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Diablo 4 Build

Rock Splitter - Gorillaborn - Levelling

presentationSpiritborn
Leveling
Verified
Season 11
Hardcore
Updated on Dec 8, 2025
Dec 8, 2025

Build Overview

This Gorilla Endgame Build focuses on optimising the Thorns Damage from Rock Splitter whilst staying tanky enough to easily get to Level 60.

Check the How It Works Section below to learn how the Rock Splitter Spiritborn smashes levelling.

If you've hit Level 60 check out the ENDGAME GUIDE which will take you to T4 and beyond or head to the TIER LIST for all other available endgame builds.

I'l be live streaming most evenings (GMT) on Twitch, YouTube, Kick or X. This is a great time to come ask me questions directly!

Strengths and Weaknesses

  • Excellent Levelling Build
  • Super Casual To Play
  • Easy To Get Going
  • Base Thorns Hard To Scale
  • Hard To See Thorns Damage Numbers
  • Average Mobility

Build Variants

  • At this point you will have up to 71 Skill Points at Level 60.
  • This will require you to have completed All Season Journey Objectives that Award Skill Points to complete.

Once you have reached Level 60 be sure to check out the Endgame Guide for where to go next.

Assigned Skills

Primary
5
1
Secondary
5
5
1
1
Primary Spirit
Secondary Spirit
  • To unlock Spirit Halls you will need to have completed the Spiritborn Class Quest at Level 15+ at least once in your accounts lifetime on whichever realm you are playing (Softcore or Hardcore).

Gorilla (Primary)

  • The Gorilla Primary Spirit Hall is taken for the Thorns Damage Application and Barrier Generation.

Gorilla (Secondary)

  • The Gorilla Secondary Spirit Hall grants us +2 Resolve Stacks and Unstoppable whilst above 5 Stacks of Resolve.

Aspect & Uniques

HelmAspect of Disobedience
Chest armorBruiser's Aspect
GlovesAspect of the Moonrise
PantsJuggernaut's Aspect
BootsAspect of Haste
AmuletAspect of Adaptability
Ring 1Tormentor's Aspect
Ring 2Aspect of Accursed Touch
WeaponRapid Aspect

Aspects

You can acquire the following Aspects from World Map Dungeons and Drops Only:

Dry Steppes

  • Rapid Aspect -> Buried Halls

Kehjistan

  • Aspect of Disobedience -> Halls of the Damned

Drops Only

  • Aspect of Accursed Touch
  • Conceited Aspect
  • Aspect of the Moonrise
  • Bruiser's Aspect
  • Juggernaut's Aspect
  • Aspect of Haste
  • Aspect of Adaptability

Unique Items

If you happen to come across any of the following Unique Items whilst levelling they will greatly boost the build:

Razorplate

    • Boss Drops: Lord Zir
    • Pure Thorns Damage
    • Synergises well with Accelerated Rock Splitter

Sepazontec

    • Boss Drops: Duriel + Andariel
    • Big damage
    • Every Rock Splitter attack will activate Accelerated Rock Splitter
    • Double Basic Skill Damage
    • 3rd Attacks now hit 3 Times

Balazan's Maxtlatl

    • Boss Drops: Varshan
    • Close combat Thorns Damage
    • Auto-Poison makes Replenishing Toxic Skin easy to activate
    • Ranks to Bastion
    • Base Thorns Damage

Loyalty's Mantle

    • Boss Drops: Grigoire
    • Double Gorilla Spirit Hall Potency
    • Huge Gorilla Skill Cooldown Reduction

Hesha e Kesungi

    • Boss Drops: Grigoire + Urivar
    • Huge damage on using The Protector
    • Can use The Protector at range.
    • The Protector Cooldown
    • Gorilla Skill Ranks

Runes

If you happen to come across any of the following Rune Pairs whilst levelling they will greatly boost the build:

