Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: PvP, Guides, Battlegrounds
One of our site leads, Dan O’Halloran, asked me a question that surprised me yesterday. He asked me what he was supposed to do with Honor points and where he could spend them. See, Dan isn’t a huge fan of PvP. In fact, he only happened to try out the wonderfully fun and crazy Wintergrasp in between exploring on his brand-spankin’ new epic wings. I think he found it fun enough to play it again.
This brought us to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, a whole lot of players are going to be accumulating Honor pretty soon without them knowing it. He thinks that a lot of players, mostly strictly-PvE carebears, would be curious enough about Wintergrasp to try it out… and hopefully enjoy it enough to play it again. I hope so, too. This means a whole lot of players who’d never PvP’d before, like Dan, for example, would need some sort of guide on Honor points and what to do with them. Here’s where we step in with this handy little Honor overview.
Continue reading Wrath 101: Honor points
Wrath 101: Honor points originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Hunter, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds, Arena, (Hunter) Scattered Shots
Welcome to Scattered Shots! This week, your author has managed to take a break from lamenting that the stores about to stop selling eggnog to make a few Hunter-specific resolutions.
The New Year is considered by many people to be the time for a fresh start, a time to wipe the slate clean of past missteps, or just to make some changes to your life to make it even better. In that spirit, I’d like to propose some Hunter-related resolutions for both Blizzard and for Hunters in the spirit of promoting peace, harmony, and understanding in the new year for all Survivalists, Marksmen, and Beastmasters.
Continue reading Scattered Shots: New Year’s Resolutions for Hunters and for Blizzard
Scattered Shots: New Year’s Resolutions for Hunters and for Blizzard originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, PvP, Forums, Battlegrounds, Arena
If you’ve been in the Arena during Season 5, you probably have noticed a particular change to the way gladiators fight. It can be summarized in a single word: “Damage.” In the bygone days of Season 4, drain teams and Mortal Strike debuffs were all but an entry requirement to high ranked play. Without a strategy to reduce or nullify your enemy’s healing, you were unlikely to produce sufficient burst DPS to actually kill anyone. A few double-DPS teams managed to thrive, but for the most part, a gladiator’s number one priority was shutting down the healer.
That dynamic is all but dead in Season 5. Players output such a high level of damage compared to other players’ health that healing is almost a non-factor in most matches. My friends, Ghostcrawler is aware of this dynamic, and is looking into it. (It turns out, Ghostcrawler mostly plays a healer in the Arena.) As stated by the crab himself, the Arena should not simply be about burst damage. (Nor, however, should it be solely about healing or solely about crowd control.)
Of course, Ghostcrawler does admit he has difficulty saying what the long terms plans are going to be. The design team hasn’t had enough whiteboard time to say anything with complete honesty. But he also hopes that as more Resilience gear enters the PvP system, the damage might scale down to be more reasonable. (To quote, “It’s mostly just math.”) Still, there’s hope that future teams will include more than just seeing which team can burst down the other first.
The future of healing in the Arena originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: PvP, Guides, Battlegrounds
Now that you’ve taken a look at the zone, it’s time to understand how to play the game. The battle for Lake Wintergrasp is one of the most fun parts of the game today — it’s certainly my favorite thing, such that I sometimes only log in whenever I know there’s a battle. The great thing about Wintergrasp is that there are numerous battles throughout the day. It’s the game’s best mini-game, and I’m looking forward to seeing it get even more awesome as more and more players reach Level 80 and Blizzard makes improvements to the zone.
Pre-game
An hour before each battle, an NPC in Dalaran — Arcanist Braedin for the Alliance and Magister Surdiel for the Horde — will yell that a battle will soon begin. He will repeat this battle cry again at thirty, fifteen, ten, and five minutes in order to alert the inhabitants of Dalaran to hopefully drive players into going to the zone. To make it easy, portals to Wintergrasp appear at the Silver Enclave and Sunreaver’s Sanctuary.
