Like the race to beat the world’s first MMO raid, Diablo 4 has its own race: reaching level 100, the highest possible character level in the game.Technically, there are two Ongoing matches, one for Normal/Standard mode and another for Hardcore.
The difficulty is the same for both modes, but the key difference is that death in Expert mode is permanent, meaning you have to start the process all over again.
iGamesNews
watch on youtube
Differences aside, both races had their first winners. Twitch streamer Rob2628 was the first to reach level 100 in normal mode, taking them over 54 hours. Rob2628’s viewers are immortalized the moment they hit 100 when they hit the link in the Twitch clip.
Rob2628 managed to do just that by playing the barbarian. The build they use is consistently considered one of the best at the class, with special skill and gear synergies that turn the player into an unstoppable machine.
The build relies mostly on shouting for buffs and Whirlwind for damage. The latter even has certain aspects that further enhance its effectiveness. Unfortunately, the game was not without controversy.
Rob2628 Playing as part of a team is fine, if it weren’t for the fact that there is currently a major bug that would greatly speed up the leveling process compared to playing alone. The trick involves the leader of the team leaving the party, which allows the player to reset the dungeon, making the grind more efficient.
Champion’s Demise is their dungeon of choice here. As with any dungeon, you can rely on elites and lots of monsters to show up, which is the best way to level up quickly.
A few hours later, another Twitch streamer – cArn_ – became the first streamer to reach level 100 in Diablo 4’s hardcore mode.
If you guessed that their class and build are similar to Rob2628’s, you’re right. The barbarian builds that cArn_ relies on also make good use of the Shout and Whirlwind abilities to rack up damage quickly.
Unfortunately, this climb has also been criticized for seemingly relying on the same exploit, which likewise allows cArn_ (as part of a team) to quickly reset the dungeon, speeding up the grind.
Before cArn_ took the flag, Twitch streamer wudijo was actually the closest and a likely winner. Players actually do it alone as rogues, which makes their attempts quite different. As of this writing, they are level 96.
The notes taken by Rob2628 and cArn_ make it pretty clear why Blizzard made a serious nerf to this particular barbarian build in Saturday’s patch. While the developer didn’t call out any particular builds specifically, it did say some of them were overpowered “beyond what we can reasonably think about for the health of the game.”
As for why players race to 100.Bragging rights aside, Blizzard also said it will immortalize the names of the first 1,000 players to reach level 100 in Expert mode by September 1st engrave their username on a physical statue of Lilith.
While the nerf is certainly in order, the developer has yet to comment on the group disconnect bug.
