In World of Warcraft, player verses player (PvP) can be defined in many complicated layers.\u00a0 In the simplest terms it just means killing the other player, but in the realms of Azeroth, the venues where it occurs can mean that PvPing often involves a lot more than just mowing down a lot of enemies.<\/p>\n
You should know that venturing into battlegrounds the first time is super intimidating if you have no PvP experience.\u00a0 You can negate this by reading some strategy guides and replacing your nervousness with confusion.\u00a0 Or, you can just go in, copy other players until you kinda figure it out, and have a good time doing it.<\/p>\n
But if you do want a guide, there are hundreds out there on how to PvP in WoW: how to kill the other guy as swiftly as possible, how to maximise your class abilities, how to win battlegrounds the most efficiently, overviews of PvP etiquette, and discussions of strategy.\u00a0 This is not one of those guides.\u00a0 Or maybe this is all of those guides.\u00a0 Mostly this is my own guide: one part fun, one part silly, one part useful.<\/p>\n
Basic Tips For Everyone<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 PvP is not always about killing your enemy.\u00a0 It is also about crowd controlling, stunning, incapacitating, distracting, kiting and disorienting them.\u00a0 Be smart and know when it\u2019s better to stun someone and move on to something more important rather than always staying for the killing blow.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Communicating in \/bg is paramount.\u00a0 Call out when enemies are about to attack an objective (resource node or flag), where the flag carrier is headed or hiding, or where you are heading with the flag.\u00a0 Be brief and clear; avoid chatspeak but do familiarise yourself with battleground-relevant acronyms.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Become familiar with your \u201cget Away\u201d abilities, like Blink, Sprint, Vanish, Disengage, Earthbind, etc.\u00a0 Always have a plan of action for escaping a fight you know you will lose. \u00a0Some of these abilities will clear debuffs or movement impairing effects and others you will need to pair with another ability.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Kill healers first.\u00a0 Kill healers first.\u00a0 Kill healers first.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t do that: crowd control, stun, fear, incapacitate, interrupt, knockback, relocate or distract the healer and keep them away from their target.\u00a0 By the way, kill the healer first.\u00a0 They should always be your primary focus target as long as they are nearby.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Know when to use your keyboard and when to use your mouse.\u00a0 The usefulness of keybinds in PvP can\u2019t be emphasised enough.\u00a0 PvP is largely about quick thinking and fast reaction times, and keybinds are pretty much the only way to do this.\u00a0 On the same token, get used to mouse movement because keyboard turners are at a huge disadvantage.\u00a0 You can also do things with your mouse like jump while running, turn around and instant-cast something, land facing forward and keep running without missing a beat.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 In PvP, instants are awesome because battlegrounds are often high movement and you don\u2019t have time to stop long enough to cast a big nuke or giant heal.\u00a0 Next best is things with a quick cast time.\u00a0 Not only do they make it so you don\u2019t need to be a sitting duck for as long, but they a lot harder to catch with an interrupt or silence.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Heals, dispels and cleanses are a big deal in battlegrounds.\u00a0 They can often make or break a game.\u00a0 If you really love DPS and hate playing as support, then go ahead and stick to that, but a truly good PvPer will know when to use any heals or dispel in their arsenal, either on yourself or on your teammates.\u00a0 It is often better to heal, even in DPS gear and spec, if there are no other healers around to help your teammates, or if you think it might be more advantageous to just heal yourself while you wait for reinforcements to arrive.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 One really important thing in pvp is to know when to walk away and how to pick your fights.\u00a0 Your teammates (and your enemies) will often be prone to stopping to fight anyone they see, even if killing that person won\u2019t aid the objectives or there is no way they will be able to kill that person in a timely fashion.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get in heated one-on-one battles while your team is off doing something else, don\u2019t stop to fight people in the middle of the map for no reason, and don\u2019t engage in a fight you know you can\u2019t win unless there is some legitimate strategy to it (ie, distracting the enemy).\u00a0 If you avoid this, you\u2019ll not only be a better player but you\u2019ll also find yourself actually winning more games.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Using PvP gear in PvP makes a larger difference than a newcomer might expect.\u00a0 Health and resilience impact your survival just as much as smart gameplay.\u00a0 If you have nothing else, fly over to Wintergrasp and buy the heirloom PvP trinket until you play enough games to buy youself a whole set.\u00a0 Even if you have a really good PvE piece, it is often still better to use a lower quality PvP piece in that slot.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Learn how to use terrain, range and line of sight to increase your survivability.\u00a0 This takes practice and a different mindset than you may have from PvE, but it will help you a lot if you master it.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Nameplates are very useful in battlegrounds, both for watching your teammate\u2019s health and for monitoring enemies.