Vessel of Hatred’s campaign picks up right after the end of Diablo 4, and tasks you with following Neyrelle to the jungle region of Nahantu. The expansion features a whole new act of the Diablo campaign, which will unlock many of the expansion’s new features for you. But what about the very long original Diablo 4 campaign? Don’t you need to play that first?
In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll teach you how to skip the original campaign and head straight into the new content added in the Vessel of Hatred campaign. We’ll also give you some advice on which option you should choose if you’re new to the game.
How to skip the Diablo 4 campaign and start Vessel of Hatred DLC right away
Image: Blizzard Entertainment via Polygon
When you’re making your character and own Vessel of Hatred, you’ll be able to select a “campaign state” on the same page where you can name your hero and tick the seasonal or hardcore boxes.
Click the box at the top to change your campaign state, then you’ll be presented with two options: play the original Diablo 4 experience first or skip directly to Vessel of Hatred. Select the second option to start with Vessel of Hatred and it’ll plop your character into the world ready to go on the expansion’s adventure, as if you’ve already completed the original campaign. You can select this option even if you’re playing on a brand new account.
Once you’ve beaten the Vessel of Hatred campaign on your account, you’ll get a third option in this menu that will allow you to skip the Vessel of Hatred campaign on any future characters.
Which Diablo 4 campaign state should you choose?
Image: Blizzard Entertainment via Polygon
Which campaign state you should select should be based entirely on your experience with Diablo 4 and the Vessel of Hatred expansion, as well as your social circumstances.
If you’re a completely solo player, and diving into Diablo 4 for the first time, playing through from the beginning of Diablo 4 and its base campaign should be your top priority. The campaign not only introduces you to a lot of the basic ideas of Diablo 4, but the story as well. The Vessel of Hatred campaign will make little to no sense without the original campaign (although there is a recap cutscene that will help remind you of the events if it’s been a while). The original Diablo 4 campaign is also very good, and worth playing through at least once.
Now what if you’re jumping into Diablo 4 to play with friends? In that case, you should go wherever they are. If they all want to play the original campaign together, super. But if they’re already deep into Diablo 4 and ready to jump into Vessel of Hatred, you should skip to them. The original campaign is quite long, so it’ll take you many hours to catch up to your friends.
If you’re a Diablo 4 regular or you beat the Diablo 4 campaign before putting the game down for a while, you should start with the Vessel of Hatred campaign and get to the new stuff as soon as possible.
Once you unlock the ability to skip both campaigns and go right into the open world of Diablo 4, you should choose that version every season — barring any social situations, like wanting to play through the campaign with a friend.
After you’re in the game, see our guides on the best Spiritborn build, Tenets of Akarat locations, and advice on the best class to play this season.
