Battleground
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Battlegrounds are instanced areas used for player versus player combat. Each classic battleground (Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley) has two red instance entrance portals: one for the Alliance, and one for the Horde. Crossing these portals was originally one of the ways to enter the queue for their respective battlegrounds. Now, to enter the queue for any battleground, the player must seek out a Battlemaster, which can be found at the portal or in any capital city, or do so through the Player vs. Player tab. Once inside the instance, the two teams will engage in large-scale PvP, with various objectives determining the winner. Players will earn honor points making PvP rewards available.
If a character goes AFK, they will leave the battleground and gain the Deserter debuff. This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration. You can report an inactive player by right clicking the player's portrait and selecting "Report AFK". When enough reports are registered, a 60 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor or marks while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat. This system is often abused, since a player can have good reasons for not participating in PVP, for example when they are defending.
The two initial Battleground areas, Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch, went live June 7th, 2005. Arathi Basin was added to the list in Patch 1.7 on September 13th, 2005. A fourth battleground, named Eye of the Storm, was released with the Burning Crusade. A fifth battleground, the Strand of the Ancients, was added in Wrath of the Lich King. The sixth battleground, the Isle of Conquest, was added in Patch 3.2 on August 4th, 2009. Two new battlegrounds, Battle for Gilneas and Twin Peaks, were added with the launch of the third expansion, Cataclysm.
Contents |
Existing battlegrounds
Warsong Gulch
- Factions
-
Silverwing Sentinels || 
Warsong Outriders
- Combatants
- 10 per faction
- Levels
- 10-14 → 15-19 → 20-24 → 25-29 → 30-34 → 35-39 → 40-44 → 45-49 → 50-54 → 55-59 → 60-64 → 65-69 → 70-74 → 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Entrance Camps
- Silverwing Grove || Mor'shan Base Camp
- Bases
- Silverwing Hold || Warsong Lumber Mill
WSG loading screen
WSG in-game map
Arathi Basin
- Factions
-
The League of Arathor || 
The Defilers
- Combatants
- 15 per faction
- Levels
- 10-14 → 15-19 → 20-24 → 25-29 → 30-34 → 35-39 → 40-44 → 45-49 → 50-54 → 55-59 → 60-64 → 65-69 → 70-74 → 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Entrance Camps
- Refuge Pointe || Hammerfall
- Bases
- Trollbane Hall || Defiler's Den
AB loading screen
AB in-game map
Eye of the Storm
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Expansion now free)
- Factions
-
The Exodar || 
Silvermoon City
- Combatants
- 15 per faction
- Levels
- 35-39 → 40-44 → 45-49 → 50-54 → 55-59 → 60-64 → 65-69 → 70-74 → 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Location
- Netherstorm
- Bases
- Northern Rock || Southern Rock
EotS loading screen
EotS in-game map
Alterac Valley
- Factions
-
Stormpike Guard || Frostwolf Clan
- Combatants
- 40 per faction
- Levels
- 45-49 → 50-54 → 55-59 → 60-64 → 65-69 → 70-74 → 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Entrance Camps
- Headland || NE of Sofera's Naze
- Bases
- Dun Baldar || Frostwolf Keep
AV loading screen
AV in-game map
Strand of the Ancients
Requires 
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
- Factions
- The Valiance Expedition || The Warsong Offensive
- Combatants
- 15 per faction
- Levels
- 65-69 → 70-74 → 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Location
- South of Dragonblight
- Bases
- N/A
SotA loading screen
SotA in-game map
Isle of Conquest
Requires World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
- Factions
- The Valiance Expedition || The Warsong Offensive
- Combatants
- 40 per faction
- Levels
- 75-79 → 80-84 → 85
- Location
- NW of Sholazar Basin and W of Icecrown
- Bases
- Alliance Keep || Horde Keep
IoC loading screen
IoC in-game map
Battle for Gilneas
Requires 
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
- Factions
-
Gilneas || Undercity
- Combatants
- 10 per faction
- Levels
- 85
- Location
- Gilneas
- Bases
- Gilnean Stronghold || Horde Landing
BfG loading screen
BfG in-game map
Twin Peaks
Requires World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
- Factions
-
Wildhammer Clan || 
Dragonmaw Clan
- Combatants
- 10 per faction
- Levels
- 85
- Location
- Twilight Highlands
- Bases
- Wildhammer Longhouse || Dragonmaw Clan Compound
TP loading screen
TP in-game map
Future battlegrounds
There will be two new battlegrounds at launch.[1]
Silver Shard Mines
- It takes place underneath Stranglethorn Vale in Venture Company goblin mine.
- Both the Alliance and Horde are trying to get a hold of the mineral rich resources.
- There are minecarts that take off from the center of the map and head to three different supply chains. As they are on the way to the depot, you can capture them in the same way you capture points in Eye of the Storm.
