A Diablo 4 class designer says it was "freeing" to try out new stuff for the upcoming Diablo 4 Spiritborn, even if not everything made it into the final game.
Speaking to 12DOVE recently during our big Diablo 4 preview, class designer Bjorn Mikkelson explains that there were over 60 prototyped skills for the Spiritborn and that even though some of the team's personal "favorite" skills didn't make the cut, they could one day return in one form or another.
Speaking about the development of the Spiritborn, Mikkelson added that "generally, it was very freeing, very fun to kind of try some crazy stuff out, make some stuff that maybe didn't make the cut, and were some people's favorites, but maybe those will come back in the future."
One new spirit aspect the class is able to draw on is the power of the centipede, and Mikkelson says this was "our chance to try like a lot of strange and sort of different things." Diablo 4 doesn't use fear as an ability that often, Mikkelson points out, but the Spiritborn is a chance to expand on this.
"But something we changed, for instance, was digging into blocking. Like it exists currently on shields, shields alone, but it's technically just a thing that happens. And it's not particularly interesting," Mikkelson comments of the Spiritborn's new blocking ability.
The new Vessel of Hatred class lets Diablo 4's designers approach blocking in "a more active way," Mikkelson adds, incorporating a martial arts-style blocking with hands instead of a shield. This feeds into a more "dynamic sense of blocking incoming damage."
The Spiritborn launches as part of the Diablo 4 DLC, Vessel of Hatred, later this year on October 9. More immediately, a new Diablo 4 Season 5 campfire livestream is coming within the next few weeks, and it'll break down the final details of the coming season before it goes live on August 6.
