Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred review - Stay awhile, and listen

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred is the first expansion for Blizzard’s latest hit action RPG. It feels like just a few years ago, I was diving into D4 for the first time. I fell in love with the game immediately, but it’s gone through some major changes as the seasons and updates have come through. Vessel of Hatred brings a ton of new changes to the game, many of which are exclusive to this content. It’s not a requirement to purchase the expansion, but there is content, story, and powerful game mechanics locked behind it.

That’s not new, though. Diablo as a franchise has done this for years. Whether it’s a new class or continent/region, this content has always been locked behind the expansion paywall. However, we recently had a chance to preview not just the expansion proper, but Season 6. I think it’s bringing a lot of positive changes, with only a few minor complaints.

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred’s story takes players into the heart of Nahantu, seeking the Soulstone

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred's story does not disappoint (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred’s focus is very clearly on Neyrelle and Mephisto. That’s not a major spoiler as it’s practically in every trailer. Neyrelle finds it harder to fight off the whispers and influence of Mephisto, who is bound in that huge blue stone. We aren’t going to spoil any major plot points for this adventure, either.

The story itself isn’t incredibly long, stretching out across 12 or so hours depending on how hard you push through it and how often you do side content. It’s all in the form of one Act (Act VII) and takes place after the events of the first game. I was a little disappointed we didn’t get multiple Acts, though.

One of my only complaints about this story is that it felt rushed in places. It was pushing really hard to get to the main point of the story in a pretty speedy time frame. I didn’t mind the ending itself; in fact, I loved it, but the overall flow of the story was a bit rushed. You could really feel the way Mephisto’s influence hits Nahantu, spreading hatred and anger everywhere he goes.

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred’s Spiritborn is a unique, interesting class

The Spiritborn is my second-favorite class, next to Necromancer (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to play as every class in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, so I focused primarily on the Spiritborn. It’s an agile class that can channel the spirit animals of Nahantu. Like all classes, it has four primary styles of gameplay, but you can do a lot to make this more flexible. The forms are

The Protector (Gorilla): Ground smashes, tankiness, resolve.
The Seeker (Eagle): Feather storms, wind/feather attacks.
The Hunter (Jaguar): Attack speed, rapid/quick damage, counterattacks.
The Devourer (Centipede): Lots and lots of Poison, and swarms of insects.

I spent the most time playing as a Centipede style player because I’m a sucker for Poison. In general, I’m a huge fan of the Spiritborn class, with every gameplay style feeling incredibly fun. Even the developers said that the Spiritborn will be “overpowered” and “broken”, and I can definitely see it.

Summoning the Centipede, swarms of insects, poisoning and executing everyone that comes across my path? It’s so satisfying to play Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred this way. In fact, you can make some truly terrifying combinations, through the classes’ special feature: The Spirit Hall. You can make all of your abilities be one of the particular animal spirits.

So, for example, you can make all skills into Centipede skills to create amazing synergy and put whatever attacks onto your bar that you want. I included a few Jaguar skills for greater attack speed, making it easier to poison my foes. It’s so incredibly fun. Sadly, though, it’s not available to vanilla players as you have to get the expansion.

It has amazing builds for bossing, clearing enemies, farming, you name it. You can be your party’s tank, or you can shred screens of enemies in the blink of an eye. Spiritborn is fun—there’s going to be a lot of them in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, and I don’t blame them.

Runewords are fun and powerful in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, but they felt remarkably rare

The Runewords are tedious to get, but worth it (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

I was really hoping that there would be plentiful Runewords scattered throughout Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred. The reason I hated them so much in Diablo 2 was finding the best ones were such an incredible chore. I never really had the “best” combos. So when D4 revealed that they were bringing a retooled version of Runewords back, I was excited.

The way the system works is solid, too. You combine two words into the gem slots of your gear, one that is based on an effect/action and has an Offering amount. Then there’s the second, which is a secondary trigger, based on the first Runeword. The second Rune word also has an Offering cost. If you go over that amount, you increase the general effectiveness of your combo.

