Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred (Season 6)
Last update: 10/30/2024
General Notes
General Notes for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide in Vessel of Hatred
Note: This leveling guide is optimized for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred (Season 6).
Quill Volley is a Core Skill for the new Spiritborn Class, in which eight feathers fan out to pierce enemies. With the Rebounding Aspect, the feathers now also explode and come back to you, striking each monster twice.
With Eagle as your Primary Spirit in the Spirit Hall, a large portion of the damage in this leveling build comes not only from Quill Volley, but also from Storm Feathers. They are triggered when you Evade while having used an Eagle Skill shortly before. Thanks to the Accelerated Thunderspike skill, every Evade automatically triggers Thunderspike, which spawns Storm Feathers.
Important: You should complete your Class Quest directly at level 15 to unlock the Spirit Hall and your Storm Feathers. From this moment on, the Quill Volley leveling build is one of the strongest in the game.
Until when is this leveling build playable? You can play this and all my other leveling guides on Vitablo.com for as long as you like. Some of them still perform well at Torment difficulty 4, others have their limit at Torment difficulty 3. As soon as your build no longer feels strong enough, you can switch to one of my endgame builds.
Playstyle
Playstyle for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
- Use Soar to move around and to make opponents Vulnerable. Before the first group of enemies, you use Ravager to increase your Resource generation and to make your Quill Volley automatically jump to enemies. If you kill monsters fast enough, Ravager should be active permanently; otherwise, you have to re-cast it from time to time.
- In the very early leveling phase, you can replace Armored Hide with Rushing Claw to move even faster.
- During combat, you should evade as often as possible to trigger your Storm Feathers. It's best to wear boots with the affix “Attacks Reduce Evade's Cooldown,” so that you can evade every 2-3 seconds.
- Save your Ultimate Skill Seeker against elite enemies or for when you get stunned, as it makes you Unstoppable.
- Against strong monsters, you should regularly use Armored Hide to benefit from the damage reduction of the Paragon Node Resolve.
- Your Key Passive Skill Vital Strikes generates Resource when you deal damage to Vulnerable enemies. However, this also removes the Vulnerability, so you have to constantly make enemies Vulnerable to benefit from it. Fortunately, you trigger Vulnerability through many sources: Quill Volley, Stormfeathers, Soar and Seeker, so you willl have permanent Resource generation.
Skills
Skills for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Note: Level up all your active skills first and work your way down to your Key Passive as quickly as possible. If you are missing skill points to progress on your way through the skill tree, you can invest them in some passive skills. As soon as you have leveled up all active abilities and your Key Passive Ability, continue with the missing passive skills.
Skill tree notes:
- In the very early leveling phase, you can replace Armored Hide with Rushing Claw to move even faster.
Spirit Hall
Spirit Hall for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Primary Spirit Hall: Eagle
Casting an Eagle Skill grants X seconds of the Storm Feathers Movement Speed bonus. When you Evade, fling up to X Storm Feather for every remaining second, each dealing X% Lightning damage and making targets Vulnerable for X seconds.
All Skills are now also Eagle Skills.
Secondary Spirit Hall: Jaguar
Maximum Ferocity increased by X. Gain X stack of Ferocity whenever you kill an enemy or damage a Boss.
Aspects
Aspects for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Undying Aspect
When you cast a Skill, you heal for X% Life. Double this bonus while below X% Life.
Aspect of Might
Basic Skills grant X% Damage Reduction for X seconds.
Aspect of Elements
Gain X% increased damage to a set of damage types for X seconds. This effect alternates between 2 sets: Fire, Lightning, and Physical. Cold, Poison, and Shadow.
Aspect of Turbulence
Soar casts Vortex at its landing location and deals X% increased damage.
Duelist's Aspect
Maximum Ferocity increased by X.
Edgemaster's Aspect
Skills deal up to X% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource.
Aspect of Exhilaration
Lucky Hit: Hitting a Vulnerable enemy has up to a X% chance to reduce your Evade Cooldown by X seconds. Each stack of Ferocity you have increases this chance by X%.
Accelerating Aspect
Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by X% for X seconds.
