Who is the Butcher?

“Ahh fresh meat”

The Butcher is an infamous demon that has plagued Sanctuary since the early days of Diablo 1. A bloated amalgamation of grotesque muscle and flesh the Butcher is a tall rotund creature who wields a massive cleaver and meathook, the Butcher stands as one of the most fearsome opponents found within Diablo.

However, what makes this creature so fearsome is not its daunting stature or its giant weapons but instead, it is its insatiable hunger for flesh and its masochistic desire to torture its victims. Very few live to tell the tale of an encounter with the Butcher and those that do survive are often so mentally scarred by the incident that they are unable to speak of the horrors they witnessed.

The Butcher’s Lore

There are multiple butcher demons but there is only one so horrid as to claim title to “The Butcher”. What we know of its origins has been sourced from Vizjerei Mages. They mention a butcher demon constructed from segments of flesh and body parts torn from other demons. The Butcher gained strength from the parts of each demon that were grafted onto it, but while the Butcher gained the individual strength of each demon, it also gained its bloodlust.

While butcher demons were known to serve Diablo, The Butcher was a servant of Andariel, carrying out The Lord of Terror’s will during the Darkening of Tristram. The first notorious slaughter carried out by The Butcher was during this time.

As the people of Tristram were led into the Cathedral a trap was sprung upon them and among the ranks of demons that fell onto them The Butcher emerged. Any that dared attempt to stand against the butcher were dismembered and feasted upon. Those who suffered any wound from the butcher but escaped found a worse fate as his rotten cleaver infected them with disease, killing them soon after.

The Butcher’s layer was then made within the Cathedral and any adventurers unlucky enough to find themselves within his home rarely lived to speak of the horrors within. However, for Aidan and his two companions, this fate was not met. They charged into The Butcher’s layer and killed him. Another Demon was ordered to take its place but was dispatched before it could find the Butcher’s cleaver and assume its full power.

Twenty Years later the Butcher was resurrected to serve the Coven, a group of mystics dedicated to Belial the Lord of Lies. It was within the Halls of Agony that the Butcher fought the Nephalem, it was defeated once again.

It was thought that this was a final death for The Butcher. However, some adventurers claim to have encountered the beast once more while prowling dungeons throughout Sanctuary. Further, the remains of potential victims have been reported. It is believed that the Butcher lives again, and that it searches dungeons looking for its next meal. If you find yourself hearing the Beast move towards you early on in your adventure our best advice is that you run and pray that it doesn’t catch you.

How to Kill the Butcher in Diablo 4

Currently, we only know about encounters with the Butcher from the Diablo 4 Beta and Server Slam. In these game versions, the Butcher was a level 25 enemy, and killing it was no small task. Most players made the smart decision and ran, but a few brave souls stood against it, even less lived to tell the tale, this is their advice.

Currently little is known about how to spawn the Butcher, at the moment it seems like a random event that can happen within any dungeon. When fighting the Butcher it is recommended that you have a strong optimized build, but even with a great build this will still be a test of skill.

The Butcher’s attacks are slow but they hit hard. Melee builds will struggle more, but the key to victory is weaving your attacks, dodging the slower telegraphed moves. Ultimately ranged builds will have an easier time, but while the Butcher’s attacks are slow his movement speed is not. Kiting it is incredibly difficult so ranged builds, while being able to attack freely from afar, should keep a close eye on defensive escape cooldowns as these classes will need to make incredibly efficient use of them.

Despite things seeming grim slaying the Butcher is possible. For melee players, we recommend thinking very tactically about your defensive cooldowns. For Barbarians and Druids this will mean consistently finding ways to take advantage of their net damage mitigation, consistent access to fortify, and any crowd control abilities.

For melee Rogues things get a bit harder, you're gonna want to really lean in on a hit-and-run playstyle, taking advantage of all stealth and dash abilities to consistently drop aggro, or put distance between you and the butcher.

For ranged Rogues, caster Druids, and Sorcerers, it's all about kiting. If you main ADC in League of Legends or DOTA then this is your time to shine. If not, then it's time to learn. Weaving your attacks and abilities while pathing back is going to be your best choice here. Doing this alongside using your defensive gap-creating abilities, like blink for the Sorcerer, will make the fight winnable.

Source YouTube: Pupsker (who managed to slay the butcher!)