Historically, expansions in Diablo the series was very solid. Both Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction AND Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls added fresh areas, content, and classes, focusing on adding more and building on what players love about the base game rather than making drastic changes.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred works according to a similar formula. Expands the base game with a fresh area, Nahantu, fresh content and systems, and an entirely fresh class – not only to Diablo 4but for the entire series – Spiritborn. But all these fresh features are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the content of this expansion.
If I had to exploit one word to sum it up Vessel of Hatred as an extension it would be gigantic.
Vessel of Hatred picks up exactly where Diablo 4 the story is over. Lilith and Inarius are no more, and the Cathedral of Light is decimated. One of the three Prime Evils, Mephisto, the Lord of Hate, was imprisoned in the soul stone by Neyrelle, a scholar who decided to journey alone towards the lands of Nahantu, with little clue as to why. However, it is obvious that Mephisto himself has an influence on her, as shown by the bloody wolf following Neyrelle in the epilogue of the base game. If you’ve already played the base campaign, you can jump right into the expansion’s story with a fresh or existing character.
History in Vessel of Hatred puts you on the path to track down Neyrelle, heading to the fresh area of Nahantu to find her. The opening cutscenes introduce us to the Burnt Knights, a militant, fanatical faction formed from the remains of the Cathedral of Light. The Burnt Knights play a key role in the story as they also try to hunt down Neyrelle, seeking revenge for what happened to their order, as well as Inarius in Hell at the end Diablo 4.
I’m still a little torn on the pacing of the story Vessel of Hatred. Not so much in terms of the actual development of the story itself in the approximately 8 hours it took me to get through it. In fact, it felt like the time I spent with the campaign went by in a flash, although that’s probably because the length of the expansion campaign will obviously be much shorter than the 30 or so hours I put into it Diablo 4campaign.
My concerns are more about the overall pace of the game Diablo 4More history at hand. I expected it Vessel of Hatred be about Mephisto, but it’s really about Nayrelle. WITH Diablo 4 ready for annual expansions, hope nothing changes too slowly. If you plan on delving into Mephisto more often throughout the seasons, that’s one thing. However, if we’re going to go through several Mephisto-centric expansions year after year, I just hope I’ll still be around to see when we finally meet the gigantic guy. You know, Diablo.
In some ways, Nahantu is a stark contrast to what we expected Diablo in every respect. Instead of darkness and death, Nahantu is a extensive jungle – a little brighter, more alive and full of life. There are a few darker parts, both visually and in terms of tone, but for the most part it’s a breath of fresh air to explore as an environment. Even the fresh dungeons and Strongholds were a nice change of pace. And the fresh main center, the town of Kurast, located in the Nahantu jungle, is quite cozy. I’m sorry, Kyovashad, but from now on I am not the king of Kurast.
I lost Vessel of Hatred as a fresh class, Spiritborn. Never before seen in Diablo universe, basically a hybrid of a monk and a shaman: I was skeptical when it was first announced. Well, I admit I was wrong. These are the most fun activities Diablo 4and I’m afraid I’ll now have trouble playing any of the others.
Spiritborn is built around four different Spirit Guardians. The first is Jaguar, which focuses on speedy elemental attacks. The second is Gorilla, a defensive juggernaut built around tanking and multi-damage mitigation. The third is the Eagle, which uses lightning attacks combined with the ability to move quickly around the battlefield. Finally, there’s Centipede, a poison-focused Spirit Guardian that deals damage over time and debuffs enemies.
I tried to immerse myself in all of the Spirit Guardians’ abilities to some extent to get a general feel for them, but I mainly focused on Eagle and Centipede. I love all things DOT, so Centipede suits me very well, but being able to dash and chain lightning attacks with Eagle-centric skills was also a lot of fun. With certain skills, I felt like I was playing a basic version of Monk Diablo 3. For others, it felt like I was playing an ARPG version Udyra With League of Legends. I think that’s what makes SpiritBorn feel so good; in some ways it’s like multiple classes in one.
I’m not a theory person or anything when it comes to builds, but it seems to me that you can really mix and match four Spirit Guardians or just focus on the same skills of one and still have fun. Of course there will be people who will prove me wrong and point out mathematically better setups, but I think you can build however you want with Spiritborn and still be able to get things done.
After completion Vessel of Hatred campaign, you can continue to level up in the same way as in the base game, through world events, hell tides, dungeons, etc. However, the expansion also includes two completely fresh forms of content: Dark Citadel and Kurast Undercity.
Dark Citadel is an end game built cooperatively for 2-4 players. I only got to run Dark Citadel once, but it was a lot of fun. You and your team progress through a larger dungeon full of enemies, occasionally having to split up and each focus on a different area before coming back together to take on challenging bosses. This is another way to progress in the endgame and is a welcome addition to Diablo 4. Progressing through the Dark Citadel will net you weekly rewards, including loot and exclusive Dark Citadel cosmetic items.
Meanwhile, Kurast Undercity is a time attack dungeon where you can both level up and farm items in the behind schedule game. Both complement the ARPG grinding cycle, and it was a good move on Blizzard’s part to add fresh forms of content that become an integral part of the gameplay, rather than just expanding existing options – such as dungeons and strongholds, to name two.
Here are the main fresh features in Vessel of Hatredbut there are lots of smaller additions that assist polish the whole thingl Experience in Diablo 4 and all of them are well done in the expansion. Added mercenaries, a popular system from previous Diablo titles that allows you to recruit NPCs to join you on your adventure. You have a unique bond with each of your recruited mercenaries, which grows as they join you in battle, allowing you to unlock fresh rewards and even unlock and develop your own skill trees to further augment their effectiveness.
All this fresh content is complemented by major changes to the base game that will be introduced with the expansion. These changes will affect everyone, including those who do not purchase the Vessel of Hate. The level cap is now 60 instead of 100, but the master level cap is now 300 instead of 200. The difficulty system has been overhauled, allowing you to play on any difficulty setting other than Torment straight away at level 1. As a result, all top-tier gear may start dropping starting from Torment 1, but the chance of dropping increases with each augment in Torment Level. This is a great change because it allows you to start farming the best equipment earlier, while also increasing your farming efficiency as your power increases.
To make matters worse, Vessel of Hatred begins with Season 6, titled The season of growing hatred. It’s looking like a meaty season that’s adding some colossal Kingdom Walkers Diablo 4which you may remember from the encounter on the Battlefields of Eternity in Diablo 3. There is so much content in this expansion that I can’t even imagine what it is Diablo 4 it might seem like a long time coming if all the upcoming content is of this size and caliber.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hate is exactly what I want from an expansion – bringing more content and fresh systems that build on the base game and push it forward in a meaningful way. Apart from some minor quibbles about the pacing of the story, everything Vessel of Hatred what it brings to Diablo 4 is a well-made and valuable addition. There are no problems with this extension. It’s just more Diablocorrected.
Spiritborn is probably the most fun class in the history of the series, and I think that with a few minor tweaks, Dark Citadel and Kurast Undercity will assist spice up the late-game grind. Combined with all the improvements the base game received over the first five seasons, Diablo 4: : Vessel of Hatred has Diablo 4 in his best form yet.
