As part of their Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred review program, Blizzard set up a roundtable Q&A with all the reviewers involved to answer practically every major question about the expansion due to launch next Tuesday on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. Keep scrolling to read all the answers from Game Director Brent Gibson, Lead Designer Rex Dickson, Lead Live Designer Colin Finer, and Producer Kyle Martin. We’ve grouped the responses by topic for convenience.
General Vessel of Hatred Questions
Could you introduce the system or content that you focused on the most during the development process of Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred?
Rex Dickson: It is hard to say if there was any one specific area of emphasis, as we expect all our content to meet or exceed ‘Blizzard Quality’ expectations. Dark Citadel and The Undercity were both significant investments, as were Mercenaries, but the two largest areas of focus were the campaign/world and all the major systems changes.
What specific aspects did you pay attention to when designing Nahantu, and what challenges did you face during the development process?
Rex Dickson: There were many aspects that were points of emphasis for us when designing Nahantu. One that comes to mind is how to achieve a warmer color palette while also delivering on that classic Gothic horror theme. Another is incorporating elements from Diablo II, like Travincal and Kurast Docks. I think the biggest challenge we had was ensuring creative alignment across such a huge team with so many amazing ideas.
Will there be an Uber Version of Mephisto fighting like Lilith?! The boss fight in the story was amazing, really. It would be nice to have something like that in the “next chapter” instead of only the Uber Lilith.
Colin Finer: We won’t have an Uber Mephisto fight available for the launch of Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred, but we’re currently looking at all our Tormented Bosses and how we can expand that list. Mephisto’s Harbinger is an awesome fight that we want to see return and is at the top of our list.
The Festering Dark is a wonderful experience (getting lost, using the lamps, the darkness mechanic, etc). How did it all come together? Can you share the story about how that area was designed?
Rex Dickson: Initially, there was some fear that doing a dark maze format for a Diablo stronghold wasn’t going to be fun. There was a lot of iteration, landing on the right blend of ‘just enough’ UX without handholding. Additionally, it took us a lot of time to figure out how to get the mechanics dialed in. Certainly a pretty big departure for us in terms of gameplay. All of this came to fruition via countless playtests and feedback sessions, but we are happy with where it landed.
The new Spiritborn class is characterized by its agility. In this regard, does it share any similarities with the Monk from Diablo III? Which playstyle has made the most significant impression on the development team so far?
Brent Gibson: Agility was very much one of the things we were focusing on. We wanted a class where martial arts was a big part of the playstyle, so it just made sense. As for the monk, we have a pretty solid grasp of the types of mechanics that work well in the game, and there are inspirations from several classes that you can see in the Spiritborn, but the mixture is very unique to the class itself and plays very different from the classes before.
Any thoughts on an Armory type feature with loadouts so players can easily switch builds from Boss to Speedrun, etc.?
Brent Gibson: Absolutely! Armory is top of mind for all of us at the moment. The game has several new things that impact your build coming into Vessel of Hatred and there are more things to come as the game goes on. This means when we introduce something like an Armory, it has to be a system that can grow with us, so we are pressing to a more steady state with Vessel of Hatred so that the Armory system can start on a better footing. So, for us, this is more of a question of when the Armory is coming, not if.
Mercenary System
Are there plans to further develop the Mercenary system in future seasons (i.e., new companions, expanded skill trees, new additions to the den)?
Rex Dickson: As with all new features, we first want to gauge the community reaction before we determine what our next steps are. If there is demand for investments in the Mercenaries feature from our fans, we will keep adding them to future releases moving forward.
How will Mercenaries function in a party? What were the results of their utility in endgame content from the internal testing?
Rex Dickson: In parties, one mercenary can be used by each player as a Reinforcement. They must be Enlisted as a Reinforcement from the Mercenary Den prior to joining the party. Hired Mercenaries are disabled while in parties. Regarding Mercenary utility in end-game content, it was always our aim to make Mercenary combat effectiveness fairly low. We don’t want them stealing kills or becoming more powerful than the wanderer. With that said, we did want Merc synergy with user builds to be a significant component of the experience. This includes reinforcements.
For high-level players who already have access to endgame content, does this major update to the Mercenaries system still provide valuable benefits?
