Since Diablo 4 was one of my favorite games of the previous year, I had great expectations for Vessel of Hatred, the first expansion of Blizzard’s evil role-playing game. Even though there is not as much meat on the bones as I would hoped, this action-packed quest through the mud and mire of Nahantu’s forests and swamps is exactly what the plague doctor ordered. The incomplete tale, short campaign, and meager endgame material make this expansion feel more like a prelude than an expansion. However, the enhancements to the quality of life, modifications to the meta, first raid activity, and amazing new character class are all so damn awesome that I am content to keep gaining experience points and winning flashy items for a few hundred more hours.\
With the Daughter of Hatred now dead and a young explorer having taken a soul stone containing Mephisto, one of heaven’s most desired demons, Vessel of Hatred picks up precisely where the basic campaign left us hanging. You will be able to witness the drama unfold over about six hours as the embodiment of pure evil gets closer and closer to what appears to be an inevitable resurrection. However, everything comes to a satisfying conclusion well before reaching a climax, leaving us with yet another (presumably permanent) cliffhanger. Because of this, the campaign is the weakest component of the expansion. Even though the narrative, characters, and few significant plot twists that we do get are all incredibly engaging, there are just
Fortunately, the actual work you are performing both during and after the tale tidbits we are given are just as thrilling as Diablo 4 has ever been. Almost everything is amazing, including the new dungeons and side missions as well as the adjustments to the loot system and levels. I love to build crafting even more when I can use rune words, a feature that allows you to add special enchantments to your equipment. My evenings were also easily consumed by blasting through Kurast Undercity, a time-attack dungeon that is endlessly replayable and perfect for farming endgame loot.
While some tasks are a bit too difficult, such as the seasonal Realmwalker activity that requires you to follow a large, stupid monster around until he reaches his destination before killing him, most missions are enjoyable. One such task is hacking and slashing through Sanctuary’s captivating Nahantu region, which is located in the southern portion of the map.
The leveling system has been changed to cap at 60 instead of 100, and you now have 300 levels of overleveling to invest in incredibly intricate Paragon perk trees. I like this adjustment. You reach the endgame far sooner as a result of this shorter climb, which will be great for creating fresh characters for every season. Gaining experience with endgame build crafting allows you to gradually advance through world-tier challenges, collecting and enhancing increasingly potent treasures along the way. Though there were moments of slowness in the last Diablo 4 ladder-climbing adventure, this refined version seems smooth to 300.
The mercenary system—which allows you to enlist non-player characters as allies—is my favorite new feature. With the help of a computer-controlled companion or two, such as Subo, a long-range bounty hunter who can be relied upon with his bow, or Aldkin, a demon child who can use her demonic powers to send your enemies into the shadow realm, solo players can now somewhat level the playing field with co-op groups. Along with having individual introduction missions where you may discover more about their past, these devoted allies also accrue experience points that can be used to unlock new skills and other benefits the longer you play with them.
The truly fascinating thing is that you can combine any combination of the skills each of the phantom monsters has to give, even if it is recommended to concentrate on one or two spirits. You have a lot more possibilities with the Spiritborn than with a class that specializes in one particular set of skills, such as crowd control and AoE damage with the sorcerer or berserking and bleed damage with the barbarian. Because you can simply respec your talents and change out a few pieces of equipment to suddenly convert from a cautious tank into a belligerent glass cannon, modularity is especially excellent in situations where one build is not working out for you. This eliminates the need to transition to a different character.
One of the main attractions of Vessel of Hatred is the Dark Citadel.
Dark Citadel, the new endgame cooperative activity in Vessel of Hatred, is one of the game’s main attractions. To pass this difficult gauntlet, you and your three companions must defeat terrible bosses, finish raid-style puzzles in three distinct fortress wings, and fend off a swarm of formidable foes. Though it clearly shows evidence of being an early attempt, this is the first activity of its kind for the series and unquestionably the best endgame activity Diablo has ever offered. In contrast, it makes the Uber Lilith boss fight in the original game and Nightmare Dungeons seem unimpressive.
Some of the best moments I have had in Diablo 4 have been splitting our party between two worlds and working out how to break through a boss’ immunity shield. Relishing the luxurious loot made me want to replay the entire game. Though all the raid elements are so simple that our party managed to finish with little coordination and only a few failed attempts at each wing, there is still plenty of potential for development. Nevertheless, it is a really good initial draft that I hope Blizzard improves with in upcoming expansions, and it is already the most enjoyable activity in an already fantastic action RPG.
It is great to see Vessel of Hatred finally add a matchmaking capability (named Party Finder) to Diablo, as it makes it simple to find a party of fellow wanderers to battle demons with. Diablo offers an excellent cooperative experience. As one might anticipate, you can post or look for groups that are engaged in particular activities, competing on particular globe tiers, wanting to converse in a party chat, and other commonplace activities. This is a great tool that should have been around for a long time, but it comes at a perfect moment because Dark Citadel makes partying up more of a need. For people like me, who usually roam Sanctuary alone unless assigned an activity that truly necessitates cooperative play, this option is wonderful.
It is a little surprising that after a year and a half, Vessel of Hatred is the most erratic version of Diablo 4 thus far. It is not so bad that I have ever wanted to rage quit, but there were enough glitches and crashes, unfinished quests, significant NPCs multiplying and amusingly running around the map together, bosses turning invulnerably for no apparent reason, and other issues to occasionally ruin an otherwise enjoyable experience. Though I am sure many or all of these problems will be resolved in the upcoming days, weeks, and months, my stay in Nahantu was far less polished than I had imagined. However, some problems were not so bad; one of them was where my pals were.
Verdict
I can not stop playing Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred since it provides an amazing new environment to explore, a fantastically flexible character class, an amazing first raid activity, and so many more. However, even though almost everything it adds is fantastic, the campaign and story are a little shaky, and there are a lot of problems that occasionally bring it down. Even if it looks like we will have to wait a while to find out where this interlude expansion goes, Diablo 4 has still made significant progress thanks to the meta adjustments, a more enhanced progression system, the return of rune words, and NPC companions.
