Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is the first major expansion DLC for the title. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Review Overview

What is Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred?

Vessel of Hatred transports players to the sinister realm of Nahantu, set in the year 1336. This expansion delves deep into the malevolent plans of Mephisto, one of the Prime Evils, and his intricate schemes for Sanctuary. Throughout the narrative, players will uncover the intertwined fates of Mephisto and Neyrelle, revealing hidden truths and dark secrets. The central theme of the expansion is isolation and its profound impact on individuals, promising a gripping and emotionally charged storyline.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred features:
　⚫︎　A new region, Nahantu
　⚫︎　The continuation of Diablo 4’s story
　⚫︎　New dungeons and modes
　⚫︎　Expansion of the base class skill trees
　⚫︎　A new class: Spiritborn
　⚫︎　Compressed progression system

Digital Storefronts
Battle.net	Steam	PlayStation	Xbox
Price	$39.99

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
It’s the Same Diablo Experience Mercenaries Beat Most AI Companions Cool New Tools	It’s the Same Diablo Experience Uninspiring Story You Have to Pay For It

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Overall Score - 62/100

Diablo 4’s first major expansion, Vessel of Hatred, aims to breathe new life into the series’ latest installment. It’s packed with content, but… that’s really all there is to it. Essentially, it’s just more of the same Diablo 4, with a few tweaks arriving a couple of seasons too late. When you consider it as a DLC and weigh it against its $40 price tag, especially given that the base game already costs $70 and includes microtransactions, Vessel of Hatred falls short of providing enough value to justify its overly saturated monetization model.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Story - 6/10

Vessel of Hatred picks up right after the base game’s campaign, which stood strong on its own. Strangely, though, the pacing in this expansion feels much more rushed, even compared to the latter parts of the original story. Still, it’s at least... passable. It tries to build on the character relationships and emotional investment you may have developed in the previous installment, using that as a springboard for the sequel. However, it pales in comparison to the original by a mile and a half. The new characters lack presence, pivotal moments are undermined by flawed and half-hearted execution, and the ending is a mess.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Gameplay - 7/10

Despite the new content, Vessel of Hatred still feels like the same Diablo 4 experience. You breeze through every campaign boss because they’re too easy, then hit the “late game” where you grind levels and farm items to slowly reach the highest difficulty, eventually reaching massive damage numbers that you can boast about online—just like before. It’s less about breathing fresh life into the game and more like trying to keep a leaking bucket full by pouring in more water; If you were already tired of the game before this expansion, it won’t do much to keep you playing, even if you buy it.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Visuals - 7/10

What do you expect from a major “AAA” game? Janky 2D cartoons glitching out every few seconds? Of course not. It’s going to look good, at least graphically. Thankfully, the same goes for the character and enemy designs. They’re all sufficiently edgy and brutal, so no complaints there. It’s just that... nothing really stands out. They even recycled visual effects from the previous patches. If anything, everything in Vessel of Hatred feels like what you’d expect. Nothing more, nothing less.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Audio - 7/10

Diablo 4’s audio remains impressive. The voice acting is nearly flawless, the sound effects are punchy and impactful, and the background tracks are fantastic. But again, these are the things you’d expect from a game of this caliber, and they don’t really stand out compared to the base version.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Value for Money - 4/10

The base game is $69.99. The DLC is $39.99. In total, Vessel of Hatred costs a couple of cents short of $110. That’s not even including the money you’re given the option to invest in through its cosmetic shop and battle passes. Of course, the bundle for both costs the same as the base game, but that’s besides the point. Yes, the game is pretty darn good. But is it worth $110 plus all the change you might invest in mid-way? Definitely not.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Review: More of the Same for More of Your Money

Oh boy, here we are again with more Diablo 4.

Last year, when I reviewed the original release, I had a lot of optimism for the game. The grind felt great, the story was pretty good, and the social features of the game were at a level that allowed me to have a lot of fun with my friends for dozens of hours. Admittedly, though, I did end up quitting the game because it just became tiresome after Season 1. That’s because, despite the new content and tweaks, nothing really changed much from the previous installment, and the game’s level scaling was a mixed bag.

Over a year later, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred was released and I was very optimistic about returning to the game. If anything was going to get me to come back, it would be the story, for sure. Unfortunately, the moment I realized that I had to pay for the DLC, almost all the hype escaped my body.

