Mekuna holds the world's top rank in Diablo 4's new challenge dungeon, The Gauntlet, but he continues to push for a better score.

Despite currently reigning at rank 1 with a score of 1.1M, ahead of all Diablo 4 players worldwide, Mekuna is eager to push it to 1.2M. 'I think there's always room for improvement/optimization,' he told PC Gamer. 'If someone optimizes their path or gear better, anything can happen.'

Blizzard released The Gauntlet yesterday, and everyone is researching the fastest way to beat the eight-minute dungeon. Every boss and monster in this dungeon is the same every time, but your character's gear and build will dictate your approach. Sorcerer players like Mekna all use teleportation to get through dungeons quickly, but the other skills they use vary.

Seeing what gear and builds players are currently using on the leaderboard can give you an idea of what is in vogue. Most in the top 10 are using variants of lightning-based builds that Mekna and a few others had already theorized to be effective in The Gauntlet. However, Mekna decided to keep his current setup a secret because he believes that theorizing the build is part of the competition.

According to Mekuna, he has tried several different sorcerer builds and plans to test more, but he believes that builds centered around the most popular lightning skills will be most successful: arc rush, ball lightning, or a Hybrids. No other build can compete with its attack speed and synergy when jumping from monster to monster using teleportation.

You also need exceptional gear, which Mekna says was a bigger factor than he expected. This is because the gauntlet has many shrine pillars that provide powerful buffs. One of them is one that makes monsters drop more items that raise their scores, meaning you want to maximize its benefits before it runs out.

"The first thing we tested was whether the pillars would benefit from (the item's) "shrine buff duration." I thought it wouldn't because it would be too strong, but it did. ...... I wasn't mentally prepared for it."

He was not prepared for it.

He says that gear with shrine buff duration, a status that most Diablo 4 players probably ignore, is "super essential."

Mekuna says that this, plus the need for the ultra-rare Uber Unique item, would make it difficult for most players to compete on leader Mekuna believes that this, plus the need for ultra-rare Uber Unique items, will make it harder for most players to compete on the board.

"I'd like to see it made more difficult. Like the monster in [Nightmare Dungeon] that gives a group of four players 100 HP." We farm uber-unique and we're min-maxing our gear. It's kind of sad that it kills everything so easily, but [it's] from a competitive standpoint, and casuals might prefer the actual gauntlet."

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Outside of chasing the leaderboard, you can try the gauntlet for item cache rewards when the dungeon resets the following week; the score Blizzard has set doesn't seem too difficult to clear, so if you're close to level 100 Most players should be able to earn it. But if they want to make a name for themselves on the leaderboard, they will have to start working.

"Put a shrine buff duration on your gear and test many routes.

"You also need to analyze your runs, but I can't advise you on that because I don't do it myself.

He has been practicing The Gauntlet for about four to six hours and will soon be streaming a co-op game on his Twitch channel. And next week, when the leaderboards are reset and The Gauntlet's layout is changed, he will start all over there.

"I like to constantly improve and push the envelope," he said.