Diablo 4's first Level 100 Hardcore character has perished

Blizzard's long-awaited Diablo 4 is finally in the paws of super-fans, and many of them have wasted no time in diving in headfirst.

For the coldest of hearts returning to the Diablo franchise after plenty of practice is the game's hardcore mode. Hardcore cranks the title to its hardest difficulty, dishing our permadeath punishment for failing to quell the hellish onslaught of Lillith.

The gruelling mode is as lethal as you'd expect, and many players have carried their brutal playthroughs into the stratosphere, entering Level 100 in a playthrough with no deaths. But one impressive account has been brought to a brutal close.

Diablo IV claims its first level 100 hardcore death

Diablo gives, and Diablo taketh away. As spotted by PCGamesN, tragedy has struck with the first recorded death of a Level 100+ Hardcore Diablo 4 character being revealed. The worst part is, it was a death caused by a game disconnect.

Tearing through players as a Barbarian, streamer Souaïb "cArn" Hanaf plays what seems like a regular game, getting surrounded by foes without needing any help. Fulfilling the Harcore pro's worst fears, the game freezes up, stays there for a few seconds, and cuts to black.

As cArn quickly jumps back into the game, he confirms what he had feared - his Barbarian, 82 hours into the game, has officially perished. He creates a new character and starts again. Good god.

cArn: "I don't care about my level 100"

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Addressing the unfair death that the Hall of Fallen Heroes claims was caused by a vampire bat, cArn suggests that it's not the level he's upset about losing. "Yeah, sure, a vampire bat's gonna kill me," he fumed. "Doesn't make sense."

As for how he feels, cArn added, "I don't care about my level 100, I care about my gear." It's fair enough, given that the grind for Diablo can be truly tough - but it doesn't matter now, as the account is sealed for good. In normal mode, death would only be temporary, but not in the hellscape of Hardcore.

This will be the first of many Level 100 deaths, but it's certainly a shame that the run was brought to a close due to problems with the game's servers. It looks like Blizzard has much to answer for.