Rex Dickson: Yes, we realize the high-level endgame players are mostly interested in content that expedites and/or benefits their progression. The best way to extract the mercenaries’ value is by synergizing them with your build to make you more powerful vs. expecting them to be a significant source of kills in the endgame content.
Runewords
Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred adds the Runewords system, aimed at empowering players. However, unlike Diablo II, it appears that runes cannot be used to craft new gear or drastically alter playstyles. What were the design considerations behind updating the Runewords system in this expansion, particularly in comparison to Diablo II? Was there a conscious effort to differentiate the mechanics from those in Diablo II?
Colin Finer: We have a lot of systems in Diablo IV that alter playstyles. So, we spent a lot of time discussing what role Runewords should play in that ecosystem. ultimately, we were inspired by Diablo II’s Runewords like Enigma – specifically the ability to steal other classes’ magic. What we wanted to avoid was creating a situation where Runeword items were always BiS – we didn’t want you to have to give up your Tempest Roar or perfectly rolled Fists of Fate to equip this new item type. We felt like that would narrow build diversity and creativity too much… we wanted runes to be complimentary to your build.
That said, we have set up a new crafting option that allows you to craft Mythic uniques with sets of runes, which we think will capture the feeling of creating extremely powerful items as well as the feeling of incremental progress with each rune you find.
What are your thoughts on adding effects for the individual Runes (similar to Diablo II) when they are being socketed, so there is another alternative to Gems besides Runewords?
Colin Finer: Like all new features, we will iterate and add to the Runewords system over time. We think having additional affixes on individual runes is a cool idea and a great callback to Diablo II. Our goal with Diablo IV’s Runewords is to reward experimentation as you figure out the best combination for your build with the runes that are dropping. If we find having additional affixes assists that goal, we’re more than open to adding them.
Seasons
Any thoughts on adding Seasons to the Eternal Realm? Something like Eternal Realm: Play Season content with your max level character. Season Realm: Start from Level 1.
Brent Gibson: We have definitely been paying close attention to both seasonal and eternal players. Both ways to play are hugely important to both the game and those who enjoy playing either way. We are taking a very close look at our features as we consider what should live where. Infernal Hordes is a great example where we felt like this should live in both places. I think we can expect more updates where content and features may exist in both realms. As we move forward we will be transparent about it, but we are not at a point where we can talk specifics about anything at this time.
We are reaching the point of deleting characters just to make room for Seasonal ones. Do you have any plans to introduce a “Rebirth” function so we can keep the gameplay stats (hours played, how many times Rebirthed, max achievements, etc.) between seasons?
Rex Dickson: We have added two additional character slots to coincide with Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred. We have heard the community feedback about the desire for rebirth, and it is being considered and prioritized along with other top requests.
Is there any chance to keep the Mephisto lore forward on the Seasons?
Rex Dickson: Generally, our seasonal storylines are more standalone episodes and not part of the main Diablo IV storyline. That said we do take opportunities to do subtle hints and nods that help fill in the lore and hint at future releases. Certainly, we are not done hearing from Mephisto.
Dark Citadel
Is there a possibility we could see Dark Citadel content that’s soloable, but perhaps with AI companions or mercenaries filling in for the rest of the party?
Rex Dickson: Unfortunately, making a solo version of the Dark Citadel would amount to a major re-design, turning it into something quite different than what we intended. Creating viable AI partners for all the custom mechanics featured in the Dark Citadel is an interesting idea but would represent a significant investment for our team in creating custom components not used elsewhere in the game.
Will we get more raid content in the future following the Dark Citadel? If so, are these limited to expansions, or will they be added with new Seasons?
Rex Dickson: Dark Citadel is a big new idea for a Diablo game, and we want to gauge the community reaction before we decide how we want to move forward with it. If we see a lot of feedback that we do more with this mode, then we will certainly take that into consideration in our future release planning.
Is there a roadmap that can be shared on World Bosses or bigger group/raid content beyond the Dark Citadel, or is that the direction for the near future?
Rex Dickson: Our focus right now is on the Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred release. Moving forward, we have a roadmap that includes our top priorities we really want to work on. However, like all live service games, everything we do is guided by what our community wants. Any additional investments in things like larger scale group content would only come if the community demanded it.
Story
The story of Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred is also dark and gloomy. There seem to be many thought-provoking lines, so what aspects did you pay special attention to during the development stage?
