Beginner Season 13 / LoH 15 min read

Diablo IV launched in June 2023, expanded with Vessel of Hatred (Spiritborn class, Nahantu) in October 2024, and entered its second expansion — Lord of Hatred — on April 28, 2026 alongside Season 13: Reckoning. Lord of Hatred added Paladin and Warlock as the seventh and eighth classes, opened the Skovos Isles region, raised the level cap to 70, expanded Torment from 4 to 12 tiers, reworked every class skill tree, introduced the Talismans charm system, shipped the long-requested Loot Filter, and replaced the older endgame loop with War Plans. This guide covers what a new player needs to know in May 2026.

The Eight Classes

All eight classes are live and endgame-viable. Pick for playstyle. Current S-tier highlights: Whirlwind Barb and Ball Lightning Sorc (both S+), Wing Strikes / Auradin Paladin, Penetrating Shot Rogue, Dread Claws / Demon Summoner Warlock.

The Reworked Skill Tree

Lord of Hatred rebuilt every class's skill tree. The biggest changes:

• Dedicated passive nodes are gone. Every former passive — including each class's capstone Key Passive — has been removed. The tree is now composed exclusively of active skills.
• Skills rank up to 15 (was 5), with each skill carrying up to 12 modifier combinations from a base node, three majors, and two pairs of further options.
• Where the passive power went: the strongest old passives have been reworked into Legendary Aspects and Uniques. Some former Aspect powers have moved into the tree.
• More than 40 new skill options per class plus 80+ additional modifiers — older guides for the same builds need full rebuilds.

Practical implication: any pre-LoH build guide is invalid. Use post-launch references only. See our Skill Tree Rework page for the full breakdown.

Campaign vs. Campaign Skip

First-ever character: play the base campaign. Every subsequent character: use Campaign Skip. Recommended story order if you bought everything: base campaign → Vessel of Hatred (Nahantu) → Lord of Hatred (Skovos / Mephisto).

Difficulty — 4 Leveling + 12 Torment

Lord of Hatred restructured the difficulty ladder. Leveling tiers stayed at 4 (Normal, Hard, Expert, Penitent). Torment expanded from 4 to 12 tiers for 16 total. The split into 12 narrows the jump between tiers compared to the old 4-tier model. Torment I unlocks once you hit the level cap and clear Pit Tier 10 — subsequent Torment tiers gate behind further Pit clears in five-tier increments.

Each Torment tier adds a stacking resistance penalty — capping resists becomes mandatory once you push past the lower Torments. Bump difficulty up the moment enemies start dying without effort; the per-tier XP bonus is the largest leveling multiplier you have. Charts of every tier's XP and gold bonuses live on the World Tiers guide.

Talismans — The Charm System

Talismans are Lord of Hatred's headline new gear system. They live in their own inventory tab with one central Seal socket and up to six outer Charm sockets. Unlock the system by completing the "Last of the Horadrim" questline at the start of the LoH campaign — Lorath hands you a Common Seal that opens three Charm slots.

• Seals determine how many Charm slots open up, how many can hold Unique Charms, and which set bonuses apply.
• Set Charms grant 2-piece, 3-piece, and 5-piece bonuses — the build-defining layer for most LoH endgame setups.
• Unique Charms carry the same effects as their Unique armor / weapon counterparts in charm form, freeing up your gear slot.
• Drop sources: Charms drop in the overworld once you've unlocked Talismans. Set Charms appear more often at Torment 3+, Unique Charms at Torment 8+, and Mythic Horadric Seals at Torment 10+.

Full mechanics on the Talismans page.

The Loot Filter

Lord of Hatred shipped with a built-in Loot Filter — a long-requested feature, and it's part of the base game (no expansion required). Rules apply top-down (a higher rule wins) with implicit AND logic across conditions inside the same rule. You can hide, show, or highlight gear by:

• Item Power range
• Rarity (Common / Magic / Rare / Legendary / Unique / Mythic)
• Whether a Legendary Aspect would upgrade your Codex of Power
• Greater Affix count (1 to 4)
• Item type / slot (sword, staff, chest, gloves, etc.)

The filter only acts on gear — Tempering manuals, gems, materials, and currency are always visible. You can import filters shared by other players if you'd rather not configure your own. Setup walkthrough on the Loot Filter page.

War Plans — The New Endgame Loop

War Plans replace the old "pick one activity at a time" endgame flow. After finishing the Lord of Hatred campaign, talk to Temis in Skovos to unlock the system. You then assemble a custom playlist of up to five chained activities, complete them in sequence, and collect a consolidated reward at the end.

• Eligible activities: Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, The Pit, Infernal Hordes, Lair Bosses, Kurast Undercity. Tree of Whispers runs alongside any plan rather than occupying a slot.
• Activity slots start at 2 and expand to 5 as you complete more War Plans.
• Each activity has its own skill tree with 7 levels — spend points to add bonuses or modify rewards (Lair Keys, Forgotten Souls, Mythic chance, etc.).

Full activity-tree breakdown on the War Plans guide.

