#0 - Feb. 1, 2010, 10:26 a.m.
For me, World PvP means World Defense. I enjoy going around to anywhere that is under attack and driving the attackers away. For others, it can mean fighting anyone you come across on a PvP realm, or it can merely mean Wintergrasp, Venture Bay, Spirit Towers in Auchindoun etc.
I may be on a Normal realm, but I've learned a lot about PvP in general since I began, and the differences between battlegrounds, arena and world PvP, and I'd like to share some tips and tricks with anyone just getting started.
1. General Tips
2. PvP Game Mechanics
3. Addons
4. Items
5. Class-Specific Advantages
6. Profession-Specific Advantages
7. World PvP Etiquette, Emotes and Communication
1. General Tips
These are some general things to keep in mind when PvPing. None will make or break your World PvP experience, but taken together, they can make the difference between a good solid raid and a weak, uncohesive group.
* /join WorldDefense--see ZoneDefense addon below, but this will let you know if enemies are coming your way or if one of your towns outside the zone you are in is getting attacked. Remember Europeans--Defense is spelled with an s ;)
* Also use class-specific addons such as MageFever and De Ice for mages, and Horn of Winter for DKs etc.
* Hearthstone Alternatives for Non-Mages: Ring/Band/Loop/Signet of the Kirin Tor, Argent Crusader's Tabard, Engineer's 'Wormhole Generator: Northrend'--using any of these allows you to set your hearthstone to somewhere that may often be attacked, for example The Crossroads, Tarren Mill or Splintertree Post for Horde, etc.
* Give Good Intel --if you are giving information to incoming backup, telling them "there's a tauren in Goldshire" won't help. Give race but also level, class and spec, as well as gear--good? PvP or PvE? An example of good intel would be "80 subt rogue, night elf, good PvE gear"--then your backup knows to expect very good stealth (based on race + spec), and heavy incoming damage but a squishy target. If the person is particularly skilled or unskilled, tell them that too. Note: If you're using either Stalker or Paranoia addons (see below), you can use the addon to give a detailed alert to your guild, Local Defense, say, yell, party or raid channels, depending on the addon. The alert can include (again, depending on addon) player name, class, level, location (zone & coordinates) and last seen time.
* Remember to scout. If you're on a PvP server, you can't afford to send your group into a town that is under heavy attack without having a look first. If you have a rogue or druid, great! They should keep their distance and give you an accurate picture of what's going on. If you don't, use a hunter's stealthed cat or spirit beast (be aware these do not have excellent stealth, so keep your distance), or use shaman's Far Sight (this can currently be chained for great distances) or a hunter's Eagle Eye from a great range. REMEMBER that both Far Sight and Eagle Eye make a clearly visible effect (swirling light) where they are placed, so be careful--an alert opponent will know someone is watching. A warlock's invisible Eye of Kilrogg is also an excellent scouting tool (thanks Massivebarry ^^).
* The Element of Surprise--Attacking from behind or especially above an enemy (nobody EVER looks up is my personal motto!), luring them into a trap, or waiting strategically between their res point and their nearest base (thus intercepting them); leaving hunter traps or a rogue on a road, or leaping from water or buildings onto enemies in no-fly zones will give you a HUGE advantage. Likewise, ALWAYS keep an eye on your surroundings--the sky, trees, buildings, towers, water etc. See Addons - Paranoia & Stalker for help in tracking nearby opponents.
* Find a Base--whether you are attacking an enemy town or defending your own, make sure to look in advance and find a safe place to res, eat, bandage, buff etc. should you die. If you're going to die, die near here, or as far away as possible if you're a stealthy class. Examples include rooftops, towers, buildings without npcs etc.
* Res Intelligently: as above, if you die during PvP you'll need to find a place to res--but more often than not you can't choose your point of death, and you'll need to pop up out of enemy line of sight. This allows you to mount up and ride away or even to buff, drink etc if you are in a good enough spot--but remember a good enemy will know you've ressed and will be looking for you. Res behind a tree, inside a nearby building, up a steep slope that needs some fiddling to get up, etc.--anything that gives you a few seconds to prepare. REMEMBER you can see stealthed enemies while you're a ghost, so find them first to be sure they aren't camping your chosen spot.
