Do You Need Lord of Hatred to Stay Competitive in Diablo 4?

When Diablo 4 launches its second expansion, Lord of Hatred, on April 28, 2026, it will not just add a new region and two classes. It will change progression, endgame systems, and build customization across the entire game.

With everything that gets added or modified, a lot of players want to know what happens if you do not buy Lord of Hatred. Can you still compete at the highest level?

Here is what you will have access to in the base game, and what will be specific to Lord of Hatred.

What Is Confirmed Expansion-Only

Similar as it was with Vessel of Hatred, some features are clearly locked behind the expansion purchase. The main thing is access to the two new classes, Paladin and Warlock. They will most likely be meta for at least the first season after the expansion releases. And with the new leaderboard, it might be impossible to reach the same level with older classes.

On top of Paladin and Warlock, the expansion also comes with the following content:

The new region Skovos
The continuation of the main campaign
The new endgame activity Echoing Hatred
The War Plans endgame progression system
20+ additional transformative Skill choices exclusive to expansion owners
The new Talisman and Charm system
The return of the Horadric Cube

If you want access to the new story arc leading to Mephisto’s final confrontation, experiment with Paladin’s Oath system and Arbiter Form, summon hordes of demons with the new Warlock, or plan your Endgame path with the War plans, the expansion is mandatory.

What Will Be Available to Everyone?

Most of the base system changes will be available even if you do not purchase the new expansion. Things like the new skill trees or level cap increase, for example, and additions like Loot Filters, do not depend at all on the expansion.

The following content will be added to the base game:

A full Skill Tree rework for all eight classes
Level cap increase to 70
A new Torment difficulty tier
A long-requested Loot Filter

These features affect progression and build optimization, and it would simply not be fair to make them expansion-only. If the level cap increase is tied to Lord of Hatred, then non-expansion players would be capped below the new endgame ceiling. In a game built around scaling damage and min-maxing, that would create a clear performance gap.

Regarding the skill tree, the changes include over 80 additional options per class. You also get expanded customization like element changes and mechanical modifications.

However, expansion owners receive 20+ additional “transformative choices.”

This means that base-game players get the rework but not the full depth. So far, it is unknown exactly what those transformative choices are and if they will impact builds.

The problem will be around War Plans, the Horadric Cube, and Talismans. Similar to Vessel of Hatred that had the Mercenaries and the Runewords, those are major systems that will be locked to the expansion. Mercs and Runes did not affect those without access to them much in the end. But it feels like Talismans, at least, might be a bigger problem.

Base players might be locked out of what is Diablo 4’s version of set items. This means missing out on a ton of builds, most likely. However, so far we do not have many details about the new systems, so it is hard to really judge if this will be an issue or not.

There is also a ton of content that has not been announced yet, and things like Fishing, which we can assume everyone will have access to, but it could also be exclusive to the Skovos zone.