The first Diablo 4 player to solo his way to level 100 in Hardcore mode dies in a fight against the game's toughest boss
RIP, Wudijo. At least you went out swinging.
Earlier this week, Wudijo, who found Diablo 4 fame during the beta by soloing the world boss, became the first player to reach level 100 in the game's Hardcore mode entirely on his own. But glory is short-lived, and so too was Wudijo, who has been killed in a throwdown with the game's toughest boss.
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Wudijo wasn't the first person to reach Hardcore 100—that honor went to cArn_, who claimed the crown on June 5. But cArn_ did so with a supporting team—Zizaran, Steelmage, and Nugiyen—who helped him push past Wudijo and other players in the final stretch of the race. Wudijo, on the other hand, did the whole thing on his own, so even though he's not first to reach the top, it is by some measures an even more impressive accomplishment.
Alas, the epic tale has come to an end. The good news, such as it is, is that unlike cArn_, who lost his Hardcore hero to a glitch, Wudijo went down swinging in Diablo 4's toughest fight: The Echo of Lilith, an ultra-powerful pinnacle boss designed to give max-level, fully-equipped players something to worry about.
Which isn't to say the death wasn't frustrating: As soon as his character goes down, Wudijo asks, "What happened to my scroll?" a reference to the Scroll of Escape, a rare item that enables players—including in Hardcore mode—to get away from life-threatening situations.
According to observers on Reddit, it was a simple mistake: Wudijo had a scroll but didn't have it bound to a key, and when he attempted to access it through Diablo 4's wheel menu—which you can see flash past very quickly in the clip—he was on the wrong wheel. No scroll, no escape.
It was bound to happen eventually—as redditor Ar1go said, "On a long enough timeline everyone's survival rate drops to zero"—but it's still a sad ending, especially since Wudijo had a way out of the fight and just whiffed on it. This is actually the second time Wudijo got rocked while attempting to solo Echo of Lilith: As noted by Dexerto, he successfully used a Scroll of Escape to get away from his first attempt a few days ago.
This is what was supposed to happen:
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So, RIP Wudijo, we will remember you well. Perhaps Megan Fox will, too.
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.