Season of Slaughter: Season of the Butcher
Season 12 brings us a whole lot of The Butcher, with new Butcher encounters, variants, a Lair Boss version, and even being able to play as him. We’ve gone ahead and detailed every place you can experience something Butcher-related, how to handle The Butcher, and even how to harness the power of becoming one of the most famous enemies in Diablo history.
It’s time for us to finally begin our own collection of Fresh Meat!
Becoming The Butcher
There are multiple ways to play as The Butcher in Season 12, as we not only get a seasonal dungeon exclusively designed to allow us to play as The Butcher from start to finish, but also shrines in Helltides and even a new PvP event.
Slaughterhouses
These seasonal dungeons allow us to immediately turn into The Butcher the second we step into the dungeon and play as the iconic character until we finally step out. Even though we’re the Butcher himself, players can still encounter the regular Butcher, turning the usual hunt into who’s the dominant meat collector in a doppleganger fight for supremacy.
Shrines of Slaughter
Within Helltides, players can find Shrines of Slaughter to turn into The Butcher. They require a new seasonal item called Meaty Offerings.
- Turning Into The Butcher In Helltides.
- 1. Find a Shrine of Slaughter
- 2. Spend a Meaty Offering. Multiple can be used for better rewards, but also increase density and difficulty.
- 3. Player is transformed into The Butcher.
- 4. A Grisly Metamorphosis event will begin, bringing multiple waves of enemies to the player.
- 5. Once the event concludes, players are returned to their normal form.
Ceremony Of Slaughter – PvP
Located inside the Fields of Hatred, a new PvP event also offers a way to play as The Butcher. Here’s some information on the event itself and how it plays out.
- Every 10 minutes, the zone-wide Ceremony of Slaughter event begins.
- Players will need to get as many enemy and player kills as possible before the timer expires.
- Kills will fuel a “Savagery Meter”. Dying will reset the meter.
- A higher meter gives the player buffs like increased damage.
- Once the timer expires, the player with the most kills total may claim a Butcher’s Idol.
- The Butcher’s Idol must be claimed by the player inside the Fields of Hatred. Claimable by the player with the most kills, it rises from the ground and waits to be collected, similar to a shrine.
- The winner stays transformed as The Butcher until the event ends, or they are defeated.
Fresh Meat
Gaining kills as The Butcher in any of these events grants the player Fresh Meat, the new seasonal currency used for Bloodied Items, Butcher Uniques, and cosmetics.
The Butcher Abilities
Transforming into The Butcher changes the player’s skillbar, giving them access to unique abilities specific to The Butcher himself. Players familiar with the iconic demon will recognize these abilities immediately, with such memorable skills as the multiple Hook from the Diablo 3 Butcher boss encounter, and the Furnace Blast from Heroes Of The Storm.
Butcher Lair Boss
As a permanent new addition, The Butcher is becoming a new Lair Boss with his own unique arena and abilities.
After winning the encounter, players will need a Pound of Flesh to open The Butcher’s hoard. These are primarily collected by doing activities such as Slaughterhouses and Bloody Sigils.
Players must be in Torment 1 for Pound of Flesh to drop.
Butcher Lair Boss Loot
The new encounter is the primary way to get the five new uniques. Below you can find a list of the new uniques added in Season 12.
| Unique Name | Gear Slot | Unique Power |
| Blood-Mad Idol | Amulet | Grants permanent Berserking, but you take 200%(x) increased Burning damage over 8 seconds whenever you are struck. While burning, your Berserking damage bonus is further increased by 75-125%(x) |
| Wendigo Brand | Ring | Every 15 kills in the last 30-60 seconds increases your Damage by 2%(x) and Maximum Health by 1%. |
| Wyrdskin | Gloves | Attacks apply Vulnerable to Distant Enemies, and Weakened to Close Enemies. You deal 10-30%(x) increased damage to Enemies that are both Vulnerable and Weakened. |
| Rustbitten Dirk | Dagger | Deal 50-100%(x) increased damage to isolated enemies. |
| Thousand-Eye Reaver | 1H Axe | Moving grants Ferocity, and Maximum Ferocity is increased by 1-3. Ferocity also increases Movement Speed by 4-8% per stack. |
Relentless Butcher
Bloodied Sigils come attached with a permanent affix – Relentless Butcher. This causes a special variation of The Butcher to spawn. However, even if this version is defeated, he will immediately respawn and begin to hunt the player.
It is possible to have two Butcher spawns at once, one as the Relentless Butcher and the other as a normal Butcher encounter.
Expect more information to come once the patch drops. For now, you can find more on Season 12 through the link below.
