Diablo 4 removing its most annoying progression barrier with Vessel of Hatred
You can thank me for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred's change to World Tiers (just kidding).
03rd Oct 2024 10:01
Images via Activision Blizzard
Diablo 4 removing its most annoying progression barrier with Vessel of Hatred
You can thank me for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred's change to World Tiers (just kidding).
03rd Oct 2024 10:01
Images via Activision Blizzard
Diablo 4 was one of my favourite games of last year, and it's one I've consistently come back to over time. Each new season has been better than the last, but I'm particularly excited about the arrival of Vessel of Hatred, the game's first expansion, next week.
Ahead of its launch, I've had one major concern though - will I really have to do the Capstone Dungeon to unlock additional World Tiers again? Thankfully, in its pre-launch livestream this week, Blizzard confirms that's not the case (Hail Lilith!).
Diablo 4 is about to get harder
In the stream above, at around the 41-minute mark, Aislyn Hall, Systems Designer explains that players will now be able to create a fresh character and select their difficulty up to Penitent (the fourth tier) at level one.
At present, players need to clear Capstone Dungeons to unlock further World Tiers. As Blizzard shows on stream, you can expect to be destroyed within seconds, so tread carefully.
Hall explains you'll need to clear the base game's campaign once on your account to be able to jump into Penitent right from the jump, but given much of Diablo 4's best loot is found at higher difficulty tiers this is a huge step up.
I spoke with Hall and Associate Game Director Brent Gibson at Gamescom and specifically asked about removing the need for Capstone Dungeons once they're cleared, so I'm going to pretend it was all my doing.
Elsewhere, the team says Torment World Tier 1 will be focused on bringing players in so they can play through every piece of content, while Torment 4 will be "aspirational content". With that in mind, you can expect earlier Torment levels to be much, much trickier.
Vessel of Hatred is coming to Diablo on October 8, where you can expect to find some company on your travels through this devilishly tricky expansion.
About The Author
Lloyd Coombes
Lloyd is GGRecon's Editor-in-Chief, having previously worked at Dexerto and Gfinity, and occasionally appears in The Daily Star newspaper. A big fan of loot-based games including Destiny 2 and Diablo 4, when he's not working you'll find him at the gym or trying to play Magic The Gathering.
