Game Guru

2017-11-27T20:30:00.000+00:00

Looking to give this old blog of mine a new website look soon. The WoW Battleground guides are still very relevant.

If you are a new player I have got a fantastic guide for you here:

New to World of Warcraft

Remember the guide is for new or inexperienced players. It is not for experienced people who know how to play the game!!

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds: Tol Barad

2012-07-20T15:48:00.000+01:00

The World of Warcraft level 85 battleground, Tol Barad, is up for grabs once every two and a half hours, and is keenly fought over by the Horde and Alliance factions. The reward for the winners is access for the following two hours to the Tol Barad dungeon, where the prizes include player versus player (PvP) gear, and the daily quests. PvP gear has a property called resilience. Resilience basically is your damage shield and it absorbs damage inflicted on you by other players. It has no properties in any other aspect of the game, so it does not have a role to play in your questing and dungeon exploits. However, only heroic dungeon and raids reward you with better primary statistic gear.

To win Tol Barad your faction must capture, and hold, three buildings, The Warden's Vigil, Ironclad Garrison, and the Slagworks from the defenders within a 15 minute time limit. That time limit can be extended by the attackers by 5 minutes for every spire they destroy. The three spires are found at the bottom middle and the two opposite top corners of the map. There are siege engines available to complete that objective and they can be left running and doing damage without a driver. To be able to drive one you first need to make an "Honorable" kill, so find some Horde and let rip. Then jump in a siege engine, their location is shown around the middle of the map by what look like towers. Set the siege mode on arrival at a spire and you will be ejected to rejoin the battle, whilst the siege engine gets to work.

The tactic of the defenders should be to ensure that they never get into a position where they can lose all three buildings, but this is easier said than done because there are frequent occasions where you do not have your full cap of players and the opposition has more players than you. Of course you could be lucky and have the opposite situation, in which case the attackers have got the impossible task. However working on the scenario you have too few players to defend more than one base successfully concentrate all your efforts on that one, but have a small team attacking to regain a lost building. You must have at least one building in your hands, or you lose. You will find that you chase around the map with that objective, that is as you lose a base you rush to another you do hold to defend it and so on.

The objective for the attacker is straightforward: mass attack one base, leave a defence; mass attack the next, leave a defence; mass attack the next and win. Simple huh! But of course it doesn't happen quite that easily. It will if you have a full team complement and the opposition doesn't, and it is the tactic to follow. However, if the teams are both full to cap the defenders should always win. Defending with 20 and attacking with 20 should always ensure two bases.

Blizzard tries to balance the teams out equally, but Baradin Hold is not a well loved BG and getting willing participants every two and half hours seems to be a problem. The main attraction BH offers up is more Honor Points than any other battleground, especially if you have taken the daily quest offered by the faction NPC. It carries a 200 HP reward for the win. Plus of course there is the chance to compete in the dungeon immediately afterwards, if you can find a team. Ironically you may find that if you only have PvP gear PvE clad players will not want you in their team!

This article has been written with the new player in mind and for veteran World of Warcraft players it will have offered nothing new, but hopefully the guide will have been useful for the beginner.

World of Warcraft Battleground - Warsong Gulch

2012-05-29T14:40:00.000+01:00

A while back I posted quite an in-depth battleground guide for Warsong Gulch, one I now think is far too complicated. More recently I posted a guide for the Twin Peaks battleground and as I said there the two BGs are basically the same battle and the tactics are therefore the same. So I recommend scrolling down the page and having a read of that article.

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds - Twin Peaks

2012-05-28T13:38:00.000+01:00

A Beginners Guide

If you have been following my blog you will know that I have been writing a series of World of Warcraft battleground guides designed to be read by new or inexperienced players. Twin Peaks is my latest offering.

