S-TIER | BUILD SPIRITBORN Contre-attaque (@_Ignition) | SAISON 13

ENDGAME | PIT PUSH | SPEED FARM SACRESPRIT

Build Overview

Many players thought the Spiritborn Evade archetype was going to die with the Lord of Hatred expansion. Ignition proves the opposite with this Spiritborn Evade Counterattack build that completely reinvents the formula around Pestilent Swarm — an effect that was considered a meme last season and that becomes one of the most devastating damage sources of SEASON 13.

The principle is simple to explain but ruthless in play: you Evade constantly to generate Resolve and stack Counterattack charges, while pestilent swarms orbit around you thanks to the Ring of Writhing Moon and poison the entire area. The synergy between Aspect of Infestation, Aspect of Pestilence and the Counterattack of the Swarm upgrade turns every hit you take into an avalanche of poisoned DOT.

Major upside of this V1: the build requires no mythic and clears the endgame tiers with standard Ancestral gear. Perfect for starting the season without massive grind, and equally good for finishing pinnacle content with a mobile, defensive playstyle.

Pros and Cons

Recommended Gear

The endgame gear revolves around three non-negotiable pieces and aspects chosen to stack DOT, Resolve and crit. The helmet Harmony of Ebewaka changes the very nature of the build: it converts every skill so that it benefits from both the Eagle Hall and the Gorilla Hall — two Spiritborn thresholds for the price of one. The amulet Widow's Web doubles poison damage and carries two aspects (transfiguration via the cube), which lets you fit both Grim Harvest for the 75% crit chance on poisoned targets, and Aspect of Kinetic Suppression which massively buffs Counterattack as soon as you reach 8 charges of Determination.

On the finger, Ring of Writhing Moon is the piece that defines the build: it makes the pestilent swarms orbit around your character and reduces the cooldown of your Eagle skills by 25 seconds per hit. Aspect of Pestilence then ramps up the swarm damage, and thanks to the ring their spiral trajectory is neutralized — they stay locked around you.

On the boots, Path of the Emissary replaces the dash with a proc of your basic Eagle skills every 4 meters, which triggers Crushing Hand on loop to generate even more barrier. On the two-handed weapon, Aspect of Infestation applies a 75% multi on poisoned DOT — the very heart of the build in the new SEASON 13 damage bucket. The Aspect of Supremacy, finally, ramps up to 30 charges on every ultimate cast of The Devourer.

For Greater Affixes, prioritize Core Stat Dexterity on as many slots as possible, Maximum Life, DOT Damage and Damage to Vulnerable. The Tempering brings back the charges of Determination from seasonal tier 6 — a boost Blizzard reintroduced for the Spiritborn in SEASON 13.

Horadric Seal S13

The major novelty of SEASON 13 — the Horadric Seal — gives the build six talisman slots unlocked through a Legendary +1 Charm Slot Seal. Ignition's endgame configuration runs the Balazan's Bite set in 5/5 active (Phoba, Fer, Mlor, Linta, Beru) which clearly amplifies the build's DOT pressure, and rounds it out with a Protean Heart unique charm for the stat boost. This panel is fully editable below: configure your own talisman to test other synergies.

Build Variants

The build comes in three clear progression stages. The Starter variant relies on 9 well-rolled legendaries and the Ring of Writhing Moon as the first unique to farm (drops from Zir). You can access it as soon as leveling ends — no need yet for Harmony of Ebewaka, which drops from Vartuk a bit later. The Midgame variant integrates the three signature pieces (Harmony + Widow's Web + Ring) and pushes the critical ranks of The Devourer to 15/15.

The Endgame variant adds Path of the Emissary to the boots and Crushing Hand to the skill bar, and pivots slightly on Greater Affixes to target Core Stat Dexterity and Total Armor Greater on armor pieces. This is the version used to push the deepest Pits and the Lord of Hatred seasonal Bosses.

Gameplay Tips

The rhythm relies on a simple loop: evade → cast Rushing Claw or Counterattack → let the swarms do the work. A Rushing Claw grants Resolve on every cast, so you constantly come back to 8 charges to activate Aspect of Kinetic Suppression. Taking a hit triggers Counterattack, which through the Counterattack of the Swarm upgrade summons an additional swarm — that's the main DPS multiplier on Boss.

On boss, always open with The Devourer to ramp Supremacy as fast as possible, then maintain a Ravager + Bane + Counterattack cycle while staying on the mob to poison the target. On packs, the natural orbit of the swarms does the work — focus on evading and positioning. Always keep Armored Hide active: the permanent Unstoppable effect frees you from every CC phase.

Small technical detail: a current bug prevents automatic Eagle/Gorilla tag inheritance on the new Lord of Hatred skills. Ignition reports that a fix is expected for the 3.1 patch; in the meantime, watch your tooltips and don't assume that all skills inherit as expected.

Talent Tree

Mercenary

Paragon and Glyphs

The Paragon route starts with the Prodigy's Tempo board, which replaces the old SEASON 12 tree passive and feeds the regeneration of Determination. You then chain Convergence and Drive for the DOT multipliers, then Viscous Shield as the final board for barrier. The starting board remains the mandatory pass — it feeds the Greater Affixes in Dexterity that the weapon and amulet depend on.

For Glyphs, the investment order is Guzzler first (direct DOT boost), then Bane on Convergence for the crit on afflicted targets, followed by Canny on Prodigy's Tempo and Colossal on the starter. Fester arrives last with the unlock of Viscous Shield. At G150 (Glyph lvl 150), all five glyphs become effective legendary nodes — that's the ultimate endgame milestone of the build.