According to Fergusson, Blizzard definitely notices an opportunity to bring the action RPG to the Switch 2. This is further evidenced by the company having previously brought Diablo 3, as well as Diablo 2 Resurrected to the original Switch as well.

“I think there’s opportunity there for sure,” Fergusson said. “I mean, we have Diablo 3 and Diablo 2 Resurrected already on the Switch, and with backwards compatibility it’ll be playable on Switch 2.”

Fergusson believes that, thanks to the more powerful hardware in the Switch 2, performance isn’t an issue when it comes to a Diablo 4 port for the platform. Rather, the hurdle for the studio is figuring out the live-service elements of the online-only game, and how these features could be brought over to the Switch 2.

“It’s nice the Switch 2 has the performance that can run a game like Diablo 4, so yeah, it’s something to look at for sure,” he said. “I think the challenge is less around the hardware and just about how we… you know, live services on Switch have been a little bit challenging in the past.”

“So I’m hopeful that as they launch this June and as we look to the future, that becomes easier and easier, so it makes more sense to put a live service on that platform.”

For context, while the Switch 2 will be perfectly capable of connecting to the Internet in order to play online-only game, the console’s handheld features are also a big part of its feature set. A big selling point for several Switch owners was the fact that it could also work as a portable console that could be taken along on trips or commutes.

Diablo 4, while potentially playable on the Switch 2 as long as it is connected to the Internet, will likely not work when a player decides to take the Switch 2 out with them. Even with the use of modern technologies like Wi-Fi tethering through smartphones, the connection would be too spotty to ensure a pleasant playing experience for an online-only title like Diablo 4. Previous rumours have also indicated that Blizzard has been working on a Switch 2 port of the game.

Earlier this month, Blizzard had revealed its roadmap for Diablo 4 in 2025. A host of new content is planned for the game, including the return of Belial between April and July, as well as future content like Sins of the Horadrim from July to September, and Infernal Chaos from September to December.

Diablo 4 is currently available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Blizzard has committed to developing more content for the game moving forward, and back in March, a developer also spoke about wanting the game to “be around for years”.

He also spoke about the content plan for Diablo 4, and whether or not it’s planned to go on forever. He spoke about the challenges of this, citing Bungie’s attempt with the Destiny franchise.

“We want it to be around for years,” said Fergusson. “I don’t know if it’s eternal. I think Destiny tried and did that like, ‘This is a ten-year game,’ and then they quickly were not. We want people to see the road ahead because we know that, to play a Diablo game, you’re probably putting hundreds of hours in and we want people to know that we’re respecting their time and that we’re not just here and gone.”

When asked about the cadence of expansion releases, Fergusson said that, right now, the studio can’t make any promises one way or another. He said the studio’s process is to first get to a place internally where it can decide on working on an expansion before formally announcing one.

“I learned my lesson about calling the shot too early,” he said. “So I think giving, ‘Hey, you can relax for the next 11 months,’ is about as far as I want to go in this right now…We’re not at a place where we want to put a stake in the ground and call it. Because we’re still building it and learning from it… Our process is generally that we get internally to a place where we have the certainty to make a call, and then you get to a place where you publicly want to make that call. We’re not at the public part yet.”

Diablo 4‘s expansion, Vessel of Hatred, was released around 18 months after the base game. The expansion brought with it a host of new features to Diablo 4, including an entirely new region, Nahantu, and a new playable class, the Spiritborn.

Nahantu features a host of throwbacks to Diablo 2, including an explorable version of the city of Kurast. As for the Spiritborn, it can wield two new weapon types and uses animal guardians that grant unique benefits.

Diablo 4 is currently in the middle of Season of Witchcraft, which revolves around some of the heads from the Tree of Whispers having gone missing. The season introduces new Witchcraft Powers across three schools: Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth and Decay.

For more details about Diablo 4, check out our review of the base game. You can also read out our review of Vessel of Hatred to learn more about the expansion.

