New characters, new map sections, new stories in Vessel of Hatred, the first Diablo 4 expansion
In Vessel of Hatred, the first major expansion for Diablo 4, Nayrelle is on the run and in danger, and you need to find her. In Kyovashad, the glorious few survivors of the incursion into hell have returned, and they are no longer aligned on how to govern their people. There are soldiers in the streets, a new map section to dive in to, a whole new character class to play with, mercenaries, runes, and you, the wanderer, need to find Lorath and Nayrelle before they do. This is everything I’d hoped for from Vessel of Hatred.
Out of everything the Blizzard team is bringing to the table, the new Spiritborn character is likely the part Diablo 4 fans are most looking forward to. A bit like the old Desert Mercenaries in Diablo 2 crossed with a ninja crossed with a culture heavily invested in spirit animals, the Spiritborn class has clear differentiators from the first release classes, making this a fun new experience. There are plenty of skills and spells to invest in, making the playing experience new and fun, and worth the price of adminssion on October 8. Blizzard’s team have also made sure the class doesn’t miss out on key development opportunities that the other classes have had, even including a self discovery quest to power your character up (which has a boss at the end that is an absolute bastard to finish).
The new area of the map, Nahantu, has a Cambodian / Indonesian temple feel to it, with plenty of jungle around its structures, and some grisly scenes to fight through and discover as part of the story. The black sludge in the rotting jungles, the corruption, and a new evil and minions to slaughter in the thousands continues our hack and slash fun, and so I doff my cap to the art team for delivering another unique feeling region. A fair few minion characters from other regions do get shoehorned in to Nahantu, but I can appreciate the effort that went in creating at least some new creatures to butcher and burn.
One of the things I was so, so freaking excited for was the announcement of mercenaries. Thank the gaming gods, Blizzard brought the mercenaries from Diablo 2 back! They have skill trees so you can mod their combat capabilities to support your own build, but you can’t kit them out like you used to. I’d been holding on to some beasty arms and armour for my mercenary, and to discover I couldn’t pass them on was a bit disappointing from this old grey-haired gamer’s perspective.
Also harkening back to the Diablo 2 days is the reintroduction of runes. For items with two sockets you can slot in a whole new slate of powers. Honestly, it’s like they’ve taken a stack of the things we missed from Diablo 2 and popped them into this game. And I am here for it.
From a story perspective, Vessel of Hatred’s opening cinematic is fucking gorgeous. Once again, the team have captured the filthy, bloody, horrific essence of these games so remarkably well in just a few short minutes. Since I was a kid playing Starcraft at my mate’s place, I have been in consistent awe of Blizzard’s dedication to the cut scene as a storytelling tool.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is pretty much bang on for what I was hoping for in the first major expansion for this brilliant game. There’s a new class of character that is different and fun to play, a beautifully rendered new map region, the reintroduction of two of the aspects of Diablo 2 that made it one of the best games of its generation, and a storyline that i found fun and engaging. Get your spear and judo kick out, because it’s time to have a bloody great time stabbing and slashing and calling the destructive spirits down on your foes.
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