The Butcher is the best and worst part of Diablo 4

Few challenges in Diablo 4 are as demanding as facing off against the Butcher, an enemy I have swiftly developed a love-hate relationship with.

An infamous enemy in the Diablo franchise, The Butcher can randomly appear in any dungeon in the game and cannot be guaranteed to appear at any time. Only The Butcher decides when and where he targets you in Diablo 4.

His visits are fleeting. He will appear out of the blue, proceed to absolutely destroy you, and swiftly vanish. Often, you will be left wondering if it actually happened or whether The Butcher is just a figment of your imagination.

This randomness is what makes The Butcher so brilliant, yet so frustrating. He is never where you want him and always where you don’t. It’s like he knows your plans and strikes at the most opportune moment to disrupt them.

The best encounters with The Butcher are when you’re running a dungeon with a group of friends, feeling slightly more prepared with allies by your side. Nothing beats the excitement of screaming down your headset, “he’s here!”

In a group, you have the confidence you can win. You can take it in turns to attack and draw his focus. You can time your movements better and come up with a plan to take him down, even if that plan is about as solid as a wet paper towel.

Can you ever truly be prepared to face off against The Butcher? Probably not, but sometimes you’ll have the (likely ill-placed) confidence to think you can actually take him down, channeling your inner David against this Goliath.

Having such a powerful energy ready to jump out of the shadows at any time is the sort of moment that makes gaming with your friends so great. It’s either amusing as he quickly wipes the floor with you, or you become a legend as you make the final hit to bring down this behemoth and potentially grab some exclusive loot.

Unfortunately, the reality is far less like David against Goliath and more like me squaring up to Muhammed Ali in his prime. Will I get a few hits off? Maybe. Will The Butcher leave me crying in a fetal ball of pain in a half-complete dungeon? Absolutely.

The Butcher knows your weakness. 90 percent of the time, he’ll show up when I’m on my own, grinding away through dungeons to get some sweet loot and experience to improve my build and add some more points to my Paragon board.

Playing as a Rogue, I have no chance against The Butcher on my own, and he knows it. I barely get enough time to comprehend the challenge in front of me before he’s decimates me entirely, leaving me shredded into pieces like John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic against the Scarlet Witch in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Battered and bruised, there’s no chance to get revenge against The Butcher. He’s gone, readying himself for his next surprise attack on another poor, unsuspecting player who just wants to slay some demons.

I’m always left licking my wounds and doing my best to repair my pride. No matter how many times he kicks me to the curb, I’ll be back for more with an unjustified belief that, next time, I’ll be ready. Next time, I’ll wipe the floor with him.

There’s no other enemy that makes me feel this way. Typically, when you encounter a difficult enemy, you have the opportunity to learn from your deaths and keep repeating the fight until you eventually defeat them. There’s no such joy with The Butcher. There’s no time to prepare, no practice you can get in. You just have to wait and hope that the next time he rears his head, you can do enough to knock it off his shoulders.

That uncertainty is addictive. Will I be in a group with friends and celebrating his next appearance as we work together to try and dethrone this bully? Or will I, once again, be on my own, minding my own business before getting seven shades of shit kicked out of me?

To be brutally honest, it’s probably going to be the latter, but here I am, gearing myself up for a fight that I know I likely can’t win, yet one that I keep punishing myself with anyway.