Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred gives its devs "a chance to just get really horrible, and I say that the best way possible"

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Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred gives its devs "a chance to just get really horrible, and I say that the best way possible" Features By Joe Chivers Contributions from Josh West published 24 January 2026

Big in 2026 | The game's latest expansion dives deep into series lore and horrific gore

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It's been nearly three years since Diablo 4 first launched, and our five-star Diablo 4 review goes to show this hack and slash is a return to form and then some.With no sign of slowing down, its second expansion is about to burst onto the scene like loot flying from a chest. Releasing on April 28, it invites players to journey to the islands of Skovos for the first time in Diablo's history. This realm, a panoply of rainforest and volcanic areas, was first mentioned back in Diablo 2, as the homeland of the Amazon warrior, but we've never got to go there until now.

What awaits us when we make landfall on these islands? Our very own Editor-in-Chief, Josh West, got a chance to sit down with narrative designers Matt Burns and Eleni Rivera-Colon and figure out what the Lord of Hatred, Mephisto, has in store for us. The previous expansion, Vessel of Hatred, focused on Mephisto's imprisonment in a soulstone, but things have gone awry and he's now able to unleash his horrific will on the world once again after taking over the body of Arakat.

Hate machine

(Image credit: John Strike / Future)

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The expansion will explore "what he is doing now that he's in this body. No one really knows where he is or what he's up to. And so it's really this opportunity to tie up all the story lines that have been going throughout Diablo 4, and make it feel like we're making a huge impact on the world through our actions and through this confrontation with Mephisto", says Burns. After a long period of battling him in the shadows, Lord of Hatred is going to give us a showdown with him that should drive the Diablo story forward.

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The expansion appears to be a love letter to the series as a whole, casting light on a variety of topics that are key to Diablo lore, such as the Horadrim, the group of spiritual warriors sworn to fight the Prime Evils. Skovos is a great setting for all of this lore exploration: it's the oldest part of Sanctuary, and where the likes of Lillith created the firstborn, the forebears of humanity as a whole. It's a realm that has a vastly different culture than the rest of Sanctuary. This pairs well with the two new classes that are coming with Lord of Hatred, the Paladin and an unnamed class which some are speculating could be the Amazon, which would be fitting for the setting.

As Rivera-Colon points out, in addition to seeing the new culture of Skovos, we'll get to see the "contrast by bringing in characters that don't necessarily belong in Skovos". Seeing how these characters can fit into and stand out from the islands as a whole offers a potentially fascinating journey for players.

The choice of setting isn't just a way to send players on a demon-slaying holiday, though. Burns says that there's a key motive for Mephisto travelling to the islands. "In Skovos, this island nation has been disrupted by an influx of all these religious followers, basically, and they're dealing with that. And meanwhile, the great mystery we're trying to uncover is why Mephisto is coming here specifically, because there is a reason. There's something here, a place he's trying to get to where he's gonna do a profane ritual that'll change the fate of humanity forever".

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High stakes indeed – particularly as Eleni points out that, for Mephisto, the gloves have come off. "In Vessel of Hatred, there's only so far he could go, and it was only just Neyrelle, right? Like, the only effect, really, is a lot of chaos with her. I mean, there [are] the effects of him being in the area, but in terms of what he's doing, I think we get a chance to just get really horrible, and I say that the best way possible. It's just like, you know, what does a demon do to humankind and mankind, [what is] that emotional breakage that they can do to somebody? So I think that's really fun and cool."

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To cope with the devs getting to let their inner monsters out, players will be able to give their characters a boost, too. The level cap is being raised, and the skill tree is being reworked, with every class getting new skill variants. A much-demanded quality of life feature is getting added, too: a loot filter, which should make for significantly easier farming and less inventory Tetris. If you already loved Diablo 4 and have yet to check out its first incredible solid expansion (you can check out our Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review for more), you can get instant access to it by pre-ordering Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, with the two being bundled together. If Lord of Hatred is able to live up to the hype, we're pretty sure we'll see a whole host of players returning to Sanctuary later in 2026.

(Image credit: Future) CATEGORIES PC Gaming PS5 PS4 Xbox Series X Xbox One Platforms PlayStation Xbox Joe ChiversContributor

Ever since getting a Mega Drive as a toddler, Joe has been fascinated by video games. After studying English Literature to M.A. level, he has worked as a freelance video games journalist, writing for PC Gamer, The Guardian, Metro, Techradar, and more. A huge fan of indies, grand strategy games, and RPGs of almost all flavors, when he's not playing games or writing about them, you may find him in a park or walking trail near you, pretending to be a mischievous nature sprite, or evangelizing about folk music, hip hop, or the KLF to anyone who will give him a minute of their time.

With contributions from

• Josh WestEditor-in-Chief, GamesRadar+

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