Rex Dickson: One of the hallmark elements of the Diablo series is the dark tone. It is a critical part of our process to ensure tonal consistency across each franchise entry. This permeates the visuals as well as the narrative and quest design. Our game director sets some high-level themes they want to establish, and the teams come together to determine how best to achieve them. This was especially challenging given the warmer color palette of the expansion. We are incredibly proud of the results.
Why did you decide to finish the story like you did? Do you believe people might be disappointed by the ending and the quests after the final fight? What are your plans for continuing the story? Will we see the finale in another DLC, as part of the Seasons, or in the next Diablo main game?
Brent Gibson: Great questions. For the first, we knew we wanted the story of Mephisto to be told over multiple releases. It is exciting to build up a character like him over a longer period of time. Many times in games, you rush a character’s development because you only have so much time to tell your story. The exciting thing about a live game is that we can build up over multiple expansions, making our character richer and more meaningful. This is just the next chapter of that story.
For the second, a good story shouldn’t rush to its conclusion immediately. The buildup is exciting and important. Some of my favorite fiction leave you on a cliffhanger as they build that tension to an epic conclusion. This is what we are looking to build up as we unfold the fate of Mephisto.
For the last, we have big plans for the continuation of the story going forward. One of the things I am looking forward to seeing is how the return of Mephisto impacts Sanctuary as a whole. As we lead up to future releases, we want to see threads of continuity from season to season. You see this already with the Realm Walker spreading hatred and corruption in season six. These are some of the things you can expect and it shows you that the spread of Mephisto’s influence goes well beyond just Nahantu.
Did the team consider bringing back Ormus’ voice actor from Diablo II?
Kyle Martin: We did reach out but were told that William Bassett has chosen to retire and we wanted to respect that. Agreed, he has an iconic voice; I love his performance in Diablo II!
Balance and Progression Changes
Players can now invest up to five skill points in Ultimate Skills. Can players expect builds focused on Ultimate Skills to become more viable? Additionally, if there are any Runeword or Mercenaries that can support Ultimate Skills, please introduce them.
Colin Finer: We absolutely want Ultimates to be more viable, and this is just one of the steps we’re taking to make them so. We have a Rune of Ritual, Zan, that triggers on ultimate use and a Rune of Invocation, Zec, that reduces the cooldown of your Ultimate skills. Plus, there’s an Aspect that, on Ultimate cast, triggers your Mercenary reinforcement, allowing you to double-dip on that power.
Resources have been a major choke point in the test environment, particularly Iron Chunks and Angelsbreath. Are there plans either to increase drop rates through Salvaging or reduce the items needed for potion and gear upgrades?
Colin Finer: The launch of Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred will have sweeping tuning and balance changes, especially on crafting resource economy. The final tuning state requires significantly less salvage for item modification as well as huge buffs to salvage sources from things like Bosses, Whisper Caches, and the Infernal Hordes. A change we made based on player feedback from the PTR is all non-legendary items are auto-salvaged starting in Torment, so you’ll get a lot more there.
How will the change in max level/Paragon levels affect existing characters?
Colin Finer: All characters, whether or not you’ve purchased Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred, will have all Paragon points converted to realm-wide Paragon levels. For example, if your character is currently Level 100, your character level will be reduced to 50, and all 200 Paragon Points your character has earned will be converted to Realm-wide Paragon Levels. If your character is Level 50 and below, nothing will change for them. The benefit of this is that all existing alt and future characters benefit from the same paragon level pool, allowing them to catch up to your main character’s endgame progress faster.
Will there be a way for Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred players to pick and choose what they want to play and progress without being gated or forced into a particular activity (i.e., The Pit for Glyphs?)
Colin Finer: We also love metaprogression systems, and we always want Diablo IV to feel rewarding, no matter how deep into a character or season you are. We think a metaprogression system would help accomplish that. It’s something we’re actively discussing, but we don’t have anything to share just yet.
In terms of activity specialization, we’ve been leaning into an evolved philosophy of ‘primary’ reward sources and more universal ‘secondary’ sources – an example of this is Boss Summoning materials. The best place to get summoning parts of Varshan is to do Whispers, but they also drop in a bunch of different places across the game. As long as you’re playing, you should be getting a steady trickle.
Thank you for your time.
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