How to Defeat the Butcher in Diablo 4

How to Defeat The Butcher in Diablo 4

No fresh meat today

Usually, when you hop into Diablo 4 and go into a dungeon to finish a quest or get specific rewards, you would expect regular old enemies to fight. While this is usually the case, there is a chance you will encounter the brutal beast himself, The Butcher. This massive cleaver-wielding monster will charge toward you when he appears on your screen and will stop at nothing to send you back to the dungeon’s beginning. He is not impossible to beat, though; it just takes the right strategy to tackle this challenging fight. If you would like to learn more, continue reading to discover how to defeat The Butcher in Diablo 4.

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How to Defeat The Butcher in Diablo 4

Your exact strategy to beat The Butcher will depend on your class and equipment. However, regardless of your class, there are two main points to remember: Deal damage and avoid taking any. While this is easier said than done, it is necessary if you want to defeat him.

Diablo 4 Butcher Boss
He’ll charge at you with all he’s got! | Screenshot by Prima Games

One important point to note is that he scales with your level. Even though he is still incredibly powerful, you do not have to worry about getting destroyed by a level 25 Butcher with your level 10 character. This also means that leveling your character will not help too much unless you have specific level-locked equipment or spells you would like to use.

The Butcher Fighting Strategies in Diablo 4

The Butcher’s main method of attack is to charge toward your character and rapidly hit you with his cleavers. This gives you little room to dodge or defend yourself, especially when he continues his onslaught with little pause. With that in mind, shields and barriers are crucial for making sure you absorb the damage The Butcher deals. Skills like the Sorcerer’s Ice Armor or Druid’s Earthen Bulwark are especially useful, but you can also utilize equipment perks for similar effects.

Related: How to Get Nightmare Sigils in Diablo 4

Even though The Butcher will quickly charge toward you, this does not mean running speed is his strong suit. If you need to, run away while dodging if you’re waiting for your cooldowns to reset. There is no shame in it, and those extra few seconds can make the difference between getting one shot by the beast or activating another ability that makes him drop some precious health potions. I even do this while waiting for my Ice Armor and Unstable Currents cooldowns on my Sorcerer!

Speaking of those, do not be afraid to use your health potions. You will need them. If you see any shrines around, feel free to activate those, too.

Outside of this, your main focus is to deal as much damage as possible, whittling his health down and getting health potions after each attack phase. Skills and builds like the Chain Lightning Sorcerer, Necromancer’s undead armies and Rend Barbarian will all help you with this, but you will also want to make sure your gear perks compliment this.

Oh, we cannot forget some luck. After all, you can only do so much if you encounter The Butcher alongside a massive horde of enemies or several elite enemies. If you can isolate The Butcher from your other enemies, that will make this fight easier.

Diablo 4 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. To learn more about the game, check out how to get Abstruse Sigil in Diablo 4, or click the Diablo IV tag below to browse our entire content collection!


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About the Author

Madison Benson

Madison was a staff writer at Prima Games who has played video games for over twenty years and written about them for over two years. Her love for video games started with turn-based strategy games like Heroes of Might and Magic and has since extended to casual farming sims, MMORPGs, and action-adventure RPGs.