Teaming up with the Witches of Hawezar, players embark on a journey to find the missing heads. They’ve attached themselves to host bodies to form a new threat, the Headrotten, and must be vanquished to earn Restless Rot. The latter allows learning seasonal Witchcraft Powers across three schools – Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth and Decay.

There are even Lost powers (like summoning a Piranhado), which must be unlocked by earning Forgotten Altars from dungeons. Other noteworthy content includes new seasonal Occult Gems, eight new Uniques and Legendary Affixes, updates to classes and Greater Affixes, and The Armory with saved loadouts. Vessel of Hatred owners also get three new Runes with over 15 receiving updates.

Diablo 4’s Season of Witchcraft kicks off on January 21st, 10 AM PST. The next Developer Update stream is set for January 16th at 11 AM PST, so stay tuned for more details.

Speaking to Polygon, franchise boss Rod Fergusson said, “It can feel a little bit like this expansion is just a single moment in time, and I just wanted to highlight that’s not the case. We’re going to continue to develop features that will be, essentially, exclusive to Vessel of Hatred owners.”

The nature of those features has yet to be clarified, but it will go beyond the current season. Blizzard is considering Season 7 to whatever point in the future (likely the next expansion) as “chapter two” of the current story. As a Vessel of Hatred owner, your benefits will extend even up to that point.

“As we continue chapter two, you’ll get access to other stuff in chapter two as part of your ownership. So we’re going to continue to have [Vessel of Hatred] be valuable beyond season 6 as well.”

Will those who purchase the next expansion receive even more benefits? Will this stack for the foreseeable future? Time will tell, but the seasons could incentivize purchasing the expansion to avail extra stuff.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is available for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Check out our review.

In an interview with Game File, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer touched on the topic, stating that developing post-launch expansions is by no means a “top-down mandate” for all first-party studios, and that above all, he doesn’t want expansions for games that feel “manipulative”, and instead add actual value to the larger experience.

“It’s really left to the creators [regarding] what plan they have for their stories,” he said. “I think it’s a great way for us to reengage players who may be lapsed.

“I don’t like expansions that are manipulative. I want it to have a unique point of view. I don’t want it to be, like, the third level that you cut before you launched.”

Spencer went on to add that every release continues to be a learning experience even now- like the aforementioned Shattered Space, which released earlier this year to divisive responses, with criticism being directed at its lack of new features. Interestingly, as per Spencer, those criticisms led director Todd Howard to wonder whether pairing the expansion with the release of buggies (which were added to the game for free earlier in the year) would have made it seem more substantial.

“But we’re always learning,” he said. “Todd and I were talking about Shattered Space. Starfield is a game I put a ton of hours into and really love, but they’ve had this thing where they’ve added features throughout the year and then they had an expansion.

“I think some of the feedback on the expansion is: ‘We wanted more features.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, should we have waited to put buggies out?'”

Ultimately, however, Spencer says that not every first-party Xbox title is necessarily going to do expansions.

“I think you’re trying to tune both development effort and the impact of the expansion. And I think there will always be a balance to managing the game month to month. But not every game will do expansions.”

The patch normalizes the Evade cast rate for all scenarios. Don’t worry – the Spiritborn is still among the top classes in the game, so there are plenty of alternatives. Other changes with the patch include the Rune crafting notification showing what you crafted and the recipes for random Runes at the Jeweler specifying the required materials.

Runes and Runewords tooltips will also better convey what they do, while the Masterworking tooltip now specifies that you must Temper an item twice beforehand. Those who enjoy the Kurast Undercity also have reason to celebrate since it offers more random item drops, at least one guaranteed Legendary, and double the Gold.

Check out some of the patch notes below and full details here. You can also read our Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review.