If you have a Resplendent Spark and the right runes, you can just make a 5-slot Mythic Unique (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

You do receive a few for completing that portion of the game that unlocks Runewords, but other than that, I didn’t find myself finding too many of them. That said, even if you can only equip two-word combos, I still love the system.

I may have simply not had the time to grind out Runewords, but in my experience, they were few and far between. I do appreciate that you can craft them, but it's not cheap. But it is an option to craft Runes or even 5-socket Mythic Uniques if you have the right materials.

You’re never alone with Mercenaries on your side

You can bring Mercenaries with you, and they're all amazing (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Mercenaries are back in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, too! Like those in Diablo 2, these NPCs join you in battle and have a variety of things they can do to assist you. However, unlike the D2 NPCs, you have specific, named NPCs, that all fit into particular roles/gameplay types. Each of the four mercenaries has two skill tree routes.

It will also introduce a Bartering system to try and get more powerful legendary gear as you build a rapport with these Mercenaries. The one I used the most was the Cursed Child, though all four of them are great fun. You can even bring a second one as Reinforcement. You attach one of their skills to one of yours and use it to summon them at the perfect time. This is a great system, and I hope Blizzard adds more characters to it later.

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred features a wealth of fun, new content

Undercity is best done in groups - it's way more chaotic and fun that way (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

You’ve got quite a bit of new content to explore in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred. You’ve got the timed dungeons (Undercity), a Raid (Dark Citadel), and the Seasonal content of Realmwalkers/Seething Portals. The only thing I didn’t really have time to explore was the raid itself. We’ll do that post-launch and do a write-up of how it feels.

I loved Undercity though. It took a try or two to really get into it, but once I did, it became a fun way to race to the end of a dungeon, while also offering myself ways to farm specific types of items or Legendary Aspects. This content isn’t really required, but it’s certainly fun. There are so many amazing items in this game, so it can be hard to find specific things you’re looking for. Undercity, in particular, helps you do that.

Season 6's content is solid, too. It’s not the best season the game has released, but I do like the Realmwalkers, and then diving into mini-dungeons with the Seething Portals. The Seething Opals you get as a reward are amazing to help you farm money, equipment, summoning materials, and much more, to boot.

Diablo 4’s visual quality never ceases to disappoint

What a beautiful game! Even in the most tragic of moments, it's breathtaking (Image via Blizzard Enteratinment)

The Diablo 4 graphics are second to none. This jungle is gorgeous and the new monster types are suitably repulsive. I love the design of the Nahantu jungle, the city and villages you visit, and so much more. It’s not a major upgrade over the previous game, but the base game was already aesthetically pleasing. However, the graphics design team definitely brought the heat to this expansion.

On top of that, you have an amazing score. The soundtrack of the jungle was memorable, with each area having a musical piece that fit the tone of the setting. The character voices were also great - while the dialog wasn’t always perfect, the way the characters got into it, and read their lines really helped.

Especially Councilor Sihek, and Neyrelle. They were the real stars of the voice cast, in my opinion, other than someone I want to leave as a surprise for fans.

In conclusion

Slaying the forces of hell is way more fun with a friend (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred was a genuinely enjoyable experience. I know there will be some people who are frustrated by the ending, but I think it was the right decision. The gameplay was solid, the new class is suitably overpowered, and the gameplay content was solid.

I do wish that the pace of the story was ironed out just a bit better, though. Or perhaps, was a little longer. I’m still getting used to the difficulty changes, but I do think it was a good idea. However, it’s the little things. You can still unlock Uniques in Normal difficulty, but if you want to do all of the game’s content, you have to play on higher difficulties.

Overall, Season 6 is solid, without taking away too much from the new expansion. I feel like the new expansion will overwhelm it anyway, but it fits nicely into the game’s ecosystem. With powerful new gear, a gripping story, and plenty of surprises, I feel like Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred is a huge success.