World of Warcraft MEGA-FAQ

Summary ——-

The key to all combat maps is defense. Only in Warsong would all offense have a chance of winning, but even then it’s risky. There are currently 5 battle- grounds and one battle zone. They open up as you level, and most have a place in the world where you can go to trade your marks for items.

There are three entry points to the BG’s: from the zone they are based in,  from the battle terraces in cities, or by opening the player vs player tab on your toolbar as of the latest patch (the easiest way).

We will cover them as they open up to you.

Name: Warsong Gulch Min Level: 10 Team size: 10 Objective: Capture the flag three times

WSG is the smallest and most competitive map in the game. However, there are  countless strategies to both defend and attack the flags.

There are three base strategies to this map: half and half on offense and  defense, 3 on D 7 on O, and middle control. I exclude all on O because when a rogue caps the flag and you can’t get it back then you will revert to one of  the other strategies.

If you want to win this on easy mode, play on horde because they always twink this BG at any level and a single blood elf pally can solo a flag at any time. It’s most common to cap a flag with one tank/pally and a healer against a  small defense. But only a huge group of 5 with two heals can expect to cap a  flag against heavy defense.

Once a flag is taken then the flag carrier (FC) must return to their flag room (FR).

Offense – depends on the enemy defense. If they have heavy defense you need to think up some strategy to break through. Smashing through and leaving only works with heals or a twink to grab the flag. Mostly you’ll need to clear the  FR first, then run. If your group is good for directions, you could send in one or two to fake cap the flag and lure the defense away from the flag base, and when they drop it a second team can swoop in for the true cap and take off in the other direction.

Defense – there are tons of attack points, but the defense can only work in the FR. It’s best to stay out of sight to avoid warlock and hunter attacks from the roof or ledge. Hunters should set a frost or ice trap in front of the flag, but out of reach of a rogue who could disarm it. Healers first, although it’s always best to just keep the guards away from the FC, because if it makes it into the field then the healers can just rez and get back on the FC. Basically, if you the FC gets out of the FR, you only have 50 yards to kill the FC or  you’ll suffer a cap.

Getting your flag back – if the defense wipes you have to call where the flag was last seen going, such as the tunnel (tun), ramp, or graveyard (GY). Unless you have solid players in the enemy base, your only hope to get the flag back is while it’s in the field. If there are healers or casters, chances are you won’t get the flag to drop if you attack the FC only. Slow effects should be  poured on the FC but hard DPS must be applied to the healers. Outnumbered there is not much chance to get the flag back, you really need either all the help to fall off the FC or some to keep the FC in place. When it drops, get it  quickly or another player may grab it.

Capturing the flag – as the FC you can’t stealth, use a mount, or use several other tricks (really depends on your class), and hopefully the ones around you know to not cast powerful spells on you. Getting out of the enemy keep usually requires your teammates’ help no matter what. This is either by them holding the enemies at bay or having guards and heals.

Hiding the flag – when both flags are in their bases there are a number of  places to go. The graveyard is a safe place because players rez there and you can bail onto the field and have all the attackers still in the base. The roof or the ramp to the roof are the only places with one entry point, and you can bail into the FR. Finally is the FR where you can hide in any number of places, all of which will allow multiple attack points. The only advantage of being in the FR over the others is that at the other points you may not make it back to  cap the flag if a player caps your flag. After a while the FC’s will become  weak, and even weaker after a time, so once this happens you can pour all  damage onto the FC and force a healer to pick up the flag.

This is the BG I’ve had the most failure at. There will always be a BE pally or twink on the horde side, so again, if you want to play this on easy, go horde.

Name: Arathi Basin Min Level: 20 Team size: 15 Objective: Control nodes until you amass 2000 points

AB is the most even of the BGs because one player cannot determine the outcome. There are five nodes, one near each base, two on the sides, and one in the  middle. Usually you just need to control three to win, but once you can  consistently control four then you can try for the fifth, and with all five you will win the game in a matter of seconds.

Nodes create 10 points about every five seconds, but not while contested so  until a flag is under one side’s control should it be fought for or defended.

Offense – it’s never wise for everyone to be on offense, but if the other side has all on offense then you can do single-player caps of nodes. Rogues and  druids can excel at AB because they can sneak around and cap nodes once they  are left alone. Even more so when a flag is fought for, if the defense moves off the flag then a rogue can sneak around and cap behind them. If the fight is at the flag then you want to try to cap it. Attempting to cap the flag will if nothing else pull the enemies on you and hopefully left the others attack. And there is no limit to how far five horde players will chase one player, so feel free to lure others away (I guess alliance do it too). Also the strategy of  attacking a node from one side while others slip in from the other also works, but is seldom used.

Defense – with more nodes you can just keep one on un-contested flags, but of course heavily defend nodes under constant attack. It really depends on how well the other team is. If they can’t seem to hold any flags then you can  probably go for the five node cap. But if your teams keep swapping nodes and the other team is solid, just bank on holding three nodes and defending them with three players.

Golden Rule – if you aren’t fighting to cap or fighting near a flag, then you are not playing the battleground. This applies to all BGs, but more so in this one because of the possibility someone can cap behind you.

“At least we have the stables” – yes, a guild name, but it’s true. The number one way teams lose is when only one node is left under your control and every- one tries to defend the last node. Sorry to tell you, but no matter how hard  you fight for one node you are not going to win the game if you don’t get  more. However, the opposite is true. If the other team converges on one node  then only a few need to slip through and cap all the other nodes, or if  anything else pull the attackers away and let your noob pals free.