News of Blizzard’s Diablo IV at BlizzCon this year following the game’s Season of Blood update saw the announcement of the game’s very first expansion dubbed Vessel of Hatred and set to release next summer, is accompanied by bombastic orchestra and a cinematic and chilling teaser trailer slowly crawling through a jungle forest before revealing Kurast, a popular iconic city from Diablo 2 and definitely a pleasant surprise for everyone in attendance.
Alongside this returning location from a beloved previous title this expansion also brings back Mephisto, a popular returning villain from the game’s mythos. This expansion also brings forward a number of changes as expected, the majority of which you can read about here, but the biggest news from this is the story of a yet unannounced new class to the game.
But before Vessel of Hatred drops the third season of Diablo IV is set to go live, with a new weekly challenge called The Gauntlet, where players compete with each other to see who gets the highest score to earn their name in the Hall of Ancients for bragging rights.
Also coming before Vessel is a seasonal event, Midwinter Blight, starting December 12th and lasting for three weeks, perfect to capitalize on the snowy holiday season.
Even sooner than that, next week in fact, there will be 5 new class-specific rings as well as an Enchanting preview so you can actually see what you buy with in-game gold before you buy it. Then on December 5th there will be an Abattoir of Zir event, a high level event for those who need a bit more challenge from their Diablo IV experience:
Abattoir of Zir, a highly replayable six-week end-game event experience designed for players who have reached Level 100, slain Uber Duriel, and mastered all the other challenges Season of Blood has to offer. Those who survive will attain a Paragon Glyph constructed from Lord Zir’s very own blood. But beware—the Abattoir of Zir starts at a soul-crushing difficulty and only gets harder.
It’s been noted that Diablo IV has had a string of bad luck and bad reception since its release, but as Blizzard reassures us, they have been listening to the feedback and reception that fans have given them since the release of the game, so hopefully these new events are the start of a long road to redemption before the massive Vessel of Hatred release next year.
If you want to try Diablo IV for yourself then you can purchase it on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, as well as on PC for Steam and through Battle.net.