Today, during Blizzcon 2023, Blizzard gave us an early look at Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. The upcoming expansion will feature a new class and will be out next year.
Blizzard’s annual fan event, Blizzcon, is currently happening over the weekend and it kicked off on November 3 with a live opening ceremony presentation. During this showcase, Blizzard announced plans for its popular games like Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and of course, Diablo IV. The biggest news was the reveal of the action RPG’s first major expansion.
Vessel of Hatred will take players back to the jungle-covered world of Nahantu, a region first seen in Diablo II. According to Blizzard, the story of this expansion will focus on the fate of Prime Evil baddie Mephisto and the demon’s plans for Sanctuary after the events of Diablo IV.
Blizzard didn’t have many other details to share about the expansion but did provide a short teaser for fans to get hyped over.
Blizzard also teased that Vessel of Hatred will add a new class to Diablo IV that hasn’t been seen in any previous Diablo game. While the company didn’t share any other details about this new class, a recent datamine might provide us with more information.
October’s Diablo IV datamine seems accurate
Last month, players dug into a test build of Diablo IV and discovered data pointing to a new expansion named “Lord of Hatred.” In Diablo lore, that title belongs to Mephisto and the datamine implied that this demon would be the big villain of this new story.
So while the upcoming expansion seems to have had a tiny name change, the data players discovered still lines up with what Blizzard has so far revealed.
That same datamine indicated that the new class will be called the Spiritborn and will be a nature-based warrior that cleaves through enemies with a glaive. Fans think this class might play like a druid-barbarian hybrid, which sounds interesting. Of course, datamines aren’t always accurate and it’s possible this isn’t the first new class Blizzard has planned for Diablo IV. We’ll have to wait for Blizzard to reveal more about Vessel of Hatred which is planned to launch in “late 2024.”
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