\u00a0 It will let you know which guys are close to dead and also make it easier to target them and see them coming.<\/p>\n Learn Your Class Again, Because Everything You Know Is Wrong<\/span><\/p>\n Before you ever enter a battleground, the first thing to know is that many of the spells you like in your dungeons and raids are stupid and lame in battlegrounds.\u00a0 That rotation you\u2019ve got down perfect is useless.\u00a0 And those weird abilities you got and never even put on your bar because \u201cwhen the hell will I ever use that?\u201d may end up being your favourite spells.<\/p>\n Look through your spellbook and consider something\u2019s application against another player and the spells they may be using.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not sure if something is good or not, ask yourself: how much will this piss of the guy I use it on?<\/em> If the answer is somewhere in the realm of \u201ca lot,\u201d then it is probably an awesome PvP ability.\u00a0 Here is the secret to fun PvP: it\u2019s not about killing the other guy, it\u2019s about frustrating him endlessly.\u00a0 Sometimes that involves killing him, but it also can involve things like a well-timed sheep.<\/p>\n At the risk of becoming a class guide, here are some spells each class should learn to love:<\/p>\n Mage:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Sheep<\/strong> people often.\u00a0 The best times to do this are: when they are casting their big nuke spell, when they are about to heal someone, when they are running a flag or guarding a node, or just because they\u2019re the only person around and you have the mana.\u00a0 You don\u2019t even need to fight them afterwards; if they\u2019re just some random guy on the road, it\u2019s better to sheep him and then run off to do something more important.\u00a0 Protip: you can sheep people off their mounts.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Counterspell<\/strong> casters on cooldown.\u00a0 Especially healers.\u00a0 Nothing is more satisfying than that beautiful noise signifying that someone is probably going to die soon.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Frost Nova<\/strong> melee in places where they will be useless.\u00a0 Actually, if it\u2019s off of cooldown, go ahead and frost nova them no matter where they are.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Frostbolt<\/strong> and Cone of Cold<\/strong> are both awesome, even if you\u2019re a fire mage.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because it slows people, and slow people are almost as useless as dead people in battlegrounds.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Blastwave,<\/em><\/strong> if you have it, is good for relocating your enemies and interrupting their abilities.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Iceblock<\/strong> not just makes you immune to incoming damage but it will clear your debuffs so you can get back in the game.<\/p>\n Warlock<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Fear<\/strong> is your new favourite ability.\u00a0 Your should use it as often as possible, and at the times when it will anger your opponent the most.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Put Curse of Tongues<\/strong> on all the casters.\u00a0 Even if they can remove it, that\u2019s still one more GCD when they\u2019re not casting that heal or fireball.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Fall in love with your Succubus <\/strong>and Felhound<\/strong>.\u00a0 Your succubus can seduce people, like healers who are healin\u2019 a bit more than you\u2019d like or that really buff warrior who is beating on you, and your demon puppy can spell lock anyone who you\u2019d prefer not be able to cast.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 DoT<\/strong> everyone (okay, that\u2019s not one ability).\u00a0 Seriously, put your debuffs and Damage-over-Time spells on anything that moves.\u00a0 Just tab around and make sure everyone is feelin\u2019 the hurt.\u00a0 You have a good chance of killing people this way, and at the very least, the healer is going to be spending a lot of time dispelling his teammates instead of casting heals.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Use your Drains<\/strong>.\u00a0 Lifedrain and manadrain benefit you at your enemy\u2019s detriment.\u00a0 Awesome.<\/p>\n Priest<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Psychic Scream<\/strong> every time you can.\u00a0 It\u2019s best used by running into a crowd of people before dropping it, but go ahead and use it on that one guy beating on you, too.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Mana Burn<\/strong> is great on healers, especially ones that are already low from slamming big ones on their teammates.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Silence<\/strong>, if you have it.\u00a0 Of course.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Bubble<\/strong> your teammates that are getting beat on.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a healer; the rogue beating on your buddy will hate you for it, and that\u2019s what counts.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Mass Dispell<\/strong> not only will remove magic debuffs from your teammates but also buffs from your enemies.\u00a0 Best of all, it removes things like a paladin\u2019s invulnerability bubble: the only thing in the game that will.\u00a0 Use it on large groups of people fighting and also on paladin bubbles.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Mind Flay<\/strong> slows people, and because it\u2019s channeled, will automatically turn you to help you follow runners.\u00a0 Also it damages people, which never hurts.<\/p>\n Rogue<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Stock plenty of Crippling Poison<\/strong>, Wound Poison<\/strong>, and Mind-Numbing Poison<\/strong>.\u00a0 Ideally, you want to have spare weapons to swap around for each in the appropriate situation.