Vessel of Hatred

Vessel of Hatred is Diablo 4's first expansion, released Oct 8, 2024 (Oct 7 at 4 p.m. PT in the Americas): the Spiritborn class, the jungle region of Nahantu, Mercenaries, Runewords, the Kurast Undercity and the co-op Dark Citadel. It is no longer sold alone: every edition of Lord of Hatred includes it.

2:00 Vessel of Hatred is Diablo 4's first expansion, released on Oct 8, 2024 (Oct 7 at 4 p.m. PT in the Americas): it added the Spiritborn class, the jungle region of Nahantu, Mercenaries, Runewords, the Kurast Undercity and the Dark Citadel, Diablo's first co-op raid-style dungeon, and continued the story with Neyrelle and Mephisto's soulstone. Today you get it by buying the second expansion: "Instantly unlock Vessel of Hatred with purchase of any edition of the Lord of Hatred Expansion," Blizzard's page says (Blizzard), and Lord of Hatred's launch trailer ends on store cards with a Vessel of Hatred badge in the corner. It needs the Diablo 4 base game. What came after it is on Lord of Hatred.

A shadowy jungle clearing with tall ferns and hanging vines. Four figures with spears stand around a dead animal on the path; at the top left a trail leads toward ruins lit by torches. — Four tribal hunters with spears stand over a slain animal on a misty jungle path, with torches and ruins up the path in an official Steam store screenshot of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred. Blizzard Entertainment

Quick facts

Buy	With any edition of Lord of Hatred: Steam, Battle.net, PlayStation Store, Xbox
Released	Oct 8, 2024 (Oct 7 at 4 p.m. PDT in the Americas)
Announced	BlizzCon 2023 (Nov 3 to 4, 2023); date set Jun 9, 2024
Launch price	Standard $39.99, Deluxe $59.99, Ultimate $89.99
Price now	Included in Lord of Hatred (from $39.99)
New class	Spiritborn
Region	Nahantu (the jungles around Kurast and the desert of Teganze)
Added	Mercenaries, Runewords, Kurast Undercity, Dark Citadel
Free for everyone with it	Level cap 60 (now 70), Torment difficulties, realm-wide Paragon, Party Finder
Season at launch	Season of Hatred Rising
Metacritic	84 on PC, 82 on PS5, 81 on Xbox Series X
Steam reviews	"Mostly Negative", 27% of 3,207 (Oct 20, 2026)

Reveal and release date

Blizzard announced Vessel of Hatred at BlizzCon 2023 in Anaheim (Nov 3 to 4, 2023), then gave its date and opened pre-purchase at the Xbox Games Showcase on Jun 9, 2024 (Blizzard). The Spiritborn was revealed on Jul 18, 2024 (Blizzard), and at gamescom Opening Night Live on Aug 20, 2024, game director Brent Gibson introduced Mercenaries, the Dark Citadel and the Kurast Undercity (Blizzard).

The expansion and Season of Hatred Rising went live "October 7 at 4 p.m. PDT globally", which was Oct 8 outside the Americas (Blizzard, Oct 2, 2024). Blizzard's headline date is Oct 8, 2024; Steam lists Oct 7, 2024. Pre-load opened on Battle.net on Sep 30, 2024 and on Xbox and PlayStation on Oct 5; Steam had no pre-download (Blizzard). It was not part of Xbox Game Pass at launch: Xbox and Battle.net pre-purchasers of some editions got a month of Game Pass Ultimate instead (Game Pass).

The story: Neyrelle and the soulstone

0:00 Spoilers for Vessel of Hatred's story follow. The expansion picks up after the base game: Neyrelle carries Mephisto's soulstone into the jungles of Nahantu, looking for the lost tomb of the prophet Akarat and a way to contain the Prime Evil for good, and the Wanderer follows her with Eru, a Spiritborn of Nahantu (Windows Central, reproducing Blizzard's recap, Feb 4, 2026). The soulstone torments her with visions, and the Knight Penitent Urivar and his "Burned Knights" hunt her into the jungle. In the tomb, the soulstone is laid on Akarat's body, cutting Neyrelle's link to Mephisto; then Eru betrays them, seizes the body and the stone, and steps through a rift with the words "I've done my part... See that you do yours." In the final scene, at the temple city of Travincal in Kurast, Mephisto's corruption envelops Akarat's body as his new vessel. IGN's review of the next expansion opens on how this left players: Vessel of Hatred left its reviewer "dangling off a narrative cliff". The full story is on Story, Neyrelle on Neyrelle.

