Congratulations to Thusky for reaching max level and making them the 46th Dragonflight Iron Man Challenge champion. This is CStar’s first max level Challenge Champion, and Thusky’s journey was 2 days, 12 hrs, 48 min, 58 sec, with a /played of 14 hrs, 11 secs. 
Why did you choose this challenge to play? CStar said, ” Twofold: I’ve had a long-standing interest in seeing a Challenge through – namely either Iron Man or Bloodthirsty – and ultimately settled on the former. My second reason was to get a feel for how big the The War Within pre-patch leveling changes were, which certainly became apparent in the latter half of the run.”
What class/spec did CStar choose to go with Thusky, and were there any specific reasons for that choice? “I went for a Troll Warrior because I do not have a Troll and Warrior is my favourite class. I switched between all three specs repeatedly but ultimately settled on a mixture of Prot and Arms, since Fury just cannot keep up, especially later on. I stayed Prot for the last ten levels, but I feel like I could’ve stayed Arms until 65-ish.”
What path did you take to level, and were there specific reasons for those choices? CStar said, “This is my first successful character in this category. My first attempt died at Lvl 19, this was my second. Regarding my path, I was winging it completely, no path in mind. I wanted to level in WoD at first, before a bug with the Garrisons softlocked me, so I switched to Dragonflight and just went in order from there. Generally I did everything I came across, barring the Elite Wanted quests and similar world quests. Didn’t wanna take the risk.”
Did you have any close calls while leveling this character? CStar said, “Surprisingly, only one close call at around Lvl 55, when I was still experimenting with Fury spec. Almost died to a quest mob spamming spells that chunked me pretty significantly. Had to bail twice before switching back to Arms and beating it with relative ease.”
Do you have any advice you would give to someone else thinking of trying out Iron Man Challenge? CStar said, “In my opinion, it’s completely feasible to stick with DPS specs for a while – up to mid 60, I believe. Tank spec is a big safety net, of course, but it felt a little easy, at times, not to mention how long basic mobs took to die. Arms, for instance, does not have as much of a problem and only really requires a touch more awareness and slightly smaller pulls. It’s still valid, I’d say. To a point, anyway. In essence, my advice would be to use DPS specs for as long as possible, if it’s an option. Just exercise caution when you do.”
Are you working on any other challengers or do you plan on taking a break for a while? “Perhaps. I may try and go for a Green Man run after this, or re-attempt the Bloodthirsty Challenge. Either way, I aim to get at least one of those done prior to The War Within’s launch.”
Congratulations once again to CStar on Thusky becoming our 46th Dragonflight Iron Man champion, and best of luck with your future challenge adventures.