DIABLO 4 was one of the standout games of last year, and it was one of the best-ever years in gaming.
While people weren’t keen on the launch DLC, which charged exorbitant amounts for cosmetic items.
However, that has never stopped people from enjoying Diablo 4 including the new seasonal content.
Diablo 4 will be further upgraded by the Vessel of Hatred expansion that is launching on October 8.
We had the chance to dive in before the expansion launches to the public.
Vessel of Hatred brings the most ambitious set of additions to the game, with a new story, region and class.
It picks up from where the story from the base game leaves off, focusing on Neyrelle’s journey.
Without spoiling the story, expect the same level of polish and quality that there was in the original game.
Vessel of Hatred will let you skip the majority of the base game’s story as there is a brief cinematic to give you a quick rundown.
We don’t recommend this, but it is something to consider for time-tight players.
The new region is Nahantu and it has a very different look to the rest of the map, thanks to its lush jungles and elements of Aztec and Mayan architecture.
It also brings a number of new monster families with new attack patterns, which helps improve variety.
The Spiritborn is the new class added into the DLC and it brings in elements from the Monk and Witch Doctor from Diablo 3.
They are easily one of the most versatile classes, as a swift melee class that can call on the powers of the four Spirit Guardians.
Each of these Spirit Guardians comes with its own elemental attack, and they each have a different speed and strength.
The new class doesn’t overshadow the old classes, as each of them gets new skills, passives and items.
Vessel of Hatred also brings back a new version of the Runewords from Diablo 2.
These are runes that can be combined into pairs, determining a condition and an effect that can be socketed into your gear.
It also adds Mercenaries and Party Finder, which allow solo players to have more fun with the game.
Mercenaries can fight alongside you, and you can unlock them after you complete their quest.
They won’t have gear, but they have their own skill tree to help streamline progression.
You can unlock four Mercenaries for hire, and build them to complement your playstyle, giving more reinforcements to solo play.
The other new feature, Party Finder, helps players find others to complete specific activities together.
With advanced filters you can search based on the endgame activity you want to do, helping you find the perfect match.
All the changes to progression, the raised level cap and skills, new class items, and difficulty levels are available to all players.
It’s great to see that the developers are not leaving behind those who won’t purchase the expansion, while still giving players compelling reasons to upgrade.
Vessel of Hatred improves on an already very good base game that has been refined over the last five seasons since launch.
If you want to read more about upcoming releases, check out our Silent Hill 2 review.
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THE GIRLFRIEND of a rapper who died at 27 has issued a heartbreaking plea to fans after she was forced to disable her Instagram comments.
Lucas Coly’s manager confirmed the social media star’s death on Thursday with a devastating tribute on Instagram.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office confirmed to The U.S. Sun that Coly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Coly rose to fame through his videos on Vine before he and his girlfriend, Amber Harrison, started a popular YouTube channel together in 2018.
On Thursday evening, Amber posted a video of flowers she received with a song called Dancing in the Sky, which has lyrics about missing someone after their death.
She then posted another video of flowers featuring one of Coly’s songs on her Story.
In her third post, Amber posted a picture of a phone with a message to her fans.
“This made me feel a lot better! Amen,” she wrote.
“Y’all don’t know the half !!!!!!!!!!!! LEAVE ME ALONE !!!!!” she added.
“Let him rest.”
In the next post, she concluded, “Got the answers I needed and I’m okay.”
It’s unclear if the couple were together at the time of Coly’s death.
When Coly’s manager announced his death on Thursday, fans immediately flooded Amber’s Instagram comments with questions and condolences.
Just hours later, her comments had been disabled.
Similarly, Coly’s manager, I Discover Stars, has limited responses to his posts on the platform.
On Thursday, Coly’s manager wrote, “Rest in peace @iamlucascoly I love you bro. My heart is ripped in half. Wait for me up there.”
However, the caption has since been changed to just a heart emoji.
