World of Warcraft

Players across Azeroth have recently embraced a new, very personal achievement: leveling a character "Iron Man" style. What started out as only a small movement, this bare bones, no-frills style of play has now transformed into a community-wide call-to-arms known as the Iron Man WoW Challenge, inviting World of Warcraft enthusiasts to see how close they can get to level cap with only the barest of necessities.

The goal of the Iron Man WoW challenge is simple: reach level 85. The catch, however, is that you must accomplish this task without the assistance of talents, class specialization, stat-improved gear, professions, buffs, item enhancements, or other players. And if you die? Well, then it’s back to square one.

Here are some of the latest rules:

THE BIG ONE: If you die, EVER, that character is removed from the challenge.

Gear Rules:
1) No heirlooms.
2) No items equipped other than White or Gray items (except bags)
3) No item enhancements — enchants/spellthread/weapon chains/etc.

Consumable Rules:
4) No food buffs. Only white vendor-quality food & drink may be used.
5) No item buffs. No scrolls, elixirs, flasks, etc. (except Quest items).
6) No potions (except Quest items).

Spells & Abilities Rules:
7) You may train and use class abilities learned from trainers (including Rogue poisons).
8) No talent points/pet talent points.
9) No specialization. No glyphs.

Gameplay Rules:
10) No guild perks. If you are guilded, it must be a level 1 guild.
11) No questing groups. All combat must be soloed — parties to trade/portal/etc. are permitted.
12) No battlegrounds/arenas.
13) No dungeons/raids that reward experience. All leveling must be done out in the world.
14) No combat-enhancing addons (QuestHelper/Auctioneer/etc. are fine, use your own judgment).
15) No professions, primary or secondary, other than First Aid.
16) No sending gold/items from other characters*.

*You must earn your own gold/items via questing, looting, or trading/AHing.

Interested? Awesome! To sign-up for the Iron Man WoW Challenge and discuss your progress with fellow participants (once you get started), head on over to the official forums. Additional rules and details can also be found on the unofficial Iron Man WoW website, hosted and moderated by players like you.

Thanks to Cautious-Kirin Tor, Neverdied-Durotan, Sandinhiseye-Feathermoon, Haldren-Proudmoore, Selenagnomez-Kil'jaeden, and everyone else who's helped inspire and promote this challenge!