Twin Peaks is basically the same game as Warsong Gulch and therefore the tactics should be the same. There are two bases... from the point of view of the map, the Horde base is at the bottom and the Alliance base is at the top. You will start off in one of the bases and make a mad dash to the enemy base. Players who are new to WoW, or just want to see their damage score at the end, rush to the middle for a fight. There is no point to this from a strategy or team perspective.
I definitely recommend that tactics should be discussed before the game commences and those should be:

Form two groups of five, call them A and B
Designate two flag carriers... needs to be a tank class that can absorb damage
Have healers, range attackers and tank in both groups if possible
Sort out who has got poor resilience (if you don't have the gear do Baradin Hold runs and convert your dungeon points to Honor and Conquest points before stepping into BG and get the gear) and make sure they are not the flag carrier.
Use the map and mini map to see where the flags are
Only fight in the vicinity of a flag, never aimlessly in the middle
At the start all head to the opposition base keeping to the far right of the map to avoid contact with the enemy

When you arrive the group A designated flag carrier picks up the flag, you then get into your designated groups and head back up the map using the M button and mini map to see where the enemy flag carrier is. Group A carrier should head back to base up the right hand or left hand side of the map. Group B should head towards the enemy flag carrier.

If all goes well group A will arrive at the base with the flag and will defend it while group B tries to recover the flag from the enemy. When group B succeeds group A should place the flag immediately. Group A then remains in the base to stop the enemy from taking the flag. Group B will then attack the enemy base and bring their flag to your base. Group B can then defend your base whilst group A attacks.

If you die your priority is always to get back into your designated group as soon as possible. If you have all died then wait for your colleagues to resurrect. If you see any of your team fighting by themselves in the middle give them a smack and tell them to get into their designated group.
I realise that battleground tactics rarely work smoothly and that you maybe up against a better equipped enemy, but nonetheless the strategy outlined is the way this battle should be fought.
There you have a winning tactic so go out and earn your Honour Points!

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

Copyright 2011 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds - Battle for Gilneas

2012-05-28T12:52:00.005+01:00

From an Alliance Perspective

I am going to presume that if you are reading this that you have played this World of Warcraft battleground and are looking for tips on how to win the Battle for Gilneas and are aware of the basic layout of the map. If you are not there is a map above to help you.

The key to an Alliance victory here is to hold the Mine and Waterworks, which may seem a little strange given that the nearest resource to the Alliance starting point is the Lighthouse. The reasoning is simple: if the Horde hold both at the start it is very easy for them to run back and forwards between the Mine and the Waterworks to help stave off attacks. I have seen a few debates about the fairness of this map on the Battle.net forums and have to laugh when I see Horde players saying it favours the Alliance. It does not.

At the start the Alliance should form 2 groups, one of 4 players to attack the mine, the other of 5 to attack the Waterworks. The one remaining player, preferably a Rogue or a Druid, should take the Lighthouse and then hide. Of course the two groups should be as balanced as possible, with healers, tanks and DPS in both. The group attacking the mine might encounter a Horde group heading to the Lighthouse. If they do they should try to avoid coming into contact and continue on to the Mine. If the Horde carry on to the Lighthouse let them, the Mine is the main objective. They will regret losing the Mine.

Once the Mine and Waterworks are taken defend them with your groups. The Rogue/Druid you left at the Lighthouse will probably be more usefully deployed defending the Mine, but it depends on the battle situation. It could be that the Horde will concentrate on taking the Mine and Waterworks leaving the Lighthouse constantly in Alliance hands, bringing in the resources required to win the game. Those defending the Mine will find that they can probably pick off the Horde players resurrecting at their base, but should be wary of allowing a surprise attack on the flag. Whatever happens in the game the strategy should always be to hold the Mine and Waterworks. Attacking these will keep the Horde penned back and leave the Lighthouse in Alliance hands.

That is the basics of this battleground. If you are a Horde player all you have to do is adapt the strategy. Right that's the tactics now go and win the battle!

Hopefully, if you are a new player you will have picked up a few useful tips. If you need a few more come and join me on my website which is specifically for new players.

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

Copyright 2011 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds, a series: Eye of the Storm

2012-02-27T15:32:00.001+00:00

The aim of the game in this Battleground is to hold the towers and earn resources from them. A team wins when 1600 points are obtained. Points can also be earned by capturing the flag from the middle of the map and returned to a faction controlled Tower. The points earned by holding towers far out-weighs those obtained from flag captures, so you would think the primary objective would be to capture towers. Unfortunately, however, there are far too many people who want the glory of capturing the flag. A word to those guys... battlegrounds are for team play and the only advantage in capturing the flag is in a close fought game when both teams retain two towers throughout most of the game.

