Congratulations to Roguester for the becoming the very 1st Mists of Pandaria (MoP) Classic Iron Man Challenge champion. As you’ll recall, Blizzard released the Classic version of WoW so that players could re-live “the good old early days” of the game, which means the MoP expansion takes a player up to Level 90. Roguester started the journey July 9th and 98 days later on October 15th, 2026, dinged Level 90 with a /played time of 14 days and 4 hours. As a Night Elf Rogue, playing the traditional Iron Man challenge, it was certainly a test to remember older quest lines, experience no talents, no specialization (specs), and no professions (except for first aid which is permitted). This was truly “back to basics”.

When asked to describe this Night Elf rogue, Ster said “Roguester was the 3rd attempt at this Classic Iron Man challenge, with Ironster and Elfster both meeting unfortunate deaths in Outlands. One death was a disconnect (DC) death, and the other was taking on named mobs in Zangarmarsh. How quickly we forget how Retail versions of challengers with today’s specs and talents makes a big difference. I think Xaya learned a similar lesson in Zul’ Drak, which is don’t mess with rares that are in a bad mood. Out of these earlier deaths came a couple of scouts which can be very handy if you don’t remember the mechanics of some quests. And you don’t have access to some safety gear that you have in retail… Remember the advice to always have a Goblin Glider Kit – just in case you run off a cliff or get dismounted way up in the air? Well, there’s no such thing as a Goblin Glider Kit, it hasn’t been invented yet.”

“Leveling is a little bit of a pain in the arse in this Classic version of WoW. Getting to 60 is pretty straightforward, be careful, avoid elites, be mindful of named mobs and rares, and if possible, scout an advanced quest before trying it on a living challenger. The early levels, like 1-20 go pretty quick, then you’ll notice the slowdown around the 40’s. Still, Outlands and Northend is pretty much what you likely remember. In fact, looking at achievements, it took less than a month to go from 1 to 80. That means it took two months to go from 80 to 90. Why you might ask? The scaling of XP is really messed up. When you hit 80, the mobs are 3x your health points, and they hit like trucks. In addition, the amount of XP you need to reach the next level goes up exponentially. By the time you ding level 90, you will need to earn over 110 million XP points. Yikes! The classic server I’m on is a low-population server, so it is almost never that other players list gray or white gear for sale on the auction house. You can easily be stuck with an underpowered weapon and gray gear armor that cause the hostile NPCs to giggle when you approach.”

But what about Roguester’s leveling strategy? “Here’s what I did… your results may vary since a rogue has a very distinct advantage of other classes. Like what? Well, unlike the Hunters who have a pet to tank and kill NPCs in their journey, let’s face it, a Rogue can not fight and win. So a Rogue does what a Rogue does best – explore, sneak, ninja treasure chests, and assorted daily quests that are not too dangerous. Northend has the Argent Tournament dailies, and when you hit 85, there are some Tol Barand dailies that are non-combat. And if your timing is good, some holiday quests like Brewfest is a boost in XP for your toon.”

So you can’t go wrong picking a Hunter as an Iron Man – let the pet take it in the face as you fight mobs. But Rogue is a decent non-fighting Iron Man, can’t beat Stealth, SAP, and Vanish (and 2x thanks to Preparation). If nothing else, utilize a Night Elf toon for Shadow Meld. Breaking combat when things go wrong can be a life saver. What’s next for me? Oh, likely try a couple of other classes…. especially if they at least have Shadow Meld… 🙂

Congratulations once again to Ster on Roguester becoming our 1st MOP Classic Iron Man champion, and best of luck with your future challenge adventures.