2.0.3 Build #58786 (All Platforms) – October 17, 2024

Game Updates

User Interface and User Experience

• The crafting notification for Runes now displays what’s being crafted instead of the Runes used.
• The recipes for crafting random Runes at the Jeweler now include what Runes are needed for each recipe.
• The tooltip for swapping Runes and Gems in sockets now says “swap” instead of “socket” when in that context.
• Tooltips for Runes and Runewords have been updated to better communicate their effects.
• The tooltip for Masterworking now indicates that the item must be Tempered twice before it can be Masterworked.
• Various tooltips and icons for crafting materials have been updated for improved readability.
• Infernal Hordes and Kurast Undercity will now be at the top level of activities in the Party Finder menu, alongside activities such as the Pit and Dark Citadel.
• The icon for Glyph Sockets has been adjusted to make it more visually distinct in Paragon Boards.
• The Non-Physical damage stat has been removed from the Character Stats window.

Developer’s Note: The Non-Physical Damage stat consists of separately listed stats of all included elements, such as Fire Damage. This stat was also incorrectly listed as a standalone entry and has been removed. Its impact on the individual elements has not changed.

• Combat text for damage numbers are now abbreviated. e.g. 10000 damage now displays as 10k damage.
• New Nahantu-themed loading screens will now appear in-game.

Kurast Undercity

Developer’s Note: These updates aim to improve the overall value of rewards in the Kurast Undercity while reducing unnecessary friction for leveling players.

• Rewards from successful Kurast Undercity runs have been improved.
• More random items will drop.
• Now at least 1 Legendary Item is guaranteed to drop.
• Gold drops have doubled.
• Minions with the Extra Health monster Affix will no longer spawn.
• The health pools for bosses and greater afflicted monsters have been reduced to achieve closer parity with similar dungeon content.
• The spawn frequency between afflicted super Elites and afflicted regular Elites has been slightly adjusted.
• The number of normal monster mobs spawned from the Spirit Beacon encounter has been slightly reduced to improve clarity for the objective.

Timer adjustments

• The starting time for a base run—with no Tribute applied—has been increased from 100 seconds to 120 seconds.
• Afflicted regular Elites now grant a 10 second time bonus, increased from 8 seconds.
• Afflicted super Elites now grant a 15 second time bonus, increased from 14 seconds.
• Tribute of Titans can now drop outside of defeating bosses.
• Increased the drop rate of Rare Tributes throughout the game, other rarities are unaffected.

Season of Hatred Rising

• The following changes have been implemented for the Realmwalker event:
• Realmwalker no longer reduces spawns if only one person is following it.
• Increased max spawns allowed at a time to 20, previously 15.
• Increased the base movement speed of the Realmwalker by around 15%.
• Every time you kill a wave of Bloodbound Guardians, the Realmwalker’s movespeed increases by 10%. For example: If you kill all 3 waves of Bloodbound Guardians, the Realmwalker will move 30% faster, in addition to the 15% base increase.
• The Realmwalker now has a low chance to summon a Treasure Goblin.
• Removed 1 Hatred Spire from the Ritual phase of the event in Nahantu. Three Hatred Spires will still spawn when the event occurs in Estuar, the continent home to the 5 Regions of Diablo IV’s base game.
• Removed the Hatred Rising icon from the map. Players will now find the Realmwalker via the event icon.
• Various miscellaneous changes to make the event progress quicker.

This Diablo 4 guide is all about how to farm XP and level up quickly and efficiently in the new Vessel of Hatred DLC.

Difficulty

While there is undoubtedly a bonus to XP and drop quality from playing on the higher difficulty levels, Normal difficulty is actually preferable for rapidly cutting through swathes of enemies, instead of getting bogged down chipping away at the health of tougher mobs. Conquer and move on.

Campaign

Major chunks of XP can be gained by simply powering through the new campaign quests and side quests, without even hardly touching open world Event content.

Strongholds

A one-time source of a large amount of XP, Strongholds also reward players with a slew of unique items including Runes, upon the initial clearing. However, it is possible to farm a Stronghold when in a party by not clearing it completely, but instead having the party leader quit the instance right before the end of the run, while the rest continue on and collect their XP. The party leader can then begin the Stronghold anew in a reset state, and the rest of the party can join the session.

