Diablo 4 Season 7 needs to pay off the thrilling cliffhanger from Vessel of Hatred. Let the manhunt for the reborn Mephisto begin.
First off, we’re going to be discussing the Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred ending from the outset here, so if you’ve not finished the DLC campaign, I’d suggest you do so first if you want to avoid spoilers.
While Diablo Season 6 and the Vessel of Hatred expansion were technically two different content drops, they were released on the same day, and both dealt with Mephisto’s return. If you don’t know, Mephisto is the demonic Lord of Hatred, Diablo’s brother, and the current main antagonist of Diablo 4.
The base game ended with the heroes deciding that Mephisto was a bigger threat than Lilith, so to prevent his return to Sanctuary, they trapped his soul in a magic stone and attempted to lock this away for all time in Vessel of Hatred. Of course, shenanigans ensued and Mephisto was able to possess a new “Vessel” and escape.
A new Dark Wanderer
After the DLC, Mephisto is now even more dangerous than ever. Making things worse, he possesses the body of Akarat, a messianic figure in Diablo lore who also has superpowers. While Mephisto’s trail has already gone cold by the end of Vessel of Hatred, it’s only a matter of time before the Prime Evil pops up again, corrupting whatever he touches.
In many ways, Vessel of Hatred was one big tribute to Diablo 2, and now that Mephisto is loose in human form, the series can essentially replay the Dark Wanderer angle from that game. Basically, in Diablo 2, Diablo himself possessed the hero who defeated him in Diablo 1 and traveled around the world, leaving devastation in his wake. It was pretty damn cool.
Chasing Diablo and seeing his impact on different regions and characters was an exciting journey, and now that Mephisto is filling a similar role, it presents Blizzard with a golden opportunity. Between now and the second major expansion in 2025 – the hunt is on, but the devs need to capitalize on this with Diablo 4’s upcoming seasonal content.
I’m not saying we need to catch and battle Mephisto any time soon, but we need to see the after-effects of his travels. We must see where Hatred has been sown and deal with the impact. This opens the door for lots of thrilling seasonal stories that will culminate in Mephisto becoming the big bad he’s always had the potential to be.
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This needs to start in Season 7 with the first sightings of Akarat spreading his blessings when in reality, we know it’s really Mephisto and that these blessings are secretly hateful curses. Bit by bit, season by season, Mephisto’s goals need to become clearer. Where’s he going, and how do we stop him?
The road to Hatred
Of course, for Blizzard to pull this off, seasonal content must be more than just some new Helltide gimmick or a new dungeon mode where you slay demons in waves. It needs to be more like Season 5 and also feature some new quests that continue the story.
Let’s be honest: the Realmwalker events were fun, but if it hadn’t been for Vessel of Hatred releasing alongside it, Season 6 would have been lacking compared to previous seasons. In contrast, Season 5 gave us a fun glimpse into what Lilith’s followers have been up to since her defeat and this small (and rather excellent) side story laid the foundations for the expansion.
It was a masterstroke, and Blizzard also made these new missions available to players in both the seasonal and Eternal Realms, meaning everyone could enjoy them. This is the type of content that keeps players engaged, rather than just some new NPC that serves as a backdrop/quest-giver to the same old tasks.
This is what I want to see from Season 7 and beyond. Just a couple of missions that show us what Mephisto has been up to and allow us to feel a tangible sense of story progression in the hunt for him – and across both Realms. We shouldn’t have to start a new character for this content; let’s follow the example of Season 5.
Sure, Blizzard, the Kurast Undercity, Realmwalkers, Infernal Hordes, The Pit, and the Dark Citadel are all awesome as far as endgame content goes, and I look forward to seeing how you tweak them for Season 7.
But witnessing what carnage Mephisto causes while he’s wrapped in the body of Akarat? Well, that’s a far more interesting thing to consider.
