Build Introduction
This Payback Leveling Build is an excellent high impact leveling strategy for getting through the campaign and into an endgame build!
Payback Leveling focuses on grouping enemies up and slamming them with the powerful area of effect damage from 
Payback and 
The Hunter, while maintaining a variety of defensive and offensive buffs with your other skills whenever they are off cooldown.
For more generic Spiritborn leveling information, check out our main Spiritborn Leveling Guide.
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Check our Leveling Tier List to see how this build compares to others.
Quick Navigation
Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to the sections you are looking for.
Allocation of Skill Points
The table below outlines the recommended order for allocating your Skill Points. At Level 70, you will have a total of 69 points available, and an additional 14 points can be obtained upon completing Renown in each zone on the Eternal Realm, or Season Ranks 1-3 on the Seasonal Realm.
|Need to get Vortex or Soar in here for leveling when i do the tree
| Order | Skill | Cluster |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Thunderspike Rank 1 | Basic |
| 2 | Thunderspike Rank 2 | Basic |
| 3 | Thunderspike Rank 3 | Basic |
| 4 |  Crushing Hand Rank 1 | Core |
| 5 | Thunderspike Vigor Generation | Basic |
| 6 | Crushing Hand Barrier | Core |
| 7 | Crushing Hand Rank 2 | Core |
| 8 |  Ravager Rank 1 | Focus |
| 9 | |Thunderspike Vigor Generation | Basic |
| 10 | Ravager Vigor Generation | Focus |
| 11 |  Scourge | Defensive |
| 12 | Scourge Vigor Generation | Defensive |
| 13 | Ravager Minimum Ferocity | Focus |
| 14 | Lightning Dancer | Basic |
| 15 |  Armored Hide Rank 1 | Defensive |
| 16 | Flurry of Claws | Focus |
| 17 | Crushing Hand Barrier | Core |
| 18 | Crushing Hand Increased Damage and Cost | Core |
| 19 | The Hunter Rank 1 | Ultimate |
| 20 | Armored Hide Barrier | Defensive |
| 21 | Hive Mind | Defensive |
| 22 | Scourge Healing | Defensive |
| 23 | Remove all skill points from Crushing Hand and put them in Payback Add the following passive nodes: – Wrath of the Gorilla–  Echo–  Damage Increase– The Hunter Healing | Core Potency Ultimate |
| 24 | Force of Nature | Defensive |
| 25 | Armored Hide Blocked Damage Reduction | Defensive |
| 26 | The Hunter Size Bonus | Ultimate |
| 27 | Relentless Pursuit | Ultimate |
| 28-40 | Payback Rank 3 to Rank 15 | Potency |
| 41-54 | Ravager Rank 2 to Rank 15 | Focus |
| 55-68 | The Hunter Rank 2 to Rank 15 | Ultimate |
| 69-82 | Armored Hide Rank 2 to Rank 15 | Defensive |
| 83 | Scourge Rank 2 | Defensive |
| Final | Remove all skill points from Thunderspike and put them into Scourge | Basic Defensive |
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
RavagerArmored HideScourgeThe HunterThunderspikePaybackNew Skill Tree Coming Soon
If you are unsure how to use these skills, read the Build Mechanics section after setting up your skill bar.
Wondering what comes after Level 70 or which Paragon boards to pick? Head to the Spiritborn Builds page and choose an endgame build to continue progressing your character even further.
Spiritborn Class Mechanic — Spirit Hall
The Specialization of the Spiritborn Class becomes available at Level 15. It is recommended to complete the “Sacred Hunt“ questline in Kehjistan as soon as possible. The quest is given by Tarka.
The Spirit Hall system allows you to choose two animal spirits as protective guardians to receive powerful passive bonuses. The first, primary Spirit Guardian can be selected at Level 15, after completing the quest. Followed by the secondary Spirit Guardian at Level 30. Each Guardian has a different primary and secondary bonus ability, and you do not have to pick the same Guardian twice!
