I was looking forward to it Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred but with a cautious skepticism and I am happy to report this expansion completely slap and I was never so happy to be wrong.
Specifically, my main concern was that, at least in Season 11, the game was in a great place and I felt like the list of changes that came with it. The Lord of Hatred will cause fatigue. Because, my god, how many system overhauls have we gone through since the main game launched?
Then, in the run-up to the launch, I felt the marketing bordered on spoiler exposes too quickly about the campaign itself. Take away the joy of discovery if you will.
I am very happy to say that I was wrong on these two points. The overhaul has finally completed the game, and despite the trailers, the best surprises await in the story campaign, which is completely untouched by the marketing machine. And I’m sure there are more surprises to come. This is Diablo 4’s final, most flourishing form, and I’d like to think it silenced the “D4 Bad” memes once and for all, at least for those who stuck around for a while.
This is how you do fan service
I can imagine that at some point during development, someone in the room finally slammed their hands on the table and said, “For the love of God, let’s give the people what they want.”
I can’t say much more than that without spoiling the plot, but there are some ups and downs as the story progresses that really felt like Blizzard was listening to its community. That’s not to say the story is perfect, but unlike the ending, I finished it completely satisfied. Ship of Hate. Where I don’t even understand the ending was ending.
However, the Ship of Hate still works nicely as a bridge between the base game and this DLC. If you play everything back-to-back without waiting long between releases, the story thread becomes clearer and the overall experience carries more weight.
What surprised me the most was how confidently the story relied on themes of family and complex relationships. You wouldn’t expect this much emotional nuance in a demon-blasting ARPG, but Blizzard is committed to it, and it pays off beautifully. The campaign was more effective than I expected.
Skovos is breathtaking and interesting to explore, I don’t want to leave
❌️ Friendship with Cerrigar ended ✅️ Now Temis is my best friend pic.twitter.com/c4slcw3U0YMay 2, 2026
We waited a long time to visit Skovos region and it was worth the wait. A complete 180 from Nahantu swamp fatigue, you can gallop on your mountain from lava-scarred lands to ancient Greek-inspired coastal landscapes. Cities feel alive. I wanted to eavesdrop on every NPC conversation, and there are indeed some of the funniest conversations that many players will approach.
The whole region feels alive and surprisingly less oppressive than other regions, considering it’s possessed by demons like the mainland. Themis, as a new city center, is also my new “favorite” city, and I refuse to teleport anywhere else. Mercenaries have moved here; you can access both The Pit and the Undercity, and with the newly added War Plans and Horadric Cube, why visit anywhere else? Well, I sound like their tourist board now…
Cerrigar, it was good while it lasted, but I will never darken a door again!
Article continues below
The Horadric Cube and Talisman system breathe new life into looting
Image 1 of 2
Lord of Hatred comes with a whole new set of loot systems to play with, with two headline additions being the Horadric Cube and Talisman Set Charms.
I’m still learning all the ins and outs of the Cube and what it can do, but even on the surface level it’s already wildly powerful. I used it to turn a piece of absolute trash into a Unique Dagger that ported my build straight into Torment 4.
This essentially allows you to combine junk into something better rather than salvage everything, while also providing new ways to add tweaks and additions outside of the existing Tempering and Masterworking systems.
Meanwhile, talismans offer a fresh loot chase that feels exciting without being exhausting. Chasing the juicy set bonus is fun in itself, but the real win is that duplicates in the cube can be turned into another piece from the same set. It keeps the hunt moving without the usual frustrations of useless drops.
Together, these systems complement each other and feel as if they were designed in tandem rather than by completely different teams. All of this, along with the removal of other busybodies like potions and incense, means that despite the new additions, things actually feel more streamlined.
War Plans is simply awesome
Based on the Developer Streams alone, it was really hard to imagine how War Plans would actually work after reaching the endgame. Even though I’m there now, I love them. I especially love the sheer speed they bring to the corner.
When developing this mode, the researchers clearly accepted the idea that “the city is lava”. You can jump from activity to activity with one click, earning rewards, while each activity develops its own mini skill tree, allowing you to tailor the experience to your play style.
While it works perfectly when you’re playing solo, it needs some finesse in group play. Currently, your party members can help you complete your War Plans and earn some rewards, but they can’t actually do that. see which ones you have chosen. This means that communication becomes important and I don’t always want to join a voice chat. Ideally, I’d like to see the whole group drawn together on the map, but I can imagine how difficult that would be.
Nevertheless, in its current form it is fun, fast, useful and completely functional. I’m excited to see how Blizzard iterates it because the foundation is already strong, it just needs a few tweaks to make it feel good in groups.
The skill tree now feels more intuitive and has been updated across all classes, creating massive variety. Two players can run Wizards and run builds that make them feel like two completely different classes. My entire group plays Warlock (predictably), but we use very different playstyles.
And often when you’re talking about Warlock, you’d expect that and Paladin to be at the top of the meta, but that’s not really the case. Sure, they’re incredibly powerful, but the current meta has a mix of the new guys AND Wizards, Necros, and Barbarians. Maxroll level list now. It takes a lot of moving, but it’s nice to see that other classes aren’t left behind in the money-making dust.
So what’s next for Diablo 4?
Diablo 4 is the biggest and best expansion the franchise has seen since Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction. However, no matter how good the game is, there is a subset of the player base that is forever tied to the “D4 BAD” narrative that will never go back. Unfortunately, they miss out, but that’s understandable. There are so many great games to play that many don’t want to go back to the old territory regardless of the new wallpaper.
So where does Blizzard go from here? Will they double down on this rock-solid foundation with another expansion, or will they take the lessons learned here and pivot to the more marketable Diablo 5? Whatever the answer, I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us Blizzcon this year.
PS Can someone please figure out where it is Cow Level does?
Join us Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your thoughts and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
