Top Gorilla Spiritborn Builds for Crushing in Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred

King Kong doesn’t compare to the devastating Crushing Hand Spiritborn build in Diablo 4. Here’s how to optimize it for both leveling up and endgame play.

With the Vessel of Hatred expansion, Diablo 4 opened the doors wide for buildcrafting with new features such as Mercenaries and Runewords. However, the standout introduction was the Spiritborn class, offering fresh mechanics to explore extensively.

Often regarded as the successor to the Witch Doctor from Diablo 3, the Spiritborn harnesses powers from four distinct animal guardians, allowing for dynamic playstyles and impressive abilities. This particular setup emphasizes the offensive and defensive power of the Gorilla guardian.

In this guide, we’ll outline the most effective configuration for the Crushing Hand Spiritborn build within Diablo 4, perfect for both leveling and mastering endgame content. Get ready for some serious ‘monke’ action!

Diablo 4 Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Build Guardians — Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

The Gorilla stands as the most formidable among the Spiritborn Guardians in Diablo 4.

Optimal Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Leveling Build in Diablo 4 Season 6

Your primary damage-dealing abilities will primarily come from Gorilla skills, with a few Eagle and Jaguar skills sprinkled in to leverage specific passive abilities, especially during the early stages of your advancement before reaching the endgame.

Ideal Leveling Setup

Utilize the following table to establish your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build to seamlessly transition from level 1 to 60 in Diablo 4’s new leveling framework introduced in the Vessel of Hatred expansion.

As you begin your journey, allocate your skill points in the sequence outlined below:

Level	Skill
1	Rock Splitter
2	Enhanced Rock Splitter
3	Sharp Rock Splitter
4	Crushing Hand
5	Enhanced Crushing Hand
6	Sustenance
7	Soar
8	Ravage
9	Crushing Hand
10	Crushing Hand
11	Crushing Hand
12	Crushing Hand
13	Vigorous
14	Velocity
15	Velocity
16	Velocity
17	Rushing Claw
18	Enhanced Soar
19	Replenishing Soar
20	Enhanced Ravager
21	Replenishing Ravager
22	Endurance
23	Fueled
24	Vigorous
25	Vigorous
26	The Seeker
27	Harmonious Seeker
28	Exalted Seeker
29	Resolution
30	Spiritual Attunement
31	Supremacy
32	Supremacy
33	Supremacy
34	Vital Strikes
35	Mirage
36	Swift
37	Swift
38	Swift
39	Mirage
40	Swift
41	Swift
42	Swift
43	The Seeker
44	The Seeker
45	The Seeker
46	The Seeker
47	Focal Point
48	Apex
49	Apex
50	Apex
51	Patient Guard
52	Nourishment
53	Sustenance
54	Intricacy
55	Intricacy
56	Enhanced Rushing Claw
57	Invasive Rushing Claw
58	Ravage
59	Ravage
60	Ravage
Renown 1	Ravage
Renown 2	Resolution
Renown 3	Resolution
Renown 4	Auspicious
Renown 5	Auspicious
Renown 6	Auspicious
Renown 7	Resilient
Renown 8	Resilient
Renown 9	Resilient
Renown 10	Potent
Renown 11	Potent
Renown 12	Spiritual Attunement

Spirit Hall Setup

Eagle as your Primary Spirit. This adjustment enables your evasion ability to inflict significant damage and apply the Vulnerable status to enemies, synergizing effectively with the Vital Strikes passive.

By the time you hit level 30, switch your Secondary Spirit to Jaguar. This will help maintain your Ferocity stacks, enhancing both your attack speed and eliminating cooldowns for Rushing Claw.

Optimal Leveling Rotation

Soar
Ravage
Rock Splitter
Crushing Hand
The Seeker
Rushing Claw

In your engagements with mobs using the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4, initiate battle with Soar for strong opening damage and Vulnerable triggers. Follow this with Ravager for damage amplification, subsequently utilizing Rock Splitter to accumulate Vigor and stack Resolve for its respective defensive and offensive enhancements.

Once your Vigor is sufficiently built up, apply your Crushing Hand in triples to leverage the Unrelenting Aspect, which delivers an additional 10 hits every third use of the skill. The Seeker should be activated for substantial damage while further inflicting Vulnerable status, aiding your Vital Strikes Key Passive in replenishing both health and Vigor.

Utilize Rushing Claw for improved mobility, enabling you to navigate between mobs or escape overwhelming scenarios.

