Kyle reviews Diablo IV’s latest expansion: Vessel Of Hatred? What can we expect in the latest story of this iconic franchise? Let’s find out!

Diablo IV is once again relevant in 2024?? That’s right! Blizzard released a new expansion last week for Diablo IV, and honestly, there’s a lot to go through. After the rather lackluster third installment of the series, Diablo IV was Blizzard’s shot at redemption, and boy, did it deliver. With visuals leaps and bounds ahead of Diablo 3 and a riveting story that hooks you in from the get-go, Diablo IV had a lot going for it except for the fact that it had very low replayability. That’s where Vessel of Hatred comes into play. With an all-new map, class, and items, the expansion of Diablo IV looks to be the Healing Well the game desperately needed.

What’s New In Vessel Of Hatred?

We get a ton of new stuff in the newest expansion, and we could spend hours talking about every new item and trinket, but we want to focus on the important parts. With Vessel of Hatred, we’re thrown back into the world of Sanctuary with a new story picking up after the events of the base game. For those of you who don’t want to play through the base game, you’re given the option to jump straight into the expansion with a lengthy recap of the events that transpired. We can’t say too much without spoiling, but all you need to know is that the story gives us closure after the open ending of the base game. We also have a new class, items, dungeons, a new form of resource, and, most importantly, a new map to explore. We can’t go too in-depth with the new items, but let’s take a look at the newest class: The Spiritborn.

New Class In Vessel of Hatred – The Spiritborn

No, it’s not just a glorified druid! The newest class to be introduced to the Diablo franchise is the Spiritborn, a shaman that uses the totem powers of the Jaguar, Gorilla, eagle, and Centipede to battle the demonic forces prowling Nahantu. When I first saw the trailer for the DLC, my initial impression was that it would just play a lot like the druid class, swapping between speedy attack patterns and heavy, hard-hitting punches. 

Unlike the druid class, however, your skills are not form-locked. This means you can have a versatile build path wherein you string together various skills together for any play style. Want to be lightning-fast and jump around the field? Maximize your eagle and jaguar aspects and be practically untouchable. Want to tank hard hits and hit back harder? Go all in on the Gorilla aspect and buff yourself with Jaguar passives. You can even go for a DOT (Damage over time) attrition build using the Centipede spirit. 

The new Spiritborn class brings a new feel to the Diablo franchise, and I’m all for it. As an Udyr main in League of Legends, you can bet I felt right at home playing the Spiritborn class and spent hours just figuring out the best build for each combat style. 

Roads Uncharted: Nahantu

Far from the snowy and dank lands of Kyovashad, the jungle region of Nahantu opens up for players to explore its twisting and expansive map. The story continues in the brand new region, and it is not something to sneeze at. The ending of the main story had fans wanting more, and for once, Blizzard actually delivered. 

The expansion storyline brings you out of the snowy land around Kyovashad and into the dark jungle, where whole new areas, monsters, traps, and dungeons await you. Personally, it’s a nice change of pace from the dreary gothic setting of the base game and breathes new life into the already established aesthetic of the Diablo franchise. The region and its elements draw inspiration from Inca and Aztec culture while mixing it with some Diablo flare. I can’t tell you just how much time I spent exploring the first part of the region instead of progressing with the main quest. It was a much-needed refresh for this beloved series.

Is Vessel of Hatred Worth it?

All in all, the expansion is a very refreshing and fun addition to the game for anyone who enjoys Diablo and had fun with Diablo 4. You get quite a lot of free stuff with the Ultimate Edition of the expansion. It’s mostly cosmetics like exclusive armor for the 5 base classes and the Spiritborn, two pets, armor for your mount, and a nahantu-themed portal. You also get the premium battlepass for free, but at a price of 89.99 USD, it’s hard to justify getting the ultimate edition if you don’t care too much about cosmetics. You get a sort of cashback in the form of 3000 Platinum with the Ultimate edition, which in turn lets you buy more cosmetics, so that’s a plus, but again, 89.99 USD or 5000 PHP is a very steep price to pay.

In all honesty, the expansion is worth getting if you don’t care too much about exclusive cosmetics. The standard version will run you 49.99 USD or roughly 3000 PHP. Do note that you need the base version of the game to play this, so if you’re just getting into it, the Expansion Bundle is worth it and is cheaper than buying the base game and the expansion separately. 

Check out our article about Diablo IV: Vesse Of Hatred’s trailer!

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Here’s What You Need To Know About Diablo IV: Vessel Of Hatred’s Live-Action Trailer – VRSUS