Blizzard Watch Weekly: Diablorama

There’s just something about the diabolical plot twists in the Diablo series that makes it seem like everything is foreshadowed, even if you didn’t really see it coming. Then, on your second playthrough, all those little pieces click into place.

This time? Well. Will you see it coming?

What Happened This Week

Most of this week was relatively sleepy. We talked a little about what to expect from the upcoming Dragon Age Dreadwolf gameplay (so you can spend a ton of time in the sweet, sweet character creator, as one does in Dragon Age games). Season of Discovery hit a new phase a couple weeks ago, and with it, Blackwing Lair and its iconic tier 2 gear has returned — with a twist we wrote about this week. Also, we showcased a few War Within mounts that are easy to get. Ho hum, just slow news week things.

And then press review period concluded for the upcoming Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred Friday afternoon, and we have a whole deluge worth of posts to go with it.

What’s Happening Next Week

Vessel of Hatred launches on October 7 at 4 pm PST — a global release centered around October 8 midnight GMT — and that’s what will be consuming our lives next week. And souls, probably. Foreshadowing.

The biggest new feature added to Diablo 4 by Vessel of Hatred is probably the new class, the Spiritborn. We had a chance to play them, and Nick related our first impressions of the new Spiritborn class. In addition to the class itself, we also discussed the steps to unlock the Spirit Hall, the core class mechanic for Spiritborn.

But there are a new features coming to Vessel of Hatred that are new, but have familiar touchstones in older content. A new feature, Kurast Undercity, fills a bit of the role Rifts did in Diablo 3, with solid rewards that get better as you crank up your difficulty and start running them over and over again. If you liked touching Lilith Statues in the base game, there’s a whole new set of random things in the world to slap your filthy palm on with Tenets of Akarat. If you liked Followers — despite the fact that Kormac is still dreadfully not a llama — the new Mercenaries will probably pique your interest as well, especially since they’re far more in-depth than their predecessors. But if you’re more into grouping up with actual people than mercs, there’s a new Party Finder feature to use — probably the most requested utility since the game initially launched.

Also, as Vessel of Hatred launches, Season 6 begins simultaneously. Just in case a whole expansion wasn’t enough — or if you elected to delay purchasing the expansion. If you didn’t want to jump in to Vessel of Hatred on day 1, we have a primer on the stuff that changes, and the stuff that doesn’t, if you have the base game but not the expansion.

Blizzard Watch Podcast

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: Why we’re excited for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred
• Blizzard Watch Podcast Special: A chat with Jason Schreier about his upcoming book about Blizzard
• Lore Watch Podcast: What is the true nature of Old God-created races?

Speaking of foreshadowing, the special episode we teased last week has arrived — special guest Jason Schreier chatted with Liz and the boys about his new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, which chronicles Blizzard from the inside out. It’s packed with anecdotes and the inside stories on some of the most mysterious question marks in gaming. Liz’s copy was more post-it than page by the end of her read.

On the less-special episodes, the Watchers waxed lyrical on Diablo 4‘s upcoming expansion, and Matt and Joe tried to untangle one small corner of the domain of the Old Gods (it’s us). Remember that if you enjoy our podcasts, you can subscribe to our Patreon to get them uncut and a little bit early.

What to play this weekend

We’d definitely suggest that, in addition to our usual slate of new releases and older favorites we recommend every week, you take a minute or two to brush off your Diablo characters right now. Clear out those stash tabs, and conclude your seasonal stuff before it rolls over. I’m not your dad, but these next couple days gives you the perfect time to clean your figurative room. Now, young lady, sir, or gentlethem!

Also, Epic Games showcasing Bear and Breakfast as their free game of the week serves as a reminder that both Fat Bear Week continues on, and that Bear and Breakfast is a stellar game worth picking up. Also, the emojis they added to the Bear and Breakfast Discord are some of my most used. There’s no wrong time for an opossum that goes :aaaa: regardless of whether the thing we’re going :aaaa: over is a new expansion, a new class, a new book, a cute fave, or a river of blood corrupted by hatred. Foreshadowing!