The Spiritborn class, introduced in Diablo 4's Vessel of Hatred expansion, offers four distinct Spirit Guardian paths-Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle, and Centipede. Among these, the Centipede stands out as a poison-focused, crowd-control specialist, ideal for players who thrive on Diablo 4 Items debilitating enemies and melting them down with sustained damage over time (DoT). This guide breaks down everything you need to know to master the Spiritborn Centipede, from its core identity and key skills to gear optimization, temper manuals, and playstyle tips.
What Is the Spiritborn Centipede?
The Centipede is more than just a Spirit choice-it's a playstyle defined by toxic devastation and strategic crowd control. Unlike the Jaguar's raw melee burst or the Eagle's ranged precision, the Centipede leans into poison DoT, slow effects, and lifesteal to outlast and overwhelm foes.
When you select the Centipede as your Primary Guardian Spirit, you unlock a powerful passive: every attack applies a debuff that reduces enemy damage by 2.5% and slows their movement by 10% per stack, stacking up to 8 times. This makes the Centipede exceptionally effective against large groups and tough bosses alike, turning hordes of enemies into sluggish targets ripe for poisoning.
All your skills gain the "Centipede" tag, opening up synergies with gear, aspects, and temper manuals tailored to amplify poison damage and utility. Best of all, you can pair the Centipede with a Secondary Spirit (like Eagle for mobility or Jaguar for ferocity) to customize your build for leveling, farming, or endgame pushing.
Key Skills for the Centipede Build
The Centipede's strength lies in its ability to spread poison, control crowds, and sustain itself through lifesteal. Below are the essential skills to prioritize, organized by skill tree, to maximize your toxic potential.
Basic Skill: Withering Fist
Withering Fist is your foundational skill-it's a quick jab that deals 5% direct damage and applies 30% poisoning damage over 6 seconds. Its third attack bursts, damaging surrounding enemies and slowing them by 30% for 3 seconds, making it perfect for building resource (Vigor) and applying initial poison stacks.
Upgrade to Enhanced Withering Fist for improved resource generation and Accelerated Withering Fist to boost attack speed, ensuring you can keep your core skills fueled and poison stacks rolling.
Core Skill: Stinger
Stinger is your primary damage dealer. This core skill strikes a small area, dealing 70% direct damage to enemies within range-and extra damage to any surrounding poisoned foes. It's the backbone of your DoT strategy, as it amplifies damage against targets already afflicted by your poison.
Invest in Enhanced Stinger for increased poison duration and Rampant Stinger to reduce its Vigor cost. Pair these with passives like Balanced Exertion to further boost Stinger's efficiency, turning it into a crowd-clearing machine.
Defensive Skill: Scourge
Scourge is your crowd control ace. It calls forth a wave of insects that bite enemies, fearing and slowing them for 3 seconds while applying 100% poisoning damage over 6 seconds. This skill is invaluable for surviving large hordes or disabling dangerous elites before they can close in.
Upgrade to Enhanced Scourge for longer fear duration and Reinforced Scourge to reduce its cooldown. Combine it with Armored Hide for extra damage reduction, making your Centipede build surprisingly tanky despite its focus on DoT.
Potency Skill: Touch of Death
Touch of Death is a game-changer for poison spread. It strikes a single enemy, dealing 5% direct damage and 300% poisoning damage over 9 seconds. When the target dies or the poison expires, a swarm hatches and seeks out nearby enemies, spreading the poison further-you can have up to 3 swarms active at once.
Unlock Enhanced Touch of Death to extend swarm duration and Invasive Touch of Death to increase poison damage. Passives like Vehemence and Ravenous will amplify its potency, turning a single cast into a chain reaction of toxic destruction.
Ultimate Skill: The Devourer
The Devourer is your ultimate tool for wiping out crowds or bursting down bosses. It summons the Centipede Spirit to blast enemies in a large area, dealing massive poison damage and applying all your poison debuffs at once. It's best saved for elite packs, bosses, or moments when you're surrounded by foes.
Upgrade to Harmonious Devourer for reduced cooldown and Exalted Devourer to increase its area of effect. Prioritize cooldown reduction (CDR) on gear to use The Devourer as often as possible-its damage potential is unmatched in the Centipede toolkit.
Key Passive: Noxious Resonance
No Centipede build is complete without Noxious Resonance. This key passive allows your poisoning effects to cheap Diablo 4 Gold scale with critical strike damage, turning your DoT into a devastating source of burst damage. It synergizes perfectly with all your poison skills, making it a non-negotiable pick for endgame builds.
