Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred Is One Week Out — Everything We Know Before April 28

Seven days. That's all that stands between Diablo IV players and Lord of Hatred — Blizzard's first full expansion for the action RPG that, when it launched, was already one of the best in its genre. One week out, here's your complete rundown of everything we know, everything that's been confirmed, and what you should be doing right now to prepare.

The Story Setup

Lord of Hatred picks up in the aftermath of the base game's campaign. Mephisto — the Lord of Hatred, one of the three Prime Evils who was notably absent from Diablo IV's main story despite his shadow hanging over everything — is moving to exploit the power vacuum left by those events. The expansion focuses on his rising influence and what it means for Sanctuary.

For context: Mephisto is arguably the most personally motivated of the Prime Evils. He's calculating, patient, and his hatred is directed specifically at humanity in a way that the other Primes' motivations aren't quite. Using him as an expansion's central antagonist rather than the main game's villain was a deliberate story choice that creates room for a more intimate, personal threat alongside the cosmic stakes of the base campaign.

The setting spans new areas of Sanctuary not visited in the main game. Blizzard has kept specific location details embargoed ahead of launch, but the cinematic trailer shown at The Game Awards in December confirmed at least one new region with a distinct visual identity from everything in the base game.

The New Classes

Two new character classes have been confirmed for Lord of Hatred, with the Warlock receiving the most coverage ahead of launch.

The Warlock is described as a master of dark magic, forbidden rites, and knowledge the world refuses to understand. Mechanically, Blizzard has positioned it as a high-complexity class built around managing multiple offensive systems simultaneously — dark spells, summoned entities, and debuffs that compound on targets over time. The class rewards players who can track multiple elements in combat rather than those who prefer straightforward high-damage rotations.

Notably, the Warlock is simultaneously being added as a paid DLC class to Diablo II: Resurrected, and a version will appear in Diablo Immortal in June. Blizzard is treating this as a franchise-wide character debut rather than simply an expansion addition.

The second new class has not been officially named at the time of writing, with Blizzard keeping it embargoed for a dedicated reveal planned ahead of launch. Based on silhouettes and datamined information from the expansion's PTR, community speculation has centred on a melee-focused faith-based archetype — but this is unconfirmed.

The New Endgame System

Lord of Hatred introduces a revamped endgame progression system that builds on the criticisms Blizzard has been responding to since the base game's launch. Specific details remain under embargo, but based on developer interviews and preview event coverage, the expansion's endgame is designed around three principles: clearer progression goals, more meaningful choices between power paths, and faster access to the content loop after levelling.

The pre-expansion patch that Blizzard deployed earlier this month included class tuning changes and quality-of-life improvements described as preparation for the expansion systems — meaning the game you log into today is mechanically closer to the Lord of Hatred experience than it was three weeks ago.

What To Do Before April 28

If you want to be ready for Lord of Hatred on day one, here's your preparation checklist:

Level a character to 100 if you haven't. The expansion's endgame content is designed for characters who have completed the levelling journey. A 60 or 70 parked from months ago won't need much work — a few hours of running Nightmare Dungeons should close the gap.

Clear the base game campaign if you haven't. Lord of Hatred's story follows on directly. Playing the expansion without finishing the base game is technically possible but will spoil the narrative setup.

Identify your preferred class for the expansion. If you want to play Warlock on day one, plan to level one from scratch — new classes start at level 1 and can't be boosted into the endgame. If you want to bring an existing character in, now is the time to get that character polished.

Spend your Obols and check the Codex of Power. Any non-crafted gear you're holding onto that you won't transfer into the new system can be liquidated for Obols or salvaged. The expansion will likely introduce a new crafting system that makes some current materials relevant in new ways.

The Switch 2 Wildcard

As reported in our separate story today: Blizzard confirmed via a pre-premiere livestream that Lord of Hatred is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 later this year. Switch 2 players will have to wait for a follow-up launch window, but the confirmation means the expansion's audience will ultimately extend to Nintendo's platform — potentially the first time many Switch players experience Diablo IV at all.

Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred launches April 28, 2026 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Switch 2 version confirmed for later in 2026.

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