#0 - Dec. 7, 2008, 7:53 p.m.
Some notes:
1. Flaming will not be replied to.
2. Also, flaming of the battleground itself should not be here (I totally love it).
3. This guide isn’t finished yet. I’d love any input you can give me.
4. English isn’t my first language, so please be kind towards any dumb mistakes I might’ve made.
EDIT (2-8-09): fixed numerous typos and added some info, mainly a bit about strategies. Also corrected some data.
Introduction:
Strand of the Ancients (SotA for short) is the new battleground in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. It is apparently located on the southern coast of Dragonblight, but for some reason the coast in this battleground is facing north, not south. In this place, the Warsong Offensive (Horde) and the Valiance Expedition (Alliance) take turns in besieging each others base to capture the relic of the ancients. The battleground is played 15 vs 15, and requires a minimum of 10 players on each side.
This little guide is completely based on my own experience, which is about three days at the time I write this, and on the WoWwiki article, which seems unupdated since the Beta. So, with that said, please note that anything written here may be completely false.
Layout
Use this map: http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sotamapbi5.jpg
What this is, is an as complete map as possible, displaying every object of interest. Individual objects will be covered in the other parts of this guide.
1 Left landing spot, Seaforium Charges, first two tanks.
2 Right landing spot, Seaforium Charges, first two tanks.
3 First graveyard (spawn).
4 Green Gate (of the Green Emerald), with two turrets and a teleporter.
5 Blue Gate (of the Blue Sapphire), with two turrets and a teleporter.
6 Left (Green) workshop, Seaforium Charges, spawn point of tanks, left graveyard spawn point.
7 Right (Blue) workshop, Seaforium Charges, spawn point of tanks, right graveyard spawn point.
8 Left graveyard (flag).
9 Right graveyard (flag).
10 Purple Gate (of the Purple Amethyst), with two turrets and a teleporter.
11 Red Gate (of the Red Sun), with two turrets and a teleporter.
12 Southern graveyard (flag).
13 Southern graveyard (spawn).
14 Yellow Gate (of the Yellow Moon), with two turrets and a teleporter.
15 Sanctuary graveyard (spawn).
16 Keep Gate.
17 Relic.
Winning the game
It appears there is some confusion on how to actually win a game, other than beating Alliance into a pulp. Let me explain. Say there are two teams: Team A and Team B. Team A starts with attacking, team B starts defending.
Now there are two possibilities. Either Team A does manage to capture the relic, or they don’t. If they do capture it in, say, eight minutes out of the ten they have, then Team B will have to capture it in eight minutes or less. If team A doesn’t capture the relic, team B will have the full ten minutes to capture it.
A team wins by capturing the relic faster than the opposing team. So if Team B captures the relic in six minutes, they win. If they cannot capture it in eight minutes, the timer runs out and Team A wins. If Team A didn’t manage it within ten minutes, and Team B doesn’t either, it’s a draw, and each team will get one mark.
So in the end it gets down to this: capture the relic in less time than the opposing team needs to to the same. If your team is good at defending, you will have more time to attack, and if your team is good in the offense, it doesn’t really matter if the enemy captures the relic fast.
Attacking (General)
The attacking team will start on two ships that will land on the Strand in about one minute from the start. From my experience, the first team to attack has always been the Alliance, though this may be coincidental. (EDIT: after reading some on the forums, I came to believe this is a bug, and it will probably be fixed soon) The ships will land in one of the two docks, visible on the map as the two boats off shore. When you land, two tanks on each side will be immediately available for you. It is recommended to take them, as they are by far the easiest method of breaching the gates. Speaking about gates, you should now see one about a hundred yards in front of you. Watch out for the turrets, and storm it. You will probably encounter some defenders, who will most likely go for the tanks. Make sure they don’t. For the rest of this round, follow the path south, destroying gates and capping the graveyards as you go, until you get to the relic. Destroying the relic makes you win the round. I’m not sure about this, but I believe you capture/destroy the relic by standing in the room for a few seconds. But keep shooting around anyway.
Attacking (Tips)
You can see on which side of the beach you are going to land by looking for the arrows of your teammates on the minimap: are they right of you, then you’re going to land left, and vice versa.
When you move your second tank, the one on the land instead of on the dock, be careful! You are one yard out of the range of the first turret. Sadly, he’s out of your range too, so you’ll have to get hit sometime. It’s just something to be aware of, especially when there are lots of defenders around the tanks.
At the start, you have two tanks per gate. Make sure at least one survives, because the second spawn point probably won’t be available right away when you reach the second gate. You get that spawn point by capturing the flag that is about halfway in between the first and second gate. The tank spawn points are a little back.
If you are in the tank on the beach, wait for the one on the dock before going into the line of sight of the turrets. That way they’ll have to split damage and you might be able to get two tanks through.
If you breached the first gate very fast and moved on instantly, there is a good chance that the turrets on the second gate are not manned yet. That’s one free gate for you.
When you destroy a gate, be sure to kill the turrets! They can’t defend themselves at short range, so either you’ll kill it and then you’ll kill the player, or the player has to jump out, leaving the gate practically unguarded. Two players should be enough for this, and you can protect your tanks from getting shot before they reach the front that way. Note that as soon as the enemy has passed the gates, you should be moving on as well, but even after a gate falls, you'll probably have something left to shoot at. It all depends on the situation.
Though about five people can breach a gate, some people favour the strategy of destroying one gate with the entire team fast, and then rush to the keep. If you coordinate the attack this can work, but you’ll have to drive a long way with your other tanks. It is advisable to at least let a few people harass the other gate. They’ll breach it eventually, which will give you more options later on.
Defending (General)
Defenders start at the southern graveyard, from which they can jump down, skipping a gate. You’ll want to be fast, because your team has one minute got get in position before your enemy arrives. It is mandatory that you meet the enemy team as early as possible. Your goal is to keep them away from the relic as long as possible, with the limit set at ten minutes. When that occurs, you’ve won the round.
First thing to do as a defender is: make sure all turrets on the northernmost gates are manned. Players who aren’t needed at the turrets should jump down and await the enemy at their tanks. You’ll be outnumbered, but the turrets will back you up, and if you can destroy both tanks, the enemy will have a hard time getting any further.
When they breach the gate, keep nailing them with the turrets until they pass behind it. Then, fall back to the graveyard, defending the flag. Your second row of turrets should also be manned as soon as possible, because they will have a clear range over the battlefield. Keep an eye on tanks passing the first gates, destroy them before they can open fire at your gate. When this gate is breached, fall back to the last one and repeat.
Defending (Tips)
If you’re in the outermost turret of the first gates, you should be spamming you fire button, because the enemy will be in range almost immediately. Lay down a cover for your ground fighters, so they can have at the tanks.
You should ALWAYS try to keep as much ground as possible, with the sole purpose of keeping the tanks away from the gates. Without tanks, gates will stand a very long time. Intercept tanks at the gates the enemy has already breached, so you’ll have some time to destroy them.
In the latter half of the game, you have only one gate left to defend. This may look good, but beware that the enemy will come from two sides. Games have been lost because people weren’t watching one side of the gate and let a tank get through.