The Spirit Hall allows you to combine two different Spirit Guardians or stick with just one.
- Primary Spirit Guardian: Eagle
- Casting an Eagle Skill or Evading shoots 6 Storm Feathers, each dealing 140% Lightning damage and applying Vulnerable for 5 seconds. The Storm Feathers Movement Speed bonus is doubled and always active.
- Secondary Spirit Guardian: Jaguar
- Maximum Ferocity is increased by 1. Gain 1 stack of Ferocity whenever you kill an enemy or damage a Boss.
For this leveling build, select the Eagle spirit hall as your primary to consistently apply vulnerable, and gain additional damage and movement speed, and the Jaguar Spirit Hall as your secondary to improve attack speed scaling from Ferocity stacks.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
When picking your gear, higher Item Power generally indicates stronger gear, but you should also consider the affixes and effects that are relevant to your class and build. When making gear decisions, keep an eye on both Item Power and the specific attributes that complement the build.
Legendary Aspects
For general information on how to unlock the Codex of Power, head to our dedicated Aspects and Codex of Power guide. You can imprint Aspects onto items by visiting the Occultist.
Listed below are all the Aspects that are important for this Payback Spiritborn leveling build. You can equip any aspect from this list in the slot it drops for, as they are all useful while leveling.
For the best results, combine these Aspects with the right stat/affix priorities.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|
 Aspect of Tenacity | You gain Resolve for each [40 – 20] Vigor you gain while at maximum Vigor. This Resolve can overfill your maximum Resolve stacks by 5. | Random Drop |
| Aspect of Interdiction | Gain [1 – 15%] Block Chance per Resolve stack. | Random Drop |
 Aspect of Redirected Force | Gain increased Critical Strike Damage equal [30 – 70%] of your Block Chance. Blocking doubles this bonus for 10 seconds. | Random Drop |
| Aspect of Might | Basic Skills grant [20 – 30%] Damage Reduction for 4 seconds. | Dark Ravine in Dry Steppes |
| Blood Boiling Aspect | When your Core Skills Overpower an enemy, you spawn 3 Volatile Blood Drops. Collecting a Volatile Blood Drop causes it to explode, dealing [X] Physical damage around you. | Random Drop |
 Aspect of Adaptability | Basic Skills generate 5 additional Primary Resource, once per Skill. Basic Skills deal x [0.4 – 0.6%] increased damage for each point of Primary Resource you have. | Random Drop |
 Aspect of Haste | Every second while moving gain + [10 – 30%] Bonus Movement Speed for 2 seconds, up to + [30 – 90%]. | Random Drop |
| Ghostwalker Aspect | While Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after, you gain [10 – 30%] increased Movement Speed and are Unhindered. | Broken Bulwark in Scosglen |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
During your leveling journey, you may stumble across items with very good affixes. Tempering these items can provide you with a significant boost in character power, so make sure you understand how it works.
Tempering is only possible if you have already found a few Tempering Manuals while leveling!
Keep an eye out for the following stats and modifiers that are particularly beneficial for this build (listed in order of importance):
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes (ranked by priority) | Tempering Recipes and Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | 1. Dexterity 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life 4. Vigor Generation |  Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Chest | 1. Dexterity 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life 4. Vigor Generation | Resolve Stacks |New Manual |
| Gloves | 1. Attack Speed 2. Dexterity 3. All Damage Multiplier 4. Vulnerable Damage Multiplier | Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Pants | 1. Dexterity 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life 4. Vigor Generation | Resolve Stacks |New Manual |
| Boots | 1. Dexterity 2. Movement Speed 3. Maximum Life 4. Armor | Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Amulet | 1. Attack Speed 2. Movement Speed 3. Critical Strike Chance 4. Vulnerability Damage Multiplier | Eagle Finesse – Vulnerability Damage |
| Rings | 1. Dexterity 2. Vulnerability Damage Multiplier 3. Critical Strike Damage Multiplier 3. Resistance Needed | Eagle Finesse – Vulnerability Damage |
| Weapon | 1. Weapon Damage 2. Vulnerable Damage Multiplier 3. All Damage Multiplier 4. Dexterity | Attack Speed |New Manual |
Want to jump back up to the gear table?