$39.99? Really? Even when I purchased the most expensive edition of Diablo 4’s base game already? Even when I already lost quite a fair amount of money from your in-game shop?

Okay, fine, I thought. Reviewing Diablo 4 again would be pretty fun, I assumed. New expansion with big additions to the game and all that, you know?

The game starts off as you would expect from a canonical sequel. My Rogue (because I couldn’t come up with an edgy name for my new Spiritborn within half an hour) touched down onto mostly dry land and I got the notification for a new campaign mission. Been there, done that, and all the bells and whistles, right?

Indeed, that was the case. In fact, that’s what I felt during the entire campaign: been there, done that. Aside from an extremely small number of cases, Vessel of Hatred’s main campaign was just a slog of all the familiar activities present since the first release. The story, despite my initial investment into it, lacked any kind of engagement. Was it due to the lackluster and predictable plot? Or was it because of its uninspiring characters?

That was when I realized that, man, I miss Lilith. In a way, I also missed Inarius as well. Those two, despite the latter’s rare appearances, brought a lot of color to the campaign in a way that the snot-nosed Neyrelle simply cannot match.

The story had become… average. Or rather, “just what you would expect from a Diablo game.”

Similarly, the gameplay also felt lackluster. It really didn’t give you the feeling that you were playing an “improved Diablo 4.” It was more like an “oh, I’m playing Diablo 4.” Even with all the shiny stuff added between Season 1 and Vessel of Hatred, nothing really changed the fundamentals—and issues—of the game.

Aside from one:

The Mercenaries Are Very Cool

AI mercenaries have historically been consistent sources of disappointments for players. This is especially true for games where their combat systems didn’t focus on strategic inputs or group-based fights. However, the Pale Hand Mercenaries in Diablo 4 is a great and fun addition to the game.

Currently, there are four mercenaries that you can recruit and travel around with. In no particular order, they’re Raheir, Varyana, Aldkin, and Subo. Each of them bring different things to the table in terms of effects, and you’re not even limited to bringing one of them.

There are two ways mercenaries can fight with you. One is through hiring them, which results in them functioning as your everyday AI-driven companion. While they do have combo passives that benefit you as well, such as Raheir’s attack blocking and Varyana’s killcount-dependent movement speed boost, most of the time they’ll just act however they wish.

The real attraction here is the second way for them to participate: reinforcement. Essentially, you can program an off-field mercenary to come in at specific times in order to unleash their skills with you. For example, you can have Raheir knock down enemies as you go invisible as a Rogue to start laying traps in relative peace.

There’s a boatload of combos that you can create with the reinforcement mechanic, and we’ll certainly see someone break the game again with it. That is, if you can get to that point.

The Story is Disappointing

Most players don’t dive into Diablo for the story. That’s a fair point. But it would be a disservice to the talented writers who work hard to weave gripping narratives on other, smaller games if we didn’t call out Vessel of Hatred for its utterly lackluster plot.

Without diving into spoilers, Vessel of Hatred essentially picks up where the original campaign left off, but without many of the characters you’ve spent hours with. It’s like a school group project where five out of your seven teammates suddenly leave the country, and are replaced with a bunch of strangers. You just can’t maintain the same urgency that Diablo 4’s first campaign ended with using such fresh faces.

But that’s exactly what they did here. The result is predictable. A new character’s close friend dies? One loses a limb? Your character faces doubt? Nobody cares. Compare that to when Lorath’s friend dies—now that’s a genuinely heartbreaking moment, built on the bonds you’ve developed with him over the course of several hours, even if you didn’t play Diablo 3. If anything, you'll simply spend the better half of Vessel of Hatred's campaign waiting to get more familiar members back in your party.

It’s the Same Diablo Experience at the End of the Day—for Better or Worse

Regardless of its in-game faults, if you love Diablo 4, then you’re probably going to enjoy its expansion DLC. It’s basically the same game as it was at the end of the last season, but with some exciting new features, like a new region to explore, a new class to play, and new systems to, well, exploit (and break).

As someone who loves watching numbers go up, I can’t deny that I enjoy the grind, even if it’s just for the smallest improvements to my gear and abilities. Thankfully, that part hasn’t changed, even if it does feel a bit tedious by now. But hey, that’s just part of the Diablo experience, right?

