Crushing Hand – Spiritborn Build for Diablo 4 (Season 11)

Build Introduction

The Crushing Hand build offers great mobility and tankiness, with solid damage output. Its simple playstyle revolves around using skills as they come off cooldown, making it a good choice for speed farming endgame content like Helltides or Pit runs.

Starting new? Begin with our Quill Volley Leveling Build and switch to this one at Level 60.
Have questions or feedback about this guide? Join Ghazzy’s livestream and ask him!

Strengths and Weaknesses

Build Requirements

Required Uniques

Harmony of Ebewaka

Rod of Kepeleke

Ring of the Midnight Sun

Required Aspects

Aspect of Unyielding Hits

Aspect of Redirected Force

Additionally, it is recommended to use Heir of Perdition Helm, Shroud of False Death, and Ring of Starless Skies, once you have access to Mythic Uniques.
Want to know more about the Uniques supporting this setup? Jump to the Uniques section.

Quick Navigation

Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to the sections you are looking for.

Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points

Recommended

Suggested Skill Bar

RavagerScourgeVortexThe HunterArmored HideCrushing Hand

Wondering what comes after Level 60? Head to the Paragon Board section to power up the build even further.

And if you want to see how everything plays out in combat, check out the Rotation and Playstyle section for a quick breakdown. If you are missing skill points, complete Renown Tier 1-3 in every zone on the Eternal Realm, or Season Ranks 1-3 on the Seasonal Realm.

Spiritborn Class Mechanic – Spirit Hall Choice

The Spirit Hall allows you to combine two different Spirit Guardians or stick with just one. 

• Primary Spirit Guardian: Centipede
  • Hitting an enemy with a Centipede Skill reduces their Damage by 4%, Slows them by 10%, and deals 160% Poisoning damage over 8 seconds, stacking up to a maximum of 8 times. All Skills are now also Centipede Skills.
• Secondary Spirit Guardian: Jaguar
  • Maximum Ferocity is increased by 1. Gain 1 stack of Ferocity whenever you kill an enemy or damage a Boss.

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Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes

The following sections cover all systems that are important if you want to improve the power of your character in the endgame of Diablo 4. 

Legendary Aspects

Each Aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each Aspect in the assigned slot. Remember to salvage Legendary Items with higher Aspect values to unlock them in the Codex of Power, and then imprint them onto gear pieces with the preferred affixes. For best results, combine these Aspects with the right stat priorities.

Gear Slot	Gems/Runes	Aspect / Unique	Legendary Aspect / Unique Power
Helm	Poc Xan	Harmony of Ebewaka or Heir of Perdition	According to your secondary Spirit Hall choice, your skills are all additionally Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or centipede skills. Your skills deal x{x}% increased damage per spirit type they have.
Chest	Neo Jah	Aspect of Layered Wards or Shroud of False Death	Your Block Reduction is increased by {x}% while you have a Barrier.
Gloves		Aspect of Unyielding Hits	Casting a Gorilla SKill increases your Weapon Damage by {x}% of your Armor for 3 seconds. Maximum 1500 bonus Weapon Damage.
Pants	Grand Emerald	Duelist’s Aspect	Maximum Ferocity increased by 1-5.
Boots		Path of the Emissary Boots	Every 12-4 meters you move, invoke a Core Skill from your primary Spirit Hall.
Amulets(50% bonus)	Grand Skull	Aspect of Redirected Force	Gain increased critical strike damage equal {x}% of your block chance. Blocking doubles this bonus for 10 seconds.
Ring	Grand Skull	Aspect of the 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 x{x}% Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
Ring	Grand Skull	Ring of the Midnight Sun or Ring of Starless Skies	When you Critically Strike, you regain +{x}% of the Vigor you’ve spent in the last 2 seconds. Gain Counterattack’s Passive Effect.
Weapon (200% bonus)	Grand Topaz	Rod of Kepeleke	Your Core Skill are now additionally Basic Skills and free to cast. 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 x{x}% increased Critical Strike Damage for each point of Vigor Consumed this way.

Curious how this build compares to other endgame options? Take a look at our Endgame Build Tier List.

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Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Affixes on the same line are considered to be equally important. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Greater Affix or Masterworking Capstone Bonus. Be sure to check our Tempering and Masterworking guides for more details about these topics. Want to jump back up to the gear table?

Slot	Targeted Gear Affix	Tempering Affixes
Helm	All Stats Movement Speed Damage Reduction Ranks to Velocity	N/A
Chest	1. Armor 2. Dexterity 3. Maximum Life	Spiritborn Recovery (Defensive): Ranks to Resilient
Gloves	1. Ranks to Crushing Hand 2. Attack Speed 3. Maximum Life	Worldly Fortune (Utility): Crowd Control Duratio
Pants	1. Ranks to Basic Skills 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life	Spiritborn Resolve (Defensive): Armored Hide Resolve Generation Rate
Boots	Movement Speed Core Skill Damage Core Skills Impairment Reduction	N/A
Amulet	1. Total Armor 2. Ranks to Potent 3. % Dexterity	Spiritborn Recovery (Defensive): Ranks to Resilient
Ring	1. Lucky Hit: Up to a chance to make enemies vulnerable for 2 seconds 2. Attack Speed 3. Maximum Life	Worldly Stability (Resource): Resource Cost Reduction
Ring	Dexterity Cooldown Reduction Critical Strike Damage Ranks to Mirage	N/A
Weapon	Critical Strike Damage Maximum Resource Ranks to Vigorous Chance for Core Skills to hit Twice	N/A

Looking for progression beyond gear? See our Paragon recommendations or Runewords Synergy next.

