MMO player "stunned" to lose their WoW hardcore run to a malfunctioning weapon: "I think it has to be the worst way to go"

World of Warcraft
(Image credit: Blizzard)

One super careful World Of Warcraft player tragically lost their hardcore character due to a malfunctioning Goblin Mortar, serving as a warning to hardcore goers everywhere.

“Two days later and I’m still stunned at how I died,” wrote Redditor Nastrin on the classicwow subreddit. “I died Tuesday night as a 49 Shaman named Taurgarn on Skull Rock. I played super safely the entire time with my only close call occurring on Gazzuz at Level 14.” Nastrin says they would use Wowhead - the educational WoW website - to double-check “everything” and make sure it was safe for use.

Don't reload mortars at home from r/classicwow

Nastrin’s cautious play style was admirable. “Anytime I went over 150ms, I logged off or played a different toon,” they continued. “Every time I ran out of target dummies, I always went back to get more no matter how inconveniencing it was. I healed myself fully before starting any encounter. Goblin rocket boots say they have a chance to explode or something, so I Wowheaded it to make sure it wasn’t lethal.”

Unfortunately, the Goblin Mortar doesn’t “say anywhere (unless you already knew) that it can be dangerous.” In fact, the player says they reloaded the weapon “probably ten times before” without it spontaneously combusting. “I think it has to be the worst way to go,” they continued. “I’d rather have disconnected in the middle of combat because at least then I probably would have had a warning sign in the form of high latency that I chose to ignore.”

“Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. No more reloading goblin mortars. We go again.” A good lesson for all would be mortar-wielders playing WoW on hardcore.

Has your hardcore character perished? Why not check out the other best MMOs?

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.