Diablo IV
Sanctuary is a world of corrupted villages, snowbound peaks, jungles and demon-haunted dungeons, and you cross it in real time from an overhead isometric view. Diablo IV (also written Diablo 4) is an action RPG in which tougher enemies drop stronger gear, and stronger gear opens up harder content.
The base game contains a complete campaign and an open-ended endgame; two expansions, Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred, build on both with new regions, classes and systems.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
Other players are part of the map
Towns act as meeting points, and out in the open world, bosses and PvP zones pull passing players into the same encounter with no lobby step in between. Parties hold up to four players.
Skill trees rebuilt for every class
Patch 3.0.0, released alongside Lord of Hatred, reworked the skill trees of all eight classes, and that update is free: the new trees, the level cap of 70 and the in-game loot filter do not require the expansion.
New skill variants change how individual abilities work, and Lord of Hatred owners gain additional bonus variants for each class.
One storyline across three campaigns
Lilith's return in the base game, Mephisto's rise in Vessel of Hatred and the push to stop him in Lord of Hatred follow on from one another, with each expansion beginning where the previous campaign left off.
Story and Lore
Sanctuary exists because two beings defied their own sides. Lilith, daughter of the Prime Evil Mephisto, and the angel Inarius created it as a refuge from the war between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, and their children became the Nephalem, who are neither angel nor demon. The arrangement collapsed when Inarius banished Lilith.
The campaign takes place fifty years after the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Cultists have called Lilith back, and the player character, known as the Wanderer, joins Lorath Nahr, one of the last Horadrim, to stop her. The path leads through the regions of Sanctuary and past Lesser Evils such as Andariel and Duriel.
Vessel of Hatred opens in the aftermath. Neyrelle has left with Mephisto sealed inside the Soulstone, an artifact first used to trap the demon Astaroth, and the Wanderer follows her into the jungles of Nahantu.
Lord of Hatred shifts the conflict to the Skovos Isles: the birthplace of the first civilization, a former home of Lilith and Inarius, and a land now ruled by the Oracle and the Amazon Queen. Mephisto and his followers are spreading corruption toward the isles, and the aim is to stop him before he reaches the Pools of Creation.
A handful of terms recur throughout. The High Heavens and Burning Hells are the two cosmic powers whose war Sanctuary was made to escape, and the Nephalem are the offspring of angels and demons, the lineage the Wanderer belongs to. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, rank among the Prime Evils; Andariel and Duriel are Lesser Evils. The Horadrim are the order that Tyrael refounded after the events of Diablo III.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Combat runs in real time. Each class builds around active skills and passive nodes from its skill tree, and equipment changes how those skills behave.
Seasonal and Eternal realms
Every character begins on one of two realms. The Seasonal Realm restarts at level one with each new Season and comes with a themed questline, limited-time mechanics and a Season Ranks track of rewards; when the Season ends, the character moves over to the Eternal Realm. The Eternal Realm keeps gear, stash, gold and Paragon progress permanently and does not receive Seasonal content.
Endgame activities
- Nightmare Dungeons: tougher versions of existing dungeons with extra conditions attached.
- Helltides: timed open-world events where stronger demons drop currency for Mystery chests.
- Infernal Hordes: a wave-survival mode that finishes with a boss fight.
- The Pit: timed runs at rising tiers, entered with Artificer's Stones; clearing higher tiers opens the Torment difficulties.
- Lair Bosses: bosses hunted for specific Unique items.
Difficulty starts with four standard settings (Normal, Hard, Expert and Penitent) and continues into Torment I through XII, with Pit clears acting as the gate. Gear has its own layers: Masterworking and Tempering refine individual items, and the Paragon system supplies character power beyond the skill tree. A loot filter hides drops that fail the rules a player sets.
Lord of Hatred systems
War Plans, built at a command table in the hub city of Temis, chain endgame activities into a custom route and attach modifiers to each stop. Echoing Hatred is an escalating survival challenge against a stream of demons that never lets up. The Horadric Cube returns as a tool for reshaping items, Talismans hold Charms and grant set bonuses, and Fishing arrives as a side activity.
Monetization stays on the cosmetic side. Blizzard announced before launch that it would sell cosmetic items and a season pass rather than item upgrades, and the in-game shop uses Platinum as its premium currency.
Characters and Factions
Playable classes
Five classes came with the base game. The Barbarian carries a weapon for every situation and leans on war cries and ground slams. The Druid shifts between bear and werewolf forms and calls on earth and storm magic. The Necromancer raises the dead and channels Essence into Bone, Blood or Shadow. The Rogue fights at range or up close with poison and shadow magic, and the Sorcerer works with lightning, ice and meteors.
The Spiritborn arrived with Vessel of Hatred as a warrior of the Nahantu jungle who fights with glaives, quarterstaves and polearms and draws on four spirit guardians: the Centipede, Eagle, Gorilla and Jaguar.
Lord of Hatred brought the Paladin, a returning Diablo II class, and the Warlock. The Paladin follows one of four oaths. The Arbiter takes an angelic form with extra speed, the Zealot builds on fury, the Judicator fires chaining holy bombardments, and the Juggernaut turns absorbed blows into retaliation.
The Warlock is an entirely new class built around binding demons and borrowing the corruption of Hell to defend Sanctuary. Its four paths differ in how the demons are used: Legion floods the field with expendable hellspawn, Vanguard turns the Warlock into a hulking demonic form at the front, Mastermind controls the fight through fear and suppression, and Ritualist builds sacrifices, hexes and rituals toward large payoffs.
Key characters
- Lilith: the base game's antagonist, who returns as a key figure in Lord of Hatred.
- Mephisto: the antagonist of both expansions.
- Lorath Nahr: the Wanderer's guide in the base game, who returns in Lord of Hatred.
- Neyrelle: a young woman who aids the Wanderer in the base game and reappears in Vessel of Hatred.
- Inarius: the angel who believes he alone can fulfill the prophecy of Lilith's return and win his way back to Heaven.
- Tyrael: the former Archangel of Justice, now mortal, who helps the Wanderer in Lord of Hatred.
Factions
The Wardens of Light, an order devoted to defending Sanctuary, stand behind the Paladins. The Amazons of Skovos play a central part in the Lord of Hatred campaign, and Mephisto's faithful supply its human opposition. Cultists devoted to Lilith fill that role in the base game.
Editions
Lord of Hatred requires the base game, and every edition of it includes Vessel of Hatred.
- Diablo IV (base game): the original campaign and the shared endgame.
- Age of Hatred Collection: the base game, Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred Standard Edition in one bundle.
- Lord of Hatred, Standard Edition: the expansion and Vessel of Hatred, the Paladin and Warlock classes, one extra stash tab, two additional character slots and three World of Warcraft decor items (World of Warcraft access is needed to use them).
- Lord of Hatred, Deluxe Edition: the Standard content plus the High Heavensguard Paladin and Infernal Apostle Warlock cosmetic bundles, the Skartaran Basilisk mount bundle, Skorch the Mini Chimera pet and a Premium Battle Pass bundle that can be redeemed for any Season.
- Lord of Hatred, Ultimate Edition: the Deluxe content plus 3,000 Platinum, the Umbral Knights armor bundle (six class sets), the Steed of the Shining Realm mount bundle, two back trophies and two town portal skins.
- Vessel of Hatred: the first expansion, with the Spiritborn and the Nahantu region. It was first sold in Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate editions of its own.
An expansion is purchased once per platform. Upgrades from Standard to Deluxe or Ultimate are available in the game, and an upgrade does not grant items that are already unlocked on the account.