There are few enemies as iconic to the Diablo series as The Butcher, save perhaps for the Prime Evils themselves. Not only does the boss return in Diablo 4 noticeably less cartoony than he was portrayed in Diablo 3, but The Butcher also brings with it two unique items that almost share a name: the Butcher's Trophy Cleaver and the Butcher's Cleaver weapon.
The Butcher randomly spawns in any non-story Dungeon at any time, though it's a relatively rare event. Some players report never seeing The Butcher across multiple characters, while others have had Hardcore characters die minutes into a new run of Diablo 4 thanks to an ambush. This random element means getting both the Butcher's Trophy Cleaver and Butcher's Cleaver unique Axe can take a long time. Thankfully the weapon version drops from other locations, too.
How To Get The Butcher's Trophy Cleaver Mount Cosmetic
The Butcher's Cleaver trophy is a cosmetic that can only be worn by a mount. To get the Butcher's Cleaver appearance, players must – as the name suggests – kill The Butcher. Players in the earlier stages of Diablo 4, or who don't have an optimized build at low levels, will struggle against The Butcher when he spawns. But, luckily, it's relatively easy to cheese the boss by circling impassable objects and using ranged spells.
The Butcher's Cleaver trophy doesn't have a 100% chance to drop from the eponymous boss, and players will more than likely have to farm The Butcher over and over again to get this uniquely rare cosmetic. However, many players are disappointed with how un-impressive The Butcher's Cleaver trophy looks – maybe it's the size, or the fact that it looks more like a meat cleaver than a cleaver born from the depths of the Burning Hells.
The Unique Butcher's Cleaver 2H Axe Drops Elsewhere
The Butcher's Cleaver isn't just a cosmetic – it's also a unique, named weapon. This weapon gives a 100% Chance to Fear and Slow enemies by 45% for a few seconds with every Critical Strike that procs Lucky Hit. Just like The Butcher himself, The Butcher's Cleaver turns players into an unstoppable force of nature capable of controlling the battlefield as they see fit.
This unique Diablo 4 weapon mostly drops from The Butcher, just like The Butcher's Trophy Cleaver. However, many players have reported finding it from World Boss drops, Loot Goblins, Helltide Mystery Chests, and other sources of high-level gear, too.
The fastest way to get The Butcher's Cleaver unique weapon is to simply do all of the content as you normally would at endgame, and remember to go for Mastery with events, go for every World Boss, and aim for Four Mystery Chests in every Helltide. Of course, kill The Butcher when he shows up, but players don't have to rely on the boss to randomly spawn to get this unique.
Diablo 4 is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S