Lucas Coly's manager asked fans to stream his music on Friday to honor his death.
I Discover Stars said Coly began to create Afrobeats music before his death in the post.
“This post was hard to make because I’ve been avoiding listening to anything with his voice,” the manager wrote on Instagram.
“But Lucas wanted to be a crossover artist. The truth is these algorithms make it so hard for artists to push their music to their supporters.
“It would be a dream of mine if we can all get together and stream his songs until we can chart. Lucas never got radio play and refused to sell out. It hurts seeing all the press he’s getting now.
“We wanted that while he was here. But being non-problematic isn’t press worthy.
“Ask your radio stations to play your favorite Lucas Coly song.
“Also how I am choosing to grieve is different. I want to stop crying, so keeping his dream alive is helping me. Someone told me at a dinner yesterday, make them proud that’s honoring their legacy.
“So that’s what I’m hoping to do. Everyone please let’s all work together to help Lucas chart. So the whole world will know my brother for his talent. Truly a once in a generation talent.
“I love you bro @iamlucascoly , I’m going to do my best while Im still here to let everyone know what a talented, standup guy you were.”
He also posted a picture of himself with Coly and edited the caption to say “my brother.”
Hours before his death, Coly shared a last post to Instagram with simply the words, “I love yall.”
Tributes on social media poured in for the French-American rapper, who lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the time of his death.
His fellow Vine star Demetrius Harmon posted two pictures of their former group of friends together on Instagram, writing, “Rest up my boy.”
It hurts seeing all the press he’s getting now. We wanted that while he was here.”
I Discover Stars
On Friday, Coly’s manager announced new music being released in Coly’s honor and asked fans to play his music.
“Lucas never got radio play and refused to sell out,” the manager wrote.
“It hurts seeing all the press he’s getting now. We wanted that while he was here.
“Ask your radio stations to play your favorite Lucas Coly song,” he asked.
“Everyone please let’s all work together to help Lucas chart. So the whole world will know my brother for his talent.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
SCHOOL of Rock stars Caitlin Hale and Angelo Massagli look unrecognisable in snaps marking their engagement – 21 years after meeting on the film.
The couple, who played classmates Marta and Frankie in the 2003 film, rekindled their connection in 2016 and now seem to have announced the next step in their relationship.
Caitlin, 33, was seen wearing a diamond ring in an Instagram post from last week, sparking engagement rumours.
While the couple haven’t officially confirmed the news, the actress captioned the photos with a teasing, “Sneak peek.”
In the snaps, she looked stunning in a glamorous black dress, with her hair elegantly styled, while Angelo, 32, sported a sharp suit.
Caitlin and Angelo may have starred in one of the 00s biggest hits, but they’ve since decided to quit fame for normal jobs.
Angelo studied law at the University of Miami before becoming an attorney in New York City.
While Caitlin got a journalism degree before pursuing a medical profession, working as a “OB-GYN sonographer”.
Her job involves using ultrasound equipment to perform scans on obstetrics and gynaecology patients.
Sharing the news of her career change with her followers at the time, Caitlin wrote on Instagram: “My desire to help treat reproductive disorders developed through my experiences managing endometriosis.”
“Today I am an OB/GYN certified Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer.
“I perform gynecologic and obstetric ultrasounds at an OB/GYN office in NYC.”
In May 2021, Caitlin revealed that she was dating another School of Rock cast member, Angelo Massagli.
In April this year it was announced that The School of Rock cast is set to reunite as adults 20 years after the box office smash.
Actor Jack Black, who played guitarist Dewey Finn in the 2003 American comedy, confirmed the exciting news in a recent interview.
The plot follows Dewey, a poor musician who takes on the identity of his housemate and works as a substitute teacher at a wealthy school to make ends meet.
Later, he seizes the opportunity to form the ideal band with his students in order to compete in the Battle of the Bands.
Two decades on, the stars of School of Rock met up for an epic reunion to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Jack told Entertainment Tonight: “All those kids — dig this — they were 10 years old when we made that movie and now they’re all, like, 30.
