How to beat the Butcher - Diablo 4

The Butcher in Diablo 4 is one of the toughest bosses in the game.

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How to beat the Butcher in Diablo 4 is a bit of a complicated task. Unlike most bosses, randomness governs your encounters with the violent creature, including what level he’ll be at. The Butcher’s moveset doesn’t change, though, so you can at least come up with a loose plan of attack and hope he’s not 50 levels stronger than you.

How to find the Butcher in Diablo 4

A man wearing a horned helmet is standing outside a cave with a glowing orange entrance

The thing about finding the Butcher in Diablo 4 is that you can’t actually do anything to find him, other than run a bunch of dungeons. The Butcher only shows up in dungeons, but when he appears and which dungeon are decided at random. There’s no way to determine which dungeon he’ll show up in or even where in a dungeon he might spawn.

You’ll know immediately when you find the Butcher, since he’s gigantic and rushes you as soon as you enter his room.

The other random element associated with Butcher encounters is his level. The Butcher could spawn at level 10, he might show up at level 50, or he could even drop in at level 100. His level doesn’t scale to yours. The worst-case scenario is finding the Butcher and being underleveled. Unlike with some enemies, you can’t really power your way through. Defeating the Butcher is tough enough at the best of times, but a gap of more than five levels makes it almost impossible.

How to beat the Butcher in Diablo 4

A large fleshy monster with fangs and large horns is screaming at the camera

The ideal strategy will, naturally, look different depending on which class you pick, though characters with long-range abilities – the Sorcerer and Necromancer, mainly – will have an easier time. Most of the Butcher’s attacks are close-range, so Barbarians and Druids have to be a bit more careful with their timing and attack patterns to stay alive.

That said, the Butcher does have a few attacks he uses when you’re far away to

It’s also a good idea to upgrade your health potions as you level up, so you can stay alive longer.

If you’re in a dungeon or area with elevations, climb up to a higher level and launch ranged attacks at the Butcher. He can’t follow you, and sure, it might be cheesing the fight – but at least you’ll win. Assuming you aren’t a Barbarian or Druid, that is. Your ranged attacks are a bit lacking in those classes.

Diablo 4 Butcher attacks

  • Weapon Swing: The Butcher swings his cleaver or sickle and deals heavy damage. This seems to be his most common attack, though whether he uses the sickle or cleaver seems random.
  • Ram: Rushes you, usually when you’re at a fair distance away. If it connects, it deals heavy damage and stuns your character
  • Headbutt: What it says on the box. This attack also deals heavy damage and will stun you.
  • Roar: The Butcher lets out a roar that inflicts slow. It might seem trivial, but being slow is the last thing you want with this boss
  • Hook: Launches a hook in a straight line towards you character and pulls you into attack range. It stuns your character if it connects.

It might help to take on dungeons and The Butcher with friends, so consider playing in multiplayer when you go Butcher hunting. Don't forget to salvage old weapons so you can upgrade new ones as well.

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 29, 2023 6:00 PM

    Josh Broadwell posted a new article, How to beat the Butcher - Diablo 4

    • reply
      June 29, 2023 7:31 PM

      Hit him until he dies?

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      June 29, 2023 8:06 PM

      My Barb still had to move around Butcher waiting for coolddowns. My rogue might be able to do him now, but she was too shattery before.

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        June 30, 2023 3:47 AM

        I e been able to face tank him on my barb since about level 50. He goes down real quick, even with his barrier.

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      June 30, 2023 3:00 AM

      Butcher in Diablo 1 demo legit scared me

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        June 30, 2023 3:12 AM

        Yeah that was a great moment. And unique in whole series.

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      June 30, 2023 4:11 AM

      I’ve only met him once during a battle with multiple elites. It did not end well but it did end quickly. Great WTF moment because I did not know about him.

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        June 30, 2023 6:17 AM

        Same thing happened to me, random ass nightmare dungeon in the middle of a swarm of guys and all of a sudden I realize one of the guys I'm hitting is saying "FRESH MEAT."

        Then it was over and he didn't even drop anything great.

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      June 30, 2023 5:47 AM

      Call health inspection on his ass.

    • reply
      June 30, 2023 7:49 AM

      Beat him in 3 hits last night, feeling pretty, pretty, pretty powerful.

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      June 30, 2023 7:55 AM

      You can exploit his bad pathfinding.

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        June 30, 2023 9:39 AM

        Also just dodging through him when he moves his head back to charge his headbutt stun. A lot of times trying to just run away is what kills you because of his stun hook and slow combo

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      June 30, 2023 8:05 AM

      He popped up once for me when I had just started, maybe level 11, and oneshotted me. Good times.

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      June 30, 2023 8:13 AM

      Ran into him for the first time in the middle of what I think was just some random dungeon (is that how he spawns?). Didn’t even realize who I was fighting at first. Then when he didn’t die and I had to start running for my life I looked at the name at the top and said, “Oh, so THIS is the Butcher” I keep hearing about. Based on how that initial encounter went I’m not even going to bother with that fight just yet.

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        June 30, 2023 8:41 AM

        Yeah random encounter in any dungeon.

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      June 30, 2023 9:45 AM

      click click click click click click click

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      June 30, 2023 10:24 AM

      He literally shows up in 80% of the dungeons I hop in to.. It's ridiculous. And as a Barb, I suck at killing him.

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        June 30, 2023 10:34 AM

        When I made my druid, he popped up in the first significant campaign dungeon.

        I was clearing some dungeons a few weeks ago and he popped up 3 out of 5 dungeons. He didn't drop anything good either.

      • reply
        June 30, 2023 11:14 AM

        I've only seen him once as a Barb and I am level45. I ran in to him in teens and managed to escape.

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