The introduction of new runes adds some freshness to the otherwise stale formula, especially with combination runes that open up new dimensions for creating builds.

Unfortunately, just because the game feels like a better version of itself doesn’t mean everything’s perfect. The grind is still, well, a grind. It’s not for everyone, especially when it involves farming the same areas or bosses repeatedly. Sure, leveling up is easier now, and the streamlining helps keep players engaged. But honestly, aren’t these things that should’ve been fixed by, I don’t know, the first season?

It also doesn’t help that the new co-op dungeons feel a lot like the World Bosses.

The new runes, called the Runes of Invocation and Runes of Ritual, have additional effects when paired, but they don’t really add much depth to your character build. If anything, they just give you more stuff to grind for, which kind of defeats the purpose of streamlining the experience in the first place. Plus, the new enemies can still be defeated using old methods, so why bother?

Overall, Vessel of Hatred feels less like an effort to improve the general experience for most players and more like a content drop for those who are willing to come back or try it for the first time. And that’s a problem because—

The Game Monetizes Almost Everything

Let’s see here... Diablo 4 makes money through game sales, class cosmetics, battle passes, mounts... and now, DLCs. That’s practically every single thing you can monetize, short of the characters you create, especially given the game’s grind-heavy progression system through farming equipment. Now, I know I’m not the best person to talk about this considering I regularly drop a hundred dollars on gacha games, but having paid DLCs in a game that already has in-game microtransactions is honestly ridiculous.

Yes, I’m aware that Diablo has always had paid DLCs, but that doesn’t make the current situation any easier to accept. In case you’re wondering, the Vessel of Hatred DLC isn’t just $39.99. It’s actually $108.98 because you need the base game to play it—potentially more if you didn’t purchase the Standard Edition (unless you buy a bundle with both games, which may not always be available).

And what happens when the next premium DLC comes out? Is Diablo 4 just going to get harder and harder to get into?

Now, before you say, “Well, purchasing it is optional,” that’s not entirely true. Unless you’re playing solo, buying Vessel of Hatred is almost mandatory if you want to keep playing with friends or get the most out of the game. So, even if you don’t plan to, you’ll probably find yourself swiping your card anyway.

As the game continues, the financial barrier for players is only going to get higher. Sure, for those of us who bought the game at launch, these DLC drops might feel like minor expenses. But that’s only because we’re paying for the game piece by piece. I bought the game myself, and I certainly feel the hit, even as a reasonably submissive Diablo fan.

So, is the DLC worth the price? No, not at all. Honestly, I’d even argue that making the next Battle Pass contain pay-to-win items would be better than charging for every major DLC. At least that would be a more consumer-friendly approach compared to what we’re seeing now.

Is Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Worth It?

No, It's Not

The expansion doesn’t feel like it justifies its price tag, especially with the already hefty monetary investment players have made in Diablo 4. The mercenaries and runes are nice, but they’re not game-changers. Worse, the monetization model makes it feel like Blizzard is squeezing every last dollar from its player base without truly evolving the game’s core experience.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Diablo 4 in the past, Vessel of Hatred doesn’t offer enough to make the grind, or the price, worth it.

Digital Storefronts
Battle.net	Steam	PlayStation	Xbox
Price	$39.99

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred FAQ

Can you purchase Diablo 4 and Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred at a discounted price?

Yes, there’s currently an offer where purchasing both games at once will only cost you $69.99. Both editions will be Standard, though.

Can you use your old character in the Vessel of Hatred expansion?

Yes, you can. However, only characters that were created outside of seasonal content can be used in the Vessel of Hatred campaign.

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Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Product Information

Title	DIABLO 4: VESSEL OF HATRED
Release Date	October 8, 2024
Developer	Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Publisher	Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Supported Platforms	PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Genre	Action RPG
Number of Players	1, Online PvP, Online Co-Op
ESRB Rating	M
Official Website	Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Website

Alfonso Majarucon

Writer of things from game, anime and manga reviews to news and webnovels. Hopelessly addicted to story-driven games, especially cross-platform ones. Favorite games include Punishing Gray Raven, Arknights, Limbus Company, Elden Ring, Touhou, Soul Nomad and the Disgaea series (except 3 and 6). Avid..