“We’re gonna get together and have a 20-year anniversary.
“We like to jam. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the grown-ups from School of Rock.”
KATY Perry shocked fans with a suggestive video of her biting into a chocolate Eiffel Tower.
The singer, 39, posted the short random clip to her Instagram story on Friday.
In the clip, Katy bent down as she took a bite of the chocolate recreation.
Afterwards, the singer stood back up and looked unimpressed by what she’d just eaten.
Katy also included this no-context clip in a reel bidding farewell to Paris after Fashion Week.
She captioned that post: “Another continent another chaos cut. Merci Paris.”
It comes as Katy made an X-rated confession about her partner Orlando Bloom last month.
The pair have been dating since 2016, engaged since 2019 and welcomed a daughter in 2020.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she told host Alex Cooper: “If I come downstairs and the kitchen is clean, and you’ve done it all, and you’ve done all the dishes, and you’ve closed all the pantry doors, you better be ready to get your d*** sucked.”
As for Orlando, he soon responded by commenting on Katy’s Instagram.
The Lord of the Rings star penned: “I’ve cleaned the whole house.”
Amused followers were quick to react, as one cheekily wrote: “You really know how to make her happy.”
Another simply wrote: “DEAD”.
While a third penned: “We know what Katy is up to.”
Last month, Katy addressed viral pics of Orlando’s wandering eye to Kim Kardashian‘s backside.
The star had stopped by Elvis Duran’s radio show to promote her new album.
Host Elvis asked the singer if she’d seen the buzzed-about photos, which she admitted she hadn’t.
He explained that they captured Katy posing beside Kim, 43, while Orlando, 47, checked out the Skims founder’s butt behind them.
The moment in question happened at the Kering Foundation’s Caring for Women Dinner in New York City.
Katy appeared unbothered by the image and replied, “I approve.”
A POLICE officer has been charged with causing the death of a grandmother by dangerous driving while part of a royal escort.
Christopher Harrison is accused of killing 81-year-old Helen Holland, who was hit by a motorcycle which was part of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh’s police escort.
BOTH Xbox and PlayStation fans like to tell each other that there are no games on their consoles.
However, it appears that Xbox is trying to change it with its latest survey.
Xbox came under fire from its fan base when it announced that some of its smaller exclusive games would be available on other platforms.
Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush and As Dusk Falls all became available on PS5 or Nintendo Switch.
However, these weren’t the games that upset Xbox players the most, as a bigger announcement was made during the Xbox showcase.
Xbox revealed that its biggest release of 2024, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, would come to PS5 early next year.
Aside from the Xbox exclusives coming to other platforms, there are concerns that not enough third-party games land on Xbox.
Some of the biggest games, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Enotria: The Last Song, and Black Myth: Wukong, saw delays.
Many claim that this is due to Xbox’s insistence that games work on both the powerful Series X and the budget Series S.
It appears that Xbox wants to get to the bottom of this issue as there is a new survey for game developers.
The company is expanding its Xbox Research team to include a number of game developers.
Xbox is seeking feedback from developers to see what tools and software it can introduce to increase the number of games on its consoles.
It is also asking developers why they aren’t creating games for Xbox, and what could change to encourage them to do so.
Principal user researcher for Xbox, Deborah Hendersen, has been asking developers why they work with Sony and Nintendo but not Xbox.
They ask: “If you aren’t on Xbox, we’d love to know why.
“And honestly, if you are using our competitor’s products, you probably have a great perspective we could learn from!”
Xbox hasn’t revealed the information it has got back from developers and it likely won’t release the data.
But it’s interesting to see that Xbox is working to encourage more developers to make games for its platform.
If you want to read more about Xbox, check out the free movies you can grab with the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk.
Get the lowdown on more of the latest Xbox releases from our expert reviewers.
For PS5 and Nintendo Switch, check out our full game reviews section.
