In Season 2, the hunt for the Secret Cow Level in Diablo 4 is ramping up! In this guide, we'll show you everything discovered so far. We are likely not far away from the full Secret Cow Level being discovered so let's get started!
The Oxen Gods and the Three Relics
Unlocking the mystery of the cow level begins in Ked Bardu with a mysterious statue called the Oxen God of the East. Going to the fountain in Ked Bardu and interacting with this statue gives you the following vague hint:
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.
This hint is telling us about the three relics that we need to obtain: Bloody Wooden Shard, Intricate Metallic Fragment, and Musty Tome. These three relics are old pieces of the Diablo 2 formula to open the Secret Cow Level: The remains of Wirt's Leg, a small shard of the Horadric Cube, and an old Tome of Town Portal.
Finally, we get one more hint by clicking on the Old Tablet in the same fountain:
The crumbling stone has a few discernible words: "...spill their blood to be deemed worthy..."
This is referring to the next long and tedious process of our quest: We need to slay 666 cows to find one relic. In fact, we're going to have to kill a total of 1998 cows across several regions and three different characters to unlock them all. Prepare yourself for a grind!
Unlocking the Secret Cow Level
Now it's time to get to work killing cows. For each relic, you need to kill 666 cows anywhere in the world. The 666 cow counter is hidden, so you will need to keep count yourself. The 666th cow is the one that will drop the relic. This is important because each relic drops in a particular region, and you'll need to collect all three!
Each relic is tradeable and drops as a global drop (non-personal loot). If you're farming with a group make sure you don't let your party members pick up your drop!
Relic Farming Strategies
Once you acquire your first relic, there are different strategies you can employ to acquire the 2nd and 3rd relics.
Same Character, Different Regions: Use the same character to continue farming cows in the regions where you haven't yet received a relic. After your first 666 cows, the 2nd and 3rd relics have a very small percent chance to drop. We have reports of players finding their next relic as soon as 80 additional cow kills, all the way up to 1000! This method has allowed some lucky players to finish acquiring all three relics in about 4 hours! However, if you're unlucky you might be farming all the way up to 20 hours!
Three Different Characters: Make an entirely new character and farm 666 cows again for the guaranteed drop chance, then mule it to yourself via your Shared Stash. This guaranteed drop chance might be more appealing for those who do not want to endure the possibility that the RNG won't go your way.
On top of all of this, there is a timer of 666,666 seconds (7.7 days) where the 666 cow counter will reset. So make sure if you are going to farm cows that you kill them all at once!
Relic Drop Locations
- Bloody Wooden Shard drops in Kejhistan or Hawezar
- Intricate Metallic Fragment drops in Dry Steppes
- Musty Tome drops in Scosglen or Fractured Peaks
Cleansing the Relics
Once you acquire all three relics, head back to the fountain in Ked Bardu to cleanse them. All you need to do is drop each relic in the fountain and pick them up again. Each time you do so, the other Oxen Gods will become interactable. Now, click on each of these new Oxen Gods with the relics in your inventory to offer them. Once all three are offered, the Strange Key will drop. Pick it up and head to the Forlorn Hovel in Scosglen.
The Strange Key
The Strange Key unlocks the cellar for the Forlorn Hovel permanently. Once opened, the Strange Key will disappear from your inventory.
WARNING: Do NOT lose the Strange Key as acquiring another one will require you start all over! We recommend logging out as soon as you acquire the key so it will save to your character's inventory with 100% certainty before you go to the Forlorn Hovel. (We've seen reports of players who were disconnected while in-route to open the Forlorn Hovel and they lost their key! Be careful!)
The Forlorn Hovel
Inside the Forlorn Hovel is, surprise, a bunch of cows! Kill all of them and they will drop the Stamina Potion. What does this item do? We don't know yet, but the working theory is that consuming this in a special place will unlock the next part of the quest.
Cow Farming Routes
We're still charting out the absolutely most efficient route, but let's look at a few different good locations where cows spawn. These include Farobru, Cerrigar, Forlorn Hovel (outside), Zarbinzet, Wejinhani. In total, it will take you roughly 90 minutes to farm 666 cows, perhaps more or less depending on your movement speed and dedication to the grind.
Farobru Cow Farming Route
Hit the Farobru waypoint and exit South of town. There are five locations to visit, including 4 farms and a fenced-in area of the town. Each farm can randomly spawn 1-3 cows and the fenced-in area spawns 2 cows. You will need to use a ranged attack to deal damage to the cows in the fenced-in area because they are in town, and you can't use attacks inside town.
Cerrigar Cow Farming Route
Go to Cerrigar's waypoint and exit South of town. Quickly go north again and visit the two farms on the West side. There are two packs of cows here, each with 1-3 cows. Quickly dispatch them then head West two visit two remaining camps of cows.
Forlorn Hovel Cow Farming Route
Go to the Under the Fat Goose Inn waypoint in far eastern Scosglen and ride all the way to the Forlorn Hovel. This is the location you'll come back to once you acquire and cleanse all three relics, but for now, there are 1-3 cows stationed here worthy of slaughter.
Zarbinzet Cow Farming Route
Go to the Zarbinzet waypoint and head due south to the farm near the bandit camps. You will find 1-3 cows at two different camps here to further increase the pounds of beef you are accumulating.
Wejinhani Cow Farming Route
Go to Wejinhani and go just outside of town on the east side. You'll find 1-2 cows here that can be quickly slaughtered.
Next Steps To Unlocking the Cow Level?
The community hasn't figured out yet what to do or where to go with the Stamina Potion yet. It's likely that we'll find out soon though!
Special Thanks
I want to give a special shout out to the Diablo 4 – Not Finding a Cow Level Discord, which has been instrumental from the launch of the game for hunting for the Secret Cow Level. This Discord community has uncovered many of the game's secrets even beyond just the Cow Level, such as esoteric lore or even translating and deciphering Diablo 4's rune system! Check them out if you want to nerd out on the cow lore.
Video Guide
Credits
Written by Echohack
Reviewed by Dredscythe