The ending of “Diablo 4” is a bit suspenseful. Although Lilith is defeated and Sanctuary is temporarily saved, another threat, Mephisto, still looms. In an effort to destroy the Lord of Hatred once and for all, Nairel trapped Mephisto’s essence within the Soul Stone and disappeared, leaving only a cryptic note of her intentions. Containers of Hate is Blizzard’s first expansion for Diablo 4, released on October 8, and will see players race to find and aid Neyrelle in her fight before it’s too late.
Ahead of Hateship’s release, and the debut of a new in-game animation that highlights the physical and mental toll Mephisto’s presence takes on Neyrelle, we had the chance to chat with game director Brent Gibson and associate narrative designer Eleni Rivera talks – Cologne about the Hate Boat character. How does Mephisto’s influence affect Nyril? What is Mephisto’s goal? What is Loras doing? Gibson and Rivera-Colon won’t spoil anything, but do help set up what players can expect to see as they play through Vessel of Hate’s story campaign.
在《仇恨之船》中，內瑞爾正在尋找光之穹頂，據說這個地點隱藏在納漢圖茂密的叢林中，據說也是薩卡蘭姆信仰創始人阿卡拉特的最後安息之地。她希望在那裡能夠永遠消滅墨菲斯托，但他在靈魂石中的存在腐蝕了她周圍的世界，引起了納漢圖叢林守護者靈裔的注意。
在與新角色－睿智的靈生長老埃魯（Eru）合作後，玩家們終於在新曝光的動畫中追上了奈瑞爾（Neyrelle）。她手中握著靈魂石，瘋狂地吟誦著古老的頌歌，試圖控制墨菲斯託的力量。吉布森說，這個場景是玩家角色「接受」奈瑞爾處境的規模的時刻，並意識到在她努力馴服墨菲斯托時必須採取一些措施。
「她正在盡一切努力用聖歌將他固定在靈魂石中，」裡維拉-科隆說。 “他本質上是在試圖突破。他會盡他所能。”
內瑞爾相信，透過獨自承擔靈魂石的重擔，她就能確保朋友們的安全。裡維拉-科隆說，承擔沉重的負擔並被迫處理無法控制的情況是內雷爾這個角色所習慣的。
「在資料片中，我們要真正探索她對這個選擇和這個決定的看法，因為她已經和墨菲斯托這樣的人在一起了。 [the] “The Soul Stone has been around for so long,” Rivera-Colon said. “It’s going to hit her hard and she’s not sure she can do it. “
This is a story about Nairel, but also a story about Mephisto. He was absent from Diablo 3, but played a supporting role in Diablo 4’s story, anonymously helping players stop Lilith in his blood wolf form, eventually revealing his true identity. Gibson said one of the goals of the expansion is to hone in on the Lord of Hatred and tell the next major chapter of his story, teasing that Blizzard will also be creating more content about Mephisto over time.
Mephisto is the root of all evil, and while he’s terrifying in his own way, he’s much different than the demon Diablo the series is named after. Mephisto is more interested in spreading hatred and division among the people of Sanctuary, finding weaknesses in people and turning friends and family against each other for his own nefarious purposes.
“That’s just the way he rolls,” Gibson said. “If you think about the way he showed up in the base game, made you second guess your allies, made you second guess Lilith. What kind of influence does he have on Neyrelle now? What is he making her second guess?”
Although he’s still trapped in the Soul Stone, the wolf projection seen in the base game is back, once again serving as Mephisto’s voice and a way for him to “spread his message.” His corruption seeps from the Soul Stone into the surrounding world, with Gibson describing the Soul Stone itself as almost radioactive.
“Mephisto’s return to Sanctuary is a big deal,” Gibson said. “Any time this happens, they’ll be banished back to the Abyss, kicking and screaming the whole way. Even though he’s trapped in the Soul Stone, the danger here is that if he gets out, his body goes back to Sanctuary , so it’s important that Neyrelle found a solution to prevent this from happening.
Rivera-Colon said Mephisto is doing everything he can to break free, although his options are limited, so he has to be careful. Thankfully for Mephisto, the expansion brings him back to one of his former seats of power, the jungles of Nahantu, where he previously corrupted the Zakarum Church and played a key role in Diablo 2″ to fight players. A new wrinkle has been added to the story of the Holy Light and the Spiritual Realm.
“The Zakarum faith doesn’t do everything right,” Rivera-Colon said. “They don’t know Akarat. So this is an opportunity to explore Akarat and Akarat’s faith, not only through the Zakarum faith, but through the land and his impact on the entire land of Nehantu.”
There’s no doubt that the focus of Hateship is Mephisto and Nyril. However, one of Diablo 4’s main characters and the final Horadrim Loras is noticeably absent. Gibson said this was by design, as they only had limited space to tell the story in the expansion.
“Where Loras is is a mystery,” Gibson said. “That will be addressed over time, but if you think about the state of the world after the base game, he still has some work to do.”
Blizzard is still leaving plenty of details for players to discover on launch day, though a recent trailer may have spoiled one of the expansion’s boss battles. Thankfully, players won’t have to wait long to find out what happens next. PC players using Battle.net can preload Hateship now, while console players can preload the expansion on October 5th ahead of its release on October 8th. For more on Diablo 4, be sure to check out our hands-on preview of the new Spiritborn class, and read about all the new systems like Runewords, and the difficulty adjustments coming alongside the Hatred Vessel.
