Payback Gorilla Spiritborn Endgame Build Guide
Last Updated:October 9, 2024|Change Log|FAQ
Welcome to the Payback Gorilla Spiritborn Endgame Guide. Payback isn’t just a Mel Gibson film based on the book The Hunter by Richard Stark, but you use both Payback and The Hunter in this Payback Gorilla Spiritborn guide!
This build combines extraordinary crowd control, utility and raw power into one package, allowing you to handle anything the game throws your way. While various Potency skills may be included in any Spiritborn build, this one specializes in dealing damage with Payback. Normally, this skill has a cooldown of 12 seconds, but fear not, Rod of Kepeleke turns Payback into a basic skill removing the cooldown.
The key item for this build is Rod of Kepeleke, which you can obtain from Duriel or Andariel, before transitioning into this build. When you combine Ring of the Midnight Sun, and enough resource generation Payback is guaranteed to critically strike for massive damage on every cast.
After Rod of Kepeleke, Ring of the Midnight Sun, and enough resource generation to fully restore Vigor the next goal is 275 maximum Vigor and Banished Lord's Talisman. Every cast is now guaranteed to critically strike, and Overpower.
Let's jump in and see what it's all about.
Requirements for this build
- Rod of Kepeleke
- Ring of the Midnight Sun
- Enough resource generation for full recovery
Here is a table showing Ring of the Midnight Sun rolls and the required Resource generation to fully restore Vigor as well as how to calculate resource generation.
This build guide assumes you have a Level 60 Character and unlocked Torment 1. To get there, level up with one of our Spiritborn Leveling Guides. To see how this Build compares against others, check out our various Build Tier Lists.
Season Theme
Season 6 is the Season of Hatred Rising. It features the Zakarum Remnants faction which hunts Realmwalkers, massive behemoths that roam outdoor zones and beckon Mephisto's hellspawn. Participate in these zone events and take down the Realmwalkers to spawn a portal to a Seething Realm. There you can acquire Seething Opals, new consumables that stack with Elixirs for a XP buff and the chance to gather extra rewards when defeating enemies. The types of Opals are:
- Seething Opal of Equipment
- Seething Opal of Gold
- Seething Opal of Materials
- Seething Opal of Torment
- Seething Opal of Socketables
Use these Opals at all times to earn reputation with the Zakarum Remnants faction and unlock further rewards.
Learn more details about the season theme in our full Season Guide.
Skills & Gameplay
- Payback is the buid's main skill. Rod of Kepeleke enhances it by removing the cooldown, and when you combine it with Banished Lord's Talisman, Ring of the Midnight Sun, and enough resource generation to fully restore your Vigor on every critical strike your damage skyrockets.
- The Hunter is your Ultimate Skill of choice as it fills your Ferocity to the maximum +4 and increases your damage to Injured enemies.
- Armored Hide is your source of Unstoppable, Resolve, and 100% block chance for Redirected Force. It also provides extra block damage reduction.
- Counterattack gives you increased critical strike damage up to 30%[x] based on the number of close enemies. Keep it active in order to gain Fortify from Assimilation
- Ravager provides either increased boss damage (Replenishing Ravager) or increased resource generation & movement speed (Measured Ravager), depending on what you need. Make sure you have enough resource generation for Ring of the Midnight Sun to fully restore Vigor.
- Scourge deals damage to your enemy over 6 seconds, but healing the life lost from Jacinth Shell is the main reason you use it. Combining Scourge with Vortex makes healing much easier.
Skill Rotation
- Start with your buffs Ravager, Armored Hide, and Counterattack.
- Keep your buffs up as they provide both defense and offense for this build.
- Cast The Hunter.
- If you need to heal Scourge.
- Now you can start spamming Payback.
- (On Bosses) Before you start the boss fight:
- Heal yourself.
- Get Barrier from Auspicious.
- Wait for your cooldowns to finish.
- Cast Scourge right away in order to heal when Jacinth Shell starts to damage you.
Spirit Halls
Primary: Gorilla provides a Barrier for every attack to help negate Jacinth Shell.
Secondary: Jaguar provides you with easy access to Ferocity for more Attack Speed .
Learn more details and how to unlock this system in our full Spiritborn Specialization Guide.
Paragon & Glyphs
Carefully check your Paragon Boards to ensure correct board rotation. Glyphs go from a radius of 3 to 4 at level 15 and from 4 to 5 at level 46. Some of them cannot be activated before reaching these thresholds! Progress through The Pit to rank up your Glyphs.
Use the slider to see progression steps. At around Paragon 200, leveling slows down significantly and all important Rare clusters, Legendary nodes and Glyph sockets should be unlocked. Afterwards, you can min/max your build with minor tweaks and by picking up additional smaller nodes.
Some Glyph position swaps, board changes and other pathing adjustments may occur as you unlock your full potential. The setup displayed by default is the final version of the build before spending additional points that do not significantly impact your character's power.
