Diablo 2 Resurrected: How to access the secret cow level

Diablo 2 Resurrected has a secret level full of murderous cows and lovely loot! Here’s how to access Diablo 2’s secret cow level.

Diablo 2 is a rather dark and serious game, but the developers did inject some comic relief for players to find. This comes in the form of the secret cow level, a place where the player needs to fight an army of killer halberd wielding hell bovines.

The secret cow level is not an easy area; weaker characters are likely to be cornered and crushed by the carnivorous cattle. But it does have a lot of rather nice loot to be found should the player survive long enough.

Part of the secret cow level’s fun also lies in its hilarious audio recordings. The cows have been given a somewhat bored, monotonous sounding selection of moos. While most monsters in Diablo chase you with maniacal glee or ferociousness, the enemies here are a rather deadpan bunch of bovines.

Here’s what you need to do to access the secret cow level in Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Unlocking the secret cow level in Diablo 2: Resurrected

Gaining access to the secret cow level sounds like a lot of work, but it’s relatively straightforward to do. The main rub is that you need to have beaten the game first. That means Baal, the Lord of Destruction, needs to fall. Once done and the credits roll, enter the same game again.

You’ll likely be back at the Rogue Encampment, where the NPCs will all want to offer you their congratulations for ridding the world of Diablo and Baal. At least, for now. The good news is, as you’ve completed the main quest, you’ll have access to an item called the Horadric Cube. This is a tool that lets you combine items such as gems to create better loot.

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You may also have an item in your stash called Wirt’s leg. This is the wooden leg of a corpse that can be found in Tristram when you rescue Deckard Cain. Wirt is a merchant from Diablo 1 who frequently tries to scam the player. Sadly, like many of Tristam’s original residents from the first game, he’s met a rather brutal end.

Looting his corpse is memorable, as upon clicking on it, lots of gold springs onto the ground. Presumably, this is all the money he swindled out of the heroes from Diablo 1. His wooden leg also becomes available. It’s usually socketed and can be used as a crude weapon, but it has a much deeper value – as the key to the secret cow level.

If you didn’t pick up Wirt’s leg on your first visit to Tristram, you might want to head back there and find it. If you’ve lost it, you’ll need to wait until you replay that quest.

Entering the secret cow level

Now that you’ve beaten the game once, obtained the Cube and Wirt’s leg, it’s time to access the secret cow level. First, place Wirt’s leg in the Horadric Cube with a tome of town portal and select transmute.

Wherever you are, a red portal should appear that will take you straight there. You can use the same portal to leave or simply use a standard town portal.

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Remember you must unlock the secret cow level on each playthrough in Normal, Nightmare and Hell difficulties. If you unlock it in Normal, you won’t be able to access it in Nightmare until the same process is followed.

Players could only access the secret cow level once per playthrough in the original Diablo 2. But in Diablo 2: Resurrected it can be accessed as many times as the player likes. This is great news, as it’s an excellent grinding spot and can be full of fantastic loot.

Look out for the Cow King though, try not to udder-estimate him.