Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review — a strong expansion with a hollow core

The first thing you notice about Nahantu is the light. It filters through the jungle canopy in thick, humid shafts, catching on moss and stone, and for the first hour of Vessel of Hatred you'll probably stop to look at it. Blizzard's artists have done extraordinary work here. What you won't notice, at least not immediately, is that the expansion's most interesting ideas are buried under a campaign that never quite earns its own gravity.

This is a review of what's actually in the box: the new region, the Spiritborn class, the Mercenaries system, Dark Citadel, the Undercity, and the campaign that ties it together. It's an honest look at what works, what doesn't, and whether the price of entry makes sense for the kind of player you are.

What works

The Spiritborn is the best class Blizzard has shipped

Let's start with the obvious. The Spiritborn is a genuinely excellent addition to the roster. It borrows the mobility and combo flow of the Monk, the animal-spirit theming of the Witch Doctor, and the burst damage of a well-built Rogue, then welds them into something that feels fast, physical, and satisfying. The four spirit guardians — jaguar, gorilla, eagle, and centipede — aren't just cosmetic skins; they change how you approach fights. A centipede build plays like a slow, toxic area-denial specialist. An eagle build is a blur of dashes and lightning. A gorilla build is a thumping, counter-heavy bruiser.

The class also has real build diversity out of the gate, which is rare for a new addition. You can push it toward poison, raw damage, mobility, or a hybrid, and all of those routes are viable through the campaign and into early endgame. If you're the kind of player who rolls a new character for every season, the Spiritborn alone justifies a serious look at this expansion.

Nahantu is a region worth exploring

The new zone is the best-looking area Diablo 4 has produced. It's dense with verticality, ruins, and small environmental stories, and it feels meaningfully different from the game's launch regions. The visual identity — humid jungle, carved stone, spirit-touched shrines — is cohesive and memorable. Side dungeons and strongholds in Nahantu are worth doing, and the region's questlines have more texture than the base game's average.

Mercenaries and the Undercity are genuinely useful additions

The Mercenaries system lets you bring a companion into solo play, and while it's not a revolution, it's a welcome one. The companions have enough personality to avoid feeling like a stat stick, and the ability to customize their skills and gear adds a layer of light planning without becoming a second job.

The Undercity is a timed, randomized dungeon that rewards efficient play. It's a smart addition for players who like pushing their builds and chasing clear-speed records. It's not a full endgame pillar on its own, but it slots neatly alongside Nightmare Dungeons and the Pit.

Dark Citadel is a real co-op endgame activity

Dark Citadel is the first piece of Diablo 4 content designed explicitly for coordinated group play, and it's a solid proof of concept. The encounters require communication and role discipline in a way that the rest of the game doesn't. If you have a regular group, this is the most interesting thing the expansion adds to the endgame loop.

What doesn't

The campaign is short and strangely weightless

This is the biggest problem. Vessel of Hatred's story continues the base game's narrative, but it does so in a way that feels rushed. Major characters make decisions that don't track with what we've seen of them, and the expansion ends on a note that feels less like a cliffhanger and more like a mid-season break. It's not that the story is bad — there are individual scenes and performances that land well — but it never builds the momentum it needs. For a full-price expansion, the campaign is over quickly, and it doesn't leave you with the sense that something meaningful has changed.

The endgame additions are incremental, not transformative

The Undercity and Dark Citadel are good, but they don't fix the structural issues that Diablo 4's endgame has had since launch. The loop is still heavily weighted toward repeating the same activities with slightly different modifiers. If you bounced off the endgame in the base game, this expansion probably won't pull you back in. It adds more to do, but not a new reason to do it.

The new region's story content is thin

Nahantu is beautiful, but the narrative content within it is limited. The side quests are fine, but they don't add up to a region that feels as alive as it looks. The environmental storytelling is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and after a while you start to notice the seams.

Performance and stability issues persist

Diablo 4 has had a rocky technical history, and Vessel of Hatred doesn't fully escape it. Reports of stuttering in dense fights and some server instability during peak hours have been common since launch. It's not game-breaking, but it's not the polished experience you'd hope for from a premium expansion.

Who it's for

Spiritborn-curious players: If you've been waiting for a reason to roll a new character, this is the best one the game has offered. The class is worth the price of admission on its own.
Regular co-op groups: Dark Citadel is a genuine reason to get a group together, and it's the most interesting thing here for players with a steady party.
Diablo 4 diehards: If you're already invested in the endgame loop, the Undercity and Mercenaries are solid quality-of-life additions.
Not for lapsed players: If you fell off the base game, this expansion is unlikely to pull you back. The campaign is too thin and the endgame additions are too incremental.
Not for story-first players: The narrative is the weakest part of the package. If you're here for the lore, you'll likely come away disappointed.

Value for money

Vessel of Hatred sits at the standard expansion price point, and that's the crux of the problem. The Spiritborn class and Nahantu are genuinely excellent, and the Mercenaries and Undercity are welcome additions. But the campaign is short, the endgame additions are incremental, and the story doesn't land. If you're going to play the Spiritborn and you're already engaged with the endgame loop, you'll get your money's worth. If you're hoping for a transformative expansion that fixes the base game's issues, you won't find it here.

Score: 7/10

A strong expansion with a hollow core. The Spiritborn is a triumph, Nahantu is a beauty, and Dark Citadel is a real step forward for co-op. But the campaign is too thin, the endgame additions are too incremental, and the story never earns its own weight. It's a good expansion for the already-invested and a skippable one for everyone else.

What to do next

If you're on the fence, try the Spiritborn through the campaign before committing to the expansion's endgame content. Roll a centipede or eagle build and see how the class feels in your hands — that's the clearest signal of whether this is for you. If you're already in, get a group together for Dark Citadel; it's the most interesting thing here, and it's best with people you can talk to. And if you're a lapsed player looking for a reason to return, wait for a sale or a seasonal update that adds more narrative weight. The jungle will still be there.