A Canadian gamer has become the first person to officially beat Hardcore Inferno Diablo 3.
“Inferno” is the highest level of difficulty available in Diablo 3, and it’s pretty tough stuff. “Hardcore” is the permadeath mode; if you die, no matter where or when it happens – a minute from the start, a minute from the end or anywhere in between – you lose your character and all his possessions forever. Put the two together and you’ve got Hardcore Inferno, the toughest challenge the game has to offer. And it’s been beaten.
As documented in “Kripp & Krippi vs. Diablo,” a player by the name of Kripparrian has become the first person ever to accomplish the feat. Even more impressively, he (or they, it’s actually not completely clear) did it before the release of the 1.0.3 patch, which actually tones down the difficulty. “We wanted to do it before it was nerfed,” he says in the video. “With this patch, the bosses, the mobs, they become easier… we didn’t want to beat it that way. We wanted to beat the game when it was hard, at the hardest point possible. So it was a race against time.”
Victory was actually achieved yesterday, but it took Blizzard awhile to acknowledge it. In fact, Blizzard Community Manager Micah Whipple initially expressed doubt, tweeting, “People think that was the first HC Inferno clear? Weird. Webcams r 2 legit 2 quit. hay HAY,” but after checking the data the next day – apparently Blizzard sees all and knows all – he acknowledged that it was in fact the first Hardcore Inferno kill on record.
“My apologies Kripp and Krippi, looks like you were 1st HC Inferno clear. (my spreadsheet deciphering isn’t what it used to be),” he wrote. “Congrats!”