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each item type.
Gems
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
 DiamondFor More Damage |  Emerald For more Dexterity |  Skull For more Physical Resist |
Runewords
If you find one of the Runes listed below, you can equip them as a Runeword on your Chest or Pants.
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!
| Runeword Combination | Runeword Effects |
|---|---|
| Poc Que |  Poc – Gain: 5 Offering — Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. Que – Requires: 300 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Evoke the Druid’s Base  Earthen Bulwark, granting yourself a Barrier. |
| PocKry | Poc – Gain: 5 Offering, Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. Kry – Requires: 300 Offering, Invoke the Spiritborn’s Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies. |
Paragon starts at Level 70. So, once you reach this level, switch to one of our Endgame Builds here.
Season 13 Mechanics
Season 13 sees the launch of the long awaited Lord of Hatred Expansion. While there are no specific Seasonal Mechanics, there plenty of new systems to explore, including War Plans, Talismans, the Horadric Cube and more!
Talismans
The Lord of Hatred Expansion introduced a new gear system with the Talisman System. Talismans consist of a Horadric Seal which provides up to 6 total Charm Slots that can be socketed with Charms that provide useful stats, or can even provide Unique Bonuses or powerful Set Effects for socketing multiple Charms from specific sets.
While leveling you should focus on finding a Seal with the highest possible number of Charm Slots, and then filling those Charm Slots with any Charms that speed up your leveling process. Here is a tiered list of statistics to keep an eye out for
- Level of Eagle/Gorilla/Core/Potency Skills, Increased Experience Gain, Movement Speed
- Increased Critical Strike Damage, Increased Vulnerability Damage, Increased Attack Speed
- Increased Maximum Life, Armor or Resistances
Mercenaries
During the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you will unlock Mercenaries to assist you. While you can choose freely early on, we recommend Subo as your main companion, for extra movement speed and crowd control, and Raheir as Reinforcement.
Subo Skill Tree choices:
- Core Skill:
Wire Trap - Core Passive:
Ready At Hand - Iconic Skill:
Trip Mines - Iconic Passive:
Loaded Munitions
Raheir Reinforcement choices:
- Opportunity Skill: Pick “Injured” as opportunity skill. (Injured will automatically trigger when you become Injured).
- Reinforcement Skill:
Provoke
Build Mechanics
Rotation and Playstyle
Most abilities in this build are used primarily for a combat buff effect, meaning you should use them whenever they come off cooldown. The rest of the time you will be spamming your primary damage tool, Payback, and filling in with your free basic ability, Thunderspike, to generate additional Vigor.
Let’s see how this build will look in action:
- Open by pressing Evade for the Vulnerable application.
- Use Armored Hide for the extra defense.
- Use Scourge to fear nearby enemies and provide Damage Reduction
- Use Ravager to keep Ferocity high and grant massive Cooldown Reduction
- Use The Hunter for big damage bursts, to gain additional Ferocity, and for additional movement.
- Use Payback when you’re ready to burst mobs.
- Use Thunderspike if you ever run out of Vigor.
Season 13 Updates
For a full overview of what is new in Season 13, please take a look at our comprehensive season hub. Here is a quick overview of seasonal changes relevant to this build.
- Season 13 overhauls the Skill Tree and adds the new Talisman system, as well as adding several new core systems, such as the War Plans endgame system and the Horadric Cube.
Difficulty and Endgame
Once you hit Level 70 with this build, you will be ready to tackle harder difficulties as you transition into more challenging endgame content. Make sure to pick one of our recommended endgame builds to continue your journey! Additionally, keep your Obols until you reach maximum Level (70), then spend them on a weapon to kickstart your preferred endgame build.
Changelog
- April 26th, 2026: Build Guide Added
