The star of Diablo 4's Season of Slaughter is the iconic Butcher, who players can transform into and hunt down their foes to collect Fresh Meat as part of Season 12's limited-time activities. When you play as the butcher in Diablo 4 Season 12 is the definition of a power fantasy for a long time Diablo fans, not all Butcher's kits are worth using. Particularly, Diablo 4
Besides playing as the butcher, Diablo 4 Season 12 emphasizes slaughter in other ways, such as bringing back the Killstreak mechanic from Diablo 3 and introduces new Bloodied items that gain bonuses based on the player's Killstreak. With a season so focused on killing enemies as quickly as possible, Diablo 4 Season 12's best builds focus on maximizing Killstreaks. However, The Butcher's Cleaver is one Unique that should never be used, even on the worst builds, despite how seemingly appropriate it is for the Season of Slaughter.
Diablo 4 Season 12 is essentially a preview of upcoming attractions for the Lord of Hatred
Diablo 4 fans looking for a taste of what Lord of Hatred's Warlock class has to offer might want to check out this Season of Slaughter feature.
The Butcher's Cleaver is not worth using in Diablo 4, even during slaughter season
An iconic part of the butcher's toolbox is his massive cleaver, which Diablo the enemy uses to tear fresh flesh from their victims. The Butcher's Cleaver has been obtainable in some form in almost every game in the world Diablo series, although it is called Butcher's Pupil i Diablo 2 and is only a transmog in Diablo 3. Because as iconic as this weapon is, The Butcher's Cleaver is one of the worst uniques in Diablo 4to the point that it should really only be used while players are leveling their character, and discarded entirely once they reach the end game.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
The Butcher's Cleaver stats in Diablo 4
-
+175% damage to damaged enemies
-
+7-9% attack speed
-
+12.5-18% Movement Speed
-
+62.5-85% physical damage
-
+16-25% critical strike chance against dreaded enemies
-
Unique Affix: Your attacks critically strike damaged enemies. Slay elite fears and slow nearby enemies by 65-95% for 2 seconds.
On its own, The Butcher's Cleaver seems like a decent one-handed axe, with a focus on increasing damage on wounded and feared enemies. It also gives the player faster attack and movement speed, in addition to increased physical damage to make the player feel more like they are when they actually transform into the butcher. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving, and The Butcher's Cleaver is far less impressive in practice than it looks on paper.
What makes The Butcher's Cleaver so useless in Diablo 4 Season 12
As far as a level up a Diablo 4 Season 12 builds, The Butcher's Cleaver is a good enough option, and it can be used by all classes except Spiritborn. It's nice to have that bonus attack speed and damage on damaged and feared enemies while trying to raise a character to endgame worthy form. But as a general unique weapon, it doesn't offer any build-specific utility that makes it worth using in Diablo 4s playoffs.
In most cases, players will want to use unique or legendary weapons that offer some class-specific support for their build. For example, The Butcher's Cleaver offers nothing to Crackling Energy Sorcerer to make it a better option than a Unique like the Orisvane, giving the class access to a host of enchantment abilities. So, while The Butcher's Cleaver can be a decent addition to a more general leveling build Diablo 4it's too generic to work as a support in an endgame build designed to optimize how the player tackles specific endgame content like Lair Bosses or The Pit of the Artificer.
- Released
-
June 5, 2023
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
