At the Xbox focused livestream at Gamescom, the Diablo 4 team from Blizzard took players on an indepth look at Vessel of Hatred. Specifically, the team showcased the four new Mercenaries that players will be able to slay alongside. If you missed that showcase, you can always find more below or on the Diablo website.
The new Mercenaries are: Rahier the Shieldbearer, Aldkin the Cursed Child, Varyana the Berserker Crone, and Subo the Bounty Hunter. Players will be able to summon these Mercenaries to their side whether playing solo or as reinforcements when in co-op.
In addition to the Mercenaries being revealed, Blizzard also showed off a new co-op challenge called Dark Citadel. Dark Citadel is a new endgame challenge that includes many deadly battles, perhaps a few puzzles to solve, and even a tough final boss that rewards you with various loot.
Blizzard also mentioned that they're making some changes to how progression is handled. It sounds like this is going to be a pretty big change for the game, with Blizzard calling it a "permanent and fundamental shift" in how you will progress both in individual character levels and account progress. More on these changes will be shared on August 29.
NEVER FIGHT ALONE! You’ve already seen the Neyrelle in the cinematic trailer. You’ve gotten a taste of the newest class of the Spiritborn. Now look at Mercenaries and the Dark Citadel, two more fresh elements coming with Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. Battling together has never been better.
- MERCENARIES - Your companions in battle who grow in strength and can be customized to support your own playstyle.
- Each mercenary is unique in the role they serve and comes with their own backstory, personality, and skills. They also have their own skill trees with a variety of choices that make them more supportive, combat focused, or a mix. Mercenaries can be enlisted as Reinforcements, periodically coming to your aid to perform attacks.
- Raheir – Born to the lawless and rough streets of Gea Kul and trained by the Iron Wolves
- Varyana – Former cannibal who left her tribe when they started dealing with darker forces; butcher by trade turned mercenary
- Aldkin – Half-child, half-demon creature born part demonic due to the influence of the First Khazra from the Citadel performing dark rituals on his mother.
- Subo – A disgraced Archer from the mountains, shunned by the same people who had looked to him for salvation and now a bounty hunter for hire.
- Mercenaries will gain Rapport as they accompany you in the world. The more rapport you earn, unlocking valuable rewards and bartering currency. As you build rapport, you can Barter with your mercs and enter trade agreements for a chance at powerful loot and other items.
- Each mercenary is unique in the role they serve and comes with their own backstory, personality, and skills. They also have their own skill trees with a variety of choices that make them more supportive, combat focused, or a mix. Mercenaries can be enlisted as Reinforcements, periodically coming to your aid to perform attacks.
- THE DARK CITADEL - A new co-op PvE end-game experience combining multiplayer mechanics with action-packed dungeon combat and boss fights.
- Enter the Dark Citadel with any group size from 2 to 4 players and fight complex bosses requiring coordination as well as split forces as you traverse down separate paths. Communicate non-verbally to your team with the new Marker System.
- Earn weekly caches by completing the Dark Citadel each week for powerful loot as well as unique Dark Citadel cosmetic rewards you can earn.
- KURAST UNDERCITY - An intense new multi-stage, time-attack dungeon built for both leveling and late game item farming.
- Players can influence the type of loot they earn by applying special keys called Spirit Tributes and increase the quality of their bounty by completing in-dungeon challenges, then defeating one of Undercity’s all new bosses.
- PROGRESSION UPDATES - Character progression is getting a major update when Vessel of Hatred launches.
- Building on the fundamental changes made to loot in Season 4, these progression updates will be permanent changes to the base game.
- Tune in on August 29th for a developer livestream that will go over all the details of the changes including updates to Difficulty Tiers, the Paragon System, and much more.
