Diablo 4’s Lord of Hatred expansion launches next week with Paladins, Warlocks, and Skovos

Diablo 4’s next expansion is Lord of Hatred, where we’ll finally continue our (rather expected) fight against Mephisto, and the battle begins soon: Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred’s release date is April 27 in North and South America, and April 28 in the rest of the world. Here is the exact release schedule:

• Irvine: 4pm PDT, April 27
• Austin: 6pm CDT, April 27
• New York: 7pm EDT, April 27
• São Paulo: 8pm BRT, April 27
• London: 12am BST, April 28
• Berlin: 1am CEST, April 28
• Istanbul: 2am TRT, April 28
• Shanghai: 7am CST, April 28
• Seoul: 8am KST, April 28
• Sydney: 9am AEST, April 28
• Auckland: 11am NZST, April 28

You can pre-load the expansion — and patch 3.0.0 which features gameplay changes available to all players — right now on Battle.net, PlayStation, and Xbox. It’s a big game, so you’ll want to pre-load it if you plan to play on launch day. (While the game is also available on Steam, Blizzard has not listed it as available for pre-load there.)

We had a chance to playtest the expansion, so you can read our impressions if you’re still on the fence as to whether to pick up this expansion for yourself. But here’s the basics of what you need to know about Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred expansion.

It’s time for our final stand against Mephisto, the eponymous Lord of Hatred himself. He’s heading to Skovos, “the ancestral birthplace of the first civilization and the former home of Lilith and Inarius, [which] stands as Sanctuary’s oldest and most storied region.” Even when we interacted with the Amazons of Skovos in Diablo 2, we never actually got to experience their homeland. Instead, Skovos will be our regional hub for the expansion storyline as we move to protect the Pools of Creation with an old foe we thought dead (no, it’s not Diablo sorry).

In this new expansion, we’ll have access to two new classes: new Paladin and Warlock. Anyone who pre-ordered the expansion has had access to the Paladin already, but when the game launches, Warlocks will be available for the first time. But old classes aren’t neglected, and Lord of Hatred will result in some significant shake-up for all of your existing characters. Skill trees will be “deeply reworked” with new class-specific variants and an expanded crafting system to broaden the build pool across the (at release) eight classes. Loot Filters will help target specific gear drops for your class, while two additional crafting systems — the return of the Horadric Cube and the new Talisman — will bring set bonuses to the fray for additional customization.

Finally, the endgame is going to see some hefty improvements as well. With War Plans, players can “craft their own endgame progression path” — basically, you pick your favorite endgame activities and apply modifiers to earn those high-value rewards. Meanwhile, the Echoing Hatred adds a gauntlet-style challenge of demonic hordes “designed to challenge even the strongest builds.” But possibly the best endgame activity of all is coming to Diablo 4 — fishing. Yes, we can finally get a break from all the demon-slaying.

The Lord of Hatred expansion will come with the usual three editions: Standard ($40), Deluxe ($60), and Ultimate ($90). Any pre-purchase unlocks the early access to the Paladin as well as an extra Stash tab and two more Character slots. Purchasing the expansion also unlocks Vessel of Hatred immediately in addition to the coming expansion. The Deluxe and Ultimate editions stack cosmetics on top of the Standard, along with battle pass bundles, a mount, a pet, and more. Plus, if you’re a World of Warcraft player enjoying the new player housing, you get three exclusive decor items — again, with any edition.

You can pre-order Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred right now on Battle.net, Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.

It’s pretty safe to say that there’s a lot of (justified) excitement around this expansion announcement, and it’s only the early days yet! We’ll learn more as we approach the release date and can’t wait to see you in Skovos on April 27, 2026 to kill the Lord of Hatred. Happy hunting!

Originally published December 11, 2025; updated April 24, 2026.