Fortunately, players have now found a much faster way through one of the most annoying parts of that process. The key is Bell of the Bovine, the amulet that can once again drop from Moophisto after Blizzard fixed the Divine Bovine's broken loot table. Its Lucky Hit effect can summon an exploding cow, and those summoned cows count toward the hidden cow kills required for the early Secret Cow Level quest items.
In other words, you can manufacture your own cows.
Bell of the Bovine Turns Normal Enemies Into Cow Progress
The original hidden quest requires players to kill cows in three different regions until three special items eventually drop: Musty Tome in Scosglen, Intricate Metallic Fragment in Dry Steppes and Bloody Wooden Shard in Hawezar. That part of the process can be painfully slow because you are normally dependent on finding and killing actual cows in the correct regions.
Bell of the Bovine changes the equation. Equip the amulet and start attacking ordinary enemies. Its Lucky Hit effect can summon a cow that immediately explodes for Fire damage. More importantly, the game apparently counts that unfortunate temporary cow as a legitimate bovine kill for the hidden quest.
That means a dense combat area can produce cow progress considerably faster than roaming Sanctuary looking for livestock. Helltides are particularly useful because large enemy packs give you more opportunities to trigger the amulet. Considering we just covered how heavily Season 15 can stack Helltide farming systems, adding exploding cows to the process feels almost inevitable.
Farm All Three Hidden Cow Items
Once Bell of the Bovine is equipped, travel to each of the three required regions and keep triggering its effect until the corresponding hidden item drops. Get Musty Tome in Scosglen, move to Dry Steppes for Intricate Metallic Fragment, then head to Hawezar for Bloody Wooden Shard.
When you have all three, take them to the fountain in Ked Bardu and purify them. This allows you to interact with the nearby statues and obtain the Strange Key, which opens the Forlorn Hovel in Scosglen.
This is particularly useful for anyone who has looked at Diablo IV's Cow Level chain and decided that archaeology should probably not be required to fight farm animals. We have already covered players being soft-locked during the Hadopelagic Key portion of the wider cow quest, and Season 15 has continued adding more bovine branches rather than simplifying them.
The Forlorn Hovel Leads to the Secret Sheep Level
Inside the Forlorn Hovel, the cows can provide the Stamina Potion needed for the broader Cow Level questline. But the location also contains the doorway into one of Season 15's stranger discoveries: the Secret Sheep Level.
Interact with the dead sheep inside the Hovel and a portal can appear leading to the Temple of Baaaaaaal, a burning area populated by considerably angrier sheep than the name deserves. Inside, players can find the mysterious Map of the Stars, another deep Diablo reference that has returned as part of Season 15's anniversary obsession.
It fits neatly alongside the season's other hidden content. We have already watched players assemble an entire secret Bovine cosmetic set, while other corners of the season have brought back Whimsyshire and its murderous unicorns. At this point the strangest thing Blizzard could add would probably be a normal dungeon.
Get the Bell From Moophisto First
The obvious catch is that you need Bell of the Bovine before this shortcut becomes useful. With Moophisto's loot now working properly again, the amulet can once more appear among his rewards. Reaching him has also become easier because Season 15 provides an alternative source of the five Prime Ribs required to enter the Bovine Sanctum, meaning players no longer necessarily need to complete the entire Secret Cow Level first.
Once you have the Bell, however, one of the dullest parts of the cow quest becomes considerably faster.
Kill monsters.
Summon exploding cows.
Use those cows to find a secret sheep temple.
Diablo IV made perfect sense once.
Season 15 has successfully corrected that problem.
