Is it worth returning to Diablo 4 for the Vessel of Hatred expansion?

Diablo IV enjoyed a very successful launch last June, but (like so many games) it failed to retain a substantial player base for long. However, the first major expansion for the game, Vessels of Hatred, has just launched, and player numbers are peaking again.

So, should you buy the expansion and join the flock of players returning to Diablo? Here is an overview of the new expansion to help you decide.

Diablo IV: Vessels of Hatred overview

We'll go over the price for each edition, what they include, and then the content of the expansion, and the initial response from players.

Editions & Price

Let's start with the obvious: How much does it cost? There are three editions of this expansion: Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate, and they range between $39.99-$89.99

And if you don't own the base game, Diablo IV, you can currently buy it bundled with the Standard Edition for only $69.99.

Generally speaking, we don't recommend getting either the Deluxe or the Ultimate edition unless you are happy to spend that much on cosmetics; the playable content is the same across all three editions.

Expansion Content

Vessels of Hatred contains a new campaign that takes about 10–12 hours to complete, but as we all know, Diablo is mostly about grinding gear at the endgame. So here is a breakdown of the new class, region and endgame activity, that you are really paying for.

New Class: Spiritborn

Spiritborns are effectively melee-focused Druids, that channel one of four "Animal Spirits" (Gorilla, Jaguar, Eagle, and Centipede) to specialize their build. No matter how you build your Spiritborn, they are agile and fast, and fight with glaives, quarterstaffs, and polearms.

If you choose to focus on the Jaguar Spirit you will get benefits to speed, with the Gorilla you get better defense, with the Eagle you get increased accuracy, and with the Centipede some poison damage and healing effects.

The class is most similar to the Monk from Diablo III, but not really like any of the other classes released in Diablo IV so far.

New Region: Nahantu

Nahantu is a new region to the south, and is far larger than the other five regions in Diablo IV. In fact, Nahantu alone is about 40% the size of the map in the base game, so you are getting quite a large area to explore.

There are, of course, new enemy types in Nahantu, introduced in the Vessels of Hatred campaign.

New Endgame PvE Activity: Dark Citadel

This is a raid, in which players go deep into a dungeon, solving puzzles and defeating mini-bosses, until they come head to head with the final boss, First Khazra. You need to be level 60 to complete access the Dark Citadel, and if you complete it you will be rewarded with high-end gear, exclusive to the raid.

So far, very few players have completed the Dark Citadel, but those that have seem generally impressed. Raids certainly add a lot of replayability, but you have to be a fairly-committed player who can player for many hours at a time if you want to succeed, so it won't be for everyone.

How do critics and players rate Vessels of Hatred?

Critics and players are divided on Vessels of Hatred; the former seem quite positive, with the expansion receiving an 85/100 on Metacritic, but the latter were less impressed, hence the game has only received "Mixed" feedback from players on Steam. It certainly isn't a disaster, but many in the community believe the expansion is too short for the price-tag.

Based on player feedback, and the content you get, we think the expansion is a little expensive and probably not worth it for most players who have moved on from Diablo IV. But you should ignore us and go for it if the content described above sounds exciting, especially if you have friends to play Vessels of Hatred with.

What do you think, would you return to Diablo IV for Vessels of Hatred?