Ding ding: Diablo 4 has its first Level 100 Hardcore player (and then the servers killed their character)
A ba ba ba, ba barbarian
UPDATE: Diablo 4's first level 100 Hardcore character is no more, after a dropped connection to the game's servers killed Carn's Barbarian. The moment it happened was captured on stream, and you can watch it for yourself in this clip on Carn's Twitch channel, aptly titled "rip?".
Former Starcraft and Dota pro "cArn" has won the race to hit level 100 on a Diablo 4 Hardcore character, thus earning him a letter from the king and a nap. This is Diablo's permadeath mode, where one death is enough to wipe your progress. He dinged his final ding on his Barbarian in the early hours of June 5th, just five days after the game's early access launch, and he's now been officially confirmed as the first Hardcore centurion. It's a feat that sounds as impressive as it does exhausting.
Blizzard have confirmed Carn's accomplishment, immortalising him in this tweet and carving his username into a real-life statue of Lilith. The next 999 players to also hit 100, the max level, will have their names added too.
Congratulations, @CARNDARAK
— Diablo (@Diablo) June 6, 2023
⚔️First to reach 100 on hardcore mode
💀First to be etched into #DiabloIV history
Will you join him? #Diablo4Hardcore
Restrictions apply: https://t.co/0m4OMXcCa8 pic.twitter.com/BTgXEHgOmk
Carn's win was actually a team effort, with support from Zizaran, Steelmage and Nugiyen. All four of them are experienced Path of Exile players, which will have no doubt come in handy for both figuring out the most efficient farming strategies and the whole somehow never dying bit. Here's a vid from Steelmage showing the run up to the big moment, and here's the big moment itself.
If you want your name on that statue, you might still be in with a chance. You'll just have to cross your fingers and hope you don't run into a character-slaying, soul-crushing glitch.
Folks who haven't subjected themselves to torturous and risky hardcore levelling races seem to be having a good time, at least. Alice B's Diablo 4 review dubs it "a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life".
