Make the character
Two clicks, then you're playing.
- Pick Spiritborn.
- Tick Seasonal Realm — that's where Season 15 content, the seasonal questline and the good loot are.
- Difficulty: start on Normal, or Hard if you've played before. Either way the rule is the same: go up when packs die quickly, and come back down if fights get noticeably longer.
The plan in one line
You're building a close-range poisoner: cover a pack in Poisoning, then spend Vigor on Stinger, which hits every poisoned enemy around your target. Levelling is about learning that order and keeping your Vigor topped up with Thrash.
Your first skill bar
There is more than one way to level a Stinger. This page follows one complete bar from the first point to the last, with a full point order and final ranks, 80 skill points in all. The other common way swaps Thrash and Touch of Death for Withering Fist, Soar and Ravager. Pick one and stick with it, because the two don't mix well. If you'd rather level at range, Quill Volley is the alternative, and it's a different build altogether.
Your basic attack. It generates 8 Vigor, and the third hit is an area slash that also builds Ferocity. Nothing else refills Vigor.
GeneratorYour damage. It hits a small area plus every poisoned enemy around it, and with Potent Sting it hits 50% harder on enemies that were already poisoned.
Main damageA wave of insects: Fear, a 70% Slow and Poisoning. Its upgrades also make enemies Vulnerable and Weakened.
OpenerPress it and run through the pack. You leave a poison trail, launch toxic globs, heal, and generate 5 Vigor a second while it lasts.
Press — in the packA heavy infection on one target. When it ends or the target dies, a Pestilent Swarm hatches and hunts other enemies.
PoisonThe ultimate. A Centipede Spirit fights for 15 seconds, and the toxic globs it throws as it emerges make enemies take 50% more Poison damage.
ElitesHow you actually play
Run in and gather several enemies rather than fighting one at a time. Cast Scourge on the pack, press Toxic Skin and move through them, then put Touch of Death on the toughest target or the densest group. Now press Stinger repeatedly — it hits the whole poisoned pack. When Vigor runs low, Thrash until it's back, then return to Stinger. For elites, bosses and very large packs, open with The Devourer and then do the same. You don't need every cooldown on every small pack.
Where your skill points go
Spend them top to bottom — finish one line before starting the next. Don't spread them around.
| Order | Skill | Why | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | One point in everything | Start with one point in each of the six skills and all three upgrades on each, in tree order: Thrash, Stinger, Toxic Skin, Scourge, Touch of Death, The Devourer. That's 24 points. On Stinger the upgrades are Potent Sting, Weakened Damage Bonus and Damage Bonus. Follow the order as points arrive, whatever level you happen to be. | Rank 1 each |
| 2nd | Stinger | Your primary damage dealer. It's the first skill taken past rank 1. | Rank 15 |
| 3rd | Toxic Skin | Maxed second. More Poisoning on the pack, plus the Vigor and healing while it's active. | Rank 15 |
| 4th | Touch of Death | Third. The infection and the swarms it hatches. | Rank 15 |
| 5th | The Devourer | Last of the four. Its upgrades are Spew Putrefaction, Poisoning Duration and Healing. | Rank 15 |
| 6th | Thrash and Scourge | Both stay at one point. Thrash is there to refill Vigor and Scourge to set the pack up. This build takes no Key Passive. | Rank 1 |
Made a mess of it?
Respeccing is cheap at low level. Open the skill tree, refund the lot, and spend again in this order. It costs a few gold, not a new character.
Level 15: the Spirit Hall
At level 15 a Priority Quest sends you to Tarka in Gea Kul, Kehjistan for the Sacred Hunt questline. After a few stops outside town you enter the Sacred Hunting Grounds and defeat the Spirit Beast. Two stops inside only progress when you use the emote wheel, once with "Help" and once with "Thanks". Do it on Normal, because the boss is long and difficult at low level. It only has to be done once per class on your account, but don't assume it has completed itself. It unlocks the Spirit Hall: one primary Spirit Guardian now, and a secondary that unlocks automatically at level 30.
