Diablo 4 dev confirms Secret Cow level hunters are on the right track

Diablo 4 players crusading for the coveted Secret Cow Level should not be dismayed. One of the game’s developers recently hinted that they’ve found the correct trail.

Diablo 4’s Secret Cow level is the game’s Holy Grail. More so than any Harlequin’s Crest or Mad Wolf’s Glee, the zany Easter egg that originated in Diablo 2 is the truest prize on offer.

Players have actively hunted for the Secret Cow Level since Diablo 4’s launch despite an initial insistence from devs that it did not exist. Since then players have uncovered an intriguing trail of breadcrumbs achieved through the slaughter of 1,998 cows.

Now new information has come to light regarding the cloven-hoofed conundrum. In an interview with IGN, Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora, and Production Developer Tiffany Wat hinted that those on the perilous quest should hold fast.

Blizzard Entertainment

The OG Secret Cow in Diablo 2 forced players to fight suped-up cow warriors.

At first Piepiora and Wat play coy with interviewer Matt Kim with side-steps and puns. “Sounds udderly ridiculous,” Wat said when asked about the Secret Cow Level.

“I mean, I think I have heard that a lot of players have been out there slaying cows,” she continued. “Just poor innocent cows in the countryside of Diablo?” Piepiora asked in mock surprise before Wat dropped the hint.

“Sanctuary is not a good place to be, even as a cow,” she admitted. “I will say, however, if people have picked up any items from their cow campaign… cow slay-age campaign… they should hang on to them.”

The items they’re referring to are likely the Bloody Wooden Shard, Musky Tome, and Metallic Fragment you get from slaying 666 respective cows across Sanctuary’s various locales. These items are used at the ox altar in Ked Bardu to summon a key to the Forlorn Hovel filled with sinister cows.

Killing all the cows in the Forlorn Hovel gives you a couple of Stamina Potions you can’t use and the trail stops there. Of course, it seems like this trail has been added to the game in recent updates given the initial insistence that there was no Secret Cow Level.

There’s no telling when the next installment in the journey will come or when it will end but there’s room for speculation. Diablo 4’s first expansion Vessel of Hatred looks set to be a throwback to Diablo 2 where the Secret Cow Level originated. Make of that what you will.