Rebounding Aspect
Quill Volley's feathers explode at their apex and return to where they were cast, dealing X% of their normal damage both times.
very important
Items & Affixes
Items & Affixes for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
General tips about your Gear
- Armor: You need a maximum of 1,000 armor. Anything above that is useless and has no effect. If you haven't reached your armor cap yet, adjust your equipment, gems and paragon talents accordingly.
- Resistances: You need at least 70% to all resistances. If you have not yet reached these values, adjust your equipment, gems and paragon talents accordingly.
- Affixes: Each item type has different properties (affixes) that are useful for this build. Some of these are mandatory, others are optional. Please pay attention to the following symbols:
Helmet
- Cooldown Reduction
- Life
- Dexterity
- Armor as Required
- Resistances as Required
- Undying Aspect
Worldly Endurance
- Maximum Life
- Total Armor
- Dodge Chance
Eagle Innovation
- Thunderspike Size
- Vortex Size
- Soar Size
100% maximum. Vortex only with Aspect of Turbulence.
Chest Armor
- Life
- Dexterity
- Armor as Required
- Resistances as Required
- Aspect of Might
Worldly Endurance
- Maximum Life
- Total Armor
- Dodge Chance
Eagle Innovation
- Thunderspike Size
- Vortex Size
- Soar Size
100% maximum. Vortex only with Aspect of Turbulence.
Gloves
- Ranks to Quill Volley
- Ranks to Core Skills
- Attack Speed
- Dexterity
- Critical Strike Chance
- Life
- Aspect of Elements
Eagle Finesse
- Focus Damage
- Storm Feather Potency
- Eagle Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
Eagle Innovation
- Thunderspike Size
- Vortex Size
- Soar Size
100% maximum. Vortex only with Aspect of Turbulence.
Pants
- Life
- Dexterity
- Armor as Required
- Resistances as Required
- Aspect of Turbulence
Worldly Endurance
- Maximum Life
- Total Armor
- Dodge Chance
Eagle Innovation
- Thunderspike Size
- Vortex Size
- Soar Size
100% maximum. Vortex only with Aspect of Turbulence.
Boots
- Attacks Reduce Evade's Cooldown
- Movement Speed
- Life
- Dexterity
- Vigor per Second
- Duelist's Aspect
Natural Motion
- Movement Speed
- Movement Speed for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
- Mobility Cooldown Reduction
- Evade Cooldown Reduction
Eagle Innovation
- Thunderspike Size
- Vortex Size
- Soar Size
100% maximum. Vortex only with Aspect of Turbulence.
Amulet
- Movement Speed
- Ranks to Apex
- Ranks to Brilliance
- Ranks to Unrestrained
- Dexterity
- Attack Speed
- Critical Strike Chance
- Edgemaster's Aspect
Eagle Finesse
- Focus Damage
- Storm Feather Potency
- Eagle Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
Worldly Stability
- Resource Generation
- Resource Cost Reduction
- Lucky Hit: Chance to Restore X% Primary Resource
Rings
- Attack Speed
- Critical Strike Chance
- Life
- Dexterity
- Aspect of Exhilaration
- Accelerating Aspect
Eagle Finesse
- Focus Damage
- Storm Feather Potency
- Eagle Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
Worldly Stability
- Resource Generation
- Resource Cost Reduction
- Lucky Hit: Chance to Restore X% Primary Resource
Quarterstaff / Polearm
- Life
- Dexterity
- Resource Cost Reduction
- Vulnerable Damage
- Rebounding Aspect
Eagle Augments
- Chance for Thunderspike to Deal Double Damage
- Chance for Quill Volley Projectiles to Cast Twice
- Chance for The Seeker to Deal Double Damage
- Primary Eagle Spirit Hall Potency
Eagle Finesse
- Focus Damage
- Storm Feather Potency
- Eagle Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
Tyrael's Might
Ignore Durability Loss
+16.5% Movement Speed
+7.5% Maximum Resistance to All Elements
+60% Resistance to All Elements
+20% Damage Reduction
While at full Life, your Skills unleash a divine barrage dealing 195 damage.
Duriel, Andariel, Tormented Bosses
All Classes
Runewords
Runewords for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Note: If you are missing the required Runes, you can use Gemstones in the meantime.
