Old Rant: So to the main WoW page this morning, and see the option to transfer to the testrealm. I think "Sure, why not? It'll be more fun than running scholo for the 16th time!" I'd like to say I was pleasantly surprized. I went to the old, Alterac valley instance, not the new one, but it was stull quite enjoyable. When you get to the BG entrance, expect to see the same lag as the Auctionhouse, as at least 20 people will be waiting in the gate. When you go to the red, swirling vortex, you are given an option of which battleground to enter, or simply whichever is open first. Then you wait, make cracks about the process, and how you're extremley bored. An icon pops up near your map, showing an estimated time, which in my case was about six times longer than actual. When a spot opens, you are prompted to enter the instance, you hit accept and port in. The first thing you notice, even before the instance, is the presence of quests. At the moment, I have found ten of them, some interlinked, some not. There are also retrieval quests that do NOT go in your log. I'll list some things here, and their effects. Actual Info: Main Base Map: http://x4.putfile.com/6/16117561014.jpg The Fang and the Heart: - Kill PCs gather hooves, hearts, mojo, teeth - Bring back to base - Heart dude wanters between Instance gate, and lumber camp Various persons ask you to bring back enemy PC drops, that you can obtain after making a killing hit. The Gnomes want Tauren hooves, since Tauren have been reported to scalp fallen Gnomes. Nightelves, angered by the Trolls' claims of birthing their race request you to obtain their Mojo. The Humans pity the undead and want to end their misery by burning their shriveled hearts in a ceremonial flame. Lastly, there is a general bounty on Orc teeth. Each of these nets you 1g 80s, a fine reward. I'd like to clarify the points of looting an enemy player. I think, To loot someone, you, or a partymember must make the killing shot. This may not be true, but I have only obtained these items in such a situation. What you get: there is a chance to get the bounty items (mojo, hooves, hearts, teeth) as well as some quest items: Armor Scraps, Storm Spheres (?) and insignia. You also get a portion of the enemy player's money, which in my experience amounts to 50-60s, though I don't know wether this depends on how much you actually have. As you can see, the killingshot is most important in this scenario. It allows you to make up the difference that you would have earned in an instance, and pay for the armor deterioration you aquire through damage and death. In other words, if you're not a mage or a rogue, you better be in a party to reap the rewards! Cavalry! - Bring back 25 rams, after taming them - Bring back 25 frostwolf skins from the horde lands, they drop off of frostwolves Each side is given a quest to tame friendly mounts near their home base, and bring them back to a PC. Similarly, you also need to go to the opposing side and kill their mount animals for supplies. Alliance need to capture riding rams, and kill Frostwolves to make bridles out of their skin. When you finish, you the quests stop, and the cavalry captain gives an option to charge the enemy. Just got the final count: You need 25 hides and 25 rams. In my case, various people had brought in rams, and were grumbling about why the cavalry didn't spawn. So, I went behind enemy lines, as they broke through our defences and were 1/2 to our base. I brought back 25 skins, and only needed 12 of them to launch the cavalry asault. This is no joke, a 61 elite commander and tweleve lvl 60 elite riders spawn and advance to the forward base. The horde were decimated. BUT they stop at the forward base, and patroll the area, keeping it safe. To get an NPC assault you need to do more than that. Armor - Bring back armor scraps (stracks of 20) for NPC upgrade Whenever you kill an NPCand sometimes a PC, you can loot a number of armor scraps. If a sufficent number are returned, all of the friendly NPCs that spawn become veterans, increacing their level and capability. A higher level is also available, Champion, which gives an even better buff to the NPCs, this is the highest I've seen.BIG defensive advantage here. The mine, is MINE! - Capture mies by killing NPC leader - Bring back supplies to dude in main base for NPC assault Both sides have mines, which are periodically captured by neutral NPCs. The trogg inhabit the Alliance mine, and the kobolds the Horde mine. They periodically spawn, and are usually beaten back by the NPC defenders. However, this combat takes it's toll and eventually they take over the mine by killing the alliance commander. At this point a yell informs the Alliance that the mine has been captured. These mines contain vital supplies, that must be returned to the quartermaster. To capture