Diablo 3 Walkthrough Part 35: The Butcher

Enter the Chamber of Suffering. There is a cutscene.

Maghda: Leah must be back in Tristram, crying over the old man's corpse. She'll soon have another one to cry over - yours. Meet - The Butcher.

The Butcher comes out. He is happy to have fresh meat for dinner.

Your quest log updates:

The Imprisoned Angel
Kill the Butcher

You are now facing the following elite champion boss (Purple Colored name):

The Butcher
Flesh Carver


 
The Butcher Strategy Guide
The Butcher is a hard boss to kill, but it is still possible to beat the Butcher solo using our strategy guide.

The Butcher is a level 13 (at Normal) boss with over 5,000 hitpoints. He uses the following attacks/abilities against you:

Melee
Smash
Frenzy
Grappling Hook

Your character should be at LEAST level 12 when facing him, though preferably you want to be lvl 13 and above. If you are less than level 13, and you keep dying, you should go back to previous areas and kill some more monsters, until you level to level 13 or above. Or you could get a friend to help you.

To make life harder, different parts of the floor actually erupt in flames, potentially damaging your character.

Unlike the Skeleton King, the Butcher does not summon minions to help him. While this sounds like an advantage - it actually isn't. The undead the Skeleton King summoned were an endless source of red health globes while fighting it. But here, there are none. There are two healing wells in the upper corner of this chamber, but each dries out after using and takes tome to replenish. You should therefore rely on your healing potion as well, and possibly the health spell and regeneration ability of the Templar. The Templar is a better follower in this fight for the reasons stated above, so if you are having difficulties defeating the Butcher with the Scoundrel as your follower, consider going back to town and recruiting the Templar for your party.

The first priority, and it should not be too hard, is to avoid the flaming floor which will make you lose critical health. Every bit of health is important in this battle. You will have more than enough warning as the floor is heating up. It will turn reddish and continue to do so for a couple of seconds until the fire bursts. When you see the floor starting to heat up, immediately move to a different tile before the flames erupt.

You should also avoid the Butcher's cone attack, where he shoots is grappling chain across a wide area. Another attack with his grappling hook is when he catches you, and pulls you over next to him, then strikes you in melee. When he glows orange, he is preparing a special frenzy attack in which he knocks you back then sprints and charges towards you for a devastating strike.

Tips for all classes:
Stay on the move. Evade the attacks mentioned above. Be prepared to use the healing wells in the top corners of the room, as well as health potions.

Barbarian: Use Bash, Hammer of the Ancients and Leap Attacks with hit and run strategies. Back off when the Butcher is performing his melee attacks. Lose Pound of Flesh which is totally useless here, and instead put on Nerves of Steel as your passive.

Wizard: Stay on the run, avoiding the butcher's melee attacks and grappling hook chains, as well as staying away from the flames beneath you. Use your basic magic missile attack, as well as the Ray of Frost, since the Butcher is vulnerable to cold damage. Have Blur in your loadout as a passive skill, which will help you a bit if you do get stunned and attacked in melee. Diamond Skin should be equipped to your defensive action bar, for when you are in trouble.

Witch Doctor: Lose the Corpse Spiders and the Toads, who are not helpful in this battle. Equip poison darts with the Splinter Runes instead, and use it as your primary attack, shooting them when you stop motion for a split second. You can use Zombie Chargers and your Zombie Dogs to distract the Butcher a bit and buy time. But note that the Zombie Dogs will not survive very long in this battle. They are better used in this combat with the Sacrifice Skill. Use Sacrifice as soon as the Zombies get near the Butcher. If you do not use it immediately, the Zombie Dogs will be dead and it will be too late.

Monk: Fists of Thunder should be used as your primary attack, and Lashing Tail kick as your secondary to knock the Butcher back and give you some breathing room. Fleet Footed is crucial as your passive skill, since you will be running a lot evading the Butcher and the flames throughout the combat.

Demon Hunter: Bola Shot is a good skill to use as your primary, accompanied with Impale which is always useful in Boss Fights. Caltrops are good to slow the Butcher down, and Vault will help you while you are on the move. Complement with Tactical Advantage as the passive, which will make you even more evasive.

Defeat the Butcher.