How the engine works
Rod of Kepeleke makes Quill Volley a free Basic skill. Cast at full Vigor, it spends the whole bar and comes out as one guaranteed, very large critical strike. The trick is getting that Vigor straight back. Quill Volley's Vulnerable upgrade removes and reapplies Vulnerable with every feather, and Echo of Kwatli pays you Vigor and Life each time you hit a Vulnerable enemy, so one volley refills the bar for the next. Harmony of Ebewaka and the Multitude charms stack extra Spirit tags for damage. The Protector pulls enemies together, and you shoot into the clump.
Who it's for
Players who want a ranged Spiritborn with strong healing, good on bosses and on big groups. It is the least budget-friendly of the three builds: it doesn't work at all until Rod of Kepeleke drops.
- Rating
- S to A-Tier
- Difficulty
- Hard — positioning and Vigor maths
- Key stat
- Maximum Resource (Vigor)
- Must have
- Rod of Kepeleke
The bar
This is the Echo of Kwatli bar. There is a second way to build the defensive half: run Counterattack, Armored Hide and The Seeker in place of Toxic Skin, Rushing Claw and The Protector, with Ring of the Midnight Sun refilling your Vigor. That version trades the pull and the travel skill for Block Chance, Dodge Chance and The Seeker's burst. Take the bar below unless you already own the ring and not the amulet.
Your damage. Take the Vulnerable Damage upgrade, which is what feeds Echo of Kwatli, and Returning Feathers, which gives about nine Echo triggers per cast on a single target. From point-blank range several feathers hit at once. Rank 15.
Hold — constantlyThe ultimate. It pulls enemies in, Knocks them Down and builds Resolve, and through the Multitude charms it adds the Gorilla tag to your skills. Spam it for Supremacy stacks. Rank 15.
Press — on cooldownFlurry of Claws variant for Cooldown Rate. At 100% Cooldown Rate a 10-second cooldown becomes 5. Rank 15.
Keep it upKept running for its defences and for Unhindered. Rank 15.
Keep it upWith the Weaken upgrade. Fear and damage reduction around you. One rank.
Keep it upEvasive Swipe variant, which needs no target. It's how you travel between packs. One rank.
Press — between packsPassives
Put one point into Vortex off the bar, because the Kry rune casts it.
Spirit Hall
Centipede primary, Jaguar secondary. Centipede slows enemies, cuts the damage they deal and turns every one of your skills into a Centipede skill, which is another Spirit tag for Harmony of Ebewaka to pay out on. Jaguar generates Ferocity and raises its maximum by one. There is a choice on the primary: Gorilla instead gives 150% Thorns and a small Barrier on every hit and makes all skills Gorilla skills. Take Centipede with the bar on this page, because The Protector and the Multitude charms already supply the Gorilla tag. Take Gorilla only if you play the Seeker and Midnight Sun version.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Centipede (primary) | Slows enemies, reduces the damage they deal and makes all of your skills count as Centipede skills. |
| Jaguar (secondary) | +1 maximum Ferocity, and 1 Ferocity whenever you kill an enemy or damage a boss. |
| Gorilla (primary, alternative) | 150% Thorns and a Barrier for 2.5% of Maximum Life on hit, and all skills become Gorilla skills. For the Midnight Sun version. |
What to wear
The Rod is the build. After it, the order matters more than usual, because two of these items only work once something else is in place.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Rod of Kepeleke | Quarterstaff. Core skills become free Basic skills. At maximum Vigor a cast consumes all of it and is a guaranteed critical strike with 1.00 to 1.20% Critical Strike Damage per point of Vigor spent. Its extra two feathers for Quill Volley are currently bugged and don't appear. Drops from Astaroth. | Mandatory |
| Echo of Kwatli | Amulet first, later a unique charm. Against a Vulnerable enemy your next direct hit heals 5% of your Life, gives 10 Vigor and removes Vulnerable, with +1 Vigor for every full 10% Resource Generation you have. This is both your refill and your healing. | Core |
| Harmony of Ebewaka | Helm. Your skills gain your secondary hall's Spirit type and deal increased damage per Spirit type. Pair it with two Multitude charms for a very large jump. Drops from Bartuc. | Core |
