The Secret Cow level is a thing of mystery in Diablo 4. Fans expect it to exist following the success of the Diablo 2 Secret Cow Level.
Despite Blizzard denying a Secret Cow Level exists in Diablo 4, all evidence points to the fact there is one but perhaps it has not been revealed in the current game iteration.
Secret Cow Level Discoveries
The Items
When the beta released and datamining began[1] on the game there were strange objects and a location that stood out to be meaningful and possibly related to cow level.
The four items in particular were:
The datamining text from the string files read:
“quest_world_secretcellar.stl”: {“Name”: “Strange Key“,
“Description”: “A large metal key. Though it appears ordinary, you feel that it has some kind of power.”,
“Flavor”: “Who knows what this could unlock?”
“Name”: “Bloody Wooden Shard“,
“Description”: “A worn, bloodstained chunk of wood with tattered leather straps. The letter \”W\” has been crudely carved on one side.”,
“Flavor”: “Though its purpose is lost to time, this was once an object of great significance.”
“Name”: “Musty Tome“,
“Description”: “The tattered leather binding of an old tome. The deep blue dye has faded with age, and all of the pages have been torn out.”,
“Flavor”: “Though its purpose is lost to time, this was once an object of great significance.”
“Name”: “Intricate Metallic Fragment“,
“Description”: “A metallic fragment of unknown origin, still humming with magical energies. It appears to be part of some ancient device.”,
“Flavor”: “Though its purpose is lost to time, this was once an object of great significance.”},
The Musty Tome is a reference to the Diablo 2 Town portal, the Bloody Wooden Shard Wirt's Leg, and the Intricate Metallic Fragment refers to the Horadric Cube, all items that were needed to open the Diablo 2 Secret Cow Level.
The Fountain
Another area also stood out, the fountain in Ked Bardu which has four oxen, one on each corner. One of these Oxens could be interacted with while the other three remained unclickable.
The text on the oxen that can be clicked reads:
"The Oxen Gods stand as guardians to this sacred fountain. It is said that one who presents a worthy offering cleansed in these waters may gain their blessing.”
Also inside the fountain is a tablet which reads:
This is an indicator of cow slaying.
The Slaying of Cows
Following the release of the 1.2.0 patch, the community[2] carried on the research and discovered that killing cows would unlock the next phase.
Based on the research, it was discovered that killing 666 cows would reward players with one of the three mysterious items previously discovered in the game files. However, it matters where you kill the cows to gain the items.
- Musty Tome - Last cow killed in Scosglen
- Bloody Wooden Shard - Last cow killed in Hawezar
- Intricate Metallic Fragment - Last cow killed in Dry Steppes
There are only a few locations where cows are present and and it's best to use an optimal route to maximise as many cow kills as possible as quickly as possible,
Note. When the drop happens is a white item and can be easily missed.
It's worth noting that these items can also be drop-traded between players.
Counting Kills
As soon as you hit 666 kills you obtain one of the items. After this initial 666 number has been reached, one of the other items can drop at any point in the future when killing cows. This is based on RNG (Random Number Generator) so you can keep farming with the same character once you reach the 666 kills on the first item.
If you do not want to play the RNG game, create another character and kill another 666 cows for a guaranteed drop of whichever item you are missing.
It does not matter what level your character is or which World Tier you are playing on to obtain these items.
Cleansing the Items
Once all three of the items have been obtained, they need to be taken to the fountain in Ked Bardu [Map]
- Drop each item into the Fountain briefly and pick them up again once cleansed.
- The three Oxen (North, West, and South) are now intractable.
- A visual indicator will appear above their heads to show they have been activated.
- The Strange Key will now Drop.
The Strange Key and Forlorn Hovel
Once in your possession, the Strange Key is going to unlock a door to open the Forlorn Hovel [Map] which is in the East of Scosglen.
On entering the cellar there are groups of cows and slain villagers. Kill all the cows to obtain the Stamina Potion.
Note that once the Forlorn Hovel is unlocked, it remains unlocked which means the item collection part of this "questline" doe not need to be repeated thankfully.
The Stamina Potion
The Stamina potion reward for killing the cows is a throwback reference to the Cow King and his dropping of Stamina potions and it's likeness to milk.
The potion reads:
“What little remains inside of the vial as long since desiccated into powder. The thought of consuming this turns your stomach.”
As far as effects of the potion are concerned, there is only a 5% movement speed buff.
What now?
This is as far as the community has got with a Diablo 4 Secret Cow Level puzzle. It's clear that only parts of this are activating on larger updates and it's going to be down to the community to solve the rest of it.
Is there a new Cow King? Will there be Cow King's Leathers? We'll have to wait and see what happens next.