Echoing Hatred — The Horde Mode

Echoing Hatred is a horde-survival arena added with Lord of Hatred. Waves of monsters rush you from every direction; difficulty ramps each wave until you fail an Overwhelm check and the run ends. The right-side Overwhelm bar tracks active enemy count — kills lower it, ignored packs raise it. Survive longer, get more loot.

• Entry: requires a Trace of Echoes, a rare drop from any loot source. Talk to the Sightless Eye in Temis to start the run.
• Reward: a chest spawns mid-arena at run end — armor, weapons, Talismans, with a meaningful Unique chance that grows the longer you survive.
• Build pick: AoE-first specs dominate. Whirlwind Barb, Ball Lightning Sorc, and Apocalypse Warlock are all top picks.

See the Echoing Hatred page for run strategy and rewards.

Mercenaries (Still Here)

Mercenaries — added in Vessel of Hatred — carry into Lord of Hatred unchanged in core mechanics. You hire one full-time Mercenary plus a Reinforcement (a second mercenary that triggers on a cooldown via a defined skill). Four are available:

• Raheir — Shield Bearer. AoE Barrier and armor buffs, the survivability pick.
• Subo — bounty-hunting archer. Marks targets, grants Cooldown reduction, ranged utility.
• Aldkin — half-demon caster. Magic damage with a demonic transform.
• Varyana — berserker. Stacks power per kill, scales with mass-clear builds.

Per-merc skill trees and best pairings on the Mercenaries guide.

Seasonal vs. Eternal Realm

Play Seasonal. Almost no reason not to:

• Fresh economy every ~3 months — everyone on equal footing
• Seasonal Battle Pass — free track + premium
• Exclusive cosmetic rewards — portraits, pets, mounts only available that season
• Nothing is lost — characters migrate to Eternal at season end
• Where the active community is

Note: Season 13: Reckoning is unusual — it shipped without a unique seasonal mechanic. Lord of Hatred's new systems are doing the work a typical seasonal mechanic would. The standard Season Rank, Blessings, and Battle Pass are still in. Future seasons are expected to return to the seasonal-mechanic format.

Your First Week — 1-70

1. 1
   Create a seasonal character Pick a class by playstyle, not tier list. Start on Hard difficulty.
2. 2
   Run Prologue, then skip or continue If it's your first-ever D4 character, play the full base campaign. Otherwise, Campaign Skip.
3. 3
   Hit Priority Quest at Level 15 Unlocks your class mechanic (Book of the Dead, Enchantments, Spirit Boons, Oaths, Soul Shards, etc.). Skipping cripples your build.
4. 4
   Tag every Altar of Lilith Permanent account-wide stat boosts + Renown. Highest value-per-minute activity in the game.
5. 5
   Grind Renown per region Each region pays out skill points, paragon points, Obol cap, potion charges.
6. 6
   Helltide from Level 30+ Top XP per hour pre-cap. Aberrant Cinders for chest rewards. Blood Maiden for materials and gear.
7. 7
   Push to Level 70 Mix Helltides, Whisper Caches, Nightmare Dungeons, Kurast Undercity, and Capstone Dungeons. The Pit unlocks shortly into endgame for glyph XP.
8. 8
   Unlock Torment via The Pit Pit Tier 10 unlocks Torment I; each subsequent Torment is gated by another five Pit tiers.
9. 9
   Finish the LoH campaign, then unlock War Plans Visit Temis in Skovos. Configure your first 2-slot plan and grind the bonuses you actually want.
10. 10
    Set up your Loot Filter Stops the screen-clutter problem. Hide commons, magics, low-power rares — surface only what would upgrade your Codex or your Charms.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• x
  Picking a class from outdated tier lists Lord of Hatred reset every meta. Pre-LoH guides are invalid because the skill tree rework removed Key Passives across all classes.
• x
  Starting on Normal Normal gives zero XP bonus. Start on Hard. Bump up the moment enemies feel easy.
• x
  Skipping Priority Quests Level 15 Priority Quest unlocks your class mechanic. Skipping it permanently hobbles your build.
• x
  Following pre-LoH build guides Skill tree, level cap, and Talisman system are all new. Use post-April-28 build references only.
• x
  Selling rares Salvage instead. Veiled Crystals are a bottleneck material.
• x
  Ignoring Altars of Lilith They are permanent account-wide +stat boosts + Renown. Max value.
• x
  Skipping the Last of the Horadrim questline It unlocks Talismans, the new build-defining gear system. No Talismans = badly under-geared in LoH endgame.
• x
  Playing Eternal realm No battle pass, no current meta, dead community. Only Eternal if you want to perma-play one character.

Heads Up — The Meta Is Still Moving

Lord of Hatred has shipped seven hotfixes in its first ten days (latest: Hotfix 7, May 7, 2026, build 3.0.1). Damage outliers, exploit closures, and stability fixes are still arriving weekly. If a build feels disproportionately strong, check our Hotfix log before committing major Resplendent Sparks to it — Schadenfreude Iron Maiden, Bramble Bone Prison, and Aspect of Limitless Rage have all been touched in the first two weeks.