Diablo 4 - Vessel of Hatred: A return to form and an exciting step forward
I’m going to preface this article about the Diablo IV DLC - Vessel of Hatred - with a disclaimer. As reviewers we’re given access to the game on a test server and, unfortunately, I didn’t get enough time to play through the DLC before the access was revoked.
This means that I wouldn’t feel comfortable publishing a proper review as I was only able to test approximately 60-70% of the new content. In fact, I was walking to the final encounter when I was disconnected, so I couldn’t spoil the ending if I wanted to.
What I can say, without doubt, is that I wish I could have played more. Playing this DLC felt like playing Diablo IV for the first time again. When the game first came out, I was obsessed, racking up hundreds of hours swiftly, trying out everything I could with each class. I beat every single dungeon, and got several classes to level 100, just because I couldn’t get enough.
I would happily do that all over again with the new Spiritborn class, which feels like a cross between the Druid and Mage. Of course, I played through the new campaign as a Spiritborn and my first impressions were great. As were my final impressions. Choosing abilities feels more versatile than ever, with four animal types to focus on.
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Gorilla abilities are about strength and defence; Centipede powers focus on poisoning; the Eagle’s abilities focus on debuffs for enemies and staying nimble; while the Jaguar does huge DPS damage and buffs player movement. You can focus on one, or all, spreading your chosen abilities across each type for an all-around class.
By the end of the playtest, I had Jaguar claws for heavy DPS, and a Gorilla protection ability to soak up damage, while my standard attack poisoned enemies - which I combined with armour that healed me while enemies were poisoned. To top it all off, my ultimate ability conjured a huge gorilla who slammed into the ground and pounded away at it damaging enemies in my radius.
I felt more powerful than ever before. In fact, this playstyle rivalled my favourite Lightning Mage build from a few seasons ago. I could withstand swarms of enemies coming from everywhere, tanking damage, and barely healing while outputting an incredible amount of damage.
This saw me handily get through many encounters throughout the new campaign which focuses on the journey of Neyrelle after the events of the main game. The DLC opens with her travelling into the new area of Nahantu, which features vast jungles, temples, and lush green areas inspired by bygone civilisations.
We see her travel by boat holding onto the crystal containing Mephisto, a powerful demon corrupting both Neyrelle and the environment she finds herself in. His essence warps the enemies we’re used to into even more crazed creatures, oozing black ichor, now leaving them identified as Hollows.
Neyrelle was perhaps my favourite character from the main game and the DLC follows this trial of hers and ours as we attempt to control Mephisto and prevent any long-term damage. As usual, the story beats are satisfying, the new characters bring a refreshing edge to how we see Gods in this world of Demons, and there are plenty of heartpounding moments throughout.
Thankfully, along with our new class, there are several new mechanics to get to grips with. One of these is the addition of mercenaries, who are recruited throughout the story and can be hired from a new basecamp location.
Essentially, these mercenaries act as AI cooperative partners, backing you up in fights. I only got to try out two of them - Raheir who wields a shield (think Captain America if he’s constantly fighting demons) and Aldkin, a cursed demon child who can utilise shadow powers. My preference was on the latter as he could lock enemies in place, using shadow threads, while I battered them senseless.
Having a merc companion certainly helped when I was taking down bosses and dabbling in the new seasonal content with no other players around to help. I never felt out of my depth when facing down 40+ enemies and because you can choose how these mercenaries are upgraded, you can pair them, and tailor them, to your play style.
For example, with Aldkin, I wanted him to hold enemies in place because this paired with my character’s whirlwind attack that sucked enemies towards me, ensuring nobody could escape my Jaguar claws. Of course, their upgrade tree is significantly smaller than the player character paths, but there’s enough there to find a good balance.
Further than this, there are the new Runewords. These are equipable, much like gems and skulls, using sockets on your weapons and armour. You’ll pair two runes that lock together, one part dictating the outcome - like extra critical damage - while the other half informs how that outcome is activated - like using your evade skill.
This creates a much deeper method of buffing your class and when it’s combined with items, skills, and environmental effects, the outcomes can be dizzying. At first, I won’t lie, it felt a little overwhelming to consider whether gems, skulls, or runes worked best for my build, and given time, I can see the community coming up with some nasty combinations. After a time, they began to feel like second nature and I was often seeking out combos that activated easily.
The last thing to mention, that I feel confident discussing here, is the Kurast Undercity dungeon, which is probably the most exciting aspect I came across. This is a new type of dungeon that makes the dungeon feel like a time-attack. You enter, have a set amount of time to complete the dungeon and you’ll receive better rewards for faster times of completion. As you proceed you’ll kill minibosses to add seconds to the clock and receive special loot for activating beacons throughout. Sadly, I only got to run this dungeon once, but I was desperately eager to get back in and attempt to beat my time and reap the rewards. There was a new thrill here, something to change things up from the usual dungeon-running I was used to. It felt like more was on the line and I know that I’ll spend hours refining my play style for these challenges.
I can see these being incredibly popular if Blizzard continues to expand those on offer, and I’m sure there will be class builds set up to specifically beat these time-based adventures.
Sadly, and I do mean sadly, this is all I got to experience in my time with the game. This is why you can scroll to the bottom of this article and you won’t see a score. Without being able to see the ending of the DLC, or respec my Spiritborn class to test out other combinations of skills, I wouldn’t feel right giving a score.
However, I can say confidently that what I did experience felt like a renewed sense of energy and urgency from Blizzard. The new story moments combined with several aspects to make characters feel more powerful than ever had me impressed. Is this DLC going to keep players happy? I think so, as long as Blizzard continues to expand the new features introduced here, like new mercenaries and time-attack dungeons. Will I play more? Hell yes. Has this reinvigorated my passion to play Diablo IV? Absolutely.
Topics: Diablo, Diablo 4, Blizzard Entertainment