Dungeons

Several Strongholds unlock access to new Dungeons on the world map, once finally cleared. These Dungeons can also be reset in order to farm XP.

• Solo players can simply walk out of the Dungeon, or use the ‘Leave Dungeon’ function from the action wheel. Town Portal is not an option, since your personal portal acts as an anchor keeping the Dungeon instance active.
• Party players other than the leader can reset a Dungeon by simply leaving the party, which will simply place them right outside the Dungeon again. Once the party leader leaves the Dungeon, it will be reset.
• As a method of last resort, while not inside a Dungeon, navigate to the Journal tab and use the ‘Reset Dungeons’ button at the bottom. Note that this will reset ALL Dungeons.

Helltides

These World Events offer up copious amounts of XP for any player willing to play open world events where other players may also be present, in order to farm the tougher content in unison, for both XP and drops including Grim Favors.

Helltides can also be run completely solo, but coming into contact with randoms cannot be avoided.

Tree of Whispers

The aforementioned Grim Favors earned can then be turned in at the Tree of Whispers in order to complete Whispers. Besides the major XP bonus, these Whispers also grant you several types of reward Caches to choose from, some with Legendary contents.

Kurast Undercity

This timed dungeon offers a unique alternative to Nightmare Dungeons, with both XP and targeted farming of Weapons, Armor, and Aspects up for grabs. Kurast is a race to the finish line where one of three bosses awaits defeat before you can collect top rewards, but you still get to keep all that XP earned along the way regardless.

Those are all the ways to farm XP and level up quickly in Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred.

This Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred guide lists both categories of Rune, their attributes, and some tips on where to acquire them.

Ritual Runes

The first part of the Runeword, Ritual Runes generate the energy, or Offering, required to power the effects of the second part of the Runeword.

Invocation Runes

The second part of the Runeword, Invocation Runes consume the energy, or Offering, generated through the activities required by the first part of the Runeword.

Where To Find Runes

Vessel of Hatred Campaign

Every boss defeated over the course of the campaign can potentially drop a Rune.

Elite Mobs

Any activity with a high proportion of Elite enemies is guaranteed to drop Runes. In Vessel of Hatred, Kurast Undercity is the ideal location for this, though Nightmare Dungeons and The Pit may also yield Runes.

Whisper Caches

Whisper Caches may potentially serve as a source of Runes.

World Bosses

The regularly scheduled World Boss events will reward players with Runes if they are successful in taking them down.

Initial Clearing of a Stronghold

A Rune of Magic rarity is a guaranteed drop as a reward for clearing any given Stronghold for the first time.

Crafted at the Jeweler

The Jeweler will craft a Rune of Legendary rarity in exchange for three Runes of the same name, and a sum of gold.

That is everything about Runewords, Runes, and where to find them in Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred.

This Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred guide outlines how to unlock access to all four currently available mercenaries.

Raheir

This blacksmith turned mercenary is essentially the tank, equipped as he is with a tower shield. Raheir can be relied upon to adequately defend and heal both himself and you, while your character engages in either close combat or ranged strikes.

Raheir can be unlocked by completing “The Hand Remembers the Blade” during the course of the main quest. Interact with him post-completion and he will become available to recruit at The Den.

Varyana

A close-combat mercenary equivalent to a Barbarian, Varyana is ideally teamed with ranged characters to complement their offensive capabilities. Melee characters can also benefit from the pairing, via boosts to Attack Speed and damage dealt.

Varyana can be unlocked by completing the “Slayer’s Retribution” quest acquired via the Brutal Note pinned to a bloody stake in The Den.

Aldkin

Half-demon mage with a bevy of area-of-effect spells to call upon, Aldkin works best as support for close-combat characters who can defend him from attackers, while he handles crowd control with status effects like Vulnerable and Daze.

Aldkin can be unlocked by completing the “A Nameless Mystery” quest acquired via the Archive of Kuo Chosah found in The Den.

