NEW Spirit Walker Ascendancy Looks ABSOLUTELY INSANE!
Summary
- Detailed breakdown of the Spirit Walker, a new Huntress Ascendancy class in the Return of the Ancients expansion.
- Examination of the three spiritual aspects: Vivid (Stags), Primal (Owls), and Wild (Bear).
- Overview of key passives including “Natural Order,” which allows for taming boss-level enemies as companions.
- Showcase of the “Stormbringer” endgame build, focusing on high-velocity Twister projectile scaling.
- Showcase of the “Zookeeper” endgame build, a minion-heavy archetype utilizing the unique scepter “Silvan’s Effigy” to bypass companion limits.
Introduction to the Spirit Walker
The Spirit Walker is an Ascendancy class for the Huntress centered on becoming a champion of animal spirits. This class is heavily devoted to three aspects of the spirit: Vivid, Primal, and Wild.
The Three Aspects of the Spirit
- The Vivid Path (The Stag):
- Focuses on conjuring stampeding stags when attacking.
- Vivid Stampede: Provides extra damage and area coverage while leaving behind shocked ground.
- Morrigan’s Guidance: Enhances the stags further, creating more frequent stampedes with increased damage.
- The Primal Path (The Owl):
- Specializes in projectile and spell enhancements.
- The spirit owl grants “feathers” that are spent to add extra projectiles to the next skill used.
- Maaka’s Gift: Allows the player to store and unleash multiple feathers simultaneously for a massive barrage. This mechanic is compatible with both attacks and spells.
- The Wild Path (The Bear):
- Summons a Wild Protector (Spirit Bear) as a literal animal companion.
- The bear is a tanky entity with a large health pool and life leech. It provides utility by breaking enemy armor, maiming foes, and using intimidating roars.
- The Spirit Bear does not occupy a standard companion slot, allowing it to be used alongside other tamed beasts.
Key Ascendancy Passives
- Kartha’s Balance: Grants companions extra damage based on the player’s equipped weapon.
- Sacred Unity: A free node that empowers all three spirit skills and changes their appearance:
- Stags: Gain homing capabilities, allowing them to turn mid-stampede to find enemies.
- Owl Feathers: Create Soaring Ground, a ground effect providing increased evasion rating, increased damage while on full life, and Onslaught to the player and allies.
- Spirit Bear: Protects nearby allies by granting 2% max life regeneration per second and redirecting 8% of damage taken by allies to the bear.
- Idolatry: Provides significant bonuses to minion-focused builds, primarily through the scaling of Idols.
- Natural Order: Enables Tame Beast skills to capture and control bosses. These boss companions retain powerful move sets capable of clearing packs and dealing heavy damage to former allies.
Endgame Build: The Stormbringer
The Stormbringer is an advanced Twister build designed for maximum projectile density.
- Core Mechanics: Uses Whirling Slash and Barrage to trigger Twisters.
- Synergy: By combining Primal Bounty and Maaka’s Gift, the build generates Primal Owl Feathers every few seconds.
- Movement Interaction: When the player dodge-rolls, a feather is expended to trigger Primal Bounty, which empowers the next projectile attack with more Twisters and increased projectile speed.
- Buff Maintenance: Traveling 10 meters (aided by the speed from Soaring Ground) generates a Vivid Wisp, which is then expended to unleash stag stampedes for consistent shocked ground application.
Endgame Build: The Zookeeper
The Zookeeper is a “zoo-mancer” archetype that allows the Huntress to command a massive army of animals.
- Key Item: Silvan’s Effigy: This unique Stoic Scepter is a drop from the Ritual pinnacle boss (level 78). It removes the companion cap entirely and grants an Asmarian Wolf.
- Asmarian Wolf: Uses a howl to trigger an “Eternal Hunt,” summoning spectral wolves that ambush and maim enemies.
- The Army: The build can support up to six or more companion skills, including:
- Spirit Bear
- Asmarian Wolf
- Standard Wolf Pack
- Tame Beast Boss (e.g., Silverfist or a Boss Monkey)
- Tame Beast Quadrella
- Plague Harvester
- Skeletal Clerics (reserved via Spirit for party healing)
- Scaling and Gear: Wields a high-damage spear to utilize Kartha’s Balance and uses Darkness Enthroned to equip more Idols for Idolatry scaling.
- Observations: New support gems appear to be in use, including a melee support that grants an AoE/Cleave effect to minion attacks and Rage Support for minions.
Mechanical Analysis
The Spirit Walker offers a unique alternative to the Druid’s minion style. While the Druid is limited to wolves, the Spirit Walker acts as a true Beastmaster.
- Companion damage has been buffed across the board for this update.
- There is a distinction between “Minions” and “Companions”: every companion is a minion, but not every minion is a companion.
- The effectiveness of the “Zookeeper” build is highly dependent on acquiring Silvan’s Effigy from high-level Ritual content.