Glyph Leveling Priorities
To Level 15
- Colossal
- Outmatch
- Fitness
- Headhunter
- Spirit
To Level 46
- Spirit
- Outmatch
- Fitness
- Colossal
- Headhunter
There are a total of 328 Paragon Points. After reaching level 60, you gain up to 300 Paragon Levels, 24 from Renown and 4 from Altars of Lilith. Check out our dedicated in-depth guides to learn more about Paragon Boards and Glyphs.
Runes
You can have up to two Runewords in your setup, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them in Two-Handed Weapons if your build calls for them, otherwise place them into your Armor pieces to replace normal gems. The Payback Gorilla Spiritborn focuses on the following combos:
Best in Slot
- Xol + Kry - Group them up with Vortex, and cast Scourge to get massive heals. Remember the price you pay for Jacinth Shell.
- Poc + Que - Earthen Bulwark provides a Barrier to negate the damage from Jacinth Shell. It also helps you build Fortify for your Overpower damage.
Alternative choices
As long as you haven't unlocked the final setup or found the top runes, you can also benefit from these options:
- Wat - Decrepify helps with stagger, defense and executes enemies at 10% HP.
- Xal - For extra defense, and increases your Overpower damage.
- Vex - Increases your damage, reduces the cooldown for The Hunter, and increases the duration of Armored Hide.
Learn more about Runes and how they work in our dedicated Runewords Overview and Runewords Tier List.
Mercenaries
Mercenaries are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and assist you in battle. There are 4 separate Mercenaries to choose from, each with their own skill trees and abilities. You can have one hired (permanent) mercenary during solo play and a reinforcement who assists you from time to time in certain situations.
Hired: Raheir
He provides you with Fortify, Stuns, some extra damage, more armor for Unyielding Hits and prevents you from getting one shot every 30 seconds thanks to Valiance. Beware that he's not present when playing in groups and make sure you remain armor capped without him.
Reinforcement: Aldkin
You choose Haunt for extra damage, and chance to apply Vulnerable which happens when you cast Payback.
Learn more about Mercenaries and how they work in our dedicated Mercenaries Overview.
Stat Priorities & Item Progression
To enable the Payback Gorilla Spiritborn to perform optimally, hunt for these stats on your gear with good rolls and aim to Temper ⚒️ & Masterwork Crit ↑ them accordingly. Keep in mind that certain stats, such as Armor, Resistances, Extra Size Tempers, Attack Speed and more, have caps that may affect your priorities according to the items and Paragon points available at that moment.
Recommended Endgame Stat Thresholds
It is critical that Ring of the Midnight Sun fully restores your Vigor every time you hit. If it doesn't you won't do any damage. You need at least 100% resource generation with a perfect 50% roll on Ring of the Midnight Sun. Here are a few data points showing Ring of the Midnight Sun roll and the required Resource generation to fully restore Vigor:
- 35% roll on Ring of the Midnight Sun requires 186% resource generation
- 40% roll on Ring of the Midnight Sun requires 150% resource generation
- 50% roll on Ring of the Midnight Sun requires 100% resource generation
- 275 Maximum Vigor (Just in case Elixir of Resourcefulness II)
- 75%+ Attack Speed without Ferocity
- 2000+ Dexterity
- Enough resource generation
- Armor Capped 1,000
- Resistance Capped 70%+
- 6,000+ Life
Here is a table showing Ring of the Midnight Sun rolls and the required Resource generation to fully restore Vigor as well as how to calculate resource generation.
Click here to check the suggested consumables.
Item Progression Goals
Before you dive into the Endgame with the Payback Gorilla Spiritborn, take a look at this overview of the items used in the build. See below for further details about the different progression steps and variants. Some of your Skill Tree choices depend on what Legendary Aspects and Unique items are available to you. Keep in mind that while we can guarantee that everyone has access to the same Codex of Power Aspects, the exact progression is different for everyone.
Learn more details and how to farm Legendary Aspects and Uniques in our General Farming Guide.
Build Variants
This section is designed to guide your Payback Gorilla Spiritborn from a fresh level 60 into the very late endgame using the three variants Starter, Ancestral and Mythic. At the final step, you should be fully decked out with a great all-rounder build. From there, follow the other min/max variants if you want to optimize around certain activities such as Pit Pushing, Speedfarming and more.
If you are fresh in Torment 1 coming from a leveling guide, you need to acquire Ring of the Midnight Sun before starting this build. Since only some Aspects can be guaranteed from Dungeon unlocks for the Codex of Power, focus on acquiring the additional aspects via gambling with Murmuring Obols.
Gear & Skills
- Early in your progression, focus on armor and resistances to survive. Each Torment difficulty adds a 250 armor and 25% all resistance penalty, so it’s recommended to keep both capped (1,000 armor, 70+ resistance) at all times. As you unlock higher power gear, masterwork levels, and more paragon points, you’ll naturally scale into higher difficulties. You can then replace some defensive stats with offensive or utility ones.
- Rod of Kepeleke removes the cooldown from Payback allowing you to cast it non-stop.
- Focus on getting Ring of the Midnight Sun, and enough resource to fully restore Vigor. This ensures every Payback benefits from Rod of Kepeleke and Poised Payback.
