Battleground
From WoWWiki
Battlegrounds are instanced areas solely used for the purposes of PvP. Each "BG" has two red instance entrance portals; one for Alliance, and one for the Horde. To enter the queue, the player must either step through the instance portal, or seek out a Battlemaster which can be found in any capital city. Once inside the instance, the two teams will engage in large-scale PvP, with various and different objectives determining the winner. Players will earn one or more Mark of Honor, using these along with honor points make PvP rewards available. (There is no durability penalty associated with death, except if you fall to your death).
If a character goes AFK they will leave the instance and gain the Deserter debuff. This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration. You can report inactive players by right clicking on the player 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.
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, is planned for Wrath of the Lich King.
Contents |
Existing Battlegrounds
Warsong Gulch
- Factions: Silverwing Sentinels (Alliance), Warsong Outriders (Horde)
- Alliance Base: Silverwing Hold
- Alliance Entrance: Silverwing Grove
- Horde Base: Warsong Lumber Mill
- Horde Entrance: Mor'shan Base Camp
- Levels: 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80
- Combatants: 10 per faction (5 minimum)
- Map: On WorldofWarcraft.com
Arathi Basin
- Factions: The League of Arathor (Alliance), The Defilers (Horde)
- Alliance Base: Trollbane Hall
- Alliance Entrance: Refuge Pointe
- Horde Base: Defiler's Den
- Horde Entrance:Hammerfall
- Levels: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80
- Combatants: 15 per faction (7 minimum)
Alterac Valley
- Factions: Stormpike Guard (Alliance), Frostwolf Clan (Horde)
- Alliance Base: Dun Baldar
- Alliance Entrance: The Headland
- Horde Base: Frostwolf Keep
- Horde Entrance: North East of Sofera's Naze
- Levels: 51-60, 61-70, 71-80
- Combatants: 40 per faction (20 minimum)
Eye of the Storm
Requires The Burning Crusade expansion.
- Factions: There are no factions associated with the two sides.
- Alliance Base: Not Applicable
- Alliance Entrance: There is no exterior entrance. You can only enter by speaking with a Battlemaster.
- Horde Base: Not Applicable
- Horde Entrance: There is no exterior entrance. You can only enter by speaking with a Battlemaster.
- Levels: 61-69, 70-80
- Combatants: 15 per faction (7 minimum)
Strand of the Ancients
Requires Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
- Factions: There are no factions associated with the two sides.
- Alliance Base: Not Applicable
- Alliance Entrance: There is no exterior entrance. You can only enter by speaking with a Battlemaster.
- Horde Base: Not Applicable
- Horde Entrance: There is no exterior entrance. You can only enter by speaking with a Battlemaster.
- Levels: 71-79, 80
- Combatants: 15 per faction (7 minimum)
Future/Incomplete Battlegrounds
Azshara Crater
A reported future addition, but details are mostly speculative.
Tom Chilton: That was a battleground that was created pretty much at the same time that we were creating Alterac Valley...I've never really felt comfortable going forward with Azshara Crater until we finally feel like Alterac Valley really works the way we'd like it to work ... I don't want to make another "Alterac Valley" until we're pretty happy with Alterac Valley.
Blizzard info:
- Caydiem: We're not making any new Battlegrounds in the near future. We naturally need to be careful about spreading the PvP community thin. That isn't to say we're not thinking about what we could do with a new Battleground, but I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon, no. (2006-01-20)[1]
- Nathaera: There is one new battleground planned. (There may be more added in the future but we shall see.) Just to clear something up, The Caverns of Time are not Battlegrounds. (2006-10-11)[2]
Gurubashi Catacombs
A "deathmatch" style battleground that was scrapped and made into Arena PvP.
Notes
- If you are the highest level in a bracket and you join the queue for that bracket it is possible to become 1 level higher than the maximum level for that bracket (with the exception of the level 80 bracket). This is done by joining the queue then leveling up to the next level. Since you are still in the queue for the bracket that is below your current level you will still enter the battleground of the bracket when you queued.
- Some nefarious (mean, bored) players will use a macro to send other players on their team a message telling them that they have been reported AFK and that in order to stay in the "BG" they must type "remove /afk" or something similar. This will only make you automatically get kicked from the "BG" so don't do it.
XP in Battlegrounds?
| This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials.
It should not be taken as representing official lore! |
As the Wrath of the Lich King expansion release approached, rumors swirled that Blizzard might be adding XP gain into the battlegrounds, thus severely reducing one of the main PvP outlets for twinks. However, a Blizzard forum poster put that speculation to rest for the near future and said this will not happen when the expansion released.[1]
References
See also
- Battlegroups
- Battlegrounds area at the official site
- Alliance battleground strategies
- Post by Nethaera on Honor calculations
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