Treasure Goblin

(v2.04)

The Treasure Goblin is a semi-monster who is a new addition to the Diablo gameplay experience, added in Diablo 3. Goblins (or Gobbies) are found randomly scattered around the dungeons and Rifts.

Goblins are stationary when first spotted, and will always be found standing by an open portal to their escape realm. Once activated by a player moving near or hitting them with a spell or projectile, the Goblins will active and run away. They are humorous creatures, constantly giggling and screeching, running erratically while dropping items when pursued, and pausing every now and then to open a portal and attempt an escape. Eventually they will portal out to safety, if a player doesn't kill them first.

Goblins do not attack players or deal any damage, but they often create dangerous situations by leading pursuing players into fresh enemies. Goblins are classified as "Demons," and are "Unique" enemies, with purple names and non-random properties.

The official description of the Goblin:

He'll randomly and rarely appear in dungeons, but when he does you'll want to beat the candy out of him as he'll drop progressively better loot with each hit. Don't let him escape!

Goblins are generally found one at a time, though certain community buffs have caused them to always spawn in pairs. Players will rarely encounter a large group of 6-12 goblins of the same type, in a Nephalem Rift.

Treasure Goblin Types

Diablo 3 debuted with just the one basic type of Treasure Goblin, though their drop rate and item quality was buffed several times in patches. Reaper of Souls made no initial changes to Goblins, but after release a new goblin area and several more types of goblins were added in content patches.

The following types of goblins are found only in Reaper of Souls and the Ultimate Evil Edition. Not in regulation Diablo 3. All are present in all game modes, but no goblins can be found in Greater Rifts.

• Greed's Domain is a special treasure level, which can only be entered through a golden portal which a Treasure Goblin will sometimes (very rarely) open upon death.
• The Rainbow Goblin is a rare find, and drops loot like a normal Goblin, plus opens a rainbow portal to the Whimsyshire "secret" area.
• The Blood Thief is a purple-colored Goblin who drops Blood Shards while running, and multiple stacks of Blood Shards upon death. He does not drop any gold or items.
• The Infernal Hoarder is a green-colored Goblin who drops crafting materials of white, blue, and yellow quality. He does not drop orange crafting materials, but may drop legendary and item set crafting plans, all for the Blacksmith only. He does not drop gold or items.
• The Gem Hoarder is a chrome or silver-colored Goblin who drops gems while running and a huge stack (20-25 gems) upon death. The gems are of the same quality as monsters/chests of that level. At level 70 (the maximum in Reaper of Souls) the gems are about 90% Marquise and 10% Imperial.
• The Malevolent Tormentor is a dark brown tinted Goblin who looks basically like a normal Treasure Goblin. He drops gold and items when he runs, with a huge stack upon death; about double that of a normal Goblin, with a much higher chance of a legendary item.

All types of Goblins can be found one at a time, in normal games, either in Campaign or Adventure Mode. In Nephalem Rifts players will not find any Rainbow Goblins, but the other types of Goblin will sometimes very rarely be found in large clusters of 6-12 (or even more) which creates wild scrambles as the Goblins scatter in every direction, dropping loot as they run.

A New Diablo III Monster

First sighted in the playable demo at Blizzcon 2010, the Treasure Goblin is a small, shiny, loudly-giggling, rat-like humanoid with a huge sack of loot over one shoulder and extremely quick foot speed. He is technically a monster, but he does not attack characters or deal any sort of damage. Instead he is basically a moving, gold-leaking treasure chest, one that drops a constant shower of gold and occasional items, and will drop lots of high quality items if you manage to run him down and kill him.

The Treasure Goblin is a sort of Easter Egg, since he's fun and diverting, and not a danger. The character is reminiscent of the Thief in the arcade classic Gauntlet II, except that he doesn't steal from you, and is purely a fun bonus diversion.

Goblins are slow at first, giggling loudly and gleaming in the light to draw the eye, as does the shiny trickle of gold he's constantly dropping. He generally lets players get in a hit or two, before activating his super fast movement and darting some distance away. He's there to tease, not to escape, and he always stops just at the edge of the visible screen, where he continues laughing and screeching and making all sorts of comical, attention-getting, goblin type noises.

If the player pursues him, the Treasure Goblin will allow another hit to be landed before darting off again, dropping gold the whole while and running in semi-random directions.

Goblins are quick, faster than most characters on foot, and move erratically. They tend to head towards other monsters, especially Elites, leading character into danger in the pursuit. Ranged attackers have an easier time nailing Goblins from a distance, but the Goblin is more of a tease than an escapist, and stops often, as well as running into corners or dead ends, making him not too hard to kill.

Escape Portal

Escape Portal?

If left alone for more than a few seconds, the Treasure Goblin may cast a special portal. Players can not pass through the portal, but if the Treasure Goblin is left alone for too long he will disappear through it, depriving players of the chance to score all that delicious loot from him.

His portal and evasive behavior was debuted in the Blizzcon 2010 gameplay movie. During patches after release, and then especially after Reaper of Souls' release, the Goblins were made more playful and easier to catch, with a longer delay before they escaped through the portal. They also gained early warning systems, showing up on the minimap and giving a loud giggle even before players are close enough to see them on the map.

Inspiration

The Treasure Goblin seems to have taken its inspiration from the Golden Axe series, when players would in between levels sleep around a campfire and have their magic stolen by little Gnomes with sacks. They would then wake and chase them around to kil them to gain back their magic plus some, the resemblance and behaviour is very similar in both games.

Lore

The story info about Goblins was initially provided by ]]Abd al-Hazir]] in a Lore entry heard when a Goblin is first encountered.

"Some devious little goblins have been robbing our merchants! When pursued, they simply open portals and disappear with a most aggravating chuckle. The peasantry seem to believe that the goblins serve a great demon lord known as Greed and furthermore, that their portals lead to Greed's domain! A ludicrous notion, truly."

Abd al-Hazir

This lore was expanded on post-Reaper of Souls release, when The Vault bonus area was added, a golden portal to which only goblins can create.

Blizzcon 2010 Crafting Sanctuary Panel

Treasure Goblin wanted poster.

The Treasure Goblin was briefly discussed during the 2010 Blizzcon Crafting Sanctuary Panel, where the developers urged players to "beat the candy out of him" if and when we spotted the little guy. They also presented a wanted poster with his face on it; a useful presentation since there's no way to get a good look at his visage in the actual game.

Most players assumed he was humanoid; like a twisted old man, but apparently he's some sort of demonic rat-like creature?

This type of enemy will be found in some/many/most/all dungeons in Diablo III, and there are higher quality versions as you progress through Nightmare/Hell/Inferno.

Media

Assorted Treasure Goblin screenshots and concept arts.

• See every piece of Treasure Goblin media in the Image Gallery.

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  Concept art by Victor Lee.