1st Runeword (Chest Armor)
Xol
Gain: 150 Offering
Evoke power from another Class.
Gar
Required: 25 Offering
Cooldown: 1 Second
Gain X% Critical Strike Chance for X seconds, up to X%. (Overflow: Gain Multiple Stacks)
2nd Runeword (2H Weapon)
Tam
Gain: 25 Offering
Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill.
Mot
Required: 150 Offering
Cooldown: 1 Second
Gain a shadow from the Rogue's Dark Shroud, reducing damage taken per shadow. (Overflow: Gain Multiple Shadows)
Note: If you don't have legendary runes yet, you can use Zan and Moni instead of Xol and Tam.
Gemstones
Gemstones for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
WeaponSapphire
Weapons: Vulnerable Damage
Armor: Willpower
Jewelry: Cold Resistance
ArmorEmerald
Weapons: Critical Strike Damage
Armor: Dexterity
Jewelry: Poison Resistance
JewelryGems and Skulls
You'll need at least 70% to all resistances. If you haven't reached those numbers yet, change your gems accordingly. If you have too many resistances on your items, you can also use skulls, but you shouldn't exceed the armor cap of 1,000.
Paragon Board
Paragon Board for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Important notice:
- Glyph Radius: To increase the radius of your Glyphs, you have to level them in the Pit. The starting radius is 3 boxes. At level 15, it increases to 4 boxes. At level 45, the radius is 5 boxes.
- Skill Order: Start with the ESSENTIAL LAYOUT and rebuild it COMPLETELY to quickly access all the important Nodes and Glyphs. Only then switch to the FINAL LAYOUT and add the missing Nodes.
Spirit
Rare Glyph "Spirit"
For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal X% increased Critical Strike Damage.
Additional Bonus: Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes increase the damage an enemy takes from you by X% for X seconds, up to X%.
Legendary Bonus: Increase damage to Elites by X%.
Legendary Node "Sapping"
When you cast 3 Gorilla, Jaguar, Eagle, or Centipede skills with the same spirit in a row, restore X% of your Vigor and deal X% increased damage for X seconds.
Rare Glyph "Canny"
For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal X% increased Non-physical damage.
Additional Bonus: Non-Physical damage increases all the Non-Physical damage an enemy takes from you by X%, up to X%, for X seconds.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Non-Physical damage by X%.
Legendary Node "Convergence"
You deal bonus damage equal to X% of your 2 highest bonuses to damage types combined, up to X% total.
Rare Glyph "Headhunter"
Grants X% bonus to all Normal nodes within range.
Additional Bonus: You deal X% increased damage to Elites.
Legendary Bonus: Increase damage by X%.
Legendary Node "Revealing"
Lucky Hit: Up to a X% chance to Knock Down Vulnerable enemies. You deal X% increased damage to Crowd Controlled enemies.
Rare Glyph "Talon"
For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal X% increased Damage with Eagle skills.
Additional Bonus: Your Eagle skills deal X% increased Critical Strike damage.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Lightning damage by X%.
Legendary Node "Drive"
After moving X meters, you deal X% increased damage for X seconds. This can stack up to X times.
Rare Glyph "Fulminate"
For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal X% increased Lightning damage.
Additional Bonus: You deal X% increased Lightning damage to both Healthy and Injured enemies.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Lightning damage by X%.
Rare Glyph "Spirit"
For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal X% increased Critical Strike Damage.
Additional Bonus: Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes increase the damage an enemy takes from you by X% for X seconds, up to X%.
Legendary Bonus: Increase damage to Elites by X%.
Legendary Node "Sapping"
When you cast 3 Gorilla, Jaguar, Eagle, or Centipede skills with the same spirit in a row, restore X% of your Vigor and deal X% increased damage for X seconds.
Rare Glyph "Canny"
For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal X% increased Non-physical damage.
Additional Bonus: Non-Physical damage increases all the Non-Physical damage an enemy takes from you by X%, up to X%, for X seconds.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Non-Physical damage by X%.
Legendary Node "Convergence"
You deal bonus damage equal to X% of your 2 highest bonuses to damage types combined, up to X% total.