Nahantu

Nahantu is the expansion's region, joined to the base game's map. Blizzard describes "new Towns and bygone civilizations shrouded in the vast jungle", new dungeons and Strongholds, and enemies "from ferocious demons to warring Tribes" in "the hellish overgrowth of Kurast or the barren desert of Teganze" (Blizzard). Its corrupted monsters include the Lacuni, the Skittering Earth, the Hollows and the Dregs. Nahantu is also where Akarat discovered the Spirit Realm and, with his acolyte Ysevete, founded the Spiritborn tradition. Every region is on Regions.

An aerial view of a black castle of cylindrical towers, its center glowing red, wrapped in green-blue fog with chunks of rock hanging in the air around it. — A dark fortress of round towers with a glowing red core, seen from above in teal mist with floating rubble around it; Blizzard's kit files it as the expansion's co-op endgame activity in an image from Blizzard's press kit "Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred Release Date Press Kit". Blizzard Entertainment

What it added

The Spiritborn: "apex predator of the Nahantu jungle", fighting with glaives, quarterstaves and polearms and channeling four Spirit Guardians, the Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle and Centipede (Spiritborn).
Mercenaries: four hireable allies, Raheir the Shieldbearer, Aldkin the Cursed Child, Varyana the Berserker Crone and Subo the Bounty Hunter; you take one along and set another as a Reinforcement, and Rapport with each has 10 levels (Mercenaries).
Runewords: a Rune of Ritual that generates Offering plus a Rune of Invocation that spends it, socketed together in one item; Runes can be traded (Crafting).
The Kurast Undercity: a multistage time-attack dungeon, where Attunement raises the quality of loot and Tributes target rewards.
The Dark Citadel: "First of its kind to Diablo", Blizzard says, a co-op raid-style dungeon of three Wings and a final boss for a minimum of two players.

3:55 Its Undercity is still part of the endgame two expansions on: when Blizzard introduced Lord of Hatred's War Plans, the six modes a playlist draws from were "the Pit, Infernal Hordes, Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, Lair Bosses, and the Undercity" (War Plans).

Free changes that came with it

Vessel of Hatred arrived with patch 2.0, which changed the base game for everyone (Blizzard, Aug 29, 2024). The level cap rose from 50 to 60 (characters above 50 went back to 50 with their Paragon converted), Paragon became shared across a realm with a maximum of 300 points, World Tiers gave way to the difficulties Normal, Hard, Expert, Penitent and Torment I to IV, and the Party Finder and two new character slots arrived. These have moved on since: the cap is 70 and Torment runs to XII since Lord of Hatred (Difficulty and Torment, Paragon).

Price then and now

At launch Vessel of Hatred cost $39.99 (Standard), $59.99 (Deluxe) or $89.99 (Ultimate), or $69.99 in an Expansion Bundle with the base game (Siliconera, Sep 6, 2024). It is no longer sold alone in the US stores: every edition of Lord of Hatred grants it, from $39.99, and the Age of Hatred Collection sells the base game with both expansions for $69.99. Steam's own Vessel of Hatred page now shows $69.99 because it sells that collection, not Vessel of Hatred's own price. If you already own Vessel of Hatred, buying Lord of Hatred does not grant it again. All editions are on Price and Editions.

Reception

Critics liked it: 84 on PC (48 critics), 82 on PS5 and 81 on Xbox Series X on Metacritic, as of Oct 20, 2026. Steam players were harsher: its Steam page shows "Mostly Negative", 27% positive of 3,207 reviews, on Oct 20, 2026. PC Gamer, reviewing Lord of Hatred, found the newer campaign flew by compared with what it remembered of Vessel of Hatred's, and that Skovos changed the world more than Nahantu did. More is on Reception.

Frequently asked questions

When did Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred come out? Vessel of Hatred came out on Oct 8, 2024. In the Americas it went live on Oct 7, 2024 at 4 p.m. PDT, alongside Season of Hatred Rising.

What class does Vessel of Hatred add? Vessel of Hatred adds the Spiritborn, a jungle warrior of Nahantu who fights with glaives, quarterstaves and polearms and channels the Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle and Centipede spirits.

Can I buy Vessel of Hatred on its own? Not in the US stores read on Oct 20, 2026. Diablo 4's Vessel of Hatred now comes with every edition of Lord of Hatred and with the Age of Hatred Collection.

Is Vessel of Hatred worth it? Vessel of Hatred now comes free with Lord of Hatred, so the question is whether Lord of Hatred is worth it; with it you get the Spiritborn, Nahantu, Mercenaries, Runewords, the Kurast Undercity and the Dark Citadel as well.

Do I need Vessel of Hatred to play Lord of Hatred? No separate purchase is needed: buying any edition of Lord of Hatred unlocks Vessel of Hatred in Diablo 4.

Is Vessel of Hatred on Game Pass? No. Xbox Game Pass includes only the Diablo 4 base game, and Vessel of Hatred was not on Game Pass at launch.