Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred review – Feelin’ hella good, so let’s just keep on slayin’

It's time once again to return to Sanctuary and fight like hell in Diablo 4's latest expansion, which may be its best yet.

Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred puts the focus squarely on the titular Prime Evil, Mephisto, and his nefarious plans in a new region of the world not yet visited. The driving force behind the story's events creates a must-play experience for anyone who's enjoyed Diablo's lore in the past, while two new playable classes bring in exciting new ways to experience it all while mowing down all sorts of monsters and bad guys.

A powerful pull

Lord of Hatred's campaign alone is worth the price of admission. While it's short-lived, there's nonstop action from beginning to end, featuring some bombastic cutscenes and genuinely jaw-dropping moments with big implications to the lore.

The story of Lord of Hatred picks up where Vessel of Hatred left off, with Mephisto taking over the body of the prophet known as Akarat. And he uses it to his full advantage in this storyline, taking the never-ending war of good vs. evil to the new playable area of the Skovos Isles, which is where humanity was created.

Skovos is a Mediterranean-esque region of Sanctuary reminiscent of Themyscira, featuring stunning beaches and vistas as a contrast to the dark and dreary locations of Diablo 4's first two stories. The Amazon warriors who reside there are a pivotal part of what goes down in the plot, further distancing the locale from the vibe of the other areas of Sanctuary already explored.

Blizzard is very strict with the story spoilers for this DLC, including its opening cinematic, so I can't say much about what happens in the plot (which is fine, because you should experience it yourself). But it had me hooked from its opening moments, mainly because Mephisto is finally truily here now after being a driving presence through the game's first two main campaigns (vanilla D4 and Vessel of Hatred). Lord of Hatred's titular character is a menace, and his Prime Evil presence drives the feeling of dread throughout every mission.

The actions of Mephisto, along with other characters new and old, make this DLC my favorite story told thus far in Diablo 4, rounded out by incredible voice performances and some of my favorite cutscenes in some time before the credits roll.

With every twist and turn, character return or death, and epic boss fight, I couldn't help but keep playing through each mission until completion. I'd advise pacing yourself through the missions if you can, because they are fun, but easy to rip through quickly. Enemy density feels incredibly high in most of the fights, driving the satisfying feel of add-clearing while chunking down boss HP, making for an exciting experience that's tough to step away from.

When the stunning events of Lord of Hatred's campaign wind down, the new War Plans mode is unlocked. This is an endgame activity that amounts to a playlist of previously available modes, like the Pit, Nightmare Dungeons, Kurast Undercity, and even Helltides. Completing the activities on greater difficulties offers bigger XP and prizes and it's even got its own activity tree and rewards, but from what I've played in the limited hours I've had with the mode, the actual gameplay offered within is mostly a retread of some things that have existed in the game for years.

There's also the new Echoing Hatred event, which Blizzard describes as "hyper rare," which floods an arena with infinite enemy waves that get more difficult as time goes on, and the longer you last, the better rewards you get. It requires an exceedingly rare item to trigger, but is pretty fun as a wave-based activity where you can truly put your builds to the test.

Raising Holy Hell

In my time enjoying Lord of Hatred's story, I played the bulk of it with the new Warlock class. The DLC's second class, Paladin, has been available for several months via pre-ordering the expansion, so I decided instead to focus my time with the review build on enjoying the newest playable character, and was not disappointed one bit.

After playing for about a week, Warlock has become my favorite class in D4 thus far, surpassing the Spiritborn and Druid. My build focused on summoning enslaved demons from hell, overwhelming the battlefield with sheer numbers and relying on crowd control to keep lesser enemies at bay while allowing me to hone in on boss damage.

My strategy centered around summoning a demon that would taunt surrounding enemies, allowing me to sit back safely and call lesser ones from hell to bombard them with explosive damage. The swords and axes I carried were merely for show, as the enslaved hellbeasts called forth by the Warlock do the all of the work without you even breaking a sweat. You can even transform into a demon yourself to run around and slash foes, but my chosen ultimate ability summoned the biggest demon yet, swinging a giant blade and tearing through my enemies with ease for a set amount of time before pulling them in and returning to hell with a big explosion.

There are several different builds to play with when it comes to Warlock, like all other D4 classes, and I'm sure that the hardcore players will find something broken in the days and weeks following the DLC's release. But I had a ton of fun exploring buildcrafting with new features like the Talisman and Horadric Cube.

The Talisman adds yet another layer of customization, allowing you to slot in different charms that flourish with Set Bonuses from new items you find within the world. The Horadric Cube, meanwhile, is a crafting system that gives you the ability to create new powerful gear or upgrade existing items, further deepening the experience that's already been iterated on several times with seasonal releases.

I'm personally not an avid seasonal player in Diablo, so these systems feel like they're not entirely meant for someone like me, but the DLC also brings a number of updates to Eternal play for consistent returning players, like a new level cap of 70, skill tree upgrades for all classes, different Torment tiers, improvements to the pit, and more. A highly anticipated loot filter is just one more of these changes that should give the dedicated grinders something to enjoy.

Even still, I often do find myself returning for big expansions such as this one, and I came away from Lord of Hatred quite happy. Some of the more hardcore players may have a different experience after blowing through the campaign's events to get into endgame and seasonal play, especially after doing so already for years, but I think the DLC is worth it for the new story and two classes alone.

The narrative in Lord of Hatred is its biggest strength, as it feels to me like a full circle moment and closing chapter in one sense, but also a really strong self-contained story all at the same time. I would advise avoiding spoilers at all costs, including one that official Diablo channels posted in the days leading up to launch for some reason.

With even more seasonal updates and systems improvements likely in the works, Lord of Hatred feels like a good return point for wayward players, especially those who were looking for some more substantial story beats to take place.

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