Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

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It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Diablo IV came on the scene and gave players the power to slay demons and explore the land of Sanctuary with their buddies. As with Diablo III, it was only a matter of time before an expansion would come along, which brings us to Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. With it comes a new class, location, and activities to breathe new life into the base game and to keep fans busy until the inevitable next expansion.

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Picking up not long after the conclusion of Diablo IV, the world of Sanctuary is starting to have some peace and prosperity return to it. But of course it doesn’t take long for the next wave of evil to swoop in and take it away, as Neyrelle is struggling to keep Mephisto contained within her grasp, and all sorts of evil and demons is being stirred in her wake as she travels.

It’s up to you to find her and aid in vanquishing this evil once and for all, if you’re able to catch up and find out where she’s heading that is. This shouldn’t be too difficult as Neyrelle is unwillingly unleashing demons and destruction where ever she goes, and you’ll need all of your past skills as well as some new ones to save her and the world.

Your quest will eventually lead you to the new area, Nahantu, a jungle-like place that also houses the famed location of Kurast, a spot all too familiar for fans of Diablo II. There’s also a new class to play, the Spiritborn that originates from this new area. To be honest, this new class feels and plays a lot like the Monk from Diablo III, but draws its power from four Guardian Spirits.

There’s the Jaguar spirit, Rezoka, that focuses on fire attacks, the Gorilla spirit, Wumba, is a heavy-hitting force to be reckoned with, the Eagle spirit, Kwalti, is for players that like to be nimble and speedy when executing their foes with lightning attacks, and lastly the Centipede spirit, Balazan, focuses on life draining poison attacks. 

Finding out which talents and spirits to use in your character builds is all part of the fun here, and players are sure to lose countless hours fighting off monsters and making adjustments to their talents along the way. I like how you can now hire mercenaries to tag along with you in your adventure, should you not be able to team with any of the online players or just want to go solo.

These remind me a lot of the companions from Diablo III, and they have their own skill trees and quests for you to expand their abilities and make the bond between you stronger. When you’re done with the campaign, there’s two new places to test out your character’s power while gaining paragon levels and more powerful gear, the Dark Citadel and Kurast Undercity.

I’m so glad Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred made the base game feel new and fresh again, as I had my doubts at first, given the rough start and even the post-content it had last year going into this one. But if you’re a fan of ARPG’s and Diablo in general, you’ll have a fun time getting into the spirit (born) of slaying monsters here until the next expansion.