Primary: Centipede
There are four Guardians: Gorilla, Jaguar, Eagle and Centipede. Take Centipede. Every hit with a Centipede skill poisons the enemy, slows it and cuts the damage it deals, stacking up to 8 times. That keeps everything around you poisoned, which is exactly what Potent Sting needs. It also makes all your skills count as Centipede skills.
At level 30 there are two good secondaries. Jaguar gives +1 maximum Ferocity, and 1 Ferocity when you kill an enemy or damage a boss, so Thrash refills Vigor faster. Eagle gives Vulnerable damage and +5% Critical Strike Chance, so Stinger hits harder. Take Jaguar if Vigor is what slows you down, and Eagle if it isn't. You can run one primary and one secondary at a time, and the same Guardian can fill both. Leave Gorilla alone while levelling.
The road to 70
What changes, and when. This build runs on a point order more than on level numbers, so treat the levels below as signposts.
Make a seasonal character on Normal. Until level 3 you can only put points into Basic skills, so you begin with Thrash and its upgrades.
Start your first War Plan (favour Helltide activities), pick a mercenary, activate your pet and follow the seasonal intro quest until its systems unlock. In fights it's a Thrash and Stinger cycle, with the poison skills joining as the tree opens up.
Do the Sacred Hunt on Normal and take Centipede as primary. Afterwards, try Hard if packs die quickly and you survive comfortably. Stay on Normal if fights get noticeably longer.
Either the Undercity (War Plan node Jade Epiphany — reach Attunement Rank 4 each run and pick up the XP orbs yourself) or stay in Helltides (nodes Hellmouth, then Writhe and Rot).
The secondary Spirit Hall slot unlocks automatically. Between 30 and 40, often around 35, try the first Capstone Dungeon if you can clear it quickly — it gives skill points. The Devourer joins the bar somewhere in this stretch. Once it's in, the six-skill bar is complete.
Expect large power spikes here, and raise the difficulty when they come. If you're slow, drop a level. Keep ranking Stinger.
The second Capstone Dungeon plus Season Rank objectives unlock the Pit and more skill points. Around 60, clear every Stronghold for a big XP boost.
Paragon opens. Refresh your gear, tempers and aspects, and ideally move to Penitent. Pit Tier 10, plus the Capstone, unlocks Torment 1. Then move across to Pestilent Swarm, the class's main endgame build, which reuses the poison and Swarm aspects you've been collecting. You don't have to switch, though: Stinger carries straight on as its own endgame build and needs no uniques to start. Save your Obols until 70 and spend them on a weapon for whichever build you choose.
Gear rules for beginners
You don't need to understand affixes yet. These rules cover it.
- Upgrade your weapon first. Its damage is the base for every other damage calculation. Spiritborn can only equip Quarterstaves, Glaives and two-handed Polearms. Favour a two-handed Polearm, because the Heavenly Strength pants aspect below only works with a two-handed weapon.
- Look for: Dexterity, Maximum Life, Attack Speed, Resource Generation, then Resource Cost Reduction. Both of those last two are your Vigor: if you can't cast Stinger often enough they matter most, and Attack Speed refills Vigor faster through Thrash.
- If Vigor is fine, go for damage. Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, Damage to Close and Vulnerable Damage all make Stinger hit harder, and "Lucky Hit: restore resource" on jewellery is very impactful.
- You don't need perfect items. Replace gear regularly. Higher item power is generally stronger.
- Offensive aspects: Pestilence on the weapon (Pestilent Swarms hit harder, last 50% longer and spiral outwards), Infestation on a ring (Swarms also deal Poisoning), Binding Morass on the amulet (close enemies are Slowed 70%, and you deal 30% more to Slowed enemies), Moonrise on gloves and Ferocious on the other ring. Poison, Swarm and Vigor aspects come first.
