Beware the Diablo 4 Treasure Goblin Which Cannot Attack but Is Killing Hardcore Characters Anyway

The Treasure Goblin is not meant to instill fear in the hearts and minds of Diablo 4 players. It is, after all, an enemy that spits out loot and cannot attack. And yet, players across Sanctuary have a newfound fear of the unassuming demon after it killed a raft of high-level Hardcore characters.

Let’s start with Diablo 4 player Killthuzad. Icy-Veins reported this Hardcore character unexpectedly died to a Treasure Goblin while running a tier 37 Nightmare Dungeon. Stunned into silence, Killthuzad has no option but to return to the character creation screen. They eventually get up from their gaming chair and put their head in their hands.

What happened here? Killthuzad had the Death Pulse affix enabled. This means "killing a monster releases a deadly lightning pulse after a short delay". Watch the clip carefully and you’ll see the Death Pulse emit from the dead Treasure Goblin, killing the character in one hit.

Let’s not forget, in Diablo 4, when a Hardcore character dies it is lost forever. IGN has reported on multiple instances of high-level Hardcore characters dying due to a disconnect or even while in a loading screen. Now, Treasure Goblins are getting in on the act.

Killthuzad is not alone. Some players believe the Treasure Goblin Death Pulse is doing way more damage than it should, so much so they reckon it's bugged. Diablo 4 player “faraddox” took to the Blizzard forum to report his character death as a bug, complaining about the loss of their Hardcore level 60 Druid while in a tier nine Nightmare Dungeon with the Death Pulse affix enabled.

“I had more than enough damage reductions and armor to tank anything, all previous explosions from Death Pulse affix caused almost no harm,” faraddox said. “In last room of this section I saw Goblin, there were no other monsters nearby (one monster left for task, no other marks on minimap). I had full life and fortify since I didn't take any damage fighting Goblin. As soon as he died, my Druid died too.”

Faraddox said Diablo 4’s Hall of Fallen Heroes, which documents lost Hardcore characters, states they were slain by an “unknown killer”.

Another player, called Chillout, said they lost their level 76 Necromancer after a Treasure Goblin died while running a tier 26 Nightmare Dungeon. “I am a casual player and losing 86 hours to such a bug is really bad” they said.

"All I did was kill the Goblin. It says I killed myself. So... I have some questions for Blizzard."

MythiZena recorded the shocking moment they lost their level 97 Druid to a Death Pulse from a Treasure Goblin. “I can’t believe how much damage that did,” MythiZena says in the clip. “Is that a bug? That’s got to be a bug, right? I’m so confused right now. It’s just the Death Pulse. All I did was kill the Goblin. It says I killed myself. So… I have some questions for Blizzard.”

There are multiple reports online from players who suffered the same fate. Blizzard has issued a number of patches since Diablo 4 came out. Perhaps the next hotfix will force the Treasure Goblins to calm down a bit.

Diablo 4 launched big, becoming Blizzard’s fastest-selling game ever. It is also a hit with critics, and, generally, has gone down well with fans. However, the cost of Diablo 4’s microtransactions has raised eyebrows, and, surprisingly, Whoopi Goldberg called on Blizzard to release Diablo 4 on Mac.

Check out our interactive Diablo 4 map to start tracking your progress as you play.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.