| Ring of Starless Skies | Ring. 50% increased damage and 50% Resource Cost Reduction, and the cost reduction feeds the Rod by making it count more Vigor as spent. The first Mythic to aim for. | Mythic |
| Hesha e Kesungi | Gloves. The Protector keeps pulling enemies in, with a big bonus to Gorilla skill damage. Do not wear these without two Multitude charms, or your skills aren't Gorilla skills and the bonus does nothing. Drops from The Butcher. | Recommended |
| Temerity | Pants. Healing beyond full Life turns into Barrier, and this build over-heals constantly. When you put them on, change your runes to Poc + Ber and Neo + Kry. | Recommended |
| Squirt's Blouse | Chest. A damage bonus that you lose only when your Life is hit, not your Barrier. Add it after Temerity, never before. | Optional |
| Ring of the Midnight Sun | Ring, for the alternative version. Critical strikes give back part of the Vigor you spent in the last 2 seconds. It replaces Echo of Kwatli as the refill. Drops from Astaroth. | Variant |
Before they drop
There is no version of this build without the Rod. Until it drops from Astaroth, play another Spiritborn build. You also want 34 Paragon points first, so the Prodigy's Tempo legendary node is active. With the Rod and nothing else, wear Adaptability on the amulet for Vigor and run Poc + Que for Barrier.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Adaptability | Amulet. Your Vigor fix until Echo of Kwatli takes the slot. |
| Supremacy | Ring, and later the amulet. Kills during an Ultimate grant stacks of 6 to 9% damage, and you gain 5 more when the Ultimate ends. This is why you spam The Protector. |
| Expectant | Ring. Damage that stacks up as you cast, which suits a build that never stops casting. |
| Moonrise | Gloves. Attack speed and damage. |
| Rallying Reversal | Boots. Ferocity and damage reduction. |
| Debilitating Toxins | Chest. 20 to 30% damage reduction, and Poisoned enemies deal 15% less damage to you. |
| Heavenly Strength | Pants. 30% damage reduction while you use a two-handed weapon. |
| Apprehension | The finished amulet carries Supremacy plus Apprehension as a transfigured second aspect. Keep transfiguring until you hit it. |
Resource Generation only counts in steps of ten
Echo of Kwatli gives +1 Vigor per full 10% Resource Generation. 39% gives exactly the same as 30%, so anything sitting between two steps is wasted affix budget. Either reach the next step or spend those rolls on something else.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maximum Resource (your Vigor) | Helm and chest, alongside Resource Cost Reduction. Every point is more Critical Strike Damage through the Rod. |
| 2 | Resource Cost Reduction | Helm, chest and the Rod, with a temper on both rings. Useful up to a 75% cap. |
| 3 | Critical Strike Damage | The Rod, rings and amulet, and a temper on gloves. |
| 4 | Vulnerable Damage | Rings and amulet. |
| 5 | Resource Generation | Rings and amulet, plus a temper on the amulet. In full steps of 10% only. |
| 6 | Lightning Damage | Gloves and amulet. |
| 7 | Ranks to Core Skills | The Rod. |
| 8 | Dexterity and Maximum Life | Helm, chest and the rest of your armour. |
Hard targets
Balance Maximum Resource against Resource Generation so that one cast refills the bar. On a single target Quill Volley returns about 90 Vigor per cast at base, plus 9 for every full 10% Resource Generation. Resource Cost Reduction counts as extra Vigor spent up to a 75% cap: 250 Vigor with 25% cost reduction behaves like 333. The cast speed from Rezoka's Rage charms sits outside the normal 100% Attack Speed cap. You also need 34 Paragon points for Prodigy's Tempo before the build runs smoothly.
Tempering & masterworking
Temper Maximum Life on armour, Movement Speed on boots, Attack Speed on the weapon, Critical Strike Damage on gloves, Resource Cost Reduction on both rings and Resource Generation on the amulet. Once everything else is done, transfigure for Lightning damage.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Topaz in the weapon for Critical Strike Damage and Emeralds in armour, moving to the Flawless Horadric versions later.
- Poc + Que for Barrier until you own Temerity, then Poc + Ber.
- Cir + Kry for the Vortex pull and damage reduction, then Neo + Kry once Temerity is on.
