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Recap of Various Vessel of Hatred Community Interviews

Many content creators and websites interviewed members of the Diablo 4 dev team about the upcoming expansion and here’s a recap of the interviews.

The following post is based on ImmundusReddit recap.

Interview Highlights

  • We’ll learn more about Vessel of Hatred features as we near Gamescom 2024 (August 21).
  • Vessel of Hatred offers great opportunities for adjustments, potentially changing level progression and cap.
  • In Vessel of Hatred, players can choose how to engage with the campaign, either starting fresh with a Spiritborn or diving into the expansion’s story.
  • Vessel of Hatred won’t be like Reaper of Souls. All current Diablo 4 game features will remain available regardless of VoH ownership.
  • Season 6 will haver features available without owning the new expansion.
  • Post-Season 1, a separate live team focuses on class changes and immediate game improvements.
  • The goal of balance changes it to preserve player enjoyment, address overpowered elements mid- or post-season unless they are disruptive.
  • The Spiritborn was designed by the Rogue class designer, emphasizing momentum and aggressive movement.
  • It’s different from the Monk through hybridization, mixing different fight styles and spirit guardians.
  • At the beginning, the Spiritborn had 60 prototype skills that have been narrowed down to 24 distinct and thematic abilities.
  • The Spiritborn class uses polearms, glaives, and quarterstaves.
  • Spiritborn has a Thorns build including a legendary aspect synergizing with dodge.
  • Block mechanics provide inherent damage reduction, encouraging future use.
  • There are no plans for a PTR for Vessel of Hatred to avoid spoilers and maintain polish.
  • A holy archetype sword classes are under discussion for future addition.
  • New classes must always avoid significant overlap with existing archetypes.
  • More itemization updates and a loot filter are planned.
  • Crafting mechanics similar to Tempering or Masterworking will be expanded upon.
  • Raids will be optional, not mandatory.
  • They have no plans for an Auction House, trading still remains a complex issue.
  • Armory and loadouts are high-priority features in development.
  • The team’s discussing on modernizing classic features like sets, runewords, and multiple goblin types.
  • Mercenaries aim to replicate the small party experience, complementing classic builds.
  • Lord Eater Barbarian set is the top-selling transmog currently in D4.
  • Expansion area will include familiar region activities and encourage exploration.
  • Dungeons in VoH focus on exploration, with potential for similar updates in the base game.
  • No new PvP zone is planned in VoH.
  • They have no specific cadence for expansions, but the second expansion is already in development.
  • There’s going to be no Hell’s Ink tattoo event between now and October.

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