From Press Release:
During the Xbox livestream at gamescom, the Diablo IV team delved further into the exciting new features coming with Vessel of Hatred. In this stream they revealed the four Mercenaries players can call to their side: Rahier the Shieldbearer, Aldkin the Cursed Child, Varyana the Berserker Crone, and Subo the Bounty Hunter. Players can take advantage of their support by adding them to their party, hiring them when playing solo, or selecting them to add Reinforcement in times of need.
The team also revealed Diablo IV’s new ultimate co-op challenge, Dark Citadel. This new endgame feature is a cooperative dungeon for groups of players to solve challenges, face deadly battles, and defeat the final boss to earn coveted rewards.
Lastly, there will be Progression Updates that will offer a permanent and fundamental shift in how players level and progress throughout Sanctuary. We’ll have more to share on August 29th, so stay tuned for more details!
NEVER FIGHT ALONE! You’ve already seen the Neyrelle in the cinematic trailer. You’ve gotten a taste of the newest class of the Spiritborn. Now look at Mercenaries and the Dark Citadel, two more fresh elements coming with Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. Battling together has never been better.
- MERCENARIES—Your companions in battle who grow in strength and can be customized to support your own playstyle.
- Each mercenary is unique in the role they serve and comes with their own backstory, personality, and skills. They also have their own skill trees with a variety of choices that make them more supportive, combat focused, or a mix. Mercenaries can be enlisted as Reinforcements, periodically coming to your aid to perform attacks.
- Raheir – Born to the lawless and rough streets of Gea Kul and trained by the Iron Wolves
- Varyana – Former cannibal who left her tribe when they started dealing with darker forces; butcher by trade turned mercenary
- Aldkin – Half-child, half-demon creature born part demonic due to the influence of the First Khazra from the Citadel performing dark rituals on his mother.
- Subo – A disgraced Archer from the mountains, shunned by the same people who had looked to him for salvation and now a bounty hunter for hire.
- Mercenaries will gain Rapport as they accompany you in the world. The more rapport you earn, unlocking valuable rewards and bartering currency. As you build rapport, you can Barter with your mercs and enter trade agreements for a chance at powerful loot and other items.
- Each mercenary is unique in the role they serve and comes with their own backstory, personality, and skills. They also have their own skill trees with a variety of choices that make them more supportive, combat focused, or a mix. Mercenaries can be enlisted as Reinforcements, periodically coming to your aid to perform attacks.
- THE DARK CITADEL— A new co-op PvE end-game experience combining multiplayer mechanics with action-packed dungeon combat and boss fights.
- Enter the Dark Citadel with any group size from 2 to 4 players and fight complex bosses requiring coordination as well as split forces as you traverse down separate paths. Communicate non-verbally to your team with the new Marker System.
- Earn weekly caches by completing the Dark Citadel each week for powerful loot as well as unique Dark Citadel cosmetic rewards you can earn.
- KURAST UNDERCITY—An intense new multi-stage, time-attack dungeon built for both leveling and late game item farming.
- Players can influence the type of loot they earn by applying special keys called Spirit Tributes and increase the quality of their bounty by completing in-dungeon challenges, then defeating one of Undercity’s all new bosses.
- PROGRESSION UPDATES— Character progression is getting a major update when Vessel of Hatred launches.
- Building on the fundamental changes made to loot in Season 4, these progression updates will be permanent changes to the base game.
- Tune in on August 29th for a developer livestream that will go over all the details of the changes including updates to Difficulty Tiers, the Paragon System, and much more.