Recommended Leveling Legendary Aspects

The following Legendary Aspects will amplify your primary damage-dealing skills while providing additional sources of Vulnerable status to enhance resource and health regeneration.

Aspect Name	Effect	Acquisition	Location
Unrelenting	Every third consecutive Crushing Hand results in an additional 10 strikes around you, dealing [25-45%] of its base damage per hit.	Remnants of Rage	It’s a place
Fell Soothsayer’s	Casting an Incarnate Skill makes surrounding enemies Vulnerable for 5 seconds. Defeating a Vulnerable enemy transfers [15-55]% of the killing blow’s damage to another enemy nearby.	Ularian Sepulcher	It’s a place
Accursed Touch	Lucky Hit: Up to a 35.0% chance for your Skills to apply Vampiric Curse on foes. Enemies cursed are also Vulnerable. The souls stored by Vampiric Curse amplify damage by [20.0 – 60.0]%.	Salvage an item imbued with Aspect of Accursed Touch	All Regions
Redirected Force	Receive increased Critical Strike Damage equal to [30-70%] of your Block Chance. This bonus doubles when blocking and lasts for 10 seconds.	Salvage an item imbued with Aspect of Redirected Force	All Regions
Unyielding Hits	Using a Gorilla Skill boosts your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for 3 seconds. The maximum bonus Weapon Damage is 1,500.	Salvage an item infused with Aspect of Unyielding Hits	All Regions

Top Recommended Leveling Mercenary

For the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build, Raehir is the best Mercenary option. He not only provides additional defense via Fortify, but also contributes a passive Armor boost that enhances your damage output from the Unyielding Hits Aspect.

Ultimate Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Endgame Build for Diablo 4 Season 6

Diablo 4 Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Build Ultimate — Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

The Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn excels in area-of-effect damage.

Now that you’ve leveled your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn, it’s time to shift your focus for endgame optimization. This build revolves around achieving massive area damage using the Rampant Crushing Hand skill, which is significantly enhanced by the Unrelenting Aspect and by stacking your Resolve.

Resolve provides boosts to both Armor and Block Chance, further increasing damage to your Gorilla skills through the Aspects of Unyielding Hits and Redirected Force. The synergy between the Rod of Kepeleke and Ring of Midnight Sun Unique items combined with the Prodigy’s Tempo Key Passive allows for continuous Critical Hits and unmatched resource generation.

Active Skills Configuration

Active Skill	Upgrades	Points Allocated
Rock Splitter (Before acquiring Rod of Kepeleke)	Enhanced	5
Crushing Hand	Enhanced, Rampant	5
Ravage	Enhanced, Measured	1
Counter Attack	Enhanced, Reinforced	1
Armored Hide	Enhanced, Reinforced	4
Scourge	Enhanced, Adaptable	1
The Hunter	Harmonious, Exalted	4

Passive Skills Allocation

Passive Skill	Points
Vigorous	1
Balanced Exertion	3
Mirage	1
Unrestrained Power	3
Focal Point	1
Apex	3
Endurance	1
Perseverance	3
Patient Guard	1
Auspicious	3
Resilient	3
Dominant	1
Potent	3
Furnace	3
Resolution	3
Spiritual Attunement	3
Supremacy	3
Prodigy’s Tempo	Key Passive

Spirit Hall Configuration

Utilizing the Jaguar as your Secondary Spirit greatly enhances your attack speed. Together with the Harmony of Ebewaka Unique Helm, this setup applies three Spirit types to your damaging skills, resulting in significant damage amplifications.

Optimal Endgame Skill Rotation

Crushing Hand
Ravage
Scourge
The Hunter
Armored Hide
Counterattack

The Rod of Kepeleke transforms your Core Skills into Basic Skills that no longer require Vigor to cast, which means you can forgo Rock Splitter when the build is fully operational. Instead, prioritize using Crushing Hand frequently due to its potent AOE damage scaling with each Resolve stack and its ability to generate defensive barriers.

Always maintain Ravager and Scourge at readiness since they significantly enhance your damage output, potentially having minimal cooldowns with the proper orchestration of the Prodigy’s Tempo Key Passive. Not to mention, Scourge also provides valuable healing benefits.

Furthermore, activate Armored Hide to protect yourself from heavy damage and control effects, allowing you to bolster your resolve stacks as needed. Counterattack not only provides extra defense but also enhances your critical strike chance, triggering various passive and Legendary Aspect abilities.

