The journey of Jokerd in WoW Classic

JokerD journey in WoW Classic led him to be the first at 60 and hit the milestone in front of 300K viewers. He went from 70K to 114K followers.

The revival of Classic World of Warcraft has been the most hyped game release of 2019, and the launch clearly proved this. With hour-long server queues, every single player was desperate to get in and start leveling. WoW has consistently been the category with the highest amount of viewers on Twitch since launch. 

via SullyGnome

Following months of anticipation and a huge launch, it’s no wonder that a few big names in the WoW community have been competing against each other for the coveted “First to Level 60” title. Everyone from Asmongold and Sodapoppin to the entire Method org was participating, with some streaming for over 24 hours straight.

Jokerd, a practiced Private Server speedrunner, had roughly 79 hours of game time when he dinged level 60. He played on Mograine EU grinding mobs near Hearthglen in Western Plaguelands when a victory mob gathered around him, consisting of hundreds of players celebrating his achievement.

via JokerdTV on Twitch

Something that contributed massively to the streamer’s speedrun was his class. Frost Mage is one of the most efficient classes to level in Classic due to their ability to create their own food and conjure teleports. Also, Mages have excellent Area of Effect (AoE) skills, which Jokerd used to his advantage. 

Jokerd first to 60 thanks to a unique way of grinding

The build Jokerd used while leveling consists of Elemental Precision, used to make sure that Improved Blizzard, Frost Nova, and Permafrost were effective. He used these to aid Blizzard and make the effect last longer, with Arctic Reach increasing Blizzard’s area. The defensive spells in his build were Ice Barrier and Arcane Resilience, which protected him against taking damage while grinding mobs.

Unlike other players, mainly focusing on dungeons and quests while leveling, Jokerd used an efficient AoE grind technique. Firstly, once he found a decent sized mob and riled them up, he’d use Frost Nova to freeze them in place before using Blink to get away from them. He then cast Blizzard over the mobs to cause some damage and finished them off using Arcane Explosion or Cone of Cold. If the mobs got too close at any point, Jokerd could channel Frost Nova before getting away, at which point he cast Blizzard again.

Although it was quick, his journey to level 60 was not without its obstacles. However, he was grinding level 54 mobs when he was attacked by a large group of Horde players, sparking the streamer’s Twitch chat to spam “kek”. Ah, the authentic 2004 experience. 

Controversies and Health issues

In addition, Jokerd expressed concerns over the impact of long leveling sessions on his health. He told viewers that his fingers were “cold and numb” and asked if it could possibly be a sign of a blood clot. “Anyway, I’m sure I’m fine,” he says and brushed it off, but many Redditors theorized that he could have carpal tunnel, or something more serious. 

There was also controversy surrounding him and Method, who suggested that account sharing was responsible for his speedy leveling. He dismissed the accusation and joked about it, and it evidently didn’t faze or distract him from his goal. 

Once he hit 60, Jokerd intended to delete his character. However, fans were determined not to allow this to happen and flooded his mailbox so he wasn’t able to get rid of the gnome mage.

Here are the standings for the World First Level 60 race as of August 31 at 12:30 p.m. CT. You can keep up with the leaderboards on Method’s website, as well as their streams, and on the WoW Classic Reddit. 

Table via DotEsports

Alliances progress

Furthermore, an Alliance guild on Gehennas EU named APES claimed the first Ragnaros and Onyxia kills in the world after completing the level 60 Molten Core raid. They cleared the boss in one try and killed Onyxia mere hours after beating Ragnaros. APES are an experienced private server guild who ran the raid with three tanks, six paladins, and six priests, with DPS making up the rest.

The Apes’ Onyxia kill

The APES attempting Molten Core via Reddit

In conclusion, considering WoW Classic has been released for less than two weeks, players are making astounding progress, highlighting the dedication and passion of the WoW community.

Credit: Jess Simmonds