Have you been roaming the corridors of a dungeon in the Diablo 4 beta and suddenly been attacked by a giant, hulking enemy that smashed you to pieces within a few seconds? If so, then you were likely just graced by the presence of The Butcher, an infamous enemy in the Diablo universe. The Butcher first made an appearance in the original Diablo game as the main boss in a quest simply titled "The Butcher." Fans instantly loved to hate The Butcher due to its giant cleaver that could instantly deplete anyone's health bar and its enormous amount of HP.

　　Since the first Diablo, The Butcher has appeared in Diablo 3 as a part of an Anniversary Dungeon and now in Diablo 4 as a deadly encounter. If you want to learn how to find and beat The Butcher in Diablo 4, check out the guide below.

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Finding The Butcher

At the time of writing, there's not much known about The Butcher's mechanics in Diablo 4, as we're still only in the beta. However, from what we can gather, The Butcher appears to be a random encounter in dungeons throughout Fractured Peaks. You will know when you have been graced by The Butcher if you see a giant enemy running at you yelling the phrase, "Fresh meat!"

　　When The Butcher appears, you have a limited time to defeat the giant enemy, but this is no small feat. If you're still fighting it when the time limit runs out, then The Butcher will melt into a pool of blood on the ground. However, if you lose to The Butcher, which is the likelier scenario, then you will respawn at the nearest checkpoint.

　　The Butcher is one of the most infamous enemies in Diablo history. If you try and go back to fight The Butcher, though, it will not be there anymore. You only have one shot to take down this enemy, and if you don't, you'll have to wait for it to randomly spawn again during one of your dungeon runs. Of course, if you don't want to fight The Butcher, you can attempt to run away until the timer runs out, but the cleaver-wielding enemy will not give up chasing you until then.

　　Those who manage to defeat The Butcher will be rewarded with some exceedingly rare loot. One of the loot items will be The Butcher's Cleaver, which is a one-handed axe with Unique rarity.

　　

Defeating The Butcher

In terms of beating The Butcher, it's extremely hard to do so. From what we can tell, The Butcher is always going to be a level 25 enemy in the beta, which is the max level for any player characters in the beta. If you're playing Diablo 4 solo and you run into The Butcher, it will likely be a quick fight between the two of you that ends with you back at a checkpoint in the dungeon.

　　In order to defeat The Butcher as a solo player, you need to likely be level 25 and kitted out with a full armor set and complementary weapons. Not only that, you're going to need to use your skills wisely, as The Butcher has a ton of HP and will not go down easily. There's no real strategy to defeat The Butcher other than to use your skills to the best of your ability.

　　If you're a Sorcerer, then you might have an easier time since you can lay down conjurations, such as Hydra, to deal passive damage to The Butcher while you attempt to avoid its attacks. To prove just how powerful the Sorcerer can be against The Butcher, you can watch this Twitter video from streamer Marksman, where they take down the enemy in a matter of seconds using Hydra and other AoE spells.

　　The @Diablo 4 beta consumed my life this weekend. Went and got the Spectral Charger mount and destroyed The Butcher. Can’t wait for next weekend @PezRadar pic.twitter.com/dDIyZAzQ8X

　　— Marksman (@Marksman) March 20, 2023

　　In terms of other classes, Rogues can also deal some passive damage by using their skills and weapons. In addition to that, Rogues will also want to try some long-range attacks with their arrows and move quickly around The Butcher so they don't get hit too often.

　　Finally, Barbarians will likely have the toughest time with The Butcher, as they have nowhere to go but right in the giant enemy's face. Try and brute force your way through the fight by using your most powerful skills and using defensive buffs as much as possible.

　　Players in parties will have a much easier time, as they can alternate dealing damage to The Butcher. However, it's still no cakewalk, especially with the timer in the background ticking down. Perhaps the new classes of Druid and Necromancer will have an easier time with The Butcher during the second weekend of the beta, but that remains to be seen.

　　Find all of our Diablo 4 guides in one place.