enemies afflicted with Vampiric Curse are also Vulnerable. Vampiric Curse’s stored souls deal [20.0 – 60.0]% increased damage.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of Accursed Touch	All Regions
Redirected Force	Gain increased Critical Strike Damage equal [30-70%] of your Block Chance. Blocking doubles this bonus for 10 seconds.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of Redirected Force	All Regions
Unyielding Hits	Casting a Gorilla Skill increases your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for 3 seconds. Maximum 1,500 bonus Weapon Damage.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of Unyielding Hits	All Regions

Best leveling Mercenary

For the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4, Raehir is the best Mercenary to have hired. He grants some extra defense through Fortify and also offers a passive bonus to Armor that will boost the damage bonus you receive from the Unyielding Hits Aspect.

Best Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn endgame build for Diablo 4 Season 6

Now that you’ve leveled your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn, it’s time to make some endgame alterations. This build relies on dealing massive AOE damage with the Rampant Crushing Hand skill thanks to an augment from the Unrelenting Aspect as well as damage boosts from stacking Resolve.

Through Resolves boosts to Armor and Block Chance, you’ll also pick up further damage boosts to your Gorilla skills via the Aspects of Unyielding Hits and Redirected Force. The combination of the Rod of Kepeleke and Ring of Midnight Sun Uniques will work in conjunction with the Prodigy’s Tempo Key Passive to cycle permanent Critical Hits and unprecedented resource generation.

Active skills

Active Skill	Upgrades	Points allocated
Rock Splitter (Prior to acquiring Rod of Kepeleke)	Enhanced	5
Crushing Hand	Enhanced, Rampant	5
Ravager	Enhanced, Measured	1
Counter Attack	Enhanced, Reinforced	1
Armored Hide	Enhanced, Reinforced	4
Scourge	Enhanced, Adaptable	1
The Hunter	Harmonious, Exalted	4

Passive skills

Passive Skill	Points
Vigorous	1
Balanced Exertion	3
Mirage	1
Unrestrained Power	3
Focal Point	1
Apex	3
Endurance	1
Perseverance	3
Patient Guard	1
Auspicious	3
Resilient	3
Dominant	1
Potent	3
Furnace	3
Resolution	3
Spiritual Attunement	3
Supremacy	3
Prodigy’s Tempo	Key Passive

Spirit Hall

Despite being a Gorilla-centric build, the endgame variant of Crushing Hand Spiritborn uses the Centipede as its Primary Spirit. This offers more damage reduction for survivability.

The Jaguar is used as the Secondary Spirit to enhance attack speed. Both work in tandem with the Harmony of Ebewaka Unique Helm to apply a total of three Spirit types to your damaging skills for a major damage increase.

Best endgame rotation

• Crushing Hand
• Ravager
• Scourge
• The Hunter
• Armored Hide
• Counterattack

The Rod of Kepeleke turns your Core Skills into Basic Skills that don’t require Vigor to cast, which means you won’t need Rock Splitter when the build is fully online. Instead, you’ll want to spam Crushing Hand as often as possible because of its high AOE damage per Resolve stack and its ability to generate a Barrier.

Ravager and Scourge should be kept up as often as possible because they increase your damage and with proper use of the Prodigy’s Tempo Key Passive, they should have almost no cooldown. Scourge also offers healing.

Armored Hide will keep you safe from major damage and crowd control effects, and will also increase your resolve stacks should they fall too low. Counterattack offers additional defense but also increases your crit chance proccing extra abilities from passives and Legendary Aspects.

Finally, activate The Hunter wherever possible to gain a number of buffs from the passive skills like Supremacy and Resolution, which are available in the Ultimate node of the skill tree.

Paragon Glyphs

These are the Paragon Glyphs you’ll want to focus on for the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4:

• Fitness: For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +2.0% increased Critical Strike Damage. Skills that Critically Strike generate 3 Vigor.
• Spirit: For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, Core Skills deal +4.0% increased Critical Strike Damage. Critical Strikes increase the damage an enemy takes from you by 3% for 20 seconds, up to 15%.
• Outmatch: Grants +25.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. You deal 15% increased Physical damage to Non-Elites and Bosses.
• Colossal: For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal +2.0% increased damage with Gorilla Skills. You deal +2.0% increased damage to Close enemies. You deal 2% increased damage for each stack of Resolve you have.
• Turf: For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal +2.0% increased damage to Close targets. You gain 15% Damage Reduction against Close enemies.

Best endgame Aspects

Aspect name	Effect	Where to get	Area
Unrelenting	Every 3rd consecutive Crushing Hand smashes an additional 10 times around you dealing [25-45%] of its Base damage per hit.	Remnants of Rage	Nahantu
Unyielding Hits	Casting a Gorilla Skill increases your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for 3 seconds. Maximum 1,500 bonus Weapon Damage.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of Unyielding Hits	All Regions
Moonrise	Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining [40 – 100]%[x] Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of the Moonrise	All Regions
Redirected Force	Gain increased Critical Strike Damage equal [30-70%] of your Block Chance. Blocking doubles this bonus for 10 seconds.	Salvage a piece of gear with Aspect of Redirected Force	All Regions

Best endgame items and equipment

Item	Socket	Item type	Power
Harmony of Ebewaka	PocQue	Helm	According to your secondary Spirit Hall choice, your Skills are all additionally Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or Centipede Skills. Your Skills deal 30% increased damage per Spirit type they have.
Chest Armor of Binding Morass	Two emeralds to get extra Dexterity	Chest Armor	Dealing indirect damage to an enemy progressively Slows them by [30-70%] for 3 seconds. You deal 20%[x] increased damage to Slowed Enemies
Gloves of the Moonrise	–	Gloves	Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining [40 – 100]%[x] Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
Leggings of Interdiction	Two emeralds to get extra Dexterity	Pants	Gain [1-15%] [+] Block Chance per Resolve stack.
Yen’s Blessing	–	Shoes	Unique Effect: Casting a Skill has a [40 – 60]% chance to cast a Non-Mobility, Non-Ultimate Skill that is currently on Cooldown. Can only occur once every 8 seconds.
Rod of Kepeleke	XolJah	Weapon	Your Core Skills are now additionally Basic Skills and free to cast, but deal up to 30% reduced damage based on their Vigor Cost. When cast at Maximum Vigor, your Core Skills consume all Vigor to return to full damage, cast at their largest Size, and become guaranteed Critical Strikes, with 3.00% increased Critical Strike Damage for each point of Vigor spent this way.
Amulet of Redirected Force	Skull to get extra Armor	Amulet	Gain increased Critical Strike Damage equal [30-70%] of your Block Chance. Blocking doubles this bonus for 10 seconds.
Ring of Unyielding Hits	Skull to get extra Armor	Ring	Casting a Gorilla Skill increases your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for 3 seconds. Maximum 1,500 bonus Weapon Damage
Ring of the Midnight Sun	Skull to get extra Armor	Ring	When you Critically Strike, you regain 50% of the Vigor you’ve spent in the last 2 seconds. Gain Counterattack’s Passive Effect.

Best endgame Mercenary

For the same reasons as the leveling build, the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn endgame build in Diablo 4 benefits from hiring Raehir as a Mercenary. His boost to Armor is invaluable to making the most of the Unyielding Hits Aspect.

Those are the most important aspects you need to be aware of when setting up your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4.

If you want to see how it stacks up against other builds for the class, check out our Spiritborn tier list.