Tech News
Tech Reviews
Smartphones & Accessories
Gaming Consoles & Accessories
Smartwatches & Wearables
Audio Devices
Cameras and Photography
Laptops & Tablets
Computer Peripherals
Televisions and Home Entertainment
Smart Home Devices
Home Appliances
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 31: Elon Musk and Maye Musk attend Heidi Klum’s 2022 Hallowe’en Party … [+]
Update: This article was published on 11/21 and republished on 11/22.
The mystery of how Elon Musk has so much time to become a world-ranked Diablo 4 player continues, and despite his recent appointment to run the Department of Government Efficiency by Donald Trump, he is demonstrating that efficiency in the form of speed clearing Pit 150 in Diablo 4. It appears he also may have just set a world record, becoming the #1 player in the game. Seriously.
I would find this hard to believe had he not posted his sub-2:00 run on Twitter. When he finishes, there is 13:04 left on the clock, and subtracting that from the 15:00 start time, that’s a 1:56 run. That would put him three seconds below current record holder Resistance at 1:59, and those two are the only (tracked) players in the world to get under two minutes for this run.
I remain somewhat baffled as to how this is happening. Yes, Elon is a known Diablo grinder, but to this level? Not only how does he have time, but just…how is he doing it? He has essentially the same Quill Volley Spirtborn build everyone else is using, but does he just have different tactics? Is his gear that much more perfect? Is he somehow getting lucky with enemy behavior?
There is a common theory that Elon is somehow spending money to get good gear or having someone boost his account to reach these heights. There is not evidence of that, plus Diablo has features in place like when you re-roll or masterwork gear, it is bound to your account. And that takes both farming and a lot of RNG to get the perfect stats you want boosted. We’re talking hundreds of hours here. It is of course certainly possible he’s paying for advantages in some black market, against TOS form or another but…why? Why this game specifically? Why not other games as well, where this could be even easier? It’s a bit baffling.
When you’re the richest man on earth you can in fact delegate more or less all of your responsibilities elsewhere, which would give him maximum Diabo grinding time. He has been planted at Trump’s side since the election, but that has not stopped him from shooting for the top of the charts, it seems.
As of right now, Musk’s 1:56 run is not showing up on the Helltides list, but I’m not sure how often that updates. Did Elon buy his way here? Did he cheat somehow? Or is he just the world’s luckiest RNG-er and most talented Diablo player? I have no idea, but this story remains a puzzle I cannot quite solve. But uh, congrats, I guess?
Update (11/22): Aha, there may be a twist to this story, and one that could offer some explanation of this new, seemingly record time by Musk.
There has been a bug going around in Diablo 4 the past few days with the Elixir of Antivenin which can increase player health to a million or more, far beyond what it’s supposed to be. There are ways to transfer max health into damage, and that results in the ability to one shot essentially everything in the entire game, including say, Pit 150 bosses, which have been easy to farm as a result of this bug.
That bug was patched yesterday, but Musk’s video went up during the time when the bug was still live, and it is at least a possible explanation as to why he was able to beat the current world record by a few seconds. However, there is no way to prove this, as we don’t see his damage numbers or his health total during this run. He would be far, far from the only person to be using this bug when it was live, but it does of course have the potential to break records for Pit 150 farming for everyone, which may be why the Helltides list has not updated yet with new times, and Resistance, with a pre-bug time of 1:59, remains on top.
So, I’d be curious if he could…do it again, after this hotfix.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