\u00a0 Slowing player movement, delaying their casts, and making their heals weak are both extremely useful and very enjoyable.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Stuns<\/strong> are the thing you\u2019re most loathed for.\u00a0 Stun as often as you can.\u00a0 Open with cheapshot and use kidney shot as your finisher.\u00a0 If necessary, vanish so you can cheapshot a second time.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Cloak of Shadows<\/strong> will surely piss off that warlock who just spent a bunch of time DoTing you up.\u00a0 Bonus points if you use it when he has like .2 seconds left on his big nuke, so that way he still wastes the time and mana.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Sap<\/strong> any people you cross out of combat, whether they are defending something or just merrily prancing around.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Dismantle<\/strong> will disarm your melee foes and Blind<\/strong> will disorient them.<\/p>\n Druid<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Shapeshift<\/strong> can be used to your advantage in a lot of ways.\u00a0 Use it liberally to break snares.\u00a0 Also know when is the right time to be in the right form; sometimes it\u2019s better for a moonkin to bear up and wait for help than to try to fight it out.\u00a0 Lastly, remember, you\u2019re immune to polymorph when in form.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Hibernate<\/strong> works on hunter pets, shaman in ghost wolf, and other druids in cat, bear and cheetah form.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be shy about using it.\u00a0 The awesome factor goes up if you use it on a wolf or cat running a flag.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Cyclone<\/strong> not only crowd controls your opponent, but it won\u2019t be broken by your teammates incidental AoE, and the guy stuck in it won\u2019t be healed from it.\u00a0 When one guy is immune, just use it on another.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Typhoon<\/strong>, if you have the ability, is great for knocking around enemies (including off of nearby cliffs) and interrupting their spellcasts.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Use Roots<\/strong> on anything that\u2019s going somewhere you don\u2019t want it to.<\/p>\n Hunter<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Wing Clip<\/strong> is a good way to slow down your opponents, whether they\u2019re running the flag or chasing down your healer, or just because you need to get range.\u00a0 In all circumstances, it will annoy them, which alone makes it valuable.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Know your Shots<\/strong>, because depending on your spec, you can use different ones to silence, slow, sleep, and disorient.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Traps <\/strong>are awesome and you should make heavy use of both freezing and frost trap, depending on the context.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Disengage<\/strong> is a very handy way to get away from a melee attacking you, to get range on someone, or even to bounce out of someone\u2019s cast range.<\/p>\n Shaman<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 No matter your spec, Frost Shock<\/strong> is great for slowing people.\u00a0 Pair it with an Earthbind totem<\/strong> and you can do fairly decent kiting of melee.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Grounding Totem<\/strong> is your best friend against casters.\u00a0 Drop it on cooldown anytime one is nearby.\u00a0 And don\u2019t forget Tremor Totem <\/strong>to break pesky fears.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Purge<\/strong> removes buffs from your enemies.\u00a0 This works on more than just things like Intellect and Fortitude: it will also remove things like speed boosts and heal-over-time spells.\u00a0 Happiness is purging the HoTs off a tree.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Thunderstorm<\/strong> is a great knockback if you have it.\u00a0 It is good as both an interrupt and a fun way to abuse your enemies.\u00a0 Shaman are especially fond of using it to toss people off of cliffs when they get to close to the edge.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Wind Shear<\/strong> is your bread-and-butter interrupt, and it\u2019s off the GCD.\u00a0 It\u2019s on a very short cooldown, so use it on those casters over and over and over again.\u00a0 Picking a healer and waiting until their big heals are about finished to cast is both practical and extremely delightful.\u00a0 Or, pair it with purge to destroy an oft-invulnerable restoration druid.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Hex<\/strong> is on a long cooldown, but it\u2019s still great to use to crowd control people, interrupt their casting and make them an adorable frog.<\/p>\n Paladin<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Your Self Bubble <\/strong>is the thing everyone loathes you for.\u00a0 Use it regularly to grant yourself immunity when running away or healing yourself to full.\u00a0 Remember it will make your drop the flag if you’re carrying it.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 If it says \u201cHand<\/strong> of\u201d on the title, it\u2019s probably great for PvP.\u00a0 Freedom will break slows and snares and should be used liberally on yourself and your teammates.\u00a0 Hand of Protection is splendid to use on your spellcasting and healing teammates to protect them from melee attacks (just don\u2019t use it on physical DPS).\u00a0 Sacrifice can be used to overcome abilities like sheep which will break on damage.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Hammer of Justice<\/strong> is on a longish cooldown, but it\u2019s a great stun so don\u2019t be shy about smacking people with it.\u00a0 It comes with a highly satisfying BLAM! noise to remind you of how great it is.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Repentance <\/strong>is Retibution\u2019s crowd control and can be used in combat.\u00a0 Use it on that healer in the back or the guy playing defense.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Judgment of Justice<\/strong> will prevent your opponents from moving any faster than runspeed, whether they\u2019re mounted or in travel form, or popping sprint.<\/p>\n Warrior<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Berserker Rage<\/strong> is a great ability that breaks fears and incapacitates and should be used off of cooldown.\u00a0 Use it in conjunction with your trinket and you\u2019ll find these abilities effecting you half as often as anyone else.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Hamstring<\/strong> will slow your opponents and can be used on as many people or as many times as you have rage for.\u00a0 If you can, tab around and hamstring anyone who is melee DPS.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Disarm<\/strong> will cripple any melee opponent.\u00a0 It\u2019s on a decent cooldown, but don\u2019t forget to use it when a rogue is beating on your healer or you\u2019re locked into combat with a Death Knight.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Stuns<\/strong> should be used liberally if you have them.\u00a0 All warriors have Charge, but if you\u2019re Protection, you\u2019ll also have Shockwave and Concussion Blow, which are both very powerful.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Pummel <\/strong>is great for interrupting spellcasting; every warrior should be prepared to Stance Dance to use it, or toss on a shield quickly for Shield Bash<\/strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Few things will bring you as much joy as Spell Reflect<\/strong>, especially when you use it on a shaman about to Hex you or a mage coming at you with pyroblast.\u00a0 You should carry a shield for this ability alone.<\/p>\n Death Knight<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Deathgrip<\/strong> has a lot of utility in PvP, on top of being very fun to use.\u00a0 You can suck in players to interrupt their spellcasting, prevent them from hurting a teammate or capturing an objective, or getting them into range for you to kill them.\u00a0 Use it with a smile and use it often.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Strangle<\/strong> is your silence to deal with those pesky casters.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Use Chains of Ice <\/strong>to slow opponents running away from you or towards a friendly.\u00a0 It\u2019s also fun just to toss on random people who are running by.\u00a0 They want to be somewhere else, so appreciate how fun it is to deny them that.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 If you\u2019re Unholy, your Ghoul <\/strong>provides interrupts and stuns, so stick it on a caster target while you beat on someone else.<\/p>\n Approaches to Battleground<\/strong><\/p>\n Although killin\u2019 your foes is always superduper, what\u2019s most important for success is different in every battleground.<\/p>\n Warsong Gulch<\/span><\/p>\n Warsong Gulch is a game of capture the flag.\u00a0 The most important things that you can do in this battleground is protect your team\u2019s flag carrier \u2013 by healing him or killing the people attacking him \u2013 or by returning our flag from the enemy \u2013 by killing him, or healing your teammates who are.\u00a0 In this battleground, slowing or stopping the enemies is almost as valuable as killing then, moreso if you can slow multiple people. \u00a0Don\u2019t get distracted fighting people mid-field.\u00a0 Lastly, play to Offense if you can as you really only need a person or two on Defense in this game.<\/p>\n Arathi Basin<\/span><\/p>\n Arathi Basin is about earning more resources than your enemy.\u00a0 You do this by capping and holding three resource nodes and defending them.\u00a0 Playing defense is just as important as taking nodes.\u00a0 Always watch on your zone map to make sure every node you own is adequately protected.\u00a0 Offense may be more fun, but if no one is guarding, be the responsible player who does, or it could mean the game.\u00a0 Final tip: never fight on the road, always near a flag.\u00a0 Not only will you spawn closer to your graveyard, but you will be able to keep an eye on the flag at all times.\u00a0 Roadfights are very common but don\u2019t get sucked in.\u00a0 You can, however, use them to your advantage if the enemy team is not watching their flag, allowing you to sneak in from behind and cap it.<\/p>\n Strand of the Ancients<\/span><\/p>\n In the Strand, the goal is to get the relic at the end of the battlegrounds, and to prevent your opponents from doing the same.\u00a0 On offense, you need to use demolishers to break through a series of gates.\u00a0 It is best to let melee players drive and use ranged, crowd controllers and healers as passengers to help defeat the enemies attacking your vehicle.\u00a0 In defense, your top priority is always killing demolishers, either directly or by healing your DPS teammates.\u00a0 Do not get distracted by players running around: always go for the demos.<\/p>\n Isle of Conquest and Alterac Valley<\/span><\/p>\n Both battlegrounds are different maps for the same objectives.\u00a0 The goal is to either defeat the enemy\u2019s general in their keep, or by depleting their reinforcements.\u00a0 Capturing and holding the various objectives on the map will help your team and also grant you honour points.\u00a0 Always try to find near and for these objectives rather than get caught in some random fight off on the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In World of Warcraft, player verses player (PvP) can be defined in many complicated layers.\u00a0 In the simplest terms it just means killing the other player, but in the realms of Azeroth, the venues where it occurs can mean that PvPing often involves a lot more than just mowing down a lot of enemies. 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