With Lord of Hatred, the second expansion for Diablo 4 is released. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus was one of the few players to have the opportunity to take a look at the story and content in advance and is surprised at how much effort Blizzard has put into this.
Most of you probably know this: at some point, the air is simply gone. At least for a while. No matter how good the gameplay is, you just need a change of scenery. After almost 10 seasons, that was the case for me in Diablo 4.
Since the release of the Paladin in December 2025, I have hardly played anymore – not because Diablo 4 is a bad game, but because other games managed to excite me more.
On a Sunday afternoon, I finally gathered myself to check out the review version of Lord of Hatred. If someone had told me that I would play for 10 hours straight because I couldn’t get enough of the game, I would have thought they were crazy.
A small change immediately creates a good mood
Of course, I already knew beforehand which features would come with Lord of Hatred, but I didn’t expect how much they would impress me. Just a few minutes in, a new feature delighted me: the transparent map.
Yes, with Lord of Hatred, Blizzard finally fulfills a simple yet long-standing wish of the community: instead of a minimap and a large world map that hides everything, there is now a transparent map overlay to navigate to objectives. Finally, no more staring at the top right.
About half an hour later, I was completely immersed in Sanctuary. Everything just fit:
- The new class, the Warlock, grabbed me immediately, even with builds that I usually don’t like.
- Features like the Talisman, which finally brings back sets, as well as the improved skill system, feel like a better version of Diablo 4.
- Skovos as a new setting is not only unused, but also a historically significant area that I, as a lore nerd, naturally want to explore. After all, this is the cradle of humanity, the origin of the entire world of Diablo.
However, I was most captivated by the surprisingly deep, but above all, dark story of the campaign. From an early cinematic I already thought that Lilith would play a role, but how and whether Blizzard would implement it, I didn’t know until then.
The story is much better than in Vessel of Hatred
Unfortunately, I can’t go into too much detail about the story’s events – especially since I would spoil it for you, and that’s not what I want. The campaign is worth experiencing for yourself and being able to witness the dramatic twists unfiltered.
However, there are two things I can and want to say. On the one hand, the campaign of Lord of Hatred is significantly better than that of its predecessor Vessel of Hatred. Instead of a story revolving around friendship and self-discovery with an open ending, there are hard-hitting confrontations with evil and desperate struggles for survival.
On the other hand, Lord of Hatred is dark. I mean really dark, even by Diablo standards. I’m used to a lot and thanks to Warhammer, I know what ‘grimdark’ means, but Lord of Hatred made me gulp in some places.
The scenes aren’t even exaggerated. They don’t seem unnecessarily brutal or senselessly cruel – they fit into a world on the brink, where it becomes clear: if we don’t act now, everything is over. We already got a taste through a cutscene with the Amazon Queen. You won’t get any more teasers from me.
Since most screenshots would also contain spoilers, here’s just a dismissive look at my Warlock:
With the Warlock, Blizzard really hit the mark
Instead, I want to address the one thing that surprised me the most, aside from the story. From the expert Rob, I already knew that the Warlock would be a complex, versatile class.
After playing the Warlock for 10 hours straight, I now know not only that he was right but that both of us have only scratched the surface so far. The class is absolutely incredible:
- While leveling, you get a rough idea of what the Warlock can do: summon demons, harness dark powers, rain hellfire on enemies.
- The new skill system ensures you gain a deeper insight into the possibilities available: Do I want to transform into a super demon? Do I want to drown enemies in my own demons? Or am I even playing a “sneaky” build?
- In the endgame, I completely lost track of what was going on. So many possibilities that all – more or less – work… I can’t keep up with just one brain.
Indeed, the class captivated me so much that I even tried out builds (and played most of the time) that I actually really hate: Summon builds with tons of demons that feel “more active” in the Warlock than the undead armies of the Necromancer, for example.
We had the opportunity to boost ourselves directly into the endgame with all sorts of items via cheats. I then tried to build a few more builds and was somewhat successful, but there are just too many possibilities, and they all sound kind of cool.
All classes have received adjustments, but I have only played the Warlock and could kick myself for not playing earlier (and more). In my defense: half of the testing time, I was on vacation and correspondingly didn’t check my emails for access… at least that’s what I tell myself for my conscience.
A nod to Diablo 3 and… Cow Level?
Besides the Warlock, the map, and the story, Lord of Hatred comes with a ton of other innovations, such as:
- a new endgame through the war plans, which I found just mediocre
- Kanai’s Cube, which already provided incredible possibilities in Diablo 3 and will be just as important in Diablo 4
- Fishing as a new feature, in which I also lost myself for a while… but I will really dedicate myself to it only upon release
As expansions of the game, I found the systems mostly successful; they primarily serve to make the core gameplay of demon battles more varied, which Lord of Hatred does well already.
Surprisingly, I found Blizzard’s direct mention of the Cow… Cooooo-… the level that doesn’t exist and that every developer denies. While fishing, I found an old cowbell, and in the transmog templates, I found the “Crown of the Cow King.” Do with this info what you will.
On the night of April 21, the servers were shut down again, and I heard from many reviewers how excited they are. I have to join in and am really looking forward to April 28 and the release of the expansion.
That the campaign actually takes a good deal longer than that of Vessel of Hatred is partly due to the tasks that need to be completed, but also to the sheer size of Skovos – which I unfortunately cannot depict. But the new area is genuinely huge: players compare the new area of Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred to the first DLC, claiming: Skovos will be 25% larger than Nahantu
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