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Uniques and Mythic Uniques

Below, you will find information on Uniques and Mythic Uniques that are useful and recommended for this build. If a Unique or Mythic Unique is not listed here, it is NOT recommended and won’t benefit this specific build in any way.

Uniques

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique Items for this build.

• Harmony of Ebewaka (Required): According to your secondary Spirit Hall choice, your skills are all additionally Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or centipede skills. Your skills deal x{x}% increased damage per spirit type they have.
• Ring of the Midnight Sun (Required): When you Critically Strike, you regain {x}% of Vigor you’ve spent in the last 2 seconds. Gain Counterattack’s Passive Effect.
• Rod of Kepeleke (Required): Your Core Skill are now additionally Basic Skills and free to cast. 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 x{x}% increased Critical Strike Damage for each point of Vigor Consumed this way.
• Path of the Emissary Boots (Recommended): Every 12-4 meters you move, invoke a Core Skill from your primary Spirit Hall.

Mythic Uniques

In this Crushing Hand Spiritborn build, we strongly recommend using at least two Mythic Uniques. You can probably play without, but it will be much smoother with the Mythic Uniques.

• Heir of Perdition (Recommended): Succumb to hatred and earn Mother’s Favor, increasing your damage dealt by 60%[x]. Slaughter enemies to briefly steal Mother’s Favor from Nearby allies.
• Ring of Starless Skies (Recommended): Spending your Primary Resource reduces the Resource cost of your Skills and increases your damage by 10%[x] for 3 seconds, up to 50%[x].
• Shroud of False Death (Recommended): If you haven’t dealt damage in the last 2 seconds, gain stealth and +40% Movement Speed.

If you are interested in target farming Mythic Uniques, check out our How to Farm Mythic Uniques guide. Or you can return to the Build Requirements.

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Gems and Runewords

Listed below are the recommended Gems and Runewords to socket into your gear.

Gems

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Topaz For more Basic Skill Damage	Grand Emerald For more Dexterity	Grand Diamond For Resistance OR Grand Skull For more Armor

Runewords

Runewords are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and replace gems in gear. Improve your build by combining a trigger Rune of Ritual and an effect Rune of Invocation. You can equip up to two Runeword pairs (four Runes) at a time. For a detailed guide on Runewords, check out our Runewords Guide!

The following are recommended Runeword combination options for the Crushing Hand endgame build of the Spiritborn.

Runeword Combination	Runeword Effects
Poc Xan	Poc – Gain: 5 Offering. Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource Xan – Requires: 300 Offering. Cooldown: 1 second. (Overflow: Increased Duration) Your Next attack will cause your hits to be a guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower for 0.35 seconds.
Neo Jah	Neo – Gain: 200 Offering. Deal damage after not taking any within 2 seconds. Jah – Requires: 250 Offering. Cooldown: 2 seconds. (Overflow: Store Excess Offering). Replace your next Evade with the Sorcerer’s Teleport, blinking further, dealing damage, and becoming Unstoppable.

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Paragon Board

Paragon unlocks at Level 60 and plays a big role in endgame progression. The following Legendary Nodes and Glyphs are recommended for this build. Keep in mind that each Glyph’s information and radius listed below is for the Level 46 version.

Need a refresher on how the skills are set up? Click here to return to the Skill Tree section.

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Season 11 Mechanics

Divine Gifts

Divine Gifts are made up of three parts: your base Reward, a Corrupted gift, and a Purified gift. Each Gift can be placed into either an outer slot to activate its Corrupted effect or an inner slot to activate its Purified effect. No matter where you place it, slotting a Gift always grants its Reward bonus for the linked activity, though Corrupted Gifts make that activity more challenging while still providing the base bonus. Purified Gifts, on the other hand, remove the penalty, add a beneficial effect, and double the Reward. All Corrupted slots are available immediately at the start of the Season, but Purified slots have to be unlocked through the Seasonal Reputation track.

