Diablo 4 Harbinger of Hatred boss guide: Location, mechanics, and drops

The Harbinger of Hatred is one of the three Greater Lair Bosses in Diablo 4, available to you through the Vessel of Hatred DLC. This monstrosity is the newest addition to the Lair Bosses, introduced in Season 8 of Diablo 4.

In this guide, we will go through how you can find him, how to beat him, and what loot you can get out of this encounter.

Also Read: Can you play Diablo 4 offline?

Where to find the Harbinger of Hatred in Diablo 4

You can encounter the Harbinger of Hatred within the Harbinger’s Den in Nahantu’s Flayer Jungle region. This region is only accessible to those who have purchased the Vessel of Hatred DLC and are in Torment difficulty.

To access this boss’s lair, you must do some farming, specifically Urivar, and get at least 3 Abhorrent Hearts. These act as the keys for the Harbinger of Hatred Boss Lair.

Boss mechanics and how to deal with them

Beware of the tendrils on the Harbinger of Hatred; they can easily deal massive amounts of damage to you (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

This boss is definitely one of the strongest and most complex bosses to fight in Diablo 4. So if you want to tackle him, make sure you are prepared. Bring your strongest build, tanky enough to take some damage, and mobile enough to move out of harm's way. Preparation is key if you want to beat the Harbinger of Hatred, so make sure you are geared up and ready to move around the arena.

1) Corruption Pools: The Harbinger of Hatred will occasionally create black and red pools of corruption on the ground, which deal significant poison damage. Be careful where you move; it's very easy to fall into one of these pools while dodging.

2) Lunge: The Harbinger of Hatred lunges ahead of him and deals massive amounts of damage; move out of the way to survive.

3) Fireballs: The Harbinger of Hatred will spew out a bunch of Fireballs towards you in a cone shape. This attack usually takes a bit of time to trigger, so move around the projectile path to avoid them, specifically behind the boss.

4) Tendril attack: The Harbinger of Hatred will often attack with his tendrils if you are close enough. Avoid them by moving to the side.

5) Portals and a whole lot of wolves: Multiple ports open up all over the arena, spawning demonic wolves who deal fire damage across their path. Make sure to avoid them and close the portals they appear from (although you’ll need light orbs to destroy the larger ones).

6) Akarat Shapeshift: Once the fight has gone on long enough, the Harbinger of Hatred will disappear into the shadows, and the lion form of Akarat will show up. During this phase, he will spawn orbs of light across the arena. Use these to close the remaining larger portals, as they get really annoying otherwise.

Boss loot drops

The Harbinger of Hatred has a vast array of loot drops, which are also available from most other ladder bosses in Diablo 4 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Every single boss in Diablo 4 has its own unique loot pool or shares the loot pool with another boss. The Harbinger of Hatred boss shares a lot of loot with other bosses like Grigoire, the Beast in the Ice Boss, Urivar, etc. Most of those are quite important for a lot of builds in Diablo 4’s meta. Here is the list of items you can get from farming the Harbinger of Hatred:

Unique	Class
Overkill Battle Trance Ring of the Ravenous Azurewrath Ramaladni's Magnum Opus 100,000 Steps Twin Strikes	Barbarian specific
Sunbird’s Gorget Sepazontec Esu's Heirloom Wound Drinker Scorn of the Earth Protection of the Prime	Spiritborn specific
Black River Ebonpiercer Deathspeaker's Pendant Blood Moon Breeches Lidless Wall	Necromancer specific
Staff of Endless Rage Ophidian Iris The Oculus Esu's Heirloom Blue Rose	Sorcerer specific
Insatiable Fury Waxing Gibbous Gathlen’s Birthright Vasily's Prayer Dolmen Stone	Druid specific
Band of Ichorous Rose Word of Hakan Saboteur's Signet Cowl of the Nameless Writhing Band of Trickery Asheara's Khanjar Scoundrel's Leathers	Rogue specific
Penitent Greaves Paingorger's Gauntlets Fists of Fate Soulbrand X'Fal's Corroded Signet Tibault's Will Banished Lord's Talisman Flickerstep Locran's Talisman Tassets of the Dawning Sky Mother's Embrace Godslayer Crown	Common items across all Classes

Hunting down unique items is a crucial part of Diablo 4’s progression loop, especially if you are looking to master the endgame. Most of these items can be farmed from other easier bosses across Sanctuary. So, venture into Mephisto’s Domain and hunt down the monstrous wolf.

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About the author

Jagaran is an MMO and ARPG writer at Sportskeeda. His involvement in the gaming industry also includes working as a concept artist and as a narrative designer.
At age of nine, Halo: Combat Evolved kicked off his love for the medium. He looks back fondly on the times he visited cyber cafes, watching the older boys playing the game and shouting, "Master Chief!"
If given a chance to inhabit a game world, he would eagerly jump into the breathtaking world of Halo.
He admires Ben "CohhCarnage" Cassell for his engaging dialogue and gameplay as well as his critical thinking regardless of how much he loves the game, which encouraged him to spend countless hours in games and technically analyze them.
In his free time, he enjoys writing books, cooking, sketching, and the occasional game of football.

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Edited by Adarsh J Kumar