Diablo Immortal gave the Diablo 4 devs the confidence to build a new class that isn't "a classic archetype of the D&D world" with the Spiritborn
Jun. 12, 2024Diablo boss Rod Fergusson was happy to learn “people are open to new ideas”
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When it releases in October, theDiablo 4 DLC Vessel of Hatredwill introduce the new Spiritborn class that’snever been seen before in Diablo history, and it was Diablo Immortal that gave franchise boss Rod Fergusson the confidence to take this bold step.
“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’.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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