That said the initial starting tactic should be as follows... the towers closest to the starting point should be collected by two people, one for each Tower. It would be best if they were Rogues or Druids so that they can hide. They can then either kill any stray enemy that tries to capture it, or wait until most of enemy have left and recapture.

The rest of the team should divide up into two groups, with healers (hopefully you will be lucky enough to have at least two) in both. You then ride to meet the enemy where ever they have gathered, usually at their Towers. The idea is to keep the enemy pinned back, and if you are very lucky take one of their towers, or even two!

When you have captured three towers the aim is to push the enemy back to their one remaining spawning point and tower. At this point it is fine for one, and only one, player to capture the flag. The point of all strategy games is to control territory and the resources, so continue to pen the enemy back to their remaining base, and if you take it push on to meet them at their starting point. With four towers the game will soon be over.

The game will rarely be that easy to win, but the tactic outlined is the one to pursue throughout the battle. Of course if it becomes apparent the two teams are evenly matched, and that the towers held rarely exceed two the flag becomes a focal point, but do not lose towers in a rash attempt to capture the flag.

Hopefully, if you are a new player you will have picked up a few useful tips. If you need a few more come and join me on my website which is specifically for new players.

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.
Copyright 2011 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.

PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.

Alterac Valley Revisited

2012-02-14T16:42:00.007+00:00

The problem with the tactic I outlined down below is that I used the word defend, a word you certainly cannot use in the actual Battleground. The mentality of most World of Warcraft players is that defend = passive. It doesn't, but that's the mindset.

So to counter this the best way to get people to listen to you in the Battleground is to say "Lets all attack, but lets do it sensibly. 30 players go to the left of Balinda's bunker and head on to meet the approaching Horde. 10 players go to the right of her bunker to cut off any Horde approaching on that side. If there are none, move quickly on to take the Iceblood graveyard.

Next we split into two teams of 19, leaving two Druids or Rogues (or a combo) to kill any stray Horde that get past. One team goes to Iceblood Garrison, but only goes in if the Horde are not there in numbers. Wait for the Horde to start peeking out and use Death Knights to Death Grip the spies to the group.

The other team takes out the towers. Split that team and defend the towers, leaving one Rogue or Druid, in stealth, to keep an eye on the Iceblood graveyard. If a few Horde take it remain hidden and wait for them to go and then retake it. A brave Rogue could head up to take out the next grave.

The whole point is to push the Horde backwards and have territorial advantage"

This may be a better strategy in as much as you will have people on board willing to play it, rather than the normal rush that loses to Horde more often than not!

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

I Wish More People Were Reading My Battleground Tactics

2012-01-24T16:24:00.000+00:00

I find it so frustrating that the only way Alliance players seem to approach the big battlegrounds is to rush to the Boss to kill him and get the game over quickly. Why the hell do players want to do that?! It's a PvP match up and not a Dungeon raid. If people do not want to have a fun PvP competition why don't they just stick to Dungeons? I suppose Blizzard are to blame for including the PvE element, rather than keeping to a pure PvP format.

I had to laugh the other day though when in two consecutive Alterac Valley games the rush failed and the game went on for 40 minutes. And it wasn't because the Horde were any good because they rushed as well, but what the Alliance failed to do was take and hold, for long enough, any of the towers and graves. They were too busy trying to wipe out the Frost Wolf boss quickly that they failed to notice the Horde players were busy taking back all of the towers and graves :(

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds; a series: Arathi Basin

2012-01-03T16:34:00.001+00:00

This is the next in my series of articles about World of Warcraft battlegrounds. Arathi Basin is about capturing and holding territories. They are the: Stables, Farm, Lumber Mill (LM), Mine and Blacksmith (BS). Resources are collected from these and the more of them your team holds the quicker victory is achieved. 1600 resources is the target.

If you have not yet played this Battleground here's a map for you to have a look at:

The map clearly shows the starting and the resource points.

Whilst waiting for the match to start your team should discuss tactics. The first should be to divide your team into three balanced groups, or as balanced as possible, with tanks, DPS and healers in all three. The first group will hold the stable (Alliance) or farm (Horde), the second will fight for the LM, the third for the BS.

As my characters are in the Alliance faction. I will write the rest of this article from an Alliance perspective. It will be easy enough to adapt for a Horde battle plan.

