Diablo 4 expert claims playing Vessel of Hatred restored his hope in Blizzard

Diablo 4 expert Raxxanterax has shared why a Vessel of Hatred preview and his time talking with the team at Blizzard restored his faith in the game’s future.

Feelings of doom and gloom have pervaded the Diablo community since D4’s launch in June 2023.

Seasonal updates didn’t start off on the right foot, balance-related issues regularly disrupt the flow of things for some players, and not everyone’s gung-ho about the state of features like Helltides.

While Season 5 details have injected a bit of optimism into the community, many can’t help but wonder how the Vessel of Hatred expansion will shake things up.

Thus far, Blizzard has only shown the DLC’s Spiritborn class, which a contingent of fans believe looks too similar to older classes.

Content creator Raxxanterax has a different outlook on the game’s future after visiting the Xbox offices in Seattle to check out Vessel of Hatred.

In a video following the Spiritborn reveal, Raxx laid out several reasons as to why he thinks Diablo 4 has a bright future. For one, he was especially impressed by the team and its dedication to Diablo on a fundamental level.

The content creator applauded how Blizzard’s been responding to feedback, with the Public Test Realms for Seasons 4 and 5 highlighting the studio’s commitment to addressing issues as early as possible.

Since the crew’s spent much of the year reworking existing features like itemization, Raxx is also looking forward to Diablo 4 developers finally having an opportunity to actually create new content. Spiritborn may serve as only the tip of the iceberg.

While playing Vessel of Hatred, the YouTuber noticed a “certain level of polish to the Spiritborn… and the expansion,” which he says isn’t on display in the base experience. Even the way the new class moves in a demo version “felt like a higher tier than other things in the game,” he added.

Raxx extended praise about the DLC’s polish to its new color palette as well, which incorporates greenery and other colors distancing it from D4’s red and black aesthetic.

According to the YouTuber, even the quest markers have more color. If he’s right, Vessel of Hatred could “bring polish to the game that we just haven’t seen so far.”

Raxx also noted that Blizzard’s obviously holding back details about the expansion, a response to some fans questioning the $40 price tag since only Spiritborn has been shown, thus far. It seems the developers have surprises in store for players to experience when Vessel of Hatred launches.

Rumors already point to a supposed level cap increase and Paragon changes. But, while Raxx couldn’t share much about what else is coming, he teased that he came back from Seattle “feeling better about Diablo 4 than when [he] went.”