- Soul Splinters, in order: Hellfire (massive damage for the loss of all Critical Strike Chance, which the Rod's guaranteed crits ignore), Black Soulstone, then Pain.
- Talisman: two Multitude charms (while an Ultimate is active your skills gain its Spirit type, with 20% damage per type), two Rezoka's Rage charms (50% Critical Strike Damage and 25% cast speed) and the Echo of Kwatli charm. Slaughter and Survival charms are fine fillers early on.
- Later: the full five-piece Multitude, and finally the Seal of the Golden Epiphany with Fists of Fate and Sepazontec as extra unique charms.
Paragon
Five boards: the Starter board, Prodigy's Tempo, Convergence, Viscous Shield and Revealing. Rush the boards and their legendary nodes first, Prodigy's Tempo above all, then fill in as you pass 200, 250 and 300 points. Level glyphs in this order: Canny, Fulminate, Spirit, Headhunter, Talon.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Canny | Starter board. Level it first. |
| Fulminate | Prodigy's Tempo board. |
| Spirit | Convergence board. |
| Headhunter | Viscous Shield board. |
| Talon | Revealing board. |
Mercenary
Hire Raheir: Raheir's Aegis adds resistances, and Inspiration gives you a damage bonus whenever he uses Ground Slam or Bastion. For reinforcement take Aldkin with Field of Languish and set it to trigger on The Protector, so the slow and the damage reduction land on the clump you've just pulled. If you play the version without The Protector, Varyana with Bloodthirst, triggered by Quill Volley, is the reinforcement to use.
From fresh 70 to finished
Nothing happens until the Rod drops. After that, follow this order exactly, because two of the items depend on earlier ones.
Play another build while you do, and reach 34 Paragon points so the Prodigy's Tempo node is ready.
The Rod goes on with an Adaptability amulet for Vigor and Poc + Que for Barrier. It works, but Vigor is still clumsy.
The amulet replaces Adaptability and gives you the refill and the healing. Later you move it to a unique charm and get your amulet slot back.
A very large damage increase from the extra Spirit tags. Only now do Hesha e Kesungi's gloves make sense.
Temerity turns over-healing into Barrier. Change runes to Poc + Ber and Neo + Kry. Squirt's Blouse comes after, because its bonus survives only while Barrier is taking the hits.
Ring of Starless Skies, a Mythic Rod, the Seal of the Golden Epiphany, then transfigure for Lightning damage.
The rotation
Ravager, Scourge and Toxic Skin. Refresh them as they come off cooldown.
It drags the pack into one spot, Knocks it Down and builds your Resolve. Use it every time it's ready.
Each cast at full Vigor is a guaranteed crit, and the feathers hitting Vulnerable enemies refill the bar for the next one.
Then pull and shoot again. Keep your distance from anything that hits hard.
On bosses
On a single target the limit is how fast your Vigor comes back, not how hard you hit. Plan Maximum Resource against Resource Generation so one cast refills the bar, with Returning Feathers giving about nine Echo of Kwatli triggers per cast. Stand at point-blank range when it's safe, so several feathers land at once.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- Fully ranged, which no other Spiritborn build offers.
- Enormous healing from Echo of Kwatli, and Temerity turns the excess into Barrier.
- Good area damage and good single-target damage in the same setup.
- Fast between packs with Rushing Claw.
Where it struggles
- Does not function without Rod of Kepeleke.
- A lot of buttons for a ranged build.
- Needs good positioning, and it's squishy if you get caught.
- The Vigor numbers have to be planned. Get them wrong and the build stutters.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Wearing Hesha e Kesungi without two Multitude charms. The gloves boost Gorilla skills, and without the charms your skills don't carry the Gorilla tag.
- Leaving Resource Generation between two 10% steps. Echo of Kwatli only counts full steps, so 39% is worth the same as 30%.
- Putting on Squirt's Blouse before Temerity. Without the Barrier from Temerity, the first hit to your Life removes the bonus.
- Expecting two extra feathers from the Rod. That part of the item is currently bugged. Judge your damage by what you see.
- Starting the build before the Rod drops. Without it Quill Volley costs Vigor and doesn't crit on demand. Play something else until you have it.
Not for you? The other Spiritborn builds: Pestilent Swarm · Stinger.