What the Horde are likely to have done is headed to the mine and left the farm poorly defended, or undefended. They will also have split their team into less than five members per group. Your LM group should head towards the Farm immediately and take it down quickly. You will find that the stables will be attacked and, presuming all of that group are keeping to the plan, it should be defended successfully.

If all has gone smoothly your team will now hold four resources. It is, I would say, impossible to retain this position from purely a defensive strategy and the aim should be to push the Horde back to their starting area. So to maintain this momentum the stable group should head towards the mine and secure it. The BS group, depending on their present situation, should move onto the farm. They will need to check the map to make sure the Horde mine group is not heading their way first of all.

The farm group should be ensuring that the Horde are unable to get past to head to any of the resources. This is best achieved by pushing on up to the Horde base and attacking any Horde that emerge. If the Horde have any sense they will come out in a large group, but rarely do you get that kind of coordination.

Once the mine has been secured and all five resources are held the end is in sight. Apart from a couple of Rogues or Druids everyone should then head in a large group into the Horde base and spawning area. The Rogue and Druid should make sure that no Horde have escaped the net and retake quickly any resources captured.

Many people will have negative views about the tactic outlined, and of course it does rely on all the team following orders and all of the initial encounters being won. Some will argue that only three resources need to be held and defended, which sounds good in theory, but will lead to the Horde zerging (attacking en masse) a base at a time.

A purely defensive strategy will not work. It has to be a combination of defence and attack. The strategy I have put forward will win most Arathi Basin battles, mainly because teams do not discuss strategy. The strategy outlined should be the one pursued throughout the course of the battle. In other words if the initial tactic does not deliver the three resources the groups continue to keep to the plan until they do and then they push on.

It is fairly easy to see on this map that the only real choke points are the starting bases. However, the initial LM group that moved on to take the farm can make sure that the Horde are not able to head towards the LM or BS (but they will need to ensure they do not fall for a diversionary tactic and end up losing the farm). Likewise it is evident that a group moving up from the mine can set up a choke point preventing access to the mine and BS. But be aware that the water can be crossed! So as I said, the definitive choke point is the base itself.

There you have a winning tactic so go out and earn your Honour Points!

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

World of Warcraft Battlegrounds; a series: 2) Alterac Valley

2011-11-28T16:14:00.001+00:00

Alterac Valley must be a confusing nightmare for a new player. It's a big map with 40 players a side, with players rushing here, there and everywhere.

So how do you play it? Well there seem to be two distinct tactics and I'll start off with the attacking tactic to start off with. The only tactic Alliance teams seem to use! First things first, let's get a map up of the battleground. There are numerous on the web and of course you can always take a screen shot from your own game, but gamepressure supply a well sign posted Alterac Valley map. It is out of date though, with the Horde starting point nowadays at the opposite end of the map to the Alliance.

You will start off in a cave and will then make a mad dash on mounts all the way down/up to either Stonehearth Outpost (Horde target) or Iceblood Garrison (Alliance target) where you will kill Captain Galvangar. This will remove the buffs he gives to all Horde players. The Horde kill Balinda Stonehearth for much the same effect. They take a lot of killing and it will take about 15 players to complete the task, although a lot more are used in the usual scenario.

At the same time 10 Alliance players can take out the Horde towers at Iceblood and Tower Point. The Horde take out the bunkers at Stonehearth and Icewing. These have to be held for four minutes before they are destroyed. Usually it is best to hold these with at least 5 players and it is always preferable to let the enemy come to you rather than leave and get picked off one by one. Remember that you get buffs from remaining in close contact with team mates.

There are also a number of graveyards on the map and these are where you will be resurrected. The idea is to hold your own and take out the oppositions. However, most players consider it is a cardinal sin to take Iceblood (Horde) and Snowfall (Alliance) graveyards. This is because you do not mind the foe resurrecting at them far away from the, supposed, action.

The whole point in taking all these structures is to reduce the opposition points total and to earn Honour (which people seem to forget). Both teams start on 500 and when you get the other team down to zero you win.

