The WoW IronMan Challenge

So stumbled across this interesting phenomenon on the interwebs the other day. It immediately  peeked my interest, as it adds a nice level of challenge that is lacking in current WoW leveling. What is the Iron Man Challenge, you ask?

The premise is simple. Level a character with no type of external help at all. Meaning: 

-No external buffs (unless it's a class related buff you can cast)

-No potions/elixers/food buffs (Warlocks get a pass for healthstones)

-No class specialization

-No gear higher than white quality

-No dying (if you die, you lose the challenge and have to start with a fresh toon)

-No professions expect for first aid

-No dungeons/raiding/battleground/arenas

-No group raid invites

And much more. Breaking the rules will either yellow or red flag your character. If you're interested at this point and want a better detailed list check out the rest of the rules here. You can also add your character to the Iron Man roster. Just don't cheat because you will  a yellow/red flag next to your name!

 My Iron Man Journey

Of course I had to roll a panda shaman. Out of all the classes, it's

one of the few that actually made it to level 100, so I can attempt to be one of the first! 

So far at level 12 and I can already feel the challenge a bit. But there's one cool thing. Because I'm not specialized in anything, that actually allows me to adapt my play-style as a true hybrid that can either do damage from afar or up close. At this level, either way is around the same amount of damage, so you can play around how you want to attack. I do wonder how long I can play like this, however. I guess time will tell.

I have to say, it's great to see the white vendors to finally be of use! Also with the no instanced content rule, I'm 'forced' to go out in the world to explore, kill, and not die. You can't faceroll in white gear, so you gotta play smart!

It's funny how something like this reinvigorated my interest in this game again. With all the hot titles out there like WildStar and GuildWars2, I'm here in a 10 year-old game having the time of my life...until I get sick of it again and the cycle repeats once more. 

Ah the woes of an MMO gamer.

I'll keep my progress updated. So far, so good! If you want to say hi, I'm on Dalaran-US server!