Diablo 4 Season 6: Vessel of Hatred Plus Spiritborn Supremacy

Season 6: Hatred Rising launched October 8 alongside the Vessel of Hatred expansion, and yes, you need the $40 expansion to play the season. After Season 5's mediocre showing, at least this one packs actual content. Even if that content is hilariously unbalanced.

Spiritborn: When Balance Goes on Vacation

The new Spiritborn class deals trillions of damage. Not a typo. Literally trillions. While other classes carefully optimize to hit billions, Spiritborn players are casually deleting Uber bosses in seconds and clearing Pit 150 like it's normal difficulty. The evade build particularly breaks the game: dodge rolls that deal billions of damage per proc. Revolutionary game design.

Blizzard's response? "We're monitoring performance closely." Translation: expansion sales are too good to nerf anything yet. Other classes got token 5% buffs while Spiritborn remains a walking delete button. Corporate needs their quarterly earnings, balance can wait.

But here's the thing: it's genuinely fun being overpowered. Sure, the game becomes trivial and everyone's running the same broken build, but sometimes you just want to feel like a god. Credit where it's due: Spiritborn delivers the best power fantasy Diablo 4's ever had. Even if it breaks everything else.

Realmwalkers: Helltide But Make It Purple

The seasonal mechanic introduces Realmwalkers, basically Helltide events with a purple color scheme and angrier demons. Portals spawn randomly across Sanctuary, opening rifts to the Realm of Hatred where monsters pour out like a demonic clown car. Innovation through a palette swaps.

You'll collect Seething Opals, because thirty currencies weren't enough. These exchange for... wait for it... more currencies! The endgame economy now requires a spreadsheet and a finance degree. Excel players finally have their moment.

The Realmwalker bosses drop socketable stones with minor stat boosts. Revolutionary if you've never played an ARPG before. Otherwise, it's Tuesday. But the monster density is legitimately great: experience flows like water and paragon grinding feels less like torture.

Mercenaries: NPCs That Actually Do Something

Vessel of Hatred introduces four mercenary companions, and they're shockingly useful. Raheir tanks like an actual tank, Varyana murders things with efficiency that almost rivals a Spiritborn, Aldkin provides meaningful buffs, and Subo... well, Subo exists. Three out of four ain't bad.

Each mercenary gets their own skill tree, adding builds within builds. It's the kind of complexity that sounds exhausting on paper but genuinely adds strategic depth. Unless you're playing Spiritborn, then they're just expensive decoration while you delete the screen yourself.

The rapport system feels straight out of a dating sim. Give gifts, unlock cosmetics, develop parasocial relationships with NPCs. Peak modern gaming. But credit where it's due: mercenaries are the best addition since launch. Solo play finally feels less lonely, and they're competent enough to make a real difference. Only took six seasons to make the game feel complete.

Dark Citadel: Baby's First Raid

Diablo 4's first "raid" content requires 2-4 players and actual cooperation. Random matchmaking is included, which means you'll either get competent teammates or three people who've never heard of voice chat. Place your bets.

The mechanics are surprisingly solid: coordination puzzles, meaningful boss phases, and encounters you can't just face-roll through. Well, unless you're Spiritborn. Then you face-roll with style while your teammates watch the light show.

Weekly rewards include ancestral uniques and build-defining items. The content is genuinely well-designed when stars align: cooperative group, stable servers, balanced builds. When it works, it's the closest Diablo 4's come to feeling like an MMO.

The $40 Season Pass Problem

Season 6 requires the Vessel of Hatred expansion, making it effectively a $40 season. Base game owners need not apply. Welcome to gaming's new class system where your wallet determines your content access. Corporate's really leaning into that "sense of pride and accomplishment" philosophy.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: the expansion content is substantial. The new Nahantu region is massive, the story's surprisingly coherent (Mephisto's actually menacing), and Kurast's jungles look gorgeous. The verticality can be frustrating. Expect to get lost regularly with sparse waypoints turning exploration into a walking simulator. But the atmosphere nails that oppressive jungle dread.

Mercenaries alone might justify the price. They fundamentally change solo play, making it feel less like a lonely grind and more like an actual party experience. Value proposition remains debatable, but at least you're getting more than a reskinned battle pass.

Worth Your Time?

Season 6 is simultaneously Diablo 4's best and worst season. Best because it packs genuine content: new class, new region, mercenaries, raid content. Worst because it's all locked behind a $40 paywall and balance went out the window. Spiritborn players are living their best life right now.

Other classes remain technically viable. Necromancers still reliable, Barbarians still struggling, Rogues forgotten entirely. Playing anything but Spiritborn feels like voluntary hard mode. But if you can stomach the imbalance (or embrace it), the actual content is solid.

The endgame finally has meat on its bones. Torment difficulties matter, Pit pushing stays addictive, and build diversity exists, even if 90% of players run the same broken Spiritborn build. For better or worse, this is Diablo 4 at its most content-rich. Just prepare your wallet first.

Season 6 runs until January 21, 2025. Spiritborn nerfs still "being monitored."