Diablo 4's scariest boss has caused 2% of all player deaths

Diablo 4
(Image credit: Blizzard)
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Diablo 4's Lilith

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Raise your hand if the Butcher slaughtered you in Diablo 4. Me too, and, according to a recent infographic from Blizzard, there are millions of us.

In the first week after Diablo 4's launch (including early access), 5.8 million players have been ripped apart by one of Diablo's most iconic bosses. The Butcher will show up at any time in any dungeon and chase you down until you (or someone in your party) dies. And because enemy difficulty scales to your level, the big guy is always a threat.

Out of the total player deaths in Diablo 4 (minus PvP deaths), The Butcher is responsible for 1.8% of them. He's no Uber Lilith, but he's a close second in the tier list of threatening boss fights in Diablo 4.

Blizzard's stats don't have enough information to figure out if he's the most deadly boss in the game, but I wouldn't be surprised if he carried that title. The Butcher doesn't care what level you are or how prepared you are; he will show up whenever he wants to. If he's not the deadliest boss, he's surely the scariest one.

The Butcher has been farming players since Diablo 1 in 1997. You can hear him growl "fresh meat!" in every main Diablo game except Diablo 2. He hasn't changed much in those 26 years since his debut. In Diablo 4, he can send out a chain hook and pull you close to him and he can charge into you for massive damage. He's particularly adept at crushing ranged classes like Sorcerers, which Blizzard's stats also reveal is the most popular class in the game.

Hardcore players, who take on the risk of losing their character permanently on death, can earn a special achievement for defeating him. If I were playing on hardcore, I would simply get him stuck on a chest or a pillar because the last thing I want is to have a fair fight with this jerk. 

Associate Editor

Tyler has covered games, games culture, and hardware for over a decade before joining PC Gamer as Associate Editor. He's done in-depth reporting on communities and games as well as criticism for sites like Polygon, Wired, and Waypoint. He's interested in the weird and the fascinating when it comes to games, spending time probing for stories and talking to the people involved. Tyler loves sinking into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what makes them tick and pluck out the parts worth talking about. His goal is to talk about games the way they are: broken, beautiful, and bizarre.