Diablo 4 Reveals Lord of Hatred Expansion with New Paladin Class Available Right Now

Diablo 4 has officially announced the game’s second expansion at The Game Awards 2025, including details on how players can access the new Paladin class immediately with the start of Season 11. Titled Lord of Hatred, this new Diablo 4 DLC is set to follow up on the story of the Vessel of Hatred campaign and wrap up the ongoing Age of Hatred storyline that finally sees the Wanderer face off against Mephisto.

With the start of Diablo 4 Season 11, players are already getting to experience a wide array of changes to the game’s core loop. A reworked Tempering and Masterworking system, along with the addition of Sanctification, gives players a whole new way to upgrade their gear, and the new Season Rank system and Capstone Dungeons let players track their seasonal progress with new types of challenges. Now, Diablo 4 players have even more gameplay overhauls to look forward to in the future, as Lord of Hatred is set to introduce some highly anticipated features and a double dose of new classes.

Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred Concludes the Age of Hatred Saga, Launches April 28, 2026

Announced during The Game Awards 2025, Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred will be the second major expansion for the game following 2024’s Vessel of Hatred. Picking up where the previous expansion left off, players will have to stop Mephisto and the spreading corruption once and for all. To do so, they will end up joining forces with Lilith in an uneasy alliance that echoes the inevitability of the Daughter of Hatred’s parting words.

Image via Blizzard

As Mephisto’s corruption spreads across Sanctuary, players will travel to the new region of Skovos, the former home of Lilith and Inarius. An island chain located to the southwest of Nahantu, Skovos is one of Sanctuary’s most significant locations from a lore perspective, since it is where civilization in Sanctuary first began. Unlike Vessel of Hatred’s Nahantu, which appeared in Diablo 2 as the Kurast Jungles, Skovos has never been featured in a previous Diablo game.

Two New Diablo 4 Classes Will Be Available with the Lord of Hatred Expansion

Perhaps the most exciting part of this announcement is the confirmation that the fan-favorite Paladin class is returning in Diablo 4, and is available for players who pre-purchase the Lord of Hatred DLC to use immediately in Season 11. The Paladin debuted in Diablo 2 as a holy warrior who uses both a hammer and shield, along with Holy Light abilities, and is making a grand re-entrance to the Diablo series to help players smite Mephisto’s demonic hordes. Not only will Diablo 4 players get access to the Paladin right now, but Lord of Hatred is also adding a second class for those who purchase the DLC to be announced at a later date.

Players who pre-purchase Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred will also receive Vessel of Hatred at no extra cost and can access this first DLC expansion immediately.

Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred is also set to introduce a variety of endgame activities and quality-of-life improvements, many of which have been high on Diablo 4 fans’ wish lists. Diablo 4 will finally get a loot filter to help players target the specific gear for their builds more efficiently, and item crafting will become a more prominent feature with the return of Diablo 2‘s Horadric Cube and the new Talisman system that unlocks set bonuses. Skill Trees for every Diablo 4 class are also being overhauled to include class-specific variants and higher level caps for more overall build diversity.

The endgame content coming in Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred offers players a much more tailored experience, with War Plans allowing players to plot out their endgame progression path by specifying favored activities with strategic modifiers. Echoing Hatred is also being introduced as a new gauntlet of challenges for players to pit their strongest builds against. For something a little more relaxed, Diablo 4 is also getting a fishing mechanic in the new expansion.

Pre-Purchasing Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred not only grants immediate access to the new Paladin class and the full Vessel of Hatred DLC, but it also comes with a series of cosmetic perks depending on which version of the expansion players choose.

Standard Edition — Paladin Class and Vessel of Hatred DLC
Deluxe Edition — Everything in the Standard Edition plus the Mini Chimera Pet Skorch, the Skartaran Basilisk Mount Bundle, the High Heavens guard Cosmetic Bundle, a Premium Battle Pass Bundle, and more when the expansion launches.
Ultimate Edition — Everything from the other two editions, plus the Umbral Knights Armor Bundle (6 class sets), 3,000 Platinum, the Steed of the Shining Realm Bundle, Tymn, Echo of the Spire Back Trophy, and the Ascent of the Just Town Portal Skin.