Generally, a portal to Wintergrasp appears in Dalaran for the controlling faction and observably disappears about an hour before battles begin. This usually means that defenders must make their way through flying mounts into the zone before the battle begins or wait until the game ensues whereupon their faction’s respective Wintergrasp Battle-Mages will open a portal to allow reinforcements. Defenders will port directly in front of Wintergrap Keep, where the Titan Relic is housed, while players on offense will port into their respective landing camps — the Horde on the West side, and the Alliance on the East.
Continue reading Wrath 101: The battle for Wintergrasp
Wrath 101: The battle for Wintergrasp originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Guides, Wrath of the Lich King, (BG PvP) The Art of War(craft), Battlegrounds
Now that you’ve familiarized yourselves with the zone and Wintergrasp gameplay, it’s time to look at the strategies used in order to win. As you can probably guess, the strategies for offense and defense are somewhat different. Playing defense, you must play for the full 40 minutes in order to win while playing offense, you want to finish the game as quickly as possible. If the timer hits ten minutes and offense hasn’t broken down the doors to the inner sanctum, it’s in trouble.
Just like other Battlegrounds, organization goes a long way. Unlike other Battlegrounds, however, you won’t automatically be grouped into a raid, so a lot of the time players will be looking to join a group when the battles start. As long as you know what you’re supposed to do, you should be fine, though. The good thing about the zone is that the map will show you where battles are and where vehicle movement is taking place, so even if you’re going solo, you’ll have an idea of where to head for some action.
Continue reading The Art of War(craft): Wintergrasp
The Art of War(craft): Wintergrasp originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Rogue, PvP, (Rogue) Encrypted Text, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds, Arena
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we discuss the new Arena Season 5.
Like many of my siblings of the shadows, I play WoW in both the PvP and PvE environments. As a guild leader, it is my responsibility to organize raid groups and to lead my team to victory (and the associated purple loot). While keeping up Hunger for Blood & Slice and Dice & Rupture up may seem interesting for others; after a while the raid DPS grind wears away at my soul. I was not born to be a number-crunching math machine. I am a Horde assassin at heart: born to taste the blood of my Warchief’s enemies!
I have been flexing my PvP muscles in the new Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients battlegrounds, though I find myself sitting in a turret or catapult fairly often. The arena has always been my true love. It was what brought me back to WoW for TBC, and it is what tempted me to level in Northrend for the next installment. With Season 5 now officially underway, my week has consisted of the most bloodthirsty battles I have ever been a part of. So go buy your Hateful Gladiator’s Band of Triumph (best initial upgrade with no rating requirement) and read on!
Continue reading Encryped Text: One Rogue’s take on Season 5
Encryped Text: One Rogue’s take on Season 5 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: PvP, Guides, Battlegrounds
Cannons
While cannons aren’t technically siege vehicles, they certainly play a huge part in siege warfare as these are Wintergrasp Fortress’ primary form of defense. For attackers to have any success, it is imperative to take out these cannons, as they deal massive damage to players and siege vehicles alike. Cannons have extremely long range so can deal damage even before attackers reach the keep.
Cannons are mounted between destructible walls, and a pair on each fortress tower. It’s good to note that the three Southern towers, belonging to the offense, also have four cannons mounted on top, making them defensible.
RP-GG
Also part of siege warfare are the RP-GGs found on the floor in front of Goblin Workshops. These rockets can be carried in stacks of five and it’s always a good idea to carry them around. Firing the RP-GG is a 5-second cast spell, and deals about 5,000 damage per hit to vehicles and splash damage to players. While players can deal more DPS to siege vehicles, the RP-GG has a long, if unpredictable, 150 yard range, allowing players to defend similar to tower gunners. The RP-GG is also usable while riding a Demolisher, extending its range of attack. If you kill a player carrying an RP-GG, they will drop it and the rockets can be picked up from the ground.
