Blizzard Entertainment has consistently kept adding to Diablo 4 with its post-launch seasonal updates since it launched over a year ago, but the action RPG will soon also be receiving its first major paid expansion when Vessel of Hatred launches on October 8. From a new playable class and new story content to an additional region to explore and more, there’s plenty that the upcoming DLC is promising to add to Diablo 4, and as we count the days down to its release, here, we’ll be going over all of those details.
STORY
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is going plenty with its story that fans of Diablo 2 will find familiar, chief among them being the involvement of the Prime Evil known as Mephisto, who is set to play the role of the expansion’s main villain. Set in Nahantu, a place where Mephisto has no shortage of devoted followers, Vessel of Hatred will also see players continuing their search of Neyrelle after the events of the base game’s campaign.
REGION
Nahantu is set to serve as one of Vessel of Hatred’s biggest additions. The new region is set south of Diablo 4’s Sanctuary, and will see players exploring a variety of dense jungle environments. Interestingly enough, alongside all the new things the expansion brings to the table, it will also allow players to explore the city of Kurast, which, once again, Diablo 2 fans will remember very well.
Another new headlining addition in Vessel of Hatred is an entirely new class in the form of Spiritborn, which will be sort of like a cross between a druid and a melee class. Equipped with two new weapon types in glaives and quarterstaffs, the Spiritborn class will also let players channel fur unique animal guardians, each bestowing unique benefits. The eagle will be focused on speed and ranged attacks, the jaguar on attack speed and movement, the gorilla on melee and defense, and the centipede on poison skills.
MERCENARIES
Vessel of Hatred will also introduce a new system dubbed Mercenaries, who are NPC companions that players can find and recruit throughout the game. Four mercenaries will be available in total, with one being an archer, one specializing in defense, a melee fighter, and a child capable of transforming into a demon. Players can bring along one Mercenary at a time (with another selected as a backup option for special skills), while each of them will also have their own skill trees.
DARK CITADEL
Endgame content is of supreme importance in a game such as Diablo 4, so of course, there’s plenty of that to look forward to in Vessel of Hatred, too. Take, for instance, the Dark Citadel, which is a co-op dungeon that will demand cooperation thanks to its tough challenges, such as grueling boss encounters. Divided into multiple different wings, the dungeon will let players tackle it piecemeal, but will also be repeatable, for those who wish to grind it to keep getting valuable rewards.
KURAST UNDERCITY
Another major new dungeon to look forward to in the upcoming expansion is Kurast Undercity, which has been described by Blizzard Entertainment as a multi-stage time attack dungeon. Interestingly enough, this dungeon will give players finer control over their experience- using Tribute, you can set the difficulty at which you will experience the dungeon, which, as you would expect, will also affect the quality of the loot you receive in reward.
NEW UNIQUES AND MYTHICS
Okay, we’re largely speculating here, given the fact that Blizzard hasn’t revealed too many official details on this particular front, but it’d be more than a little surprising if Vessel of Hatred did not add new Uniques and Mythics for players to seek out. Though none have yet been officially showcased, it’s safe to assume that the expansion will be making additions here, especially with a new class also being introduced.
NEW DUNGEONS AND STRONGHOLDS
Amidst all of the new content being added to Diablo 4 with its upcoming expansion, you can, of course, expect new dungeons and strongholds as well. Where the latter are concerned, Vessel of Hatred will add two new ones, including one that will see you stumbling around in pitch-black darkness. Meanwhile, Blizzard has confirmed that players can also expect over a dozen new standard dungeons.
RUNESWORDS
Another new mechanic for players to look forward to are Runeswords, a new item type that can be created by combining any gear with two rune slots with an invocation and ritual rune each. Runeswords, two of which can be equipped at a time, can be used to create and trigger new and powerful abilities, and based on what we’ve seen so far, it looks like finding and collecting runes and crafting Runeswords will be an important part of the experience.
PARAGON AND CHARACTER LEVEL SPLIT
Alongside Vessel of Hatred, Diablo 4 is also welcoming a free update that will be making game-wide adjustments, with its progression system also set to be overhauled. As part of that, Paragon Points will be tied to Realms rather than to character levels, which means any and all characters you have on the same Realm will be able to share the Paragon Points that you earn. As a result, Blizzard is also making adjustments to stats such as health, armour, and other core stats.
NEW DIFFICULTIES
Diablo 4 is also overhauling its difficulty system, with World Tiers set to be replaced by new difficulty options. For starters, players will be able to choose between four Standard Difficulties, namely Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent, while the next set will be called Torment Difficulties, where there will be four tiers to climb through. The higher the difficulty climbs, the better rewards you can expect, while Torment Difficulties will also drastically reduce your armour and resistances.
GLYPH CHANGES
Glyphs in Diablo 4 are also undergoing some changes, chief among them being how you upgrade them, which will hinge on attempts to increase a Glyph’s Rank by completing Pit Tiers, rather than on earning experience. Though upgrades won’t always be guaranteed and will depend on the level of the Glyph you’re looking to power up and the Tier of the Pit you have completed, Blizzard says their progression should now feel more engaging and satisfying.
PARAGON BOARDS
Another part of Diablo 4’s upcoming progression overhaul is the introduction of new Paragon Boards. In total, the action RPG is set to a new Paragon Board for each class, though players will only be able to five of them at a time, while the max number of earnable Paragon Points has also been increased to 300. As per Blizzard, with the focus soon set to shift to some extent to Glyphs, with Paragon Boards, a more limited number of them should lead to more impactful choices as players finetune their builds.
NEW CLASS SKILLS
The new Spiritborn class is going to be on everyone’s radar, obviously, but Diablo 4’s existing classes aren’t going to be left in the dust. Blizzard has confirmed that it is adding a new skill for each class. Barbarian’s Mighty Throw will see you hurl your weapon at a foe, Druid’s Stone Burst will gather and detonate stones beneath a foe, Necromancer’s Soulrift will temporarily corrupt and deal damage to nearby enemies, Rogue’s Dance of Knives will throw knives at nearby enemies while also buffing movement speed and dodge, and Sorcerer’s Familiar will summon a Familiar to your side. Additionally, each class is also getting five new passives.
PARTY FINDER
Diablo 4 is also introducing a new Party Finder feature that many are likely to be thrilled with. As its name suggests, this feature will let you select a variety of different preferences and settings for exactly the sort of party and gameplay experience you’re looking for, based on which you’ll be able to look for and party up with other players online.