* Know Your Graveyards: for both friends and enemies. For cities and even some towns, factions use different graveyards. You'll need to know where you're going when you die to more quickly get back into the fight, but more importantly you'll need to know how long you have until your enemy turns back up and resses.
* Don't go alone to chase a solo enemy after a group fight: this will split your own group up, and lay the path for you to be ambushed by a group of waiting opponenents. This goes with the next and most important tip of all:
* STAY TOGETHER. If you're with a group, do NOT split up. Your strength is in your numbers, and a good enemy knows to send in a bait person (often a Death Knight with Pale Horse or a Paladin with Crusader) to lead some of you away before attacking again, or to ambush whoever chases the bait. The exception to this is sending scouts, but that should include one stealthed person rather than a whole group.
2.PvP Mechanics:
* Guards: Npcs generally call guards. If you're trying to avoid killing questgivers, avoid being near them, or they will continuously call guards to kill you. If you're Horde, this will generally show as "Goibon Uden lo" (Guards Help me!). I'm not sure what Alliance sees, but Horde Npcs generally shout "Guards!" If guards keep spawning on you and you're low health, it's probably because there is an Npc nearby spawning them. Kill it, but keep in mind its attack will likely spawn one to two more.
* Flags: Being PvP flagged means you can be attacked by the opposite faction's players (Npcs can always attack you). Obviously if you attack anything, you get flagged; the same goes for healing, buffing or ressing flagged players (so if you don't want to get flagged, don't res fallen folks unless you know they aren't!). However, what a lot of people don't realize is--you can get flagged simply by standing in an enemy town, even on a Normal/RP realm. You may be sitting in a town for ten minutes without a problem and then suddenly your PvP will turn on, which is like Christmas to those eight enemies watching you. On Normal realms, you remain unflagged until you venture into some towns (random flags here) or until you go into enemy capital cities (instant PvP flag). On PvP realms, there is Contested territory where both sides get flagged automatically, Horde territory where only Alliance gets flagged, and Alliance territory where only Horde gets flagged. Typing /pvp will toggle your flag on and off in zones where it can be turned off. Whether you toggle it off or leave a PvP zone, there is a wait timer of 5 minutes before you unflag. The exceptions to this rule are taking a flight path or zoning into a dungeon; these things instantly unflag you. AoE (flares, Flamestrike etc) will NOT work on flagged players if you are unflagged, nor will it flag you--you must flag first.
* Local/World Defense Messages: These can be triggered either by player attacks or NPC attacks (I believe). Meaning, if someone kites the Pit Lord to Thrallmar, you're going to see a LOT of messages. Likewise, if you kill a guard or npc, it will trigger a message. Player deaths do not, as far as I'm aware, trigger messages.
* Res Timers: The more often you die, the longer your wait to res, up to 2 minutes. Unlike battlegrounds or Wintergrasp, if you're pvping in Elwynn Forest you need to try to NOT die. Especially if you're with a group and winning or losing together, dying first can have a big impact on the fight--considering the enemy will have time to buff, eat and drink while you're going to then res at 1/2 hp and mana, it can be the deciding factor in who holds their ground in the end. Remember too that when you first kill an enemy in a close fight, getting safe and eating should be your first priority, especially when a graveyard is near--the enemy could respawn directly on top of you and finish you off.
* Corpses: There seems to be a LOT of confusion here. If someone dies, they collapse on the ground and their name is still above their head. They can watch everything going on around them. After six minutes, or when they click Release Spirit, they go into ghost form and they will be at the graveyard as a spirit. At this point their body is lying on the ground, visible but with the name gone. IF THEY LOG OFF before releasing spirit, the body disappears entirely; if they resurrect, either at their corpse or a graveyard, their body disappears and leaves a skeleton in its place. Use the _Corpse addon mentioned below to get an instant view of a dead person's status. **There's a bad corpse bug. If you LEAVE THE AREA where a corpse is, even briefly, you will NOT be able to see it when you return. Watch the death spot for a skeleton to appear to know when the enemy has ressed**
