Diablo 4 already has its first level 100 Hardcore character, and it's not who you think

(Image credit: cArn_)

Just a day after Rob2628 became the first Diablo 4 player in the world to reach level 100 at normal difficulty, former StarCraft 2 and Dota pro cArn_ has claimed the Hardcore crown as the first to accomplish the task in the unforgiving permadeath mode.

Normally, death in Diablo 4 is not a big deal: Your equipment loses a bit of durability (which can be repaired by your local blacksmith) and life generally goes on. In Hardcore mode, however, life decidedly does not go on: When you die, you stay dead, and you have to start over from square one. Caution is therefore vital, although it's not always enough: As many players have learned (to their great frustration, no doubt), If you glitch out, you're gone.

That makes progress to level 100, the maximum level in Diablo 4, slower than it is in the standard mode—you can't just hammer your way to the top, after all. But not that much slower, as it turns out. And with a surprise winner, too: Less than 24 hours ago, Ashava solo-killer Wudijo was in the lead at level 87, with streamer ben_ in second at level 85.

But according to Twitch tracker D4race.com, both have been left in the dust by cArn_ and his "team," who he thanked for supporting his effort: Zizaran, Steelmage, and Nugiyen, all of whom are right behind him on the leaderboard.

The win means cArn_ will have his name carved into Blizzard's Lilith statue—as required by the rules, he's already submitted his claim to the official Diablo 4 Twitter account, which has been acknowledged by Diablo global community development director Adam Fletcher.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻June 5, 2023

And here's the big moment:

Diablo 4 is new, but cArn__ comes to it with valuable experience in the genre: His Twitch page says he now mainly plays the action RPG Path of Exile, "in all [competitive] Gauntlets and other events that come up." It's an undeniably impressive feat, and one that I personally would never even think about trying—I don't have the patience to be careful for extended periods of time.

If you'd like to play Diablo 4 the cArn_ way, he recently shared a video breaking down his powerful Rend Thorns Barbarian build. It seems to work pretty well.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.