The first expansion for Diablo 4 is coming: Vessel of Hatred. Here, the game’s story continues, you will get a new class and new items. MeinMMO briefly summarizes the content and information about the release.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
06:30 AM
Our update is complete, Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred is live with a delay of about five and a half hours!
We are keeping our fingers crossed that your patch loads quickly and wish you lots of fun in Nahantu. We will check back regarding the live ticker.
06:15 AM
On X, community manager Adam Fletcher writes that there is no download available for either PlayStation or Xbox. They are just waiting for verification:
06:00 AM
Good morning! We’re checking back briefly. The update is available in the Battle.net launcher, you need to download an additional approximately 38 GB. If the update is not showing up for you, it’s best to restart your launcher.
It’s currently crawling at a snail’s pace for us:
04:30 AM
Three and a half hours after the planned release of Vessel of Hatred, we still do not know exactly when it will actually start. At the moment, I do not expect that you will be able to play before 6 AM.
From my side, this was the last update in the live ticker for now, fatigue is slowly taking over and my bed is starting to feel more and more like a Mythic Unique.
The MeinMMO team will check back tomorrow… today? So on Tuesday with new information and stories about Diablo 4 and – hopefully – finally fresh information about the new content from Vessel of Hatred.
04:00 AM
There is still no new information regarding the upcoming patch or a more specific time frame for the start of Vessel of Hatred.
I will check back again at 4:30 AM.
03:40 AM
Finally, there is news: According to Adam Fletcher, it will be over 2 hours until Vessel of Hatred goes live (via Blizzard forums). That would mean the earliest in Germany at 5:30 AM.
Additionally, Battle.net users will need to download another patch that will be of considerable
size, as they say. There is no more detailed information about the update yet.
I will check back again at 4 AM.
03:15 AM
Two hours after the planned release, there is still no new information about the start of Vessel of Hatred. The unexpected server downtime is ensuring that some gamers have to leave their caves and get to know their families for the first time (via Reddit).
In search of information, I also came across a rather strange promotional video from Japan…
I will check back again by 3:45 AM.
02:45 AM
There is now a notification in the Battle.net app stating that emergency maintenance is being performed on Diablo 4. However, there is still no specific time for when Vessel of Hatred will start.
The reason for the delay is that Blizzard wants to ensure that all platforms worldwide can go live simultaneously. However, the lack of preload on Steam is not the reason.
I will check back at 3:15 AM at the latest.
02:15 AM
Unfortunately, there are still no new updates regarding the release. The first full hour since the planned start has now passed. The latest tweet from Adam Fletcher summarizes the situation (unfortunately) well:
No one can login right now.
— Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) October 7, 2024
I will check back with an update by 2:45 AM at the latest.
01:45 AM
There is an update: Steam players can now download patch 2.0.2 (Vessel of Hatred/Season 6). This was not possible for preload so far.
Fletcher also informs that there will be a login error during login. This is expected and will no longer occur once Vessel of Hatred starts.
There is still no information on the release time. I will check back at 2:15 AM at the latest.
01:11 AM
From now on, the login servers for Diablo 4 are offline. You will not be able to log in until Vessel of Hatred starts. Anyone still online will soon be kicked out of the game.
Currently, there is still no new information on when Vessel of Hatred will start. I will check back by 1:45 AM at the latest.
00:42 AM
More bad news: There are apparently issues with some items. Adam Fletcher writes in the official Blizzard forum that some items will not be available at launch. These include some uniques:
Shroud of False Death
(Mythic Chest)- Blue Wrath (Unique Sword)
- Frostbrand (Unique Gloves)
- Aspect of the Agile Wolf (Druid)
Monday, October 7, 2024
11:50 PM
A good evening to everyone who is enough of a Diablo fan to celebrate the release of Vessel of Hatred right in the middle of the night. Since I count myself among these crazies… I’m just going to stream the launch.
Unfortunately, I’ve got bad news right away: Adam Fletcher, the Diablo community lead, tweeted on X that the release of Vessel of Hatred has been delayed. He cannot specify an exact duration yet, but hopes for only a few hours
.
Well.
If you want to wait, here’s something to read and prepare for the tough grind: Diablo 4 Season 6 Tier List – Best Classes & Builds for the Launch of Vessel of Hatred
I will update as soon as there is new information, but at the latest again at 1 AM.
At what time does Vessel of Hatred launch? Vessel of Hatred goes live in the night from October 7 to 8 at 1:00 AM German time. At least that was the plan; there is now a delay without a concrete new time.
How much does the expansion cost? Depending on the version, you will pay between €39.99 and €89.99. Here you can find all contents of the different editions of Vessel of Hatred. For €69.99, you get Diablo 4 including Vessel of Hatred.
What is the size of the download? For the pure update, you should calculate roughly between 25 and 50 GB. If you also download the base game, it will amount to about 120 GB. You can already start the preload now.
What is included in Vessel of Hatred? You can find a detailed overview of all the contents of Vessel of Hatred in our summary. Here is a brief summary:
- More story with another act that contains about 20 hours of gameplay
- Nahantu as a new region in the south including Glory Path, dungeons, and strongholds
- A new class, the Spiritborn
- New endgame content: the co-op dungeon “Dark Citadel” and the “Undercity of Kurast” as a race against time
- Runes and rune words
- Mercenaries as NPC companions with special abilities
Both new and returning players can choose to start directly with the story of Vessel of Hatred without playing the campaign first. However, as a new player, the campaign of Vessel of Hatred is quite challenging.
What can the new class do? The Spiritborn is a kind of mix between monk, witch doctor, and amazon. The class is characterized mainly by its hybrid playstyle: You choose spirits to follow and thus mix various skills and effects. Spiritborn use the new weapon types glaive and quarterstaff as well as polearms. More information:
- This is how the Spiritborn plays
- All uniques of the Spiritborn
- All skills and legendaries of the Spiritborn and how its spirit hall works
Here you can see the gameplay trailer for Vessel of Hatred:
Season 6 starts together with Vessel of Hatred
Simultaneously with Vessel of Hatred, all players who own Diablo 4 will gain access to Season 6. Blizzard shared a lot of new information about Season 6 in a three-hour stream just before the release.
The most important change will probably be that the entire leveling and paragon system is being revised. You will only level up to level 60, after which you will move into the paragon system, which applies across all characters from Season 6 on the realm. This also means: You have 10 additional levels for skill points and each class will receive new skills and passives.
The “Season of Rising Hatred” brings new activities called Realmwalkers that you can fight in the open world to then enter a small dungeon with special loot. Other changes in Season 6 include:
- The difficulty system is being revamped with tiers from Normal to Torment 4.
- Glyphs will be able to be leveled in the Pit starting from Season 6, and there are new and revised glyphs.
- The new maximum level for items is 800 and ancestral items are always at this level.
- The group finder will be introduced.
- You can now mark a city as a favorite to use it as your default city portal point.
Unlike Vessel of Hatred, Season 6 will be offered to all players as a free update and you do not have to pay separately for the content. For better overview, we have outlined in detail which content is included in each of the two updates: Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred release simultaneously – What can I play for free, what costs money?
