If the phrase “Lord of Hatred” fills you with anticipation rather than dread, then your moment has arrived, as Diablo IV’s long-promised expansion officially launched around the globe late last night, and the queue wars began.
Moping on Reddit and the official forums began almost immediately as players began reporting their queue timers as if it were a competition. Even DownDetector got in on the fun, though the main spike of activity did appear to peter off by 10 p.m. EDT.
As we’ve previously covered, the expansion includes the Paladin and Warlock classes, the new campaign to defeat Mephisto, the new Skovos region, fishing, and multiple new systems and upgrades, as well as basegame skill tree tweaks, level cap bump, and new pathfinding and map overlay features. MOP’s Carlo rolled up a Paladin during the press preview earlier this month and played through level 70 and endgame, coming away pretty darn pleased with the expansion.
Worth noting is that the Season of Reckoning has also launched alongside the expansion – without a “season-specific story, theme, or gameplay elements.” Blizzard acknowledged that this seasonal format “represents a departure from past seasons,” but the next one will be back to normal.
Yesterday, Blizzard ushered in the new era of Diablo with a surprise Korn song and music video. Marketing team’s still got it!
