What race/class/spec did you choose to go with, and were there any specific reasons for that choice? Hanting said, “Because I’ve played Hunter for years now (even though lately not as a main anymore), and for the Ironman Challenge, it is one of the ‘easier’ ones to reach max level. I’ve tried both Beast Master and Marksmanship during my tries. I stuck with Marksmanship, because it felt smoother to me. Horde was also the choice for me, I haven’t played Alliance for 12-13 years now. And Pandaren was the last race I haven’t tried before, now you can imagine how many tries I actually had (and even more).”

What path did you take to level, and were there specific reasons for those choices? “From challenger to challenger, I’ve done several changes. For Han, he profited from the XP buff a lot, so especially leveling between 1 and 60 required less zones. I started with 1-18 on the Wandering Isles. Then, I went to do the Draenor intro quest (non-fly zone, best for these levelling regions) to complete until 30. I then went to Azshara and did the first few quests (until the one where you have to collect the uniform in the minefield, I wasn’t interested in easy suicide).”

He adds, “After 30 (flying time) it went down quick, 30-45 Winterspring, 45-57 Stonetalon Mountain, as these are in my opinion two zones with high XP rewards from quests (with Stonetalon Mountain being an absolute must). 57-60 was more like a catchup, doing Bloodhoof Village and Sen’Jin quests. As the questing rewards are white, I could actually profit a lot and catch up on my lousy gear.”

He continues, “On the Dragon Isles, I went for questing until 65. Afterwards, I had a stint where I didn’t feel confident, so I went with Dragon Races from 65 until 68, mixed with a few world quests (it actually was very beneficial doing all the Dragon Races, less stressful XP). 68-70 was again questing time.”

Did you have any close calls while leveling this character? “Actually, the last few levels were by far the most difficult ones. My pet died there like a lemming, and I had to keep up my concentration, because I finally wanted to finish this challenge and not go back to the start again.”

Do you have any advice you would give to someone else thinking of trying out the Iron Man Challenge? “Take the class you are most confident in. Be prepared to die at any time, you can feel super confident and die seconds later (curse you Fyrakk!). And, it really helps if you are actually experienced with the zones you are planning. If you don’t know any zones, you should avoid them or scout them first.”

Are you working on any other challengers, or do you plan on taking a break for a while? “I’m not sure what I want to do next. I’m interested in doing Pacifist or Working Man, but I’m on a few days break just to calm down after Han’s successful run.”