Sanctuary’s darkness spreads further today as Blizzard Entertainment launches the highly anticipated first expansion for Diablo IV. Vessel of Hatred takes players into the dense jungles of Nahantu, introduces the brand-new Spiritborn class, and continues the dark narrative following the events of the base game’s campaign. Let’s dive into everything this major expansion brings to the demonic action RPG.
The Story Continues
Vessel of Hatred picks up directly after the conclusion of Diablo IV’s main campaign. The story follows Neyrelle, who now suffers with the fate of her choice to imprison the Prime Evil Mephisto in a soulstone. Players will journey through the land of Nahantu to search for her as she grapples with the imprisoned Prime Evil.
The expansion’s narrative centers around Mephisto – Lilith’s father and Diablo’s brother – as the main antagonist. In the haunting opening cinematic revealed earlier this year, we saw Neyrelle being called by a vision of her mother Vhenard, only to discover it was actually Mephisto in disguise attempting to take over her and break free. This sets up a tense struggle that will test players as they push deeper into the jungle’s mysteries.
Welcome to Nahantu: A New Deadly Region
The expansion takes players to Nahantu, a completely new jungle region filled with secrets, dangerous new dungeons, strongholds, and ferocious demons from warring tribes. This dense jungle environment features familiar places like Kurast and Travincal (which longtime Diablo fans may remember from Diablo II), but reimagined and more dangerous than ever.
The environment includes dense foliage and hazardous terrain inhabited by new enemies, including monstrous insects and corrupted humanoids, each with distinct attack patterns. Players will discover forgotten ruins, new towns, and bygone civilizations as they navigate through this treacherous new area of Sanctuary.
The Spiritborn: A Revolutionary New Class
Perhaps the most exciting addition in Vessel of Hatred is the introduction of the Spiritborn, a completely new class to the Diablo franchise. Ranked among the “apex predators of the jungle,” the Spiritborn are battle-hardened warriors with mystical synergies that could only be awakened deep within the jungles of Nahantu.
The Spiritborn combines martial arts with spiritual powers, making it extremely versatile. Players can use new weapons like glaives and quarterstaffs while summoning powerful animal guardians to aid in battle.
Spirit Guardians
Each Spiritborn skill is linked to one of four animal guardians, each with its own perks:
- The Jaguar Spirit (Rezoka) – Grants abilities such as Rake, Ravager, and Rushing Claw, which inflict substantial fire damage
- The Gorilla Spirit (Wumba) – Offers immense strength and resilience, enhancing both damage output and survivability
- The Eagle Spirit (Kwatli) – Improves agility and precision, allowing for swift and accurate strikes while boosting movement speed and enhancing ranged attacks
- The Centipede Spirit (Balazan) – Provides speed and poison damage
A notable aspect of the Spiritborn class is its access to the Spirit Realm, a ghostly reflection of Sanctuary created by the prophet Akarat and his acolyte Ysevete. In the Spirit Realm, players can embody Spirit Guardians, gaining their full strength and unique abilities.
The class introduces new mechanics like the Incarnate Skill, which allows players to embody their chosen Spirit Guardian for temporary but powerful boosts. This makes the Spiritborn easily the most customizable class in the game, as you can mix and match skills from different spirit guardians to create your ideal playstyle.
Runestones: A Powerful New System
The expansion introduces Runewords, a feature teased in early patch notes. This system allows players to enhance their gear with special runes that can be combined in specific ways to create powerful effects. While the runeword system might feel familiar to veterans of Diablo II, it has been redesigned and updated for Diablo IV’s gameplay mechanics.
The runestone system provides yet another layer of customization and power progression for your character, allowing for even more build diversity and strategic options.
Mercenaries: Never Fight Alone
Vessel of Hatred introduces Mercenaries who can join you on your quest. These powerful allies fight alongside you, grow in power as they progress, and help you in combat with unique abilities.
When the expansion drops, you’ll have four mercenaries to pick from, including Raheir the Shieldbearer, a tanky companion who can absorb significant damage. Each mercenary provides different strategic advantages and support styles, allowing you to choose the companion that best complements your build and playstyle.
Key to this system are Pale Marks, a new currency players can earn by increasing their rapport with mercenaries. This allows for progression and customization of your chosen companions.
New Endgame Content
Vessel of Hatred introduces a new co-op PvE mode where you work with friends to complete objectives and slay bosses in a multi-level dungeon, while earning loot and rewards. This multi-phase challenge requires players to coordinate their abilities and strategies to overcome waves of enemies and bosses. Successful completion rewards players with unique loot and titles.
Beyond this new dungeon, the expansion brings:
- New skills for all existing classes
- Enhanced Paragon boards and Paragon Glyphs
- New legion events and Nahantu Monster Families
- A feature that allows for trading Vessel of Hatred-specific resources
- New mounts native to the jungle regions
Is It Worth It?
As the first major expansion for Diablo IV, Vessel of Hatred delivers a substantive amount of new content. The Spiritborn class alone offers a completely fresh way to experience the game with its unique mechanics and customization options. The jungle region of Nahantu provides a visually distinct environment from anything we’ve seen in the base game, and the continuation of the story promises to expand on the rich lore of the Diablo universe.
For returning players, the expansion brings welcome additions to endgame content and progression systems, while the mercenary feature adds a new strategic layer to combat. For newcomers, this might be the perfect time to jump into Diablo IV, with all the improvements and additions that have come since launch.
Vessel of Hatred is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Battle.net and Steam for $39.99. Various editions with additional cosmetics and bonuses are also available.
Will you embrace the spirits of Nahantu or succumb to Mephisto’s corruption? The jungle awaits, Wanderer.