Vessel of Hatred truly delivers on many fronts — new difficulty levels feel more intuitive, the new stats are easier to understand and the cross-character Paragon level system encourages creative experimentation with new classes and builds. This foundation is excellent, but despite my best efforts, I find myself struggling to find sustained motivation in the current endgame.
I’ve compiled some thoughts, feedback and also ideas which could make the experience smoother, more rewarding, and engaging for players in the long term.
- Reintroduce infernal hordes compass Restoration
Allow players to restore infernal hordes compasses again, so it’s not necessary to farm it repeatedly. This would let players freely choose which number of waves to engage in without needing to worry about resource depletion. - Supremacy of the Spiritborn
I understand that launching an expansion alongside a new class naturally comes with incentives to play it. However, despite the cross-character Paragon level system, motivation to explore other classes feels limited due to the Spiritborn’s supremacy. Rather than seeing the Spiritborn nerfed, I hope the other classes receive enhancements to bring them in line. - World Boss Timer Bug Fix
The constant world boss notifications can be intrusive. Perhaps a dedicated, fixed timer at the top-left corner (with an option to toggle on/off) could resolve this. It would keep players informed without causing unnecessary disruptions. - Tributes - Upgrade Possibilities
Right now, legendary and unique drops from tributes are extremely rare (almost not existant), while magic and rare tributes lack impact compared to other activities. It would be beneficial to introduce upgrades, allowing players to target legendary & unique tributes and therefore granting access to the most desirable (and in the endgame the only useful) bargains.
In the current state, it’s an endgame activity, that makes really no sense to play as players have almost no access to the highest levels and therefore rewards… - Introducing a Unique Resource for Crafting & Tribute Upgrades
Uniques drop in abundance, but most of the time it’s the same few items repeatedly. Consider introducing a unique resource that could be used to upgrade tributes or craft legendary runes for example. Something that makes recycling uniques feel more worthwhile, adding excitement to the process of farming them. - Infernal hordes reward chests - Increase usability
Currently, the 200 burning aether chests can only be opened once, yielding one or two items with greater affixes. If players have leftover burning aether (often as much as 700), these can then only be converted to gold or mats, which feels underwhelming for the effort. An option for multiple chest openings or an increased GA-item yield would greatly enhance the reward experience. - Scroll of Restoration - Unlimited use or increased limit suggestion
The new scrolls are limited to only 1/item, while removing this limit could increase their value and utility, especially for endgame builds where finding the perfect item stats is extremely challenging. If scrolls were more rare but not limited to 1/item, they would be much more satisfying to use. - Solo Player Boss Rewards
Solo players are often disadvantaged, especially concerning boss fights. How about introducing a reward system where only the summoning player earns tokens or points for defeated bosses? These tokens could be traded for endgame items, including mythical and unique gear, giving solo players a steady reward path. This could rebalance the advantage of shared loot without taking away from the group experience. - Target Farming for Greater Affix Builds
It would be fantastic to have an endgame activity designed specifically for build optimization, even if it’s time-intensive (e.g., 30 minutes per run). For example, a solo-player citadel where, at the start, you choose a type of gear (like gloves) to focus on. Upon completion, players could earn a certain amount of these type of items with a guaranteed greater affix. This would streamline farming and eliminate the monotonous cycle of farming worthless gear and managing the inventory at the blacksmith.
This loop currently destroys the endgame gameplay, especially when there’s this massive lack of progress or clear short-term goals. Long-term player satisfaction relies on a tangible sense of progress and enjoyable variety, and right now, the gameplay loop feels somewhat stale due to repeated drops and recycling. I’ve played my new VOH character for around 70 hours, and at least half of that has been spent on mindless farming and endlessly managing my inventory at the blacksmith. Glyph upgrades, too, become very monotonous around a certain lvl.
Overall, VOH is enjoyable, but the endgame becomes rather repetitive, flat, and even boring. I sincerely hope to see true endgame activities soon that offer a rewarding experience and a real sense of accomplishment in the late game. I’d really love to play this game daily througout every season while feeling a real progress after a certain amount of time i invested.