The next chapter of Diablo IV is almost here! Before you venture into the jungles of Nahantu, let’s get caught up on all the essential details ahead of the Vessel of Hatred launch on October 7 (refer to the global release schedule by time zone below ).

Developer Live Stream

First, don’t miss the pre-launch livestream on October 2 on the official Diablo Twitch, YouTube and X Channels, where the Diablo team will provide an in-depth preview of the content coming with Season 6 and the Vessel of Hatred expansion.

Pre-Download Vessel of Hatred / Next Seasons Content

In anticipation of Vessel of Hatred and the upcoming new Season, pre-download is available early on Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.

Note that you will be able to pre-download this patch that contains Vessel of Hatred and the next Seasons content regardless of whether you have purchased the Vessel of Hatred Expansion.

Steam users will be able to download the update when Vessel of Hatred goes live on October 7, at 4 p.m. PDT.

Vessel of Hatred Campaign

To access the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you must own the Vessel of Hatred expansion. You can start by creating a new character in either the Eternal or Seasonal Realm, or use an existing character from the Eternal Realm. If you prefer to jump straight into the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you can choose the “Skip Campaign” option for your new character.

If you’re new to Diablo IV, I recommend playing through the base game campaign first to get the full experience before diving into Vessel of Hatred. However, if you’re eager to jump into the expansion content right away, you’ll need to complete the prologue of the main campaign on at least one character to unlock the option to skip the base game campaign for any newly created characters.

Vessel of Hatred Contents and Base Game Updates

Vessel of Hatred launches with significant updates available to all Diablo IV players, including changes to leveling, difficulty tiers, the Paragon System, and more. To clarify what’s coming to the base game versus what is exclusive to Vessel of Hatred, below you’ll find outlined the specific content for each.

New Base Game Content—Available to all players

• New Max Level: 60 (Note that any characters which are Level 51 and above will be set to Level 50 at the start of this update.)
• New Difficulties System
• New Paragon Max Level: 300
• Paragon System Changes
• Item Quality Rework
• 2 New Character Slots
• New Class Skills and Passives for each Class
• New Party Finder Feature
• New Seasonal Content
• New Season Rewards (Season Journey, Battle Pass, Reputation Board)

Vessel of Hatred Expansion—Available to Vessel of Hatred Owners

• Nahantu Region–including Dungeons, Strongholds, Side Quests, new Legion Events, and Nahantu Monster Families (One of the Nahantu Monster Families will appear within the new Seasonal content—stay tuned for more details.)
• Spiritborn Class
• Vessel of Hatred Campaign
• Nahantu Region Renown
• Runewords
• Dark Citadel
• Mercenaries
• Kurast Undercity
• Trading for Vessel of Hatred-specific Resources

To get full details on progression and Paragon System changes coming to the base game, learn more about the new Spiritborn Class, and uncover information on Mercenaries, the Dark Citadel, and Kurast Undercity visit the Diablo website or stay tuned to RectifyGaming for when more of our Vessel of Hatred Coverage releases.