Of all the enemies in Blizzard’s Diablo action-RPG, The Butcher remains a fan favorite. His fondness for fresh produce (especially meat) and his undying rage etched him into the bloodstained history books of Sanctuary, but he doesn’t return as just Diablo 4’s boss, but rather tends a ambush random players. During an exclusive Q&A for developers in London, I asked Blizzard why.
The Butcher has been in every Diablo game so far except Diablo Immortal, but since it’s a live service game, he’ll probably come to Westmarch at some point. He’s even appeared in other Blizzard worlds, particularly in the now-defunct MOBA Heroes of the Storm (RIP).
While the developers could have easily created a full fledged dramatic boss fight for the Diablo 4 character, they took a very, very a different approach. As you go through dungeons killing hordes, The Butcher will randomly attack you and can spawn in any dungeon at any time. Shely explains that this unpredictability is a throwback to the early days of Diablo.
Butcher’s encounter is “a great example” of how Shely and the team tried to capture the darkness of Diablo 2 while maintaining the fluidity and variability of Diablo 3. “There are a lot of boss fights terrific in Diablo 4, and we could’ve done another The Butcher-themed boss fight, but we recognize that, like so much else in Diablo, what’s really key to this encounter is the feeling that it is surprising and terrifying.
“Those were the things that were really important to get out of Diablo 2, so we realized that was different in Diablo 4 than just having a great fight.”
“It’s a great fight,” he told – Game News with a laugh. “But it was a process of asking ‘what is the real essence that people (think of) when they say they love Diablo 2.’ What exactly are they talking about in each individual case and how do we grasp this?
In my Diablo 4 beta journey, I have yet to meet The Butcher; maybe I’m not cool enough considering I play the slightly emaciated Necromancer. With every hallowed hall I walk through and every bloody cathedral I examine, I find myself taking a deep breath and wondering if It is it’s time This scary feeling is exactly what I felt in Diablo 2, and it’s a very welcome feeling.
If you too want to get attacked by a very angry demon, there are plenty in Diablo 4. We’ve got an overview of the best builds for each of Diablo 4’s five classes to help you out, along with the location of the Diablo 4 world boss, Ashava. , the biggest and scariest demon you will encounter in this testing phase.