Diablo 2
If there is a fixture in every Diablo game, it’s that there is a secret level. And there is the game denying that there is a secret level. And it turns out, Diablo 4 is no different.
Since launch, Diablo 4 players have been attempting to solve the mystery of the secret cow level, not Whimsyshire like in Diablo 3, but the old school Cow Level from Diablo 2. There was datamined information that revealed items related to it, but it remained a puzzle to be solved and no one has opened that magical portal yet. However, season 2 of Diablo 4 has arrived and there has now been a significant breakthrough for cow-hunters.
Now, players have figured out a way to actually acquire three relics that were in the original datamine, but inaccessible in the game. The first was required by player grampajoe, and then it was discovered that this requires the naturally ridiculous step of killing 666 cows in the game. Yes, cows as in random livestock wandering around the map you cannot directly target. But fortunately, players have already created “cow maps” to help with this hunt. (Update: the Discord cow folks have informed me that it’s not exactly 666 cows, but just…a lot of cow farming, usually. It appears to be a drop rate, not an exact number. Testing is ongoing).
You need three relics from three regions of cow farming. One in Kehijstan or Hawezar which will reward the Bloody Wooden Shard, one in Dry Steppes which will reward the Metallic Fragment, and one in Scosglen or Fractured Peaks which will reward the Musty Tome.
Cow Fountain
So, once you get these items, you go to the previously-discovered Cow Fountain in Ken Bardhu where you will “purify” them and be given a key to the Forlorn Hovel which is in the East of Scosglen. This will permanently unlock that for your character. Kill more cows in there and you get a stamina potion. Drink that, it gives you a five minute buff and uh….
The end. That’s where things have landed. The Cow Crew has not figured out what exactly you’re supposed to do with that buff or where you’re supposed to go.
I was wondering if this was a sort of community puzzle where once it was figured out by one group, it would unlock it for everyone, but it doesn’t seem like that, given the permanent unlock of the Forlorn Hovel on a character. However, that means if you want to get to the Cow Level, whatever the end of this path, at the very least you will have to kill almost 2000 untargetable, limited spawn cows on all of your characters, making sure you tick the boxes on the 666th kill in the right place. That sounds a tad exhausting. Not that I won’t do it, but still. At the very least I wish it was an account unlock.
Who knows, maybe it will be different once it’s fully solved. I remain glued to updates and will report back if anything new breaks.
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