the mine, you need to kill the elite boss inside. It is vital that a PC lands the killing blow when doing this, if one of the defenders kills him, the trogg will continue to respawn, and will own a section of the mine making supply runs more difficultI'm not sure what difference it makes wether you take friendly, or enemy supplies. I should note that these are filled with 51-54 elites, and you shouldn't try this by yourself. When a certain amount of supplies is reached, a wave of NPCs launch a huge ground assault on the enemy. I have not seen this occur as of yet. I've noticed that it is best to send a five-man detatchement to the mine, to both capture it, prevent its recapture and collect supplies. If dedicated people keep this up long enough, the ground assault will occur quickly. The Lord: -Bring storm crystals (stacks of 5) to druids behind base Both factions can summon a giant boss to aid in their combat, these are about six stories in hieght, and kick alot of ass. The Horde have a giant ice elemental, who is completley offensive. From what I've seen, whenever he kills a PC he gains HP. The Alliance gets a huge keeper of the grove. He can't kill as well as his horde counterpart, but he has a periodic root AOE, as well as about 10 lvl 60 Ents that follow him around, in conjunction with a few druids who keep him healed. How do we get him on our field? Whenever you kill an enemy, they have a chance to drop a Storm Sphere. (I'm not sure of the name...it could be circle or node or orb or whatever) You return these to the Alliance druid NPCs, and eventually they decide to summon our Lord, as the two dudes are called. They go to the central field, and begin to summon. Thy need to be both protected, and have people aid them (ala the Warlock summon) by clicking on a large earthen disc. When this is complete, a can of whoopass is opened on the horde. At first, he remains in the center, but after a time (or possibly when aggro draws him far enough?) he attacks the enemy bases. I should underline that he needs to be supported, by providing both combat support and healing! Don't waste this guy to a zerg! How do you kill one? Simple, aggro him behind the forward base, have mele attackers do their thing and ranged stand on the hill next to him. It goes slowly, but after some effort the monster dies. He tends to drop some nice PvP specific rare items. These are on a first-come first-serve basis, from what I understand. When doing this move it is helpful to time it with a cavalry patroll (unless you haven't supplied them yet!) to block off the path the hordies will take, to keep them from interfering. Wingcommander As you may have read, if you free the wing commanders from the enemy bases a wave of gryphon riders spawn. Most likley, the best way to do this is a good team of rogues. Haven't seen this occur. The All-Seeing Eye There is a cave on the eastern side of the central ground, containing a group of syndicate, and thier boss. Off the bat, he gives you a short-range detector of enemy, and friendly NPCs, simmilar to detect undead or hunter detection skills. Then, you are given a quest to put a beacon in the enemy base, and defend it for a short time. He says it lets you see the area. I have not seen this as of yet. That's all I can remember for now, and I'd like to go into the class roles I have seen: Buddy, I may not make it, get me a Pally! - Pallies in 5-man=healbots - don't wory about buffs too much - solo or raid for actual killing I found that Paladins are highly regarded in this scenario, almost as much as rogues. The combat healing, and low-mana rezing are vital to any assault. However, a sufficent amount of quests (not to mention ranking!) are based on deathblows. Since we have no instant nuke, or anything similar, we're at a disadvantage here. The Rogue's Rogue - Stealth squads rock I find that in this scenario, rogues seldom go into the zerg pvp that other classes participate in. This is because unlike the PvP we are accustomed to in TM, there is no "no man's land" between two sides. The action is very dynamic. There is no opportunity to get someone off-guard in the zerg, and without freezing and fear abilites, rogues tend to get "OMG PWNED!" the second an advance is made. However, most objectives can be done by a dedicated team of rogues, turning the tide of battle. Thy can stealth past the NPCs to vital objectives, and defend them for a short time. If a PC comes up during the process, sap 'em and kill 'em in a few shots. Capturing buildings and graveyards can be acomplished in this fashion as well. About five rogues once pounceed on an alliance graveyard, killed the NPCs and were damn close to capping it, had not five alliance warriors respawned at the spot and killed them, it would have been lost, and we would have been at a great disadvantage.[/img]