- Defensive aspects: Disobedience on the helm, Juggernaut's on the chest (much more armour, but your Evade cooldown doubles), Heavenly Strength on pants (30% damage reduction, only with a two-handed weapon) and Undying on boots (casting a skill heals 3% of maximum Life).
- Your best offensive aspect goes on the amulet. It's the piece you replace least often.
- Temper, but selectively. Maximum Life on helm, chest and pants, Movement Speed on boots and amulet, Attack Speed on the weapon, and Lucky Hit: chance to restore Primary Resource on both rings. Tempering low-level gear is cheap and impactful, so don't hoard materials. Just don't chase perfection on gear you'll replace within minutes.
- Gems and uniques: Emeralds in the weapon and pants, Grand Emeralds once you can make them. Of the Soul Splinters, Hellfire and the Black Soulstone are good here. Do not use the Splinter of Pain while levelling, because it costs movement speed. No uniques are required. Harmony of Ebewaka and Rod of Kepeleke are among the good ones if they drop.
Mercenary
Hire Subo. He shows you the next pack and gives movement speed and critical strike damage. There are two choices for reinforcement. Aldkin brings Field of Languish: enemies in the area are Slowed 40% and deal 20% less damage. Raheir bails you out when you're crowd controlled. Take Raheir if crowd control is what kills you, and Aldkin otherwise. You pick your mercenary in Temis at the start.
Words the game doesn't explain
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Vigor | What your skills cost. It does not recharge by itself — only Basic attacks refill it. Thrash builds it, Stinger spends it. |
| Spirit Hall | The Spiritborn's class mechanic, unlocked at level 15. You pick a primary Spirit Guardian at 15 and a secondary at 30, each giving a passive bonus. |
| Centipede (Balazan) | The Poison Guardian: crowd control and damage over time. Every skill on this bar except Thrash is a Centipede skill. |
| Jaguar (Rezoka) | The Fire Guardian: aggressive, built around Attack Speed and Ferocity. Thrash is a Jaguar skill. |
| Eagle (Kwalti) | The Lightning Guardian: mobility, Vulnerable, critical strikes and ranged play. One of the two secondary picks. |
| Ferocity | A stacking buff: +5% Attack Speed per stack, up to 4 stacks, 4 seconds each. Thrash's Ferocity upgrade gives 2 stacks on its third hit. |
| Poisoning | Poison damage dealt over time — a tooltip such as "400% Poisoning damage over 9 seconds" means exactly that. |
| Potent Sting | The Stinger upgrade the build rests on. Stinger always splashes to surrounding enemies, and hits 50% harder if they were already Poisoned. |
| Pestilent Swarm | The swarm that hatches when Touch of Death's infection ends or its host dies. It seeks other enemies for 9 seconds, and you can have up to 3. |
| War Plans | Chains of activities (Helltide, Undercity, the Pit) that you start in Temis. Favour Helltide ones first. |
Mistakes new Spiritborns make
- Attacking with Stinger before poisoning. Potent Sting deals far more to enemies that are already Poisoned. Use the supporting poison skills rather than relying on Stinger alone.
- Expecting Vigor to refill by itself. It doesn't. Weave Thrash between Stinger casts.
- Emptying your Vigor into one ordinary enemy. Stinger is expensive, and Vigor only comes back through Thrash.
- Fighting enemies one at a time. Gather a pack, poison it, then Stinger the group.
- Blowing every cooldown on small packs. Save The Devourer for large groups, elites and bosses.
- Sitting on too high a difficulty. Speed is the goal. If you're slow, drop a level — and do the Spirit Hall quest on Normal.
- Standing still. This is a close-range build. Keep moving out of ground effects and out from in front of big enemies.
At 70 you're done levelling — move across to an endgame build: Pestilent Swarm · Stinger · Quill Volley.