Congratulations to Nilylia for reaching max level, making them our 20th The War Within Iron Man Challenge champion! Nilylia’s total journey was 8 days, 22 hour, 48 mins, 30 secs, with a /played of  1 day, 13 mins and 8 secs. 

Is this your first max level challenger? Nilylia said, “This is my first max level challenger, hopefully not the last, but we’ll see about that!”

Why did you choose this challenge to play? Nilylia mentioned, “I’ve been eyeing the Iron Man challenge for quite a while now, it just makes the most sense to me. It seems like it’s the perfect balance between having an enjoyable time while also posing a level of risk that doesn’t otherwise exist in modern WoW.”

What race/class/spec did you choose to go with and were there any specific reasons for that choice? “Night Elf Beast Mastery Hunter (Pack Leader hero talents). Funnily enough, a month or two ago I made an Undead Warlock, my first Iron Man attempt, and died at 38 because I was greedy and had no way to escape. And I thought ‘Alright, if it’s your first time, just faceroll it with BM hunter like a sane person’ so there’s that. But yes, Feign Death + Shadowmeld is just too good of a cheese to pass up.”

What path did you take to level and were there specific reasons for those choices? Nilylia said, “I did the Night Elf starting zone -> Duskwood -> Stranglethorn Vale (up until this point I read every single quest out loud to myself while chilling* – these zones have great lore! I would totally recommend more people do this, it makes you reconnect with the world (of Warcraft) in a great way. Then around lvl 37-38 I timewalked to Pandaria because the quests there are a bit easier to do. Around 60 I switched to TBC timewalking – big mistake, should’ve just stayed in Pandaria. TBC is 90% kill quests with 10+ mobs. Nope. Aaaand then at 70 I skipped the intro and bam – War Within content. *If I hadn’t read these quests I would’ve leveled up to 80 in less than 24 hrs so… it’s possible even without gear. (We don’t talk about the Warband EXP and Anniversary buff :D).”

Did you have any close calls while leveling this character? Nilylia said, “I had a couple where I was sub 30% health and one where I was literally on 90 HP. I don’t recall exactly where it was and what was I doing, but I remember it was somewhere in Pandaria. Apart from that, nah, BM hunter is very safe.”

Do you have any advice you would give to someone else thinking of trying out the Iron Man challenge? Nilylia mentioned, “1. Take it slow – it takes time anyway, so might as well enjoy reading some quests. 2. Take a route you normally don’t take – keeping it fresh makes it a lot more fun. 3. Sell every crafting reagent on the AH – I made enough gold doing this to get my endgame bow and armor set, it’s worth it. 4. Don’t die.”

Are you working on any other challengers or do you plan on taking a break for a while? “WoW got quite boring, that’s why I started this challenge. I wanted to finish it and take a break from the game in general. Might swing by at the end of the season and grind some Solo Shuffles in an attempt to get ‘Legend’. In terms of challengers – I might give the Iron Man another go, we’ll see. If I do, I’ll definitely challenge myself with a harder class.”

Congratulations once again to Nilylia becoming our 20th The War Within Iron Man Challenge champion, and best of luck with your future challenge adventures.