Goblin Workshops
The siege vehicle workshops are the key to many Wintergrasp battles. There are a total of six workshops throughout Wintergrasp, two are housed inside Wintergrasp Fortress, on the East and West sides. These workshops cannot be captured but can be destroyed. Two workshops, the East and West on the Broken Ring and Sunken Ring zones respectively, are right outside the fortress and can be captured or destroyed. Two workshops on the Southeast and Southwest, called the Eastspark Workshop and Westspark Workshop respectively, are like the workshops inside the keep. They cannot be captured but can be destroyed.
The number of workshops under a faction’s control, whether intact or destroyed, determines the maximum number of siege vehicles that faction can deploy. Each workshop entitles a faction to four siege vehicles. Because each faction permanently controls 2 workshops, players can always create a minimum of 8 vehicles, up to maximum of 16 if they control both the East and West workshops. If a workshop is destroyed, it will no longer be able to produce any more vehicles. So while each side will always be allowed a minimum of eight vehicles, it’s entirely possible to cut off vehicle supply. Capturing either the East or West workshop after it has been destroyed will repair it.
Capturing a workshop is similar to gaining control of a tower in Eye of the Storm or the flag in Halaa. The more players of one faction are within the vicinity of the workshop, the more control shifts over to that faction. At the beginning of the game, the workshops inside the fortress as well as the East and West workshops are under the control of the defense. In order to mount an effective offense, with siege vehicles needing to travel a shorter distance to the fortress, attackers usually take control of the workshops at the start. Because of their proximity to the landing camps, the default spawn point for offense, East is usually susceptible to Alliance attacks and West to the Horde. Workshops have about 30,000 hp.
Wintergrasp Fortress
The main fortress is protected by walls and towers. Towers are extremely sturdy, with around 80,000 hp, making it difficult to take down with only one siege vehicle. It grants bonus Honor when partly destroyed at 50%, and again when completely destroyed. It’s always best for attackers to focus fire on one point in order to break through as quickly as possible. Each tower is flanked by portals which defenders can use to enter the fortress. There is no physical way for players to enter Wintergrasp Fortress other than to use the portal or to break down the walls. Inside the fortress is a giant version of the portal, usable by siege vehicles to exit the structure.
In order to get to the Titan Relic, attackers must break through three barriers — the Wintergrasp Fortress Walls, the inner Fortress Walls, and the Wintergrasp Keep Door. Fortress Walls and the Fortress Door have about 40,000 hp. The walls will become partly destroyed when they reach 50%, although they do not grant any Honor. The Wintergrasp Keep Door will become partly destroyed when reaching 66-75%. Attuning the Titan Relic is a 10-second action that breaks when taking damage. The Titan Relic despawns when Wintergrasp is controlled.
Wintergrasp NPCs
In Patch 3.0.8, when the battle begins, elemental mobs will despawn. In the current game, the elementals are something of a nuisance as they constantly aggro players and vehicles. There are constantly respawning Warsong and Valiance Expedition Level 76 elite NPCs at key points of the map, such as the ends of bridges and guarding towers. Players may kill these NPCs to gain rank, which enables even a sparsely populated Wintergrasp to see siege vehicles in play.
Tower Control
In Patch 3.0.8, Blizzard will introduce Tower Control, a buff that grants 5% more damage dealt, stacking up to three times. The Southern towers — Shadowsight, Winter’s Edge, and Flamewatch — grant this buff to offense at the beginning of the game, giving attackers a slight advantage. Destroying these towers will transfer the buff to the defense, making towers a strategic part of the game and not just a source of bonus Honor. If both sides are equal in number, a 15% damage increase is a substantial buff. It also promotes a better offense, giving more opportunity for Wintergrasp to change control.
Tenacity
Blizzard’s answer to foreseeable faction imbalance is a buff called Tenacity. If a side is outnumbered, members of that faction gain Tenacity, a stacking buff that grants 25% more health and faster mana regeneration as well as 18% more damage. This buff stacks as many times as necessary, although it’s not certain how much of an imbalance creates a Tenacity stack. There are Wintergrasp battles where players can possibly run around with over 50,000 hp.