Subo

An archer with a variety of ranged area-of-effect attacks, mostly explosive, to rely upon. Subo is an effective support for melee characters holding the frontline in combat, while he manages crowd control with an array of status effects.

Subo can be unlocked by completing the “A Feather on the Scale” quest acquired via the Muddy Letter lying under a mercenary helm in The Den.

Hiring Mercenaries And Enlisting Reinforcements

Only one mercenary can be hired as an active companion at any given time. However, as soon as a second mercenary is unlocked, the option to Enlist Reinforcements becomes available.

In order to use reinforcements, begin by binding a mercenary skill to one of your own character’s skills. Every time your character makes use of that particular skill, it will automatically call upon the Reinforcement mercenary to carry out their own skill in tandem.

Leveling Mercenaries

Mercenary XP is referred to as Rapport, and this is earned automatically by mercenaries when they are actively fighting alongside your character. The chosen Reinforcement mercenary also earns Rapport, even when not on the field, but at only half the rate of the Hired mercenary.

Those are the four mercenaries made available to hire in the Vessel of Hatred DLC for Diablo IV.

Vessel of Hatred thus falls into a very strange area. It leverages all those existing systems and several new ones, with even bigger changes to progression made in a free update coinciding with the expansion’s release. However, the expansion’s content ranges from interesting and enjoyable to repeating many of the same mistakes made with the base game, starting with the story.

"It also doesn’t help that many of the story objectives boil down to “Go here, now go there, now find three of these things.” Perhaps the worst offender is venturing somewhere to meet someone so they can converse elsewhere."

Though I enjoyed how Diablo 4’s story began, the second half fell off the rails and suffered from severe pacing and characterization issues. Vessel of Hatred also starts somewhat promising, with the Wanderer having to track down Neyrelle, who currently possesses Mephisto’s soulstone. She’s keen on purifying it in the Vault of Light, located within the Tomb of Akarat, wherever it may be. However, along with the Lord of Hatred’s influence corrupting the region, there are the Burnt Knights, who have a much less forgiving stand against any sin, pursuing Neyrelle.

Or at least, that’s what it seems like in the beginning. After Urivar, the Burnt Knights’ leader, wounds the player, the latter conveniently ends up in Nahantu with Eru, a Spiritborn, saving them and treating their wounds. Contrary to expectations, you join up again with Neyrelle about halfway through the admittedly short story and must deal with her unstable corruption unleashing all kinds of horrifying creatures.

While Neyrelle’s struggle between giving in to Mephisto’s influence and overcoming her trauma and doubts is compelling at first, it quickly gives way to contrived scenarios which serve as little more than padding. There are betrayals that you’ll see coming yet completely defy logic when they occur. The worst thing an expansion’s ending can do is make the struggle leading up to it feel irrelevant, which we’ll get to in a bit.

It also doesn’t help that many of the story objectives boil down to “Go here, now go there, now find three of these things.” Perhaps the worst offender is venturing somewhere to meet someone so they can converse elsewhere. I also don’t know who decided the emote wheel should return as a mechanic in a story mission, but I could do without it in the future.

"Thankfully, that’s not all that Vessel of Hatred has to offer. I enjoyed the new Strongholds, whether lighting lamps using a special Lantern, battling enemies in the dark, or freeing a bunch of survivors and collapsing an enemy cave (though it still led to a depressing outcome)."

Part of the tediousness of Vessel of Hatred’s story is also due to Nahantu, which suffers from the same issues as Diablo 4’s environments. Don’t get me wrong – they’re gorgeous. As skilled as the Diablo 4 team is in creating piles of gore and entrails, it can also deliver some detailed jungles thick with foliage. The Field of Giants, with its massive corpses, is also similarly impressive, but the layouts are nothing special. With some exceptions, you still spend an extraordinary amount of time on your horse (or leopard) passing enemies to get to objectives, occasionally stopping for an event (and I didn’t spot many new additions).

