The race to level 100 is why Blizzard just nerfed Barbarians in Diablo 4

Just like there is a world first race to eliminate MMO raids, Diablo 4 also has a race of its own: reaching level 100, the highest possible character level in the game. Technically, there is two races in progress, one for normal/standard mode and the other for Hardcore.

Both modes have the same difficulty, but the crucial difference is that dying in Hardcore mode is permanent, meaning you’ll have to start the process all over again.

Differences aside, both races have claimed their first winners. twitch streamer rob2628 he was the first to reach level 100 in normal mode, which took them over 54 hours. Rob2628’s viewers immortalized the moment they hit 100 in the Twitch clip at the link.

Rob2628 managed to do this by playing as a barbarian. The build they used has been doing the rounds as one of the best builds in the class, with particular abilities and team synergies that make the player an unstoppable machine.

The build relies heavily on Shouts for buffs and Whirlwind for damage dealing. The latter even has certain Aspects that further increase its effectiveness. Unfortunately, the race has not been without controversy.

Rob2628 played as part of a group, which would be fine, except for the fact that there is currently a major exploit that speeds up the leveling process considerably compared to playing alone. The cheat involves the party leader leaving the party, allowing players to reset the dungeon, making the grind much more efficient.

Champion’s Demise was his preferred dungeon here. As with any dungeon, you can count on Elites and a large number of mobs to be around, which is the best way to level up quickly.

Several hours later, another Twitch streamer: cArn_ – Claimed the title as the first to reach level 100 in Diablo 4’s Hardcore mode.

If you guessed its class and its construction was similar to Rob2628’s, you would be correct. The barbarian build cArn_ relied on also made liberal use of shouts and the Whirlwind ability to rack up damage quickly.

Unfortunately, that escalation has also been criticized for apparently relying on the same exploit, which also allowed cArn_ (playing as part of a party) to quickly reset dungeons, speeding up the grind.

Before cArn_ claimed the banner, Twitch streamer wud said he was actually the closest in the race and was well positioned to be the winner. The player has actually done it alone, as a rogue, which makes his attempt quite different. As of this writing, they are level 96.

The records set by Rob2628 and cArn_ demonstrate very clearly why Blizzard heavily nerfed this particular Barbarian version in Saturday’s patch. Although the developer didn’t specifically mention any specific builds, he did say that some of them were simply too powerful, putting them “out of our bounds for what’s reasonable for the health of the game.”

As to why players are running at 100 at all. Bragging rights aside, Blizzard said it will immortalize the names of the first 1,000 players to reach level 100 in Hardcore mode, before September 1, for engrave their usernames on a physical statue of Lilith.

While that nerf was definitely in order, the developer has yet to comment on the group disconnection exploit.