With the recent Diablo IV Quarterly Update, there is an important piece of information that was not addressed that many players are dying to know.
Will Diablo 4 have a cow level?
For what is a violent, grimdark setting without a bit of whimsy?
Then, of course, there are the doubters who ask, "Does Diablo 4 need a cow level?"
A History of the Cow Level
The cow level has a rich (not really) history, dating back to the original Diablo and spreading to multiple other games.
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Diablo
Throughout video game history, rumors of hidden secrets and various ridiculous codes have spread like wildfire through various communities.
One such rumor is almost as famous as the non-existent "nude code" for the original Tomb Raider, and that one is of the secret cow level in the first Diablo.
The original town of Tristram has an area with a bunch of cattle just lounging about.
Rumor was if you pet one of them enough, a secret portal would open, allowing players to access the secret cow level.
It may be the first-ever case of Diablo trolling.
In any case, the employees at Blizzard found this incredibly amusing and dropped an easter egg in the Diablo: Hellfire expansion.
Diablo: Hellfire
Diablo: Hellfire, an expansion for the original game, had a few secrets that could be unlocked by editing the command.txt file in the installation folder.
By adding the following to the file, Lester the Farmer was replaced by the Complete Nut:
cowquestTalking to the Complete Nut several times would give players the Rune Bomb.
Dropping this bomb on the alien bulb near the bridge in Tristram would open the Festering Nest, where players could find a brown suit on the ground in level 2.
Bringing that suit back to the complete nut would reward the players with the Bovine Plate.
"Moo. I said, moo. Look I'm just a cow, ok? All right, all right. I'm not really a cow. I don't normally go around like this; but, I was sitting at home minding my own business and all of a sudden these bugs & vines & bulbs & stuff started coming out of the floor... It was horrible! If only I had something normal to wear, it wouldn't be so bad. Hey! Could you go back to my place and get my suit for me? The brown one, not the gray one, that's for evening wear. I'd do it myself, but I don't want anyone seeing me like this. Here, take this, you might need it... To kill those things that have overgrown everything. You can't miss my house. It's just south of the fork in the river... You know... The one with the overgrown vegetable garden."
The Bovine Plate had the following stats:
- AC: 150
- Durability: Indestructible
- Required: 50 Str
- +50% Light Radius
- +30% Resist All
- Either -5 Damage from Enemies (v1.00) OR -50 Mana (v1.01)
- Either -1 (v1.00) or -2 (v1.01) to all Spell levels
The Bovine Plate is basically the best armor in the game.
Oh, it also makes the player look like a cow.
Diablo 2
The first actual appearance of a secret cow level appeared in Diablo 2.
Aptly named "The Secret Cow Level," players had to first beat the game to be able to perform the following steps:
- Head back to the Rogue Encampment
- Use a Horadric Cube with Wirt's Leg and a Tome of Town Portal
Doing so would unlock a portal to The Secret Cow Level.
Inside said level were herds of Hell Bovines, cows that stood on their hind legs and attacked players with polearms.
Slow and easy to kill, the true danger lay in how many of them there were.
The level was silly, a bit challenging, and offered players the ability to fight the Cow King for some pretty sweet loot.
Players milked it for all it was worth, for they finally had the cow level they were hoping for.
Hopefully, Diablo II: Resurrected will still have The Secret Cow Level.
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Diablo 3
Diablo 3 thought it could get away with offering players the realms of Whimsyshire and Whimsydale, two different secret levels filled with bright colors and lots of ponies, smiles, and love.
The quest to get to Whimsyshire involved creating a Staff of Herding and summoning up the Ghost of the Cow King, while Whimseydale involved murdering a Rainbow Goblin.
It was cute, but it was not what the players desired.
Then, during Diablo 3's third anniversary, and only for one week, Blizzard gave their fans the "Not the Cow Level" area.
Accessing the area required players to kill an Infernal Bovine called Herald to the Queen.
Later, players could transmute a Bovine Bardiche in Kanai's Cube to access the area once again.
Finally, the fans had what they desired most in Diablo 3.
Cows.
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Other Games
The Cow Level has also appeared in Starcraft, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Dungeons and Dragons: Diablo II Edition, The Six Sacred Stones, Goat Simulator, Marvel Heroes, and Minecraft Dungeons.
A simple joke among fans of the original Diablo spawned into a phenomenon, and one of the worst-kept secrets in video game history.
Will Diablo 4 Have A Cow Level?
Diablo 4 is meant to be a darker tale than even the previous three, with a dark and gritty look and feel to rival Diablo 2.
This means that the game obviously needs a cow level.
If Blizzard's history with bovines means anything, it means that fans will most likely get what they want.
A cow level.
There has been no mention of the most important Diablo detail yet, but hopefully, the cow will soon be let out of the bag.
If not, there may be a revolt.
Does Diablo 4 Need a Cow Level?
Yes.
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