There are some admittedly cool moments, like raising Akarat’s Tomb and fighting against ambushing enemies that emerge from waterfalls. However, I’m mixed on the boss fights. Ah Bulan was enjoyable, albeit mildly frustrating, but Urivar, who remained absent after his intro and received no development throughout, feels more annoying due to the constant knockbacks. Then there’s the big battle against Mephisto – or rather, the Harbinger of Hatred, the desiccated wolf seen throughout the base game.

It has some interesting bullet hell mechanics intertwined with some set piece mechanics, but that’s all you get. There’s no actual battle with Mephisto but the tease of more. I would say it’s neat, but I care even less about the characters and the Prime Evils than before. While I can understand building up Mephisto as a threat, at best, it feels more like postponing the inevitable – at worst, a villain to milk for the game’s live-service aspect until the next expansion drops. I’ve seen my share of this trend with Destiny 2 – I know how it works, and it’s just as annoying here.

Thankfully, that’s not all that Vessel of Hatred has to offer. I enjoyed the new Strongholds, whether lighting lamps using a special Lantern, battling enemies in the dark, or freeing a bunch of survivors and collapsing an enemy cave (though it still led to a depressing outcome). The dungeon layouts don’t present anything drastically different from the base game. However, their aesthetics and enemy density are on point, providing mindless fun while feeding into the end-game loop.

"As for new activities, you can venture into the Kurast Undercity, slaying Afflicted enemies to extend the timer while killing enemies near various shrines to increase the reward tier."

The new Spiritborn class is also enjoyable, offering a solid array of new skills and passives, whether you’re spreading exploding poison clouds or shotgunning Quill Volleys. I enjoyed diving into packs of enemies with The Hunter before poisoning everyone with Scourge and repeating the process as many times as the refreshed cooldown on the former allowed. It also doesn’t hurt that the class has some awesome Uniques, which provide something for my current build to chase and offer intriguing alternatives, like the busted Evade Eagle.

I also like the Mercenaries, though it’s clear that Varyana won out in terms of the recruitment quests. Raheir taunting and adding Fortify to my health pool while Varnaya swoops in when casting Scourge is pretty great, even if the latter can sometimes seem unnoticeable. Runewords are also a solid addition. While some of its best effects boil down to other classes’ abilities, there’s still something satisfying about freezing and making enemies Vulnerable using the Sorcerer’s skill or counter attacking with a Necromancer skill to leech some health.

As for new activities, you can venture into the Kurast Undercity, slaying Afflicted enemies to extend the timer while killing enemies near various shrines to increase the reward tier. By offering a tribute, you can prioritize certain rewards, thus offering a great way to target farm. To top it off, the boss fights here are mechanically unique, even if they won’t push you too much in difficulty.

The other new activity is The Dark Citadel, and it’s promising, even if you’re earning rewards from the vendor, like the Scroll of Restoration for restoring Tempering charges to items.

"Depending on what you’re after, however, the expansion by itself can feel disappointing, especially for $40. I don’t care to see where the story goes from here, but at least there’s plenty else to enjoy about the expansion."

Boiling it down to the basics, Vessel of Hatred is a tale of two Diablo 4 experiences. One is the story that feels underwhelming and rote, to say nothing of the massive cliffhanger that does little more than drag out the fateful battle with Mephisto. The other is an enjoyable post-game that integrates well into the end-game loop while presenting unique activities and benefits.

For the first time, I’m compelled to dive into and really engage with the end game. To engage in this loop of venturing into The Pit, then the Undercity, maybe some Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides to break up the monotony. To temper and masterwork gear, discover new Paragon Glyphs and Runewords and ultimately min-max my version of the Spiritborn before the inevitable nerfs.

In essence, Vessel of Hatred and Diablo 4 together make for a compelling action RPG looter experience. Depending on what you’re after, however, the expansion by itself can feel disappointing, especially for $40. I don’t care to see where the story goes from here, but at least there’s plenty else to enjoy about the expansion.

This expansion was reviewed on PC.