Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred explained: Story so far before expansion release

Vessel of Hatred will continue the story after the end of Diablo 4, but what’s happened so far? Here’s what you need to know to be up to speed. Of course, this guide is one big spoiler for the base game.

Diablo 4 took a very different approach compared to previous games. While Diablo 1, 2, and 3 dealt with the return of Diablo himself, the fourth game was set in a world that was slowly recovering from his assaults. These attacks were decades ago and while the threat of the Prime Evils hangs over Sanctuary, they are all consigned to Hell and to many, a distant memory.

In their absence, faiths have risen worshiping the world’s creators, the Angel Inarius, who has become the dominant figure of Sanctuary’s main religion, and the cult of Lilith, his demon queen who he was forced to banish. This happened because Lilith started a war against Heaven and Hell to protect her Nephalem children from judgemental Angels and the corrupting influence of her uncle, Diablo.

Diablo 4 story so far

In Diablo 4, Inarius tires of Sanctuary and regrets his dalliance with Lilith. He wants to return to Heaven but fears his fellow Angels still despise him for consorting with demons. Meanwhile, Lilith’s cult finds a way to resurrect her and she returns to Sanctuary. Horrified by what’s become of the world she created for her children, Lilith immediately sets out to conquer it.

However, she’s not trying to take over just for the sake of it. Lilith still harbors a grudge against Heaven and (rightly) views the Angels as a threat. She’s also furious with Hell and seeks to protect Sanctuary from Diablo, Baal, and her own father, the Lord of Hatred, Mephisto. To this end, Lilith builds a demonic army and sets about destroying all her enemies, be they human, Angel, or Demon.

This eventually brings her into conflict with Inarius who believes slaying her will grant him entry back to Heaven. However, she defeats him before turning her attention to the game’s protagonist. Lilith tries to sway the player’s character to her side, and while she makes a good argument, her demonic nature reveals her to be unfit to rule. However, the player detects a bigger threat than her.

Mephisto has been manipulating events from behind the scenes and is working to return to the world. Realizing he’s far more dangerous than Lilith, the player character and their ally Neyrelle trap Mephisto in a soul stone to prevent him from crossing from Hell. This ruins Lilith’s dangerous plan to consume the Prime Evils and a final battle ensues.

Lilith is cast back to Hell but warns the player that without her protection, Sanctuary is vulnerable to Diablo and that they may just have walked right into Mephisto’s trap. After this, Neyrelle steals the soul stone that contains Mephisto and flees to the land of Kurast. She leaves a letter to the player telling them not to follow her and that she has a plan. However, the aspect of Mephisto can be seen beginning to exert his influence on her.

What is a Vessel of Hated?

Vessel of Hated essentially refers to Neyrelle as she tries to fight Mephisto and not be possessed by him. As Mephisto is the Lord of Hatred, Neyrelle has become his Vessel. Sadly, we don’t hold much hope for Neyrelle as characters who’ve tried to contain the Prime Evils in the past have all met a sticky end.

Diablo possessed his Vessels of Terror, Prince Albrecht in Diablo 1, his brother Aiden “The Dark Wanderer” in Diablo 2, and his human daughter Leah in Diablo 3. While Baal possessed his Vessel of Destruction, a powerful sorcerer called Tal Rasha. And Mephisto’s last Vessel of Hatred, Sankekur, also succumbed to his influence.

In short, it’s not looking good for Neyrelle and the player character is going to need to follow her to Kurast and destroy Mephisto once he inevitably returns to the world. That is unless the game pulls a colossal swerve in the story.

Seasonal stories & more

The main quest story isn’t the only one in Diablo 4 as each season of the game has had its own self-contained story, but some of them have connected to the overarching plot.

Season 1 saw a powerful demon rise after Lilith’s defeat, with the player character needing to embrace the power of Malignant Hearts to defeat it. In Season 2, the long-dormant vampires of Sanctuary, led by Lord Zir made their move, only to be defeated. However, their forces still linger in the world, waiting for their next assault.

Season 3 saw the player team up with a mechanical construct called the Seneschal to defeat some ancient constructs that had been possessed by demons. This side story saw the return of a fan-favorite character called Zoltun Kulle, a frenemy of the player character in Diablo 3.

Season 4 saw the player character reunite with the Iron Wolves, a mercenary group who helped the protagonist of Diablo 2 defeat Mephisto in Kurast. Finally, Diablo 4’s story saw the protagonist join forces with the remnants of Lilith’s cult while they worked to redeem themselves by preventing the return of Mephisto.

While the Lord of Hatred is still likely to return, Season 5 set the scene for this and hyped up his threat. Season 6 will release at the same time as Vessel of Hatred and will likely connect to the expansion’s story.