A Diablo 4 glitch proved to be more of a threat than the demons, as two players were playing a hardcore that prematurely ended their chances of winning the race to level 100.

Max "Maximum" Smith, co-owner of esports organization Team Liquid, was frozen in place and unable to do anything after 18 hours of playing Hardcore Sorceress last night. The glitch prevented him from moving or activating any lifesaving skills other than healing potions.

As he used the last potion, he said. When he reloaded into Diablo 4, the character creation page appeared, confirming that his Sorceress was permanently dead and removed as part of Diablo 4's hardcore rules. Due to the online nature of Diablo 4, one cannot exit the world immediately after exiting the game. Smith's level 52 Sorceress died while reloading the game.

When Smith was reviewing the video of his death, he saw that both of his supposedly unstoppable skills were disabled. Unstoppable skills provide immunity to all damage sources and should be able to be activated at any time. Smith suspects that when he used the ultimate skill, the animation of the skill froze his character and prevented him from using his other abilities.

"Cruel to die from a bug after 18 hours of play," he later wrote on Twitter.

"I'm sure I could re-level and still make it into the top 1,000, but I don't want to put in the time because this could happen again."

Imexile, a Path of Exile speedrunner and WoW pro player, had encountered another run-ending glitch a few hours before Smith; the two players were in a group in a dungeon when Imexile's Sorceress and it did not go away; Imexile's Flame Shield should have made him immune, but it could not cleanse the rapidly ticking damage. He was forced to quit the game, and when he logged back in, he was presented with a character creation death screen.

"I am very confused about what happened." I don't even know what to do to get out."

As of this writing, both players are playing hardcore mode on the new Sorceress; Smith is currently level 17 and Imexile is level 21.

Meanwhile, rogue player Wudijo leads the hardcore race at level 62. If he can reach level 100 without glitches or death, he will be one of the first 1,000 players to complete the challenge and will be rewarded with a statue of his username from Blizzard.