On April 27, 2026, a launch press conference for 'Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred' was held at the 'Devil's Door' Brewery in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Held the day before the game's release, this event featured interviews related to Lord of Hatred, followed by an influencer event called 'Kitchen Diablo.' The event began with the statement, "This event was organized to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Diablo series this year, while also serving as an opportunity to learn more about 'Lord of Hatred.'" Hong Chang-ui, Head of Publishing at Blizzard Entertainment, briefly introduced the journey Diablo 4 has taken so far and added that the event, 'Kitchen Diablo,' is being planned in three stages to ensure it can be enjoyed by fans not only in Seoul but across the country. ▲ Hong Chang-ui, Head of Publishing at Blizzard Korea Afterward, a Q&A session followed to discuss 'Lord of Hatred' in earnest. Blizzard Associated Game Director Zaven Haroutunian, who participated in the interview, stated, "Lords of Hate was created based on our team's core philosophy," adding that the goal was to provide players with a more advanced sense of gameplay than before as they refine their builds and explore Sanctuary. Director Haroutunian further added that through Lords of Hate, players will be able to experience the story of the Wanderer following Neyrel's legacy—set against the backdrop of the Skovos Islands, which are being slowly brainwashed by Mephisto following the previously revealed "Death of Neyrel"—as well as the Paladin fighting with discipline and faith, and the Demonologist wielding forbidden power. Additionally, Director Haroutunian mentioned the overhaul of the "Skill Tree" as the most significant change in this expansion. It was stated that although it had previously received criticism for being a "skill branch" rather than a "skill tree," a skill tree capable of yielding truly clear results has now been created, allowing for more meaningful build customization and class identity. In addition, "War Plans," which binds end-game content, "Horadrim Chests," an iconic system of the Diablo series, and "Spirit Animals and Talismans," which fill the gaps left by set items, have been added. Director Javen stated that through these systems, Diablo 4 has implemented gameplay that is much deeper and broader than before, and revealed that they will continue to listen to gamer feedback to refine the game into a better one. Following this, an on-site interview was conducted. The questions were compiled based on pre-submitted questions from participating journalists and questions collected from the community. ▲ Blizzard Associate Director Javen Harotounian The narrative and presentation have improved significantly compared to the previous expansion. Was there anything you paid extra attention to during the planning process?

“This work was very conscious of core themes. Things like the contrast between Heaven and Hell, and the relationship between Lilith and Mephisto. As this is the fourth game in the Diablo series and its second expansion pack, we also put great effort into illuminating the stage of Sanctuary more richly.

Will the operation of seasons following the expansion pack differ from the existing operational methods? I am curious about what differences can be expected in the composition of season content.

“Speaking starting from the first season, Season 13 adds a lot of content along with the implementation of Lords of Hatred, so we hope it will be a season to adapt to this new system, and separately Seasonal content will have a relatively small proportion. The small scale of content for this season itself is temporary, and starting from Season 14, we plan to prepare core content as before. Currently, we predict that War Plans will be the core endgame, encompassing both Seasons and Standard, and we plan to further improve this War Plans as the seasons progress. ▲ The currently planned endgame content is summarized as 'War Plans'. The Demonologist displays the most powerful form, as this is the most recent version compared to appearances in other series. How was the difference between the Demonologist in previous series and the Demonologist in this game portrayed? Regarding the Paladin, although there is a Paladin in both Diablo 2 and 4, given the time difference, we only needed to show an improved version. In the case of the Demonologist, since it was applied to all series simultaneously, we chose to maintain only the core concept while showing a completely different direction. With the introduction of the Skovos Islands, many predicted the appearance of the Amazon. Is there a possibility that the Amazon will appear as a playable character? I have nothing to say at the moment. However, we are aware of the opinions of gamers who believe that if the Amazon does not appear despite the release of Skovos, she will never be released. I will monitor the situation and inform you immediately if anything further arises. With the skill tree revamp, dungeon reward phases have been removed. Some phases have been integrated, and most are now applied only after acquiring items; is there a reason for this change? Additionally, can you explain the criteria used to determine why the phases integrated into the skill tree were chosen?

“Legendary Phases have two meanings: strengthening builds and increasing their accessibility. Assigning them as dungeon rewards, as before, can be seen as addressing the aspect of build accessibility. If you want to build a character, you start by running dungeons.

Furthermore, the Phases included in the skill tree revamp correspond to this aspect of 'accessibility.' Now, simply allocating skill points to the skill tree ensures build accessibility, and if you wish to strengthen it further, you essentially need to acquire Phases for build enhancement as items.

In this way, I felt that by moving the Phase rewards, the pressure to run specific dungeons unconditionally to create a build has been somewhat alleviated. Previously, there was a strange dilemma where dungeons had to be added just to add Phases, but the system revamp has effectively relieved this burden as well.

Unique items can now be tempered. What was the reason for introducing this feature, which was not supported before?

“The most important thing was player feedback. We periodically look back to review what was good and what was a mistake, and through this process, we determined that tempering unique items could be fully implemented. We still believe that judgment was correct. The War Plan has organized the end-game content. Since new content will be created for future seasons and the next expansion, will the War Plan continue to be the central focus of the content thereafter?

“First of all, since we believe that War Plans will serve as the foundation for end-game content, we have no plans to weaken it even as seasons progress. We intend to ensure that War Plans and new content are linked in some way.

Can you provide a more specific explanation regarding the high-end content, 'Echoing Hatred'?

“Echoing Hatred is content that can be challenged very, very rarely. The entry tickets themselves drop extremely rarely, and it is content that comes with tremendous risk and equally powerful rewards. Entry tickets cannot be traded or exchanged, but multiplayer is possible. Basically, it is content where you must fight endlessly without rest. Upon entering, you can start combat by clicking the object in the center of the stage; if you fail to defeat the monsters in time, they will pile up to the point of overwhelming you. There are four shrines, but since they do not refill, you must strategically choose when to use them. The content ends if a player dies or if too many monsters pile up and overwhelm them; for hardcore gamers, it is safest to let the monsters pile up like this to end the content without dying. Although a lot of content has been added, 'fishing' feels somewhat minor. What is the significance of fishing?

“First of all, we wanted fishing itself to be fun. Fishing was added after considering what could be done during downtime, while waiting for friends, or while waiting for World Boss pop-ups.

'Consecration' has been added to the Horadrim Crate as 'Transfiguration'. There were many other seasonal contents; is there a particular reason why Consecration joined as official content?

“I think this concern likely stems from the case of the Spirit Summoner. While it is true that the Demonologist is powerful, it would be more accurate to view this expansion as introducing eight completely new classes rather than simply adding two to the existing six. Because so many changes have been made, I believe there is a possibility that not only the Demonologist but all classes could become OP. The Demonologist is not the only strong one.

There is no cow level?(actual Question)

“What?

There are many legends in the Skovos Islands. I suspect the T-shirt the developers were wearing might be a monster from one of those legends.