I’ve played Diablo III for hundreds of hours, and I can safely say that Monk was my favorite class in that bunch. There’s just an indescribable satisfaction when the Monk’s ultra-fast DPS causes bodies to ragdoll out of the screen. When Diablo IV launched, no one really matched up to the Monk. Now, the new Vessel of Hatred expansion is spicing things up with the new Spiritborn class.

Enter the Spiritborn

The new expansion includes a new region and a new campaign. However, the biggest spotlight is rightfully on the new class. Tagged as a blend between the Monk and the Witch Doctor, the Spiritborn touts a speedy DPS build with the ability to call on different spirit animals for additional burst damage.

From the outset, the Spiritborn is absurdly fun to play. The class balances damage output with durability. It manages to replicate the intense close-combat adrenaline of the Monk. Plus, the four Spirit Guardians available — Gorilla, Jaguar, Eagle, and Centipede — allows players a wide variety of playstyles to choose from and mix-and-match with.

For example, the Centipede, which happens to be my personal favorite, builds on poison and fear abilities for maximum crowd control. Meanwhile, the Gorilla, Jaguar, and Eagle focus on defense, attack speed, and ranged attacks, respectively. Each Guardian also has its own ultimate, which spawns the Guardian itself and shreds enemies.

I’m having a lot of fun playing the new class. If you grew tired of the original game’s roster, the Spiritborn easily rekindles the freshness with a consistent feeling of power and the flexibility of experimentation.

Making the game more rewarding

Besides the new class, the Vessel of Hatred expansion also brings a ton of new features and overhauled systems. They’re all welcome changes, too.

As much as I love the franchise, the initial launch of Diablo IV quickly devolved into a grinding nightmare that lacked the feeling of making players more powerful with every battle won. The new patch that comes with Vessel of Hatred overhauls this system and makes levelling much easier, while also raising the level cap to 60 and the paragon level cap to 300.

When I got the expansion, I started a new character. To my surprise, my new Spiritborn reached maximum level in practically no time. More than that, I feel like legendary items drop more frequently with this update. The overhauled system streamlines most of the grinding to favor what really matters most: becoming powerful and showing off new loot against more difficult hordes.

The update also introduces more difficulties. While I haven’t dabbled in the more nightmarish ones, the more streamlined progression lets me access more difficulties and, hence, stronger rewards.

Mercenaries to keep you company

The new mercenary system is also gratifying. While the initial launch introduced an open world where you can meet and fight with other players, Diablo IV was still a largely solo experience. Unless you have friends playing with you, no one is really helping you with the game’s dungeons.

Taken from previous games, the new mercenary system ensures that you’re never fighting the hordes of hell alone. Currently, the game has four available mercenaries to choose from. Each have their own abilities, specialties, and personalities.

For me, the new mercenaries are literal lifesavers. They do help in conquering the more difficult dungeons. At the very least, they provide some much-needed companionship for long gameplay sessions.

A Nahantu vacation

It’s impossible to talk about Vessel of Hatred without talking about the new story and the region. As I mentioned in my previous review, the different regions of Diablo IV are varied enough to offer different flavors, despite being open world.

Nahantu is no different. The new region takes players to a jungle locale, offering up new enemies and dungeons to get through. It’s a refreshing change from the frosty wastelands of Fractured Peaks and the deserts of Kehjistan.

As for the expansion’s story, Vessel of Hatred puts the focus back on one of the more underrated Prime Evils, Mephisto. After prevailing against Lilith, the Prime Evil is on a quest to return and terrorize the world again.

To be clear, the expansion does not conclude Mephisto’s story just yet. Blizzard still has more updates planned for the Prime Evil. Regardless, the story’s pivot to a new antagonist is much welcomed.

Should you play Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred?

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is more than just a story expansion. It’s also a spirited effort to rebalance the game, making it a lot more fun for new and returning players. If you loved the Diablo franchise, especially the fourth one, Vessel of Hatred is a must-play.

SEE ALSO: Diablo IV review: Hell isn’t so bad