What time does Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred release and season 6 start?

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Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Ryan Gilliam (he/him) has worked at Polygon for over eight years. He primarily spends his time writing guides for massively popular games like Diablo 4 & Destiny 2.

Vessel of Hatred is the first expansion for Diablo 4, and adds a new class, region, and act for the campaign. It also overhauls a ton of different systems for the game, officially pushing Diablo 4 into version 2.0. But when can you and your friends dive into Nahantu and meet the Spiritborn for the first time?

Here’s when Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and season 6 start, the pre-download times for the new expansion, and what comes with the 2.0 update.

What time does Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and season 6 start?

Image: Blizzard

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and season 6 start at 4 p.m. PDT on Monday, Oct. 7, according to a Blizzard blog post. Here’s when that is in your time zone:

4 p.m. PDT on Oct. 7 for the West Coast of North America
7 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7 for the East Coast of North America
12 a.m. BST on Oct. 8 for the U.K.
1 a.m. CEST on Oct. 8 for Western Europe/Paris
8 a.m. JST on Oct. 8 for Tokyo

In terms of when you can preload the expansion, that is currently available for all players, both via Battle.net and on console.

While these are the expected launch times for both the new expansion and season — which launch simultaneously this time, unlike with Diablo 4’s launch — Blizzard has occasionally run into a few hiccups on launch day. These technical issues can delay the launch window by several hours, or cause a large queue to appear. Even if you are able to get in, there could potentially be large amounts of lag or difficulty progressing quests due to server issues. We’ll update this post once Vessel of Hatred and season 6 are officially live and playable.

What’s new in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and season 6

While many of the seasons in the first year of Diablo 4 completely overhauled massive systems like Loot Reborn or added new modes to the game, Vessel of Hatred adds all of that plus a new class, region, and more. Blizzard has touched virtually every aspect of Diablo 4 here, from the campaign and leveling experience to how the endgame works.

Many of the below additions are coming to both the seasonal and eternal realms:

The star of the expansion is the Spiritborn class, who is able to channel four different animal spirits to create a wide variety of bizarre and powerful builds.
Vessel of Hatred adds a new region to the game, Nahantu, which is just south of the map from the base Diablo 4. It’s a lush jungle overtaken by Mephisto’s black ichor. It adds several new enemies to the game, as well as new Strongholds, dungeons, and more.
New progression changes simplify the max level to 60 — giving you more skill points to play with — and separate character level from the Paragon system.
There are new activities, like the Kurast Undercity and the raid-like co-op dungeon, the Dark Citadel.
Mercenaries make their first appearance in Diablo 4, and act as powerful allies that can assist you while playing solo or in a group.
A new season starts, and comes with everything you’d expect from a themed season (like a new activity and reward track) stacked on top of the expansion content.
Many of the game’s existing systems are getting reworked, like swapping how you level your Paragon Glyphs or Masterwork your items.