Diablo 4 The Butcher's Cleaver Unique Axe

Your attacks Critically Strike Injured enemies. Killing Elites Fears and Slows nearby enemies for 2 seconds.

The first line makes crit chance irrelevant against targets that are already low on Life, so the damage of finishing blows is predictable. The second line gives you room after the kill of a tougher enemy, because the surrounding monsters run away and move slowly while it lasts.

Injured is a game keyword: an Injured character has less than 35% of its Life. The cleaver therefore does most of its work at the end of a monster's life, where each hit is a guaranteed critical strike. Combined with the Critical Strike Damage Multiplier that the axe always drops with, those finishing hits become a reliable part of the rotation. Elites are the tougher monsters, and the Fear and Slow effect only follows their death.

The classes that can use it are Druid, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Warlock; the Sorcerer, Rogue and Spiritborn cannot equip it. This axe is a one-handed weapon, so the off-hand slot stays free.

• Slot and class: One-handed axe, usable by Druid, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Warlock.
• Fixed affixes: it always drops with Weapon Damage and Critical Strike Damage Multiplier.
• Unique Charm: a Unique Charm version of this item exists.

• Torment I difficulty unlocked.

Which classes can use The Butcher's Cleaver?

Druid, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Warlock. Sorcerer, Rogue and Spiritborn cannot equip it.

Does the cleaver make all my attacks critical?

Only against Injured enemies, meaning those with less than 35% of their Life.