Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: All New Difficulty Settings Expained

With Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred coming out in just a few days, Blizzard decided to livestream yet another one of their Campfire episodes, showcasing a lot of the changes that are going to take place once the expansion goes live. While we already know about many of the major additions to the game, such as the Spiritborn class, the Mercenaries, as well as the Citadel co-op dungeon, there are a ton of reworks happening to the base systems of the game.

One of these is the changes that are coming to the difficulty system, which not only has some new tiers but also a new way to unlock them, which will shift the way you play your characters in the endgame. Here is everything you need to know about the new Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred difficulty system!

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred Standard Difficulty Changes

In Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Blizzard has decided to remove all of the different World Tiers that you were able to access, in favor of a more standardized difficulty curve. The four main difficulties in Vessel of Hatred are going to be Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent. These are going to be your main choices until you manage to hit level 60. Here is a small breakdown of how hard you can expect these difficulties to be:

• Normal is a slower-paced mode suited for those looking for a lighter challenge.
• Hard and Expert offer an increased challenge for those looking to test their mettle and play at a faster pace.
• Penitent isn’t for the faint of heart. Those looking to pave a path to the new Torment Difficulties will face off against heightened danger. Play at your own peril!

The higher the difficulty, the more experience and gold you are going to be able to earn through defeating monsters. Here is how you are going to be able to unlock these new difficulty options:

• Normal and Hard are unlocked by default.
• Expert is unlocked after completing Diablo IV’s prologue.
• Penitent is unlocked upon completing the final quest in the base game’s campaign or by opting to skip the base game’s main questline.

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred Torment Difficulty Changes

Once you reach level 60 on your character, you are going to be able to start the endgame difficulties, called Torment. There are four levels of Torment difficulty, with each of them being progressively harder. For this reason, you are going to have to unlock each of them individually by completing certain milestones in the Pit endgame dungeon. Here is how you can unlock each of the four different Torment difficulties in the endgame:

• Reaching Level 60 unlocks the Pit and Tiers 1–20 of it. Beating Pit Tier 20 unlocks Torment Tier I.
• Beating Pit Tier 35 unlocks Torment II.
• Beating Pit Tier 50 unlocks Torment III.
• Beating Pit 65 unlocks Torment IV.

Playing on any of the Torment difficulties is also going to curse your character with a reduction to their elemental resistances as well as their armor. Here are all of the downsides you are going to experience by playing on Torment:

• Torment I: -250 Armor and -25% All Resist
• Torment II: -500 Armor and -50% All Resist
• Torment III: -750 Armor and -75% All Resist
• Torment IV: -1000 Armor and -100% All Resist

That is everything you need to know about the new difficulty systems in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred. This new system is going to allow players to gradually increase their difficulty in favor of more rewards, with each new tier feeling like a milestone for your character once you manage to reach it. For more Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred news and guides, make sure to check out the rest of our website!