Sanctification

Sanctification gives you one final chance to upgrade an item at the Heavenly Forge. Using a Heavenly Sigil triggers a single random outcome, and once the item is Sanctified, it cannot be modified any further, so make sure all other crafting is done first. Sanctifying an item can result in:

• A bonus Legendary power
• An affix upgraded into a Greater Affix
• A bonus affix from the Sanctification pool
• An existing affix replaced with a random Sanctification affix
• A random amount of bonus Quality

Since sanctification decides the final state of your item, it is worth knowing which results are strong for your class, so you can evaluate if the item did indeed turn into a great piece of gear or not. Below, we will list the Sanctifications that are especially good for this build:

• Your amulet is usually the best place to use Sanctification on most Spiritborn builds, since extra ranks on your passive skills translate into a noticeable damage increase. Just make sure you have a second amulet ready, in case the roll replaces something you needed.
• Your weapon is another good option if you want something more predictable. Extra Quality or a simple damage increase always adds value to your setup, no matter which skills you run.

Mercenaries

During the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you will unlock Mercenaries to assist you. While you can choose freely early on, we recommend Raheir as your main companion, for the added survivability he provides, and Varyana as Reinforcement.

Raheir Skill Tree choices:

• Core Skill: Ground Slam
• Core Passive: Raheir’s Aegis
• Iconic Skill: Bastion
• Iconic Passive: Inspiration

Varyana Reinforcement choices:

• Opportunity Skill: Scourge
• Reinforcement Skill: Shockwave, then switch Bloodthirst as soon as you unlock it, for increased Attack Speed.

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Build Mechanics

Rotation and Playstyle

This build is all about stacking Poison damage and triggering it through Critical Strikes. Your Crushing Hand skill itself is not what is doing the heavy lifting, it is the poison damage that follow. Many of your other skills and gear will increase your Crushing Hand damage like Enhanced Vortex and Rod of Kepeleke. Therefore, stacking Poison damage with Scourge, and then hitting Crushing Hand will give you the best damage.

Start fights with Ravager to build Vigor and ramp up your damage. Keep Armored Hide up for block and defense, especially in melee-heavy fights. Activate The Hunter right before spamming Crushing Hand to push your burst even further.

In essence, the build works on maintaining high uptime on mobility, damage, and survivability through simple, fast-paced rotation:

1. Ravager, keep Ravager up at all times for increased damage.
2. Scourge to poison your enemies.
3. Armored Hide for increased survivability.
4. The Hunter for additional damage.
5. Vortex to gather enemies before your Crushing Hand attack, boosting its damage.
6. Spam Crushing Hand

Runeword Synergy

• Poc Xan: This combo is built for great openers. Poc lets you steadily build Offering by spending a portion of your resource, and once you have stacked up to 300, Xan gives your next attack guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower for a short burst window (0.35s). Use it to take down elites or burn through priority targets right at the beginning.
• Neo Jah: This pair rewards clean movement and smart positioning. Neo charges up as long as you do not take damage. Once you have 250 Offering, Jah turns your next Evade into a Sorcerer’s Teleport. This will help you with movement speed outside of fights, and jumping between packs.

Which Elixirs Should You Use?

Visit the Alchemist and craft an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Assault Elixir to increase Attack Speed. Some Elixirs cannot be crafted and only drop from activities like Helltides or Nightmare Dungeons.

The following Elixirs are useful for the Crushing Hand Spiritborn build:

• Elixir of Advantage increases your attack speed
• Elixir of Fortitude for additional survivability 

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Season 11 Updates

For a complete overview of Season 11, its mechanics and theme, new leveling activity, and other changes coming with this season, please take a look at our comprehensive season hub here.

Here is a quick overview of seasonal changes relevant to this build:

• Centipede Primary Spirit Hall:
  • Now scales damage rather than Slow and Damage reduction.
  • Damage Reduction per stack increased from 2% to 4%.
  • Increased the debuff duration from 6 to 8 seconds.
  • Increased the total poison amount from 70% to 160%.
• Potent
  • Previous: Hitting enemies with Jaguar Skills increases the Damage they take from you by 0.1-0.3% up to 10-30%.
  • Now: Jaguar Skills deal 6/12/18%[x] increased direct damage to up to 3 of the Closest enemies to you.
• Harmony of Ebewaka: Damage Reduction affix replaced with Dexterity affix.

Obol Gambling

Similar to Kadala in Diablo 3, the Purveyor of Curiosities lets you gamble your Obols for 750 item power gear at Level 60, making them a great way to fill in missing affixes, Aspects, or upgrades. There is also a small chance to receive an Ancestral piece with item power 800.

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Changelog

• December 8th, 2025: Added Path of the Emissary unique boots, Divine Gifts, and Sanctification information for Season 11.
• September 20th, 2025: Added Chaos Perks and Chaos Armor for Season 10.
• June 28th, 2025: Skill and Skill Tree, Gear and Runewords were updated for Season 9. Also added Horadric Spells and Jewels to the build.
• April 25th, 2025: Skills and Skill Tree, Gear, Runewords, Paragon Board, Mercenaries and Rotation were updated for Season 8. Also added Boss Powers.
• January 18th, 2025: Updated Tempers and added Witchcraft Powers and Occult Gems for Season 7.
• October 22nd, 2024: Guide created for Vessel of Hatred, Season 6.