Legendary Node "Revealing"
Lucky Hit: Up to a X% chance to Knock Down Vulnerable enemies. You deal X% increased damage to Crowd Controlled enemies.
Rare Glyph "Talon"
For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal X% increased Damage with Eagle skills.
Additional Bonus: Your Eagle skills deal X% increased Critical Strike damage.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Lightning damage by X%.
Legendary Node "Drive"
After moving X meters, you deal X% increased damage for X seconds. This can stack up to X times.
Rare Glyph "Fulminate"
For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal X% increased Lightning damage.
Additional Bonus: You deal X% increased Lightning damage to both Healthy and Injured enemies.
Legendary Bonus: Increase Lightning damage by X%.
Mercenaries
Mercenaries for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Varyana
Massacre
You and Varyana stack Massacre together on kills. Certain stack thresholds grant Movement Speed. Massacre resets after X seconds of not killing an enemy.
Cleave
Varyana swings two axes in an arc in front of her, dealing X% Physical damage and X% Bleeding damage over X seconds.
Selecting a Mercenary Core Skill alters their wielded Weapon and Basic Attack.
Weapon: Dual Axes
Basic Attack: Double Strike
Varyana slashes enemies with dual axes, dealing X% Physical damage. She has a X% chance to also deal X% Bleeding damage over X seconds.
Hysteria
You gain X% Attack Speed for X seconds whenever Varyana damages an enemy, up to X%.
Recklessness
Varyana's Cleave inflicts Vulnerable on enemies for X seconds.
Shockwave
Varyana slams the ground for a brutal shockwave in front of her, dealing X% Physical damage and Knocking Down enemies for X seconds.
Selecting a Mercenary Core Skill alters their wielded Weapon and Basic Attack.
Weapon: Two-Handed Mace
Basic Attack: Heavy Strike
Varyana batters enemies with a mace, dealing X% Physical damage with X% increased Critical Strike Chance.
Crushing Force
When Varyana deals damage to an enemy, she has a X% chance to Knock them Down for X seconds.
Reprisal
If you become Crowd Controlled, Varyana leaps towards the enemy that inflicted it, dealing X% Physical damage and Knocking Down surrounding enemies for X seconds on impact. This can only occur once every X seconds.
Bloodthirst
Varyana enters Bloodthirst, gaining X% Attack Speed, X% Movement Speed, and Unstoppable for X seconds. Varyana's Bloodthirst grants X% Attack Speed to you for the same duration.
Intimidated
While Varyana has Bloodthirst, enemies around her deal X% reduced damage.
Bloodlust
Varyana's Bloodthirst further increases your Attack Speed by X%.
Whirlwind
Varyana spins violently in a line, repeatedly dealing X% Physical damage and X% Bleeding damage over X seconds.
No Escape
Varyana's Whirlwind Pulls In enemies every X seconds and gains X% Size.
Taste of Flesh
When you or Varyana deal direct damage to an enemy inflicted with any of her Bleeding effects, you Heal for X% of your Maximum Life.
Earth Breaker
Varyana crushes the ground with her mace, leaving a tremor that deals X% Physical damage over X seconds and Knocks enemies Down repeatedly.
Rampage
You deal X% increased damage to enemies afflicted by any of Varyana's Crowd Control effects.
Dismembering
Enemies damaged by Varyana's Earth Breaker are left exposed, causing your next hit against them within X seconds to be a guaranteed Overpower. This may only occur on the same target once every X seconds.
Ancient Harpoons
Varyana launches three harpoons ahead of her, piercing enemies for X% Physical damage. She then rips them back, Pulling In and Stunning enemies for X seconds.
Annihilator
Varyana's Ancient Harpoons additionally Slow enemies by X% for X seconds. During this time, you gain X% Lucky Hit Chance against those targets.
Iron Grip
Varyana's Ancient Harpoons travel X% farther and reduce enemies' Impairment Resistance by X% for X seconds.
Raheir
Reinforcement
Crater
Trigger
Quill Volley
Video Showcase
Video Showcase for the Quill Volley Spiritborn Leveling Guide
Changelog
- 10/02/24 – Optimized for Vessel of Hatred (Season 6)