Moni + Ton

    • Rains meteorites every 2 attacks
    • Great clearance
    • Easy levelling

Cir + Qua

    • Solves Movement Speed along with Aspect of Haste

Moni + Xan

    • If you come across a Xan use this instead of Ton
    • Unlocks Critical Strikes and Overpower Damage for Accelerated Rock Splitter

Elixirs

Level 1 - 49

  • Elixir of Advantage or Elixir of Resourcefulness

Level 50 - 60

  • Elixir of Advantage II or Elixir of Resourcefulness II

Incenses

When you hit Level 50 you can use the follow 3 Tiers of Incenses for Bonus XP:

  1. Queen's Supreme
  2. Reddamine Buzz
  3. Soothing Spices

Divine Gifts

Andariel
CorruptedEmpty
PurrifiedEssence of Anguish
Azmodan
CorruptedEmpty
PurrifiedEssence of Sin
Belial
CorruptedEmpty
PurrifiedEssence of Lies
Duriel
CorruptedEmpty
PurrifiedEssence of Pain

Divine Gifts

Purified

The best in slot Divine Perks for most Spiritborn Builds as follows:

Essence of Anguish

    • +30% Movement Speed
    • Double Chance for an Extra Obols in the Undercity

Essence of Sin

    • 20% Increased Armour
    • Double Chance for Activity Keys from World Bosses

Essence of Lies

    • Fortify for 1% of your Maximum Life per Second
    • Double Chance for an Extra Upgrade in the Pit

Essence of Pain

    • Briefly Gain Maximum Barrier after becoming Injured, every 20 Seconds.
    • Double Chance for an Extra Socketables in the Helltide

Skill Tree

Available0 (0)
Spent59 (12)

Be sure to check out the Levelling Path that can be Toggled above in the Skill Tree.

Skill Info

Accelerated Rock Splitter

    • Grants Thorns Damage
    • Every 3rd Attack
    • Activates Every Attack via Sepazontec
    • Basic Skill Damage scales this
    • Double Damage Tempers scale this

Armored Hide

    • Grants 100% Block Chance
    • Grants Unstoppable
    • Enhanced Armored Hide Grants Thorns Damage
    • Enhanced Armored Hide Grants Maximum Resolve
    • 5% Block Damage Reduction per Nearby Enemy (Maximum 20%)

Toxic Skin

    • Grants Unhindered
    • Poisons enemies
    • Grants 100%[x] Thorns Damage

Ravager

    • Grants Minimum Ferocity passively (+5% Attack Speed per stack)
    • Multiple Hits on Elites

Counterattack

    • Grants Dodge Chance passively

The Protector

    • Grants Barrier in area
    • Deals Thorns Damage at Rank 5
    • Reduces enemy damage
    • Increases Damage for 6 Seconds
    • Grants Unstoppable for 6 Seconds
    • Slows Enemies & Projectiles in area

Key Passive Info

Adaptive Stances

    • Grants 30% Damage Reduction
    • Grants 100% Core Stats for 7 Seconds

Mercenary

Varyana (Primary)

We take Varyana as our Primary for the Attack Speed and Movement Speed she grants which are both mandatory and exceptional for this build whilst levelling.

Raheir (Secondary)

We take Raheir as our Secondary as a get out of Jail Free Card if he activates in time when you Become Injured.

How it Plays

The main focus here is to scale your Thorns Damage where boosting your weapon will drastically increases the damage output of the build Whilst Levelling. The rest of the gear can be whatever you find and it is highly recommended to equip Defensive Aspects to help trivialise the Levelling Process.

The following steps are the recommended Build Rotation for skill usage:

  • Cast Ravager to grant additional Jaguar Attacks.
  • Cast Armored Hide for 100% Block Chance.
  • Cast Counterattack for 100% Dodge Chance.
  • Cast Toxic Skin to apply Poison to surrounding enemies as well as boost your Thorns Damage.
  • Cast The Protector for Barrier Generation, Unstoppable and Immense Damage Output.
  • Cast Rock Splitter liberally around the other skills.