Finally, make sure to trigger The Hunter whenever feasible to gain buffs from the passive skills like Supremacy and Resolution, which can be found in the Ultimate skill tree.

Essential Paragon Glyphs

For the Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4, focus on these Paragon Glyphs:

Fitness: Increasing Critical Strike Damage by +2.0% for every 5 Dexterity acquired in range. Skills that Critically Strike regenerate 3 Vigor.
Spirit: Core Skills gain +4.0% Increased Critical Strike Damage for every 5 Dexterity purchased. Critical Strikes also increase enemy damage taken from you by 3% for 20 seconds, stacking up to 15%.
Outmatch: Provides a +25.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. Non-Elites and Bosses take 15% increased Physical damage.
Colossal: Grants +2.0% increased damage with Gorilla Skills for every 5 Strength gained within range. Additionally, you deal +2.0% increased damage to close-range targets and for each stack of Resolve you possess.
Turf: For every 5 Strength bought, you gain +2.0% increased damage against nearby targets, along with 15% Damage Reduction when facing enemies at close range.

Top Endgame Legendary Aspects

Aspect Name	Effect	Acquisition	Location
Unrelenting	Every third consecutive Crushing Hand strikes an additional 10 times around you, dealing [25-45%] of its base damage per hit.	Remnants of Rage	It’s a place
Unyielding Hits	Utilizing a Gorilla Skill enhances your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for a span of 3 seconds. The maximum boost is 1,500 Weapon Damage.	Salvage an item with Aspect of Unyielding Hits	All Regions
Moonrise	Landing hits on an enemy with a Basic Skill provides you with 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Once max stacks are achieved, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, receiving [40 – 100]% Basic Skill damage and bonus Movement Speed for 10 seconds.	Salvage an item with Aspect of the Moonrise	All Regions
Redirected Force	Boosts your Critical Strike Damage by [30-70%] equal to your Block Chance. Doubling occurs while protecting for 10 seconds.	Salvage an item with Aspect of Redirected Force	All Regions

Essential Endgame Items and Gear

Item	Socket	Type	Power
Harmony of Ebewaka	PocQue	Helm	Your Skills gain additional modalities based on your secondary Spirit Hall choice (Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or Centipede). They deal 30% increased damage per Spirit type.
Chest Armor of Binding Morass	Two emeralds for extra Dexterity	Chest Armor	Indirectly damaging an enemy progressively slows them by [30-70%] over 3 seconds. You deal 20% increased damage to Slow targets.
Gloves of the Moonrise	–	Gloves	Damaging enemies with Basic Skills grants you a 4% Attack Speed boost for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Achieving max stacks activates Vampiric Bloodrage, enhancing Basic Skills by [40 – 100]% and granting 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
Leggings of Interdiction	Two emeralds for extra Dexterity	Pants	Gains [1-15%] Block Chance per Resolve stack.
Yen’s Blessing	–	Shoes	Unique effect: Casting a Skill offers a [40 – 60]% chance to trigger a Non-Mobility, Non-Ultimate Skill currently on cooldown. This can happen once every 8 seconds.
Rod of Kepeleke	XolYes	Weapon	Transforms your Core Skills into Basic Skills that cost no Vigor to cast but incur up to 30% reduced damage based on their Vigor Cost. When cast with Max Vigor, they consume all Vigor for full damage, increase their size, and become guaranteed Critical Strikes, gaining [3.00%] increased Critical Strike Damage for every point of Vigor expended.
Amulet of Redirected Force	Skull for added Armor	Amulet	Critical Strike Damage increase equals [30-70%] of your Block Chance. Doubling occurs when blocking for 10 seconds.
Ring of Unyielding Hits	Skull for added Armor	Ring	Using a Gorilla Skill raises your Weapon Damage by [10-30]% of your Armor for 3 seconds. The cap is 1,500 bonus Weapon Damage.
Ring of the Midnight Sun	Skull for added Armor	Ring	When you achieve a Critical Strike, you recover 50% of the Vigor spent in the last 2 seconds, while also gaining Counterattack’s passive effect.

Top Endgame Mercenary Choice

The best choice for this build remains Raehir, providing the same benefits as the leveling version. His armor enhancement is vital for optimizing the Unyielding Hits Aspect.

Diablo 4 Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn Build Class Mechanic — Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

With this Mercenary, your Spiritborn will be in good hands.

This comprehensive overview covers the key components needed to fully establish your Crushing Hand Gorilla Spiritborn build in Diablo 4.

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