New Diablo 4 Campaign Details: Neyrelle’s Struggle and Mephisto’s Dark Influence

Blizzard has posted a video on Vessel of Hatred, revealing various exciting tidbits from the upcoming campaign!

This post contains story spoilers.

The Vessel of Hatred story kicks off with us defeating Lilith and Neyrelle sailing south with Mephisto’s Soulstone in hand. In the new expansion, Neyrelle seeks salvation from Mephisto and searches for a way to banish him back into the abyss.

The Story So Far

As we wrap up D4, there has been a huge battle between Inarius and Lilith and all of her demons. Throughout the campaign, you’re trying to defeat Lilith, so you team up with characters like the young Neyrelle and Lorath who ends up being the catalyst of the group.

Inarius thought that by defeating Lilith, he would be accepted by heaven, which didn’t prove true, even though he stabbed Lilith. She used that against him and killed Inarius. Her goal was to devour her father Mephisto and we ended up stopping her.

What’s Coming in Vessel of Hatred

Neyrelle is left with the Soulstone and decides to take his essence. Lorath will help us find information on where Neyrelle went. Over time, things start to unfold, and she will realize she can’t do this alone and you will start searching for her.

The Burnt Knights

The Cathedral of Light in Vessel of Hatred is in disarray with the death of Inarius. It became split and this created an opening for a whole new sect to rise up and take things into their own hands, and so you end up with the militant wing of the church that is the Burnt Knights. The Burnt Knights are led by Urivar, Survivor of Hell. He is uncompromising and feels that he’s going to make better decisions for the church. They battled in Hell and now they’re on a manhunt for Neyrelle and Lorath. They want them to pay for their crimes.

Hatred’s Corruption

Mephisto is the Lord of Hatred, and probably the one Prime Evil that can create the most deep-rooted chaos, breaking up the people of Sanctuary. In the events of Diablo II, he was destroyed. He’s been slowly resurrecting himself in Hell, and he wants to come back and bring himself back to Sanctuary. Now that he’s trapped in the Soulstone that Neyrelle carries, this is his opportunity.

The Herald of Hatred is Mephisto’s wolf form. It’s this astral-projected form that he gets to put out and connect with the player, and whisper in people’s ears. The connection between Neyrelle, the player, and Mephisto is the fate of the world. Neyrelle wants to get rid of him, but the more time she spends with the stone, the tighter the bond between her and the stone is. The corrupting influence of Mephisto’s Soulstone is going to convince her to bring Mephisto back instead of destroying him as she originally wanted, so we need to make sure that she fulfills her original intent and doesn’t fall to Mephisto’s influence.

Akarat and the Spirit Realm

Neyrelle plans to bring the Soulstone to the Vault of Light to purify it of Mephisto’s essence. The vault is a sacred place that Akarat created. His presence is important through the history of Sanctuary. Akarat wandered the world, speaking the teachings of the Zakarum faith. His tomb is said to be in the Vault of Light, which is in Nahantu. Akarat discovered the Spirit Realm.

When the Worldstone was forged and Sanctuary came out of it, this veil was created, and that’s what created the Spirit Realm. Angels aren’t there, Demons aren’t there, it’s a very special place for humanity. For a long time, the Spirit Realm remained untouched and now Mephisto’s corruption is creeping its way and that’s the fear that everybody in Nahantu is thinking about.

Eru is a spiritual leader with a deep connection to Nahantu who helps us on our journey to find Neyrelle, who has been spotted in the jungle.

The Vessel of Hatred story is about isolation. Neyrelle is trying to do this alone, but at some point, you realize that things are escalating, so we move from isolation to the idea of being strong together.

Below you will find the official blog post and the video detailing this new lore!