Diablo 4's nominally passive Treasure Goblins are a type of pacifist enemy that players are encouraged to murder whenever encountered. They drop high-tier loot, leak gold when hit, and will immediately attempt to flee upon sighting the player. And yet, these seemingly harmless loot pinatas appear to be the cause of a series of high-profile Hardcore character deaths (which are permanent), in a delicious twist of irony.

Such was the case with Killthuzad (above), who took the loss of scores of hours of gameplay remarkably well. Other players have reported losing characters to seemingly overpowered Death Pulses as well, a special ability some Elite enemies can have that allows them a last chance at revenge from beyond the grave. For whatever reason, high-level Treasure Goblins bearing this ability, in particular, appear to be the prime culprits, although the official cause of death as recorded by the in-game Hall of Fallen Heroes is "Slain by unknown killer". Fishy.

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In a thread dedicated to the subject over on the Blizzard forums, MythiZena shared a similar video in which their level 97 Hardcore Druid is deleted in a heartbeat, despite being tough enough to almost reach the level cap. Blizzard is yet to comment on the matter.

What do you think of the revenge of Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins? Have you fallen victim to one yourself? Let us know in the comments section below.

[source clips.twitch.tv]