Diablo 4 lead says Spiritborn will be “broken in the most fun way”

The new Spiritborn class is storming into Diablo 4 with Vessel of Hatred expansion, and from what General Manager Rod Fergusson teases, it’s about to turn your well-balanced world into a hot mess of spectral fury.

Spiritborn is a guardian spirit class inspired by the ancient Nahantu civilization, a name fans will recognize from the lush jungle from Diablo 2. As shown in the reveal livestream, it brings four distinctive spirit guardians to the battlefield: the lightning-fast Eagle, the brawny Gorilla, the fiery Jaguar, and the poison-spewing Centipede.

Each guardian is a massive spectral avatar with a unique set of abilities. While some have criticized the Spiritborn class as derivative from the Diablo 4 meta, fans have been quick to come to its defense.

In a recent Kinda Funny Gamescast interview, Rod Fergusson, the head of Diablo 4, revealed that the Spiritborn will be “overpowered, for sure.” He cheerily admitted, “It’s going to be broken in the most fun way.”

In the interview, Fergusson shared a new philosophy for handling class balance in Diablo 4. “We definitely wanted to get out of that … you wake up one morning and all of a sudden your build isn’t viable anymore.”

This philosophy marks a significant shift from Blizzard’s previous stance on game balance. In mid-2023, Diablo 4 devs asserted they would nerf billion damage builds.

Instead, the devs choose to focus on fun rather than balance moving forward. Fergusson declared, “Our philosophy will be more … as long as it’s not crashing something, then we’re probably okay for a while.”

In essence, it sounds like Spiritborn will bring overpowered antics to the table without the usual nerfing.

This is sure to get players excited for Vessel of Hatred‘s release on October 8, 2024, as Blizzard is making clear your Diablo 4 fun will be overpowered, not over.