Vessel of Hatred already looks like a game-changer forDiablo 4before it has even launched, as the 2.0 update for the game set to release with the expansion promises some welcome changes alongside the brand-new expansion content. In the update’s announcementreleased by Blizzard ahead of the 2.0 update’s launch on the PTR, players can find details about some major system changes surrounding leveling, item quality reworks, the addition of the fan-favorite Runeword mechanic fromDiablo 2, and more. However, newly uncovered information from the PTR’s database reveals some interesting items that could lend credence to one ofDiablo 4’s biggest rumors.
Since the game’s launch, some dedicatedDiablo 4players have scoured the game for access to a secret cow level they believed to be in the game. Although no such cow level has been found yet, players have uncovered an Easter egg that seemingly references the cow level in the form of the Forlorn Hovel, which contains several ordinary cows. Despite the lack of a true cow level on the same scale as those inDiablo 2andDiablo 3,Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatredcould be gearing up to finally include its own version of this classic secret.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Could Finally Introduce the Secret Cow Level
The Origins of Diablo 4’s Cow Level Rumors
Diablo’s cow level began as a rumor back in the originalDiablothat alleged if a player clicked on a cow enough times, they’d be taken to a secret all-cow level. Blizzard caught on to this community hoax and implemented an actualsecret cow level inDiablo 2, which could be accessed by combining Wirt’s Leg with a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube. Following up on this Easter egg,Diablo 3featured its own version of the cow level, this time accessible by transmuting a Bovine Bardiche in Kanai’s Cube, but the game also included another secret level known as Whimsyshire that featured bright colors along with unicorns and teddy bears instead of monsters.
WhenDiablo 4launched, players assumed the game would also feature its own secret cow level, but this rumor has yet to amount to one similar to those inDiablo 2andDiablo 3. There is a somewhat elaborate Easter egg inDiablo 4that seems to be a reference to past cow levels, and it involves obtaining three specific items from killing 666 cows, offering these items to the Oxen Gods fountain in Ked Bardu, and using the key received tounlock the Forlorn Hovelwhere several normal cows can be found. Killing these cows drops a Stamina Potion, but players have not yet found a use for this potion.
New Evidence Suggests Vessel of Hatred Will Allow Players to Access the Hidden Cow Level in Diablo 4
Within thePTR’s database for theDiablo 42.0update exists information on a few different items that have caught players' attention and could help lead toward solving the mystery ofDiablo 4’s cow level. The first is a weapon called the Rusted Bardiche, whose description references how the item reeks of manure. This item could be related to the Bovine Bardiche that was necessary to unlockDiablo 3’s cow level.
Beyond this weapon, a few other key items were found, including the Unusual Key, Rusted Old Bell, Crooked Staff, and Jabbering Gemstone. It seems likely that these items are references to the items needed to unlockDiablo 3’s Whimsyshire level: Writ’s Bell, the Staff of Herding, and the Gibbering Gemstone. With how hardplayers have been searching for a secret level inDiablo 4, Blizzard acknowledging the community’s efforts with the addition of a cow level inDiablo 4: Vessel of Hatredwould finally put this long-rumored secret to bed.
