World of Warcraft appearances show up as Diablo 4 transmog, but for a pretty high price — now with new (expensive) looks!

The Diablo 4 team crafts some beautiful cosmetic sets, and their newest theme — a crossover with World of Warcraft — continues to deliver premium quality. Unfortunately, the Warcraft Legends sets cost an equally premium price, which begs the question — how much are you willing to spend on a class skin? And, more importantly, why are we having this conversation about the cash shop in Diablo 4 again?

Each class has a cosmetic modeled after a well-known lore figure from World of Warcraft. We’re taking big lore names here: Varian Wrynn (Barbarian), Xavius (Druid), Xal’atath (Necromancer), Sylvanas Windrunner (Rogue), and Kael’thas Sunstrider (Sorcerer). And these skins are truly glorious — the lions on Varian’s pauldrons, Xal’atath’s dagger, and Sylvanas’ hooded cloak are all pristine. Your Sorcerer could don the Kael’thas set and be the Diablo blood elf of your dreams.

Just after the launch of Vessel of Hatred, Blizzard added a second round of looks that’s equally stunning. These broaden our hero theming pool with additional big names: Garrosh Hellscream (Barbarian), Malfurion (Druid), Illidan (Rogue), The Lich King (Necromancer), Jaina Proudmore (Sorcerer), and Bwonsamdi, Loa of Death Kings (Spiritborn). We’ve got Garrosh’s hallmark shoulders, Illidan’s glowing demonic tattoos, and weapons of legend, including Frostmourne, Gorehowl, and (modified) Twin Blades of Azzinoth. All these notable looks can be yours!

For $25+ — apiece.

That’s right, each of these skins will set you back 2800 platinum — the in-game store does not show cash prices, but “lucky” for us, one of the platinum purchase tiers is 2800 platinum for $24.99 (not including sales tax). This is comparable with current cosmetic set prices in the game, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easier to swallow if you, say, wanted all of them.

The “Born of the Stars” mount bundle is also included in the series, bringing the Celestial Steed (and some themed accouterments) to D4 for 2500 platinum (roughly $22). The Celestial Steed (aka Sparkle Pony) joined the WoW mount lineup in 2010 as the first in-game mount purchasable through a microtransaction for $25. In this sense, the Diablo 4 version is positively affordable because you’re not just getting the mount; you’re getting cosmetics for your mount as well. Heck, 2500 platinum is what they charge for the Invincible bundle — still one of the rarest WoW mounts. However, if you (like many of the Blizzard Watch staff) already have this mount in World of Warcraft, you may wonder why you’re paying for it again.

A new mount bundle joins our beloved Sparkle Pony in the second batch of cosmetics: Ash’adar, the Harbinger of Dawn nightsaber came to World of Warcraft as the very first reward for filling your Trader’s Tenders bar back in February 2023. The color-changing cat’s bundle comes with armor and two mount trophies (fairly standard as mount bundles go) for the same price the new skins — 2800 platinum. Oof.

This isn’t the first time the prices of the in-game cosmetics have come up. In February, the D4 team released a bundle of town portal skins — one for each class — and 1,000 platinum for $29.99 that raised some eyebrows. But if you didn’t have a particular class in-game — sorry, that portal is wasted. And at roughly the same time, they raised both eyebrows (and maybe brought on a few four-letter words) with a horse bundle priced more than the base game itself at $64.99. Of course, the bundle came with 7,000 platinum, which runs about the same total when bought independently so you could argue this is just a large platinum purchase with a free horse thrown in! Uh-huh.

The value of cosmetics has come up when discussing the Diablo 4 and Vessel of Hatred release bundles. It boils down to a single concept — it’s all about what you value. I only really notice my transmog on my login screen. But the genuinely small character sprite on the screen that you cannot zoom in on much or rotate the camera around? Not so much.

If all the skins were available in a single bundle (like the Nahantu Unearthed armor bundle in the VoH Ultimate Edition), even for a little more platinum, I’d consider it. Heck, I’d be all over it if I could pick out pieces — like Xal’atath’s knife — for a lower cost. But the math is now staggering: all 11 skins, two mount bundles from Warcraft Legends releases, plus Invincible to cap them off? We’re looking at 38,600 platinum, or (at the most affordable bundle rate) roughly $315. Maybe subscribe to World of Warcraft for two years instead — all the same lore exposure, and you still have money left over for 1,000 googly eyes.

Originally published August 14, 2024; updated October 14, 2024