The Diablo series has always been better with friends, with its compulsive demon-clicking providing a great, grotesque backdrop to your hangout without being too taxing to hold a conversation over. But what if your friends just don’t have the time to turn the hordes of hell into fountains of goo at a moment’s notice? Until now, Diablo 4 players were pretty much out of luck in that scenario, but two new features coming with the Vessel of Hatred expansion will make it easier to find strangers to play with, or do away with other humans altogether and team up with NPCs who don’t have busy schedules to attend to instead.
Announced during Gamescom, the biggest new addition to Vessel of Hatred is the mercenaries system, which first showed up in Diablo 2 and more or less returned as followers in Diablo 3. In the upcoming DLC, players will be able to recruit help from four mercenaries, each of which offers different benefits in combat and other unique bonuses.
Mercenaries will be unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign. Once you’ve unlocked one, you can add them to your party to have them fight by your side. Some are more offense-focused, like Aldkin the Cursed Child, who can transform into a demon to mow down enemies. Others, like Rahier the Shieldbearer, are more about support, blocking incoming attacks aimed at your character. Each mercenary also has their own skill tree that lets you improve their abilities and customize how they behave in combat.
Aside from their combat utility, mercenaries can help you gather better gear. Traveling with one will build rapport, and reaching higher rapport levels unlocks new rewards. You can also barter with mercenaries using a currency you earn while you travel together, which can net you even better items and gear. New events in the open world reward heaps of rapport for completing them. Once you’ve unlocked at least two mercenaries, you can set one as a reinforcement, meaning they won’t always be by your side, but they’ll jump in to use special abilities under certain conditions, like when your character is hit with status effects.
A huge part of the fun in Diablo 4 is mixing and matching skills with your party. As enjoyable as it is to turn a field of abominations into ice cubes on your own, having a pal to whirlwind through them with an axe afterward just makes the whole experience much better. Mercenaries might not be good conversation partners, but they certainly seem up to the task of bringing a bit more variety to your carnage.
Shortly after the mercenaries reveal, Blizzard shared another feature that will make it easier to team up with other actual players. Vessel of Hatred introduces the Dark Citadel, a co-op endgame dungeon. The Citadel can’t even be attempted by solo players, and Blizzard says you’ll only get the ideal experience with a party of four. That’s because this new endgame activity isn’t just a version of content that’s already in Diablo 4 at a high challenge level. Instead, the Black Citadel introduces new gameplay mechanics that require players to cooperate in order to proceed. A new marker system that lets you communicate with teammates non-verbally should help those mechanics go smoother once you’re inside the Citadel.
Because of that, Blizzard is also introducing the long-awaited party finder in Vessel of Hatred. Like World of Warcraft’s party finder, the one being added to Diablo 4 will let you seek out other players for all kinds of activities. Along with the Black Citadel, you’ll be able to find partners for dungeons, bosses, and more. It may sound like a relatively small tweak, but being able to group up with others even when your regular party isn’t available should be huge for people who would rather take advantage of Diablo 4’s online play rather than adventure alone.
Between these new features and what Blizzard has already shown off, like the Spiritborn class, Vessel of Hatred is shaping up to make Diablo 4 better than ever. Tearing through enemies alone can only stay interesting for so long, and it seems like Blizzard is focused on making the expansion a bit friendlier to those who need a little help filling out their adventuring party.