Repeat each step as necessary

How it Works

Build Overview

This Gorilla Levelling Build focuses on optimising the Thorns damage across the build whilst staying tanky enough to beat all end game content. It does this through the following:

  • Use of the Thorns Tech.
  • Both Gorilla Spirit Halls.
  • Making use of the Razorplate if you drop one.
  • Maximising the base Thorns Damage.
  • Tormentor's Aspect for Free Thorns Damage.
  • Conceited Aspect for Free Damage whilst Barrier is active.
  • Counterattack for 100% Dodge Chance in combat.
  • 100% Block Chance using Armored Hide.
  • The Protector for incredible Utility and Damage Output.
  • Maxing Attack Speed through Aspects and Equipment.

Check out the In-Depth Explanations below for further details on the build.

Extra Details

This build was incredibly easy to level requiring very little to blast and went to Pit 90+ in the Season 11 PTR. This was achieved at Paragon Level 200 - 220 with Decent Equipment, Maxed Glyphs and Zero Sanctifications.

We have been told the Pit Scaling will be reduced when Season 11 drops and that All Builds will go about 5 - 10 Pit Levels higher so this build should get to Pit 100+ easily enough.

The following parts of the build have been buffed for Season 11:

  • Barrier Limit removed on the Gorilla Primary Spirit Hall

With the correct gear this build should easily beat all the Hardest Content In The Game without issue.

Start Tips

  • Equip a Pet
  • Equip Mercenary
  • Claim Season Journey Skill Points
  • Start Seasonal Questline
  • Unlock Seasonal Reputation Board
  • Start Levelling Strategy

Levelling Strategies

All of these levelling strategies will get you from Level 1 - 60 in a matter of Hours. Below are the levelling strategies you can use in order of Fastest to Slowest:

Vessel of Hatred Campaign + Strongholds

  • Fastest Strategy Historically
  • Run Vessel of Hatred Campaign until Level 48 - 50
  • Once you hit Level 48 - 50
    • Run Strongholds until Level 60

Helltides + Strongholds

  • Fastest Non-Campaign Strategy
  • Run Helltides until Level 48 - 50
  • Hand in Whispers along the way
  • Once you hit Level 48 - 50
    • Run Strongholds until Level 60

Note: The Strongholds grant the same reward XP in all Difficulties so run them in a difficulty where you can blast through them at a good speed.

Nightmare Dungeons

  • Requires Nightmare Dungeon Sigils (Experience Mote Affix)
  • Not the fastest
  • Provides other materials

FAQ

If you have any questions about this guide feel free to reach out to me whilst live on Twitch, YouTube, Kick or X or contact me offline via my Discord.

How do You make my Thorns Critical Strike and Overpower?

The only way that is available to allow your Thorns Damage to Critical Strike or Overpower right now is by using a Xan Rune which will not be a given to drop during the Level 1 - 60 Phase. If you do come across one of these then you will certainly want to pair this up with a Moni Rune for an enormous boost to the build.

How Much Attack Speed Do You Need?

You will want as much Attack Speed as possible since the faster you attack, the more often your Moni Rune will activate and this ultimately is where your big hits will activate later on through the Sepazontec and the Xan Rune.

Aim for 100% Attack Speed on Equipment, Aspects, Paragon, Mercenaries and Elixirs.

You can only attain Attack Speed in Attack Speed Bucket 2 via Ferocity and Adaptive Stances if using a Jaguar Skill right now so we prioritise Ferocity since we are using a Gorilla Skill.

We achieve this by stacking Ferocity through the use of the Jaguar Secondary Spirit Hall.

Changelog

8th December 2025 / v4.0

  • Updated for Season 11.

7th October 2025 / v3.1

  • Updated for Patch 2.4.1.

18th September 2025 / v3.0

  • Updated build for Season 10.

28th June 2025 / v2.0

  • Updated build for Season 9.

29th April 2025 / v1.0

  • Added build for Season 8
  • Linked practice levelling VOD.

Video

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