Catch Up on the Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight
The Warlock is the next class coming to Diablo IV. A formidable dark force emerges from the shadow to crush their foes with mastery of a forbidden power. We’ll have more to share on this master of dark arts on March 5 – the livestream today was a glimpse of what’s to come.
Catch up on the Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight where we debuted the Warlock and dove into features in the Lord of Hatred expansion. We took a closer look at Skovos and new endgame features, major Skill Tree updates, Item Journey, and quality-of-life improvements.
Catch up on the entire Spotlight here.
Codex
Endgame: War Plans and Echoing Hatred
Play Diablo II Resurrected: Reign of the Warlock
Join the Voice the Warlock Content
Prepare for the Warlock
At the height of their dark mastery, the Warlock stands poised to wield the minions of hell against their overlords. Wreathed in chains and flames, this dark prince is not in a phase—they are the physical embodiment of devilish vengeance.
As the Paladin represents light and purity, Warlocks are their dark counterpart – anti-heroes harnessing the power of the Burning Hells.
This is your first look at this mage skilled in the violent arts of the taboo, we have much more to share on their powerful incantations. Join us on March 5 for a Developer Update Stream where we’ll do a deep dive on the Warlock class. We’ll learn more about the Warlock’s arcane talents, skills, and potent mastery of the dark arts.
Discover Skovos
Skovos is a land teeming with dangers unseen in Sanctuary. We’re excited to give you a deeper look at this ancient land.
Skovos is steeped in the history of Sanctuary’s progenitors. You’ll see the Blessed Mother and Heavenly Father carved into the marble structures of Temis, the capital city. Temis is the bustling epicenter of Skovos. Marble edifices, eerie elegance, vibrant craftsmanship, and rich textures all blend to create a hauntingly stunning landscape.
The town square teems with whispers of the Firstborn, the first civilization of Sanctuary. Uncover secrets about the Askari, the Prime Evils, and the ancient wars that shaped the world.
Temis is designed as the ideal Endgame hub for Diablo IV. Once the Lord of Hatred campaign concludes, it becomes a streamlined space to house everything you’ll want to discover.
Endgame: War Plans and Echoing Hatred
Lord of Hatred reignites the endgame experience, introducing two new modes revealed during the Diablo Spotlight: War Plans and Echoing Hatred.
Plot Your War Plans
War Plans puts you in control, adding new depth to the endgame experience. Create a playlist of up to five activities based on the experience you want and the rewards you seek, drawing from six endgame modes:
- The Pit
- Infernal Hordes
- Helltides
- Nightmare Dungeons
- Lair Bosses
- Kurast Undercity
Setup the activity order for War Plans and play through them seamlessly in a single chain. As you play through War Plans, you’ll earn progression towards a unique activity tree for all endgame activities, including Whispers of the Dead.
Customize each activity tree to change how it plays. Add a special, randomly spawned Butcher to all your Pit Runs, that will automatically end the Pit run when killed, regardless of your current progress. Or, for the boss hunters, Lair Bosses can infiltrate other activities in game, or send their minions. Duriel can replace the Blood Maiden during Helltides, while Lord Zir may unleash Bloodseekers into the Pit challenge your build.
War Plans are focused around giving you the tools to shape your endgame experience. Use this feature to master each endgame activity at your own pace or ramp up the intensity and push the limits of your build.
Brave the Echoing Hatred
Echoing Hatred is a new, hyper rare event that allows you to challenge yourself against the most powerful of Mephisto’s legions.
Should you find an incredibly rare Trace of Echoes from a loot drop, you’ll gain access to the Echoing Hatred event.
Descend into the Echoing Hatred and face infinite waves of enemies and escalating difficulty. Each run will feel different, with randomized monsters that force you to adapt your build and tactics as the heat increases. For example, waves can spawn a variety of bosses and several of them can spawn at a time.
The further you endure, the more difficult it becomes. Each wave will test your mastery of mechanics and buildcraft. Be prepared to face gargantuan threats in this incredible fight. The longer you can survive, the better the rewards. How long will you stand against the Echoing Hatred?
System Updates
Explore Buildcraft with the Overhauled Skill Tree
With Lord of Hatred, all players will reap the benefits of a completely overhauled, massively expanded skill tree system across all classes. From the moment you begin your character journey, you’ll have much greater control over your buildcraft and character expression.
We’re excited to roll out these sweeping updates to every class in Diablo IV—regardless of Lord of Hatred ownership—with the expansion release.
