How to Beat the Butcher
The Butcher is the stage guardian of "Shady Forest", the first stage of Endless Curse, and only shows up when the clock hits 9:00. He's the wall most new players hit first, chasing them down and hacking away. He only has three attacks, all telegraphed, and once you can read them he's actually easy.
01Quick facts
| Stage | Shady Forest (stage 1) |
|---|---|
| Arrives | 9:00, stage guardian |
| Race | Human |
| Attack element | Physical |
| Style | Melee chaser: likes to stay right on top of you |
| Movement speed | Fastest of all bosses |
| Stage strength | Baseline (stage 1) |
| Drop | Always drops one legendary item |
02His three attacks
Most of the time the Butcher stays close (melee mode), switching to keeping his distance only every few seconds. Either way, a red area lights up on the ground before the hit lands.
Triple Cleave
Three chops forward in your direction, each reaching further than the last: left, center, right. After the warning, a chop lands about every 0.3 seconds.
How to dodge: Afterwards he stops to catch his breath for about 1.2 seconds, your best window to hit back. Dodge sideways, not straight back: the three chops push forward.
Charge
Winds up, then rushes at you in a straight line. A long strip lights up along the path first, and the charge covers a lot of ground.
How to dodge: When you see the strip, step out of it sideways. Moving forward or back keeps you on the line.
Stomp
Only used when you're very close: one stomp that hurts everything in a ring around it.
How to dodge: When it's on top of you, watch for the glowing ring at its feet, step outside, then come back. Melee classes eat this one the most.
03Below half health: enrage
When The Butcher drops below half health, the screen shows "The Butcher is enraged!". After that:
- Movement speed goes up 15%, so it closes in faster (to about 44%).
- It attacks 25% more often, and Charge, Stomp get 20% less warning time.
- After each attack there's a 35% chance it chains straight into the next one with barely a pause.
Once enraged, the scariest combo is Triple Cleave into Charge. Save your Fury for this moment so he goes down inside your ultimate.
04What The Butcher is weak to
The Butcher is Human. Elements that work well against it: Shadow (×1.6), and every other element deals normal damage. It resists nothing.
Heroes with these skills have the edge (skills are drawn at random on level up, so grab these when they show up):
- Necromancer: Skeletal Mage, Corpse Explosion, Soul Rain, Decrepify, Life Tap, Curse
- Assassin: Shadow Step, Mind Blast, Smoke Bomb, Phantom Blades
For the full chart, see Beginner's Guide: Element Chart.
05Tips
- Circle him: he's faster than every other boss, so running in a straight line never works. Circle around him and his Charge rarely connects.
- Clear the small fry first: monsters keep pouring in after the guardian appears. Getting boxed in by them is the real reason people eat Triple Cleave.
- The woods are dense: the Shady Forest has lots of trees and frequent fog. Don't back yourself into a dead end in the thickets.
- Bring crowd control: stuns and slows work especially well on him, like the Knight's Shield Wall branch or Phalanx.
- Can't win? Go back to town: buy Vitality and Strength upgrades in town, then try again. On Normal, bosses have only half the health and damage.
06The Butcher in chapter one of the story
The first time you enter the Shady Forest on Normal, solo, you play chapter one of the story, "The Lost Huntress". The Butcher works a bit differently here: he only shows up after you rescue Wren from the root cellar, and until then the clock stops at 7:59.
WrenThey didn't bring me here by chance. The Butcher sold me to whatever lives beneath the roots. Me, and many others.
The ButcherWho let my merchandise loose?! I'll make mincemeat of you both!
Once rescued, Wren fights the Butcher with you using five Ranger skills: Shot, Multishot, Rain of Arrows, Glaives, Venom Snare. She has twice your max health. Beat the Butcher and step into the portal, and Wren joins your town; from then on you can switch to the Ranger at the campfire.
07Other bosses in Shady Forest
The 3:00 mid-boss is drawn from Necromancer, Grisbon; the 6:00 one from Grisbon, Scathelocke, Skeleton Knight (never the same as the 3:00 one).They also enrage at half health, and each one drops a piece of gear.
For an overview of the whole game, head back to the Endless Curse home page, or compare all six guardians in the boss overview.
08FAQ
When does the Butcher appear?
At 9:00, with a warning on screen at 8:00 that the stage boss arrives in one minute. In chapter one of the story you have to rescue Wren first, or the clock stops at 7:59.
What does the Butcher drop?
Always one legendary item, plus the usual coins and gear. Remember you only clear the stage once you step into the blue portal.
What is the Butcher weak to?
The Butcher is Human: Shadow deals ×1.6 damage to him, and every other element deals normal damage.
The Butcher keeps chasing me down. What do I do?
Circle around and dodge sideways instead of backing up in a straight line. After Triple Cleave he stops for about 1.2 seconds: that's your moment to strike back.
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