Vessel of Hatred sur PC par jeuxvideo.com

A neat campaign with a great atmosphere

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred continues the events that took place at the end of the main game. Neyrelle, one of our traveling companions, went on a journey. It is up to her to have the difficult task of resisting Mephisto, locked in the soul stone and desperate to gain his freedom. Enough to put a strain on Neyrelle’s mental health but also on the integrity of Sanctuaire. Mephisto’s evil influence seeps through the crystal and alienates the entire continent.

It is in this context that the adventure of Vessel of Hatred takes place. She begins all the same by recalling that a fringe of the Church, which supports the angel Inarius, promoted roughly resurrection by fire. A climate of violence conducive to the return of demons and the creatures of Mephisto, individuals and monsters driven mad by the demonic lord. A signal that triggers the search for Neyrelle and her soul stone. Head to the jungles of Nahantu, south of Sanctuary.

The Vessel of Hatred campaign is as successful as the previous one. If it is necessarily shorter (between 10 and 15 hours of play, depending on your difficulty and your affinity with games of the genre), it is not any less rhythmic. The low number of characters introduced allows them to have additional screen time. Their generous writing allows us to generate an opinion about them. It balances a Manichean main story by indirectly questioning the player behind his screen through certain situations.. This reinforces an immersion which is one of the strong points of this campaign thanks to the excellent dubbing in French, the few excellent cinematics signed Blizzard as well as an original soundtrack reminding anyone who wants to hear it of the context of desolation which reigns at Sanctuary. In addition to that, we arrive at around level 50 at the end, almost the level sufficient to qualify for the end-of-game activities.

Only the conclusion which is not one tarnishes the picture. If it is clear that Vessel of Hatred calls for a new DLC, we would have preferred that the expansion ends with a note which, without being false, is not in line with everything that has been played by the orchestra just before.

Sacresprit: the new class works wonders

Sixth in the game, the Sacresprit class probably constitutes the major argument for players who have gotten their hands on Diablo 4 since the adjustments made in season 4. The Sacresprit is a species of jungle monk presenting the most fluid gameplay and the most nervous of the class casting with acrobatic movements and a way of using weapons inspired by martial arts. It is divided into four specializations, each represented by a totem animal: the centipede; the jaguar, the eagle and the gorilla, each, of course, each having its own characteristics (speed for the jaguar, poison for the centipede…).

A class that promotes interactions between specializations. From level 15, it is possible to have access to the spirit room. A feature that allows sacrispirits to combine two (or the same) of the four spirits in order to benefit from certain bonuses. We are then really interested in what it is possible to do with the different specializations, especially since each has its own keyword. For example, Ferocity is the Jaguar’s signature passive that allows it to increase its attack speed. That of the gorilla, Decision, increases our ability to absorb damage.

In short, the Sacresprit fits perfectly into the Diablo 4 proposition. Its nervous gameplay allows you to chain together waves of monsters as desired, very dense in this expansion, while promising a plethora of builds and effective synergies.

Additions for customization that are good but not exceptional

Two other new features brought by Vessel of Hatred deepen, even complicate, the customization of his character.

Mercenaries are partners to unlock during the main quest of the expansion. There are four in total and each, once again, has its own specificities. Overall, they allow you to no longer be alone on the battlefield and display their own progress bar. The latter will increase as more monsters are defeated and especially as quests are completed. At each level completed and up to level 5, the hired mercenary unlocks a skill point that he can invest in a mini-talent tree.

Mercenaries therefore deepen the field of possibilities in terms of synergy but remain marginal. Besides through their quickly dispatched quest, we learn little about them and are to be considered as extras. Something that we see in terms of gameplay, since we also have difficulty seeing their involvement in combat. Despite everything, we take a certain pleasure in leveling them up, which multiplies the pleasure of doing dungeons.

Secondly, through the main plot, the player collects runes: invocation runes and ritual runes. The former trigger a bonus effect as soon as the number of offerings generated is reached, while the latter generate offerings for a specific offering. And, of course, the more expensive the ritual offering, the more powerful the effect triggered.. To set up these runic words (the combination of two runes), you must then take advantage of an object having two hunts and insert the runes like gems. But be careful, it is only possible to have two runic words at the same time!

This system allows not only to add an additional layer of reflection but also to vary the styles of play since we can recover abilities from other classes. For now, and unlike mercenaries, runic words really vary the synergies and builds (or sometimes even its gameplay) that it is possible to do.

Between shallows and citadel

However, the new content for existing classes may be too light to encourage amateur players to restart the campaign. If there are new passives and new legendaries, the range of possibilities should be roughly identical to what has been done since season 4.

However, content specific to Vessel of Hatred is worth taking an interest in and can reignite the flame. This is the Kurast Shallows. It is a timed activity where you can influence the type of rewards as well as their quality. This dungeon unlocks quickly during the campaign and is done quickly. It generally takes between five and ten minutes to complete and collect your reward. Kurast Shallows is a great way to level up as the activity keeps the player engaged with their timer. Something that differentiates it from the infernal waves, the activity originally popular for gaining strength.

For players looking to establish themselves at a high level, this is the dark citadel to navigate. It is unlocked thanks to Torment 1 difficulty (i.e. completing level 20 of the pit) and is an activity exclusively reserved for multiplayer. Enough to highlight the integration of group search which will be available on October 8 when the game is released and which should be useful for the many activities of Diablo 4, which are sometimes difficult for a certain segment of players.

Conclusion