- Like a Tardigrade survivability has become your greatest weapon. Unyielding Hits turns your defense into offense. Overstacking armor to get as much damage out of it as possible.
- Until you get Jacinth Shell or Harlequin Crest your cooldown reduction can cause serious issues:
- Resource Generation: You rely on having enough resource generation to fully restore Vigor. If Measured Ravager isn't active you won't fully restore Vigor, and your damage drops off significantly.
- You rely on Armored Hide for damage reduction, and 100% block chance for Redirected Force. If it isn't active you take another hit to your damage.
- Lower up time on The Hunter.
The goal here is to progress through the Torment difficulties as you unlock Ancestrals, Paragon points, all Legendary Aspects, Temper mods and the most important Uniques to pilot this build. Some Legendary Aspects are used temporarily to fill slots that may be replaced with more Unique items later on.
Gear & Skills
- As you upgrade your gear to ancestrals with more masterworking levels and reach higher paragon, you can focus more and more on replacing armor & resistance rolls with better stats, but ensure to stay capped at 1000 armor and 70%+ resistances for the difficulty you're currently in.
- Jacinth Shell is great for cooldown reduction, but it comes with a price. Jacinth Shell drains a lot of life every second. Here are a few ways to say alive:
- Use Scourge to counteract the life drain caused by Jacinth Shell, as its heal offsets the damage.
- Wait for Auspicious to give you a Barrier.
- Use a health potion before walking into a boss room.
- Keep your buffs active to dodge (Counterattack) or block (Armored Hide).
- With Banished Lord's Talisman, Rod of Kepeleke, Ring of the Midnight Sun, 275 maximum Vigor, and 100% resource generation, each attack is guaranteed to overpower and critically strike and fully restore your Vigor.
- Use a legendary helm to more easily reach the thresholds, and remember to look at potions and incense.
- 100% up time for Armored Hide.
- 275 Maximum Vigor (Just in case Elixir of Resourcefulness II).
- Enough resource generation for Ring of the Midnight Sun to fully restore Vigor.
- Here is a table showing Ring of the Midnight Sun rolls and the required Resource generation to fully restore Vigor as well as how to calculate resource generation.
- Now go get Harlequin Crest, and I'll see you on the Mythic build.
This is the final version of the build's progression, including all regular Unique items, Mythic Uniques, Legendary Aspects, Temper mods and Masterworking, leaving you with a great all-rounder build for all content in the game. Additional variants use this as a baseline to optimize around certain activities.
Gear & Skills
- Congratulations on acquiring Harlequin Crest!
- Harlequin Crest is the best helm in the game for the Payback Spiritborn build. It provides cooldown reduction, armor, life, and maximum resource.
- Wait there is more. 20% damage reduction, and +4 to all skills.
- Every affix on Harlequin Crest is great.Harlequin Crest is so great that it requires you check your thresholds again. First world problems.
- Are you still using Elixir of Resourcefulness II? Do you still need it?
- How much armor do you have?
This Speedfarming variant optimizes the build for easy activities like Helltides, Whispers, Nightmare Dungeons and lower Pit Tiers after you have finished the Mythic variant and reached a plateau in your progression.
Gear & Skills
- For speedfarm you can replace Kry with Jah.
- Losing Vortex isn't a big deal for you because Rod of Kepeleke increases the range of your Payback and Measured Ravager gives Payback a dash.
- Gain Teleport with a 2 second cooldown is totally worth it.
This setup optimizes the build to push the highest possible Tiers in The Pit after you have finished the Mythic variant and reached a plateau in your progression.
Gear & Skills
- When fighting monsters in high tiers of the Pit, remember that after crowd controlling elites for 5 seconds, they become Unstoppable for 8 seconds. This may be the right moment to start kiting them around because your damage done goes way down and they can freely retaliate.
- Pit Pushing build is the same as the Mythic build.
- Stay alert, stay alive!
FAQ & Mechanics
Once a guide is released, many players have questions on why and how we are approaching certain choices. In this section you can find the answers to the questions that have been asked the most.
I don't deal damage sometimes, what am I doing wrong?
Why do I need 275 maximum Vigor?
Why isn't my Vigor fully restored after every Payback?
What can I do to improve survivability?
How can I trigger Unstoppable?
Consumables
Which adjustments should I make on Hardcore?
Mechanics
Ring of the Midnight Sun and Resource Generation
Payback, Rod of Kepeleke, and Banished Lord's Talisman
Attack Speed Caps
Stagger
Summary
The Payback is a mediocre movie that reminded me how much I like Bill Duke! I should go watch Predator- err sorry. Payback Gorilla Spiritborn is a fun build that performs well in almost any scenario.
- Payback is a dish best served after you acquire Ring of the Midnight Sun, Rod of Kepeleke, and Jacinth Shell.
- With good movement speed, thanks to Ravager, Payback gains a dash.
- Decent clear with Vortex pulling enemies in.
Go now, and slaughter... the demonic horde!
Credits
Written by Insnebob
Reviewed by Wudijo