The Diablo 4 race to 100 has finally come to a close after almost three weeks of grinding as players everywhere settled in for some long degenerate gamer hours into the early mornings and late nights fueled by energy drinks and sheer excitement.
The race to 100 is a challenge even the best players can fail. Players had to reach the maximum level on Diablo 4’s Hardcore difficulty, meaning they could not die, not even once, or be forced to reset and begin anew to stay in the race.
Only the first 1,000 players to do so will have their names immortalized forever, and with millions hopping online over the game’s first few days, the competition was steep.
Here’s what went down for the Diablo 4 race to level 100 in Hardcore mode.
Diablo 4 race to 100 leaderboard
Blizzard’s official rules say the first 1,000 players to reach level 100 on Hardcore mode earn the “Tempered Champion” title in-game, and supply proof to Blizzard on Twitter “will have their BattleTag engraved into a physical statue of Blizzard’s choice.”
Unfortunately, there’s no official leaderboard in Diablo 4, so there’s no easy way to see who’s the closest to reaching level 100. The second best thing is D4Race.com, a site that’s being manually updated by a dedicated fan who’s watching along with streamers but isn’t official and does not include all possible players.
On June 4, a Diablo 4 player called Rob hit level 100 after grinding the game for two days and sleeping for just eight hours. But because it was a non-Hardcore run, his name won’t be carved in a Lilith statue at Blizzard’s HQ.
Who won the Diablo 4 Hardcore level 100 race?
Not to be outdone, the real champion was crowned in the early morning hours of June 5, just less than five days after early access began. A streamer named cArn, a former Starcraft II and Dota 2 pro, officially became the first player to reach level 100 on Hardcore mode, solidifying his place on the Lilith statue.
But the chase was far from over for many because there was still the race to hit 100 on Hardcore mode to become immortalized on the statue. With 1,000 spots on the statue up for grabs, there was still plenty of room.
Because of the inclusion of social media, there was an easy way to keep up with players who are grinding the game by following the #Diablo4Hardcore hashtag on Twitter.
Another way to keep up with players who are grinding in the race to be immortalized on a statue of Lilith is the Diablo 4 directory on Twitch. Viewers often found that players had their level in their stream title, so they could follow along in their triumphs or agonizing, horrifying defeat.
Related: First player to reach level 100 in Diablo 4 does it in 54.5 hours and with eight hours sleep
Diablo 4 is a very big game, and reaching level 100 without dying at all takes some serious fortitude and skill. The race continued for almost three weeks until it was confirmed to have ended.
Diablo 4 race to 100 Hardcore final winners
It’s finally over. The 1,000 name slots of some of the most dedicated and powerful Wanderers have been taken. The statue has been solidified, and the contest is over.
Blizzard has confirmed that 1,000 #Diablo4Hardcore entries have been finished.
“Their achievements will be celebrated for eternity in the halls of Blizzard,” the company said in a tweet on June 21, confirming that “a full list of names will be shared in the coming days.” This official blog post will be updated with all of the names once they are verified.
GG to all who participated.