To explain this, we’ll use the Sorcerer’s Hydra skill. Currently, skill trees only boosts Burning damage or ramp up Critical Strike potential. With the upcoming skill tree changes, you'll be able to change attack speed, trigger explosions, or cause the flames to continually burn in a close area-of-effect. This fundamentally shifts the skills functionality, opening up a much broader range of possibilities.
Additionally, you’ll be able to augment these Hydras and turn them into Frost Hydras which would interact with other Frost abilities. The new skill options are a sandbox to explore every possibility as you hone in on your intended build.
The goal across these updates is to make theorycrafting go much further, with far more depth than ever before. There are over 40 reworked choices and 80 additional options. Lord of Hatred expansion owners will have an additional 20 transformative bonus Skill variants, adding even more options.
The Talisman
For the ambitious wanderer, the Talisman marks the introduction of powerful Charms and Set Bonuses with Lord of Hatred.
Once you unlock the Talisman through the Lord of Hatred campaign, Charms enhancing your character will begin dropping in game. For a Charm to become active, it must be placed within your Talisman. Charms drop in all rarities, but the Set Charms have the greatest potential. Equipping multiple Charms from the same set will unlock additional Set Bonuses.
With the Talisman, Charms, and Sets, you’ll be able to customize and fine tune your characters like never before. Your character can harness powers to rival even the finest Horadrim.
Horadric Cube
Making its debut in Diablo IV, the Horadric Cube will be critical to your chase for endgame glory, creating new opportunities to shape your journey and pursue tantalizing rewards.
For example, with the Horadric Cube you'll be able to transmute a random Affix onto any Common, Magic, Rare or Legendary Item, upgrading its rarity as you go - or reverse the process and remove any unwanted Affixes. Upgrade any common item you find, converting it into a Unique of the same type.
Once you unlock the Horadric Cube through the Lord of Hatred campaign, use it to combine rare materials and unlock additional properties.
Quality-of-Life for All
When Lord of Hatred releases, there will be multiple quality-of-life updates releasing simultaneously across the full game, regardless of expansion ownership. With Spotlight, we’ve shared the first of such features, with more to announce soon.
Loot Filter
The long-awaited Loot Filter is arriving soon. Whether your aim is to clear out items that don’t fit in your quest for the perfect Greater Affix, pursue that build defining Mythic Unique, Loot Filters give you significant control over your journey to greatness.
We’ll continue listening to community feedback to ensure the Loot Filter evolves in ways that support how you play.
Play Diablo II Resurrected: Reign of the Warlock
Also announced during the Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight, the Warlock arrives in Diablo II: Resurrected with Reign of the Warlock – introducing a new class to the title for the first time in 25 years. Take up the mantle as the Warlock in a DLC featuring:
- Newest Class in Diablo II: Resurrected – the Warlock
- Quality-of-life: the Chronicle, Updated Stash Tabs, Customizable Loot Filters
- Updated Terror Zones
- Colossal Ancients End-Game Encounter
Purchase the Diablo II: Reign of the Warlock to receive the following cosmetics in Diablo IV.
- Forbidden Tethers Back Trophy
- Kervek The Putrid Pet
Additionally, you’ll unlock exclusive World of Warcraft Decor items:
- Sanctuary’s Horadric Cube Housing Decor
Join the Voice the Warlock Contest
During the Diablo Spotlight, we announced the start of Diablo’s 30th anniversary celebrations. To kick things off, this is your chance to show off your demon summoning skills to win a trip and experience the music that has shaped the soul of Sanctuary for the past thirty years.
Win a Trip to The Infernal Symphony
Do you you have the dulcet tones capable of subduing a blood-frenzied demon? Submit your entry to the Voice the Warlock contest, where the winning entry will win a trip to London for The Infernal Symphony, Official Concert for the Diablo 30 Year Anniversary on June 6, 2026.
The Infernal Symphony is a musical pilgrimage through the world of Sanctuary across thirty years, five titles, and countless adventures. Join fellow fans and experience the iconic musical legacy of Diablo live.
To join the contest, submit your entry to the Voice the Warlock contest and @playDiablo on Instagram. Tag the account and use the hashtag #WarlockChallenge and #DiabloContest to enter.
Official contest rules will be available here. Get your tickets to the Infernal Symphony here.
More Details to Come
On March 5, we’ll have more to share when we take a closer look at the Warlock class in a Developer Update livestream, along with more on what’s next for Diablo IV.
Master the dark arts and give Hell a taste of its own devilry.
—The Diablo IV Team