- Both factions try to capture the cart before it reaches the end of the line, but there are checkpoints along the line that can be channeled to switch the direction the cart will go from left to right, giving your faction time to reclaim it.
Temple of Kotmogu
- Located in ancient Mogu temple that is located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
- You will have a damage buff while holding the artifact. You will also be gaining points for your team as well.
- The artifact has a curse that damages you over time. The longer that you hold it, the less healing that you can take.
- It is going to be difficult for one person to keep the artifact for the whole time.
- There will be three point zones, with the middle one giving 3 points and the outer one giving 1 point.
- Gameplay is very fast paced, very different from other battlegrounds.
Canceled Battlegrounds
Gurubashi Catacombs
A "deathmatch" style battleground, it was scrapped early in development but the concept eventually turned into Arena PvP.
Notes
- It is not possible to join a battleground while dead, a ghost, in combat or in mass-transit. Also being under the effects of fatigue will not allow you to join a battleground. However, taking damage will not prohibit access to battlegrounds.
- In the past, if you were the highest level in a bracket and you joined the queue for that bracket, it was possible to become one level higher than the maximum level for that bracket (with the exception of the level 85 bracket). This was done by joining the queue then leveling up to the next level. This is no longer possible, as gaining a level (regardless of bracket) will immediately remove you from the queue.
XP in Battlegrounds
- Gaining XP for playing in the battlegrounds was added in Patch 3.2.
- Players are awarded experience for completing objectives and actions that yield honor in Battlegrounds (honorable kills not included).
- In order to assist those who choose to keep an alt for the purposes of playing in a specific level of battleground, there is an added option to turn off the ability to gain XP. This ability costs 10G to switch on or off and prevents XP gain in all areas of the game. The NPC to turn on or off XP gains is the Experience Eliminator, found near Battle Masters as a stealthed NPC. With XP turned off, the player is matched only against others who also have XP gain turned off; this is because the developers assume that if you don't want XP, you must be twinking. [1]
- In Alterac Valley (AV) you can earn XP by killing mobs, however the XP gain is modified depending on the distance of other same-faction players. Closer leads to less XP gain, farther leads to greater. Patch 3.1.3
- By glitch or by design, XP awards were increased to move twinks to next bracket quickly, but Call to Honor weekend play still acts as a multiplier of this increased amount, allowing the player to add one level in as little as three wins. This can be used to great advantage in leveling characters.
Patch changes
- Patch 4.3.0 (2011-11-29):
- When queuing for multiple specific battlegrounds, players can now enter and complete battlegrounds without losing their place in any queues for other battlegrounds. As soon as the player is invited to join a battleground, any other battleground queues are suspended until the player has completed the battleground or declined the invitation. However, the player's place in any other queues is maintained, which often means that upon completing a battleground the player will immediately be invited to join any other battlegrounds they were queueing for. Previously, entering any battleground would remove the player from all battleground queues.
- Random and Call to Arms battlegrounds which result in a tie game will now award bonus honor equal to the bonus honor for a loss.
- Real ID parties that comprise players from different realms can now queue for battlegrounds together.
- Patch 4.1.0 (2011-04-26): A countdown timer has been added displaying the time until the battle begins. Also, players are now able to ride smaller flying mounts with legs (such as gryphons, wyverns and hippogryphs) in battlegrounds, although the mounts will be unable to fly.
- Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Battleground level brackets have been adjusted.
Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03): Players will be able to enter multiple battleground queues. No longer must you make the hard decision of which queue to join -- when queued for all three, you can join the first one available or hold out for that particular battleground which you've really got your heart set on. Should a queue open while you are already in a battleground, you may switch to the new battle or remain in the current one.
- Patch 1.8.4 (2005-12-5): Battles must now last at least ten minutes after the start of the battle in order for the losing team to receive a Mark of Honor.
- Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-10): Upon completion of a Battleground, the winning side will be awarded three Marks of Honor while the losing side will be awarded one Mark of Honor.
- Patch 1.7.0 (2005-09-22):
- Arathi Basin added.
- In the Battlegrounds, you will now automatically be resurrected by Spirit Healers unless you choose to decline.
- Characters that use the Battlemaster to enter a Battleground will now port back to that Battlemaster when they leave the Battleground for any reason.
- Fixed range check for removing insignia from players in Battlegrounds.
- Entering a battleground now resets the timer for the AFK flag. This should prevent players being kicked by the AFK timer moments after they enter the Battleground instance.
- Using the /who command while in a Battleground instance will now only display players in your instance.
- Patch 1.6.0 (2005-07-12): Battleground scoreboards now display the time elapsed in a battleground.
- Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch added.
See also
- New Battleground Brackets
- Battlegroups
- Battlegrounds area at the official site
- Alliance battleground strategies
- Post by Nethaera on Honor calculations
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