If you encounter a player with Tenacity of more than a few stacks, it’s generally best to avoid them. Players with Tenacity should pick on solo players or even groups of 2-3, keeping in mind that crowd control can still overcome the buff. A stunned player with 50,000 hp isn’t going to be doing very much. Wintergrasp is all about coordination, so even a player with 20 stacks of Tenacity won’t be able to succeed against an organized bunch. Conversely, a small group of organized players with Tenacity can be brutally efficient.
Now that we have a grasp of the basics of Wintergrasp gameplay, in the next part of this series we’ll take a look at strategy on offense and defense. We’ll also be going through the daily quests as well as Achievements in Wintergrasp.
Wrath 101: The battle for Wintergrasp continued originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Battlegrounds, Arena
Today, our own Zach Yonzon asked if you were ready for Arena Season 5. This led me to reflect and realize that no, I’m not ready. I don’t even know if I’d say not ready so much as finally, completely and totally uninterested in PvP entirely. I simply don’t care, not even remotely. I don’t care about Wintergrasp, haven’t been there since it opened. I don’t care about Strand of the Ancients, or any of the older battlegrounds. I sure as heck don’t care about Arena and I’m not trying to come up with a comp for any of the brackets there. By intertwining the aspects of PvP as they have, making it so any of the decent rewards require you to do both arenas and gather honor points, Blizzard has finally succeeded wildly in their ‘Make PvP totally uninteresting to Matt Rossi’ program. They’ve been working on it for a while but with Wrath of the Lich King, they’ve finally delivered the goods.
Continue reading Do you care about PvP anymore?
Do you care about PvP anymore? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Forums, Battlegrounds, Arena, Forum Post of the Day
I’ll give you a quick run down of the general forums today:
- Take away the arena point requirement, or else!
- Epic flight costs too much!
- Requiring arena points for PvP gear is a slap in the face!
- I can’t get this or that achievement because it involves something I don’t want to do!
- This is the end of casuals, I don’t have time to play arenas!
- /waggle
- GG Bliz, the arena requirement is going to make me go play <insert any other MMORPG here>!
- Death Knights should tank!
- If you’re going to make us play arenas, let us PUG them like battlegrounds!
It is hard to find someone who is happy with this new PvP development. I’m indifferent. Personally I find arenas to be the best part of PvP and the purpose of battlegrounds anyway. Like so many others, you need not agree. That last theme however, Blizzard should players to PUG arenas, gave me a moment of pause.
Continue reading Forum post of the day: Pick up groups to pick up points
Forum post of the day: Pick up groups to pick up points originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on Jan 06, 2009 under battlegrounds |
Filed under: PvP, Guides, Battlegrounds
These days, my schedule revolves around partitions of two and a half hours. This is the time I allot for meals, errands, work, showers, and most other mundane things. In between those two and a half hours, I take a break from whatever I’m doing and play ten to forty minutes of Wintergrasp. Ever since I made my way into the zone, I’ve made it my second home in the World of Warcraft. I log out in Wintergrasp about as often as I do in Dalaran. I know I said that PvP is sort of pointless right now, but Wintergrasp is the most fun I’ve had in Wrath and the game in a while. Nowadays, whenever I dream, I dream of siege vehicles and exploding walls and towers.
Wintergrasp is the smallest zone in Northrend, bordered by Sholazar Basin, Icecrown, and Dragonblight. It is a PvP zone, which flags all players entering it for PvP. This isn’t an issue on PvP servers, but on normal or RP servers, this makes everyone in the zone fair game. There is no physical way to access Wintergrasp other than through a flying mount, creating a natural Level barrier of 77 although lower-level players can be summoned or take the portal from Dalaran. It is my favorite zone in Wrath of the Lich King, although it isn’t without its flaws.
Continue reading Wrath 101: Wintergrasp zone overview
Wrath 101: Wintergrasp zone overview originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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