If you have been successful in killing Balinda or Galvangar you will rush past your team's recently captured towers or bunkers in a huge mob and race on to the opposition base taking the graveyards on the way, Stormpike or Froswolf. The next objectives are in the opposition base. There are a couple of bunkers/towers and a graveyard. Taking the graveyard means you can respawn there and the opposition cannot, stating the obvious really but it's a necessity.

And now to the final objective, which is to kill the Bosses housed up in either Dun Baldar (Alliance) or Frostwolf Keep. Once killed the game is immediately over. It takes a lot of player power to kill the Boss and his NPC defenders and so it is vital to retain control of the immediate graveyards, so that the "dead" can come back to life to rejoin the encounter. What is obvious is that you do not want the enemy taking it and suddenly appearing to defend the Boss!

Right, that is the basic summary of what usually happens in an offensive game and is how Alliance play it 99% of the time, and more often than not lose because Horde players use a bit of nous and cunningly even use tactics. In fact the way Horde players play the Battle Ground is as a Player v Player (PvP) encounter and not as a Player v Environment (PvE) raid. It is after all a PvP battle for Honour Points.

What I am going to describe now is a counter to the Horde tactic. Sorry if you a new Horde player, but you should still be able to learn the tactics for the Horde perspective from my description. It will also make this article a lot shorter, which cannot be a bad thing).

What the Alliance need to do is a 20/20 split on offence and defence, which is what the Horde will do on most occasions. Twenty players should stop at Stonehearth whilst the attack rides on. Fourteen players should go into the Outpost and say hello to Balinda, she's a very nice girl, and set up their defences ready for the Horde assault, which will arrive in about 10 seconds. With Balinda's powers and the fourteen of you, you will put up a good fight and will more than likely win the encounter. If you do, do not stay there. Get out and check the area for Horde, retaking the graveyard and bunkers if necessary. If the Horde have rushed past for one mass raid on Dun Baldur get there post haste taking the graveyards on the way.

Five of the 20 defenders will have set themselves up outside of Icewing Bunker. If you see a huge Horde rush coming your way get inside the bunker quickly, but this scenario is unlikely. It is more likely that a small group will try to take the bunker or continue on. Stop them. The NCP archers in the bunker will do useful damage if you protect them and they are in range. You will need a Hunter or two to check for the presence of Rogues. Your aim is simply to slow or stop the Horde at that point.

The remaining player from the 20 defenders will be a Rogue or a Druid and they will have hidden themselves near Stonehearth Graveyard. They are not to stop the Horde from taking it, but to take it back when the Horde have moved on. The tactical reason for taking it is that you do not want the Horde to respawn quickly in the area.

The twenty defenders are responsible for checking that the Horde have not got past Icewing Bunker and taken Stormpike graveyard, or got into Dun Baldur. After that objective is secured start to push the Horde back and keep them penned into their half of the map. Do not forget to secure the Stonehearth Bunker.

Now back to the start of the game and the objectives of the 20 attackers. It is highly likely that the Horde will have a sizeable presence in the Iceblood Garrison. If they have, do not go in. Instead take Iceblood Tower, the graveyard and Tower Point. Obviously the Horde will have realised fairly quickly what you have done and will assault the Towers. Keep a Rogue or Druid hidden by the graveyard to protect it if it is attacked by one or two Horde. If a few attack it the player should wait until the Horde have gone before retaking it.

The tower defenders should let the Horde come to them and not be drawn out one by one. While you are busy defending the towers you will hopefully be joined by the 20 defenders. Their first priority should be to take out Iceblood Garrison, killing Galvangar, and then to join you in pressing the Horde back. There are choke points by the Iceblood grave and Iceblood Garrison and you should be able to stop the Horde from finding a way through with 5 players set up at both points. These are temporary choke points and the priority should be on penning the Horde into Frostwolf and setting up a team to kill the Horde emerging from their map entrance.

Inevitably some Horde will, somehow, find their way past and the damage they will do can be limited by having a small group of Rogues and Druids patrolling the Battle Ground following the lose Horde around.

If you achieve all these objectives then you should win. However, it may take some time, but it's PvP and you will have lots of time to build up good Honour Points and surely that is what the BG is about. And it is more satisfying than just rushing the Boss and getting a quick win. Where's the fun in that?

As I just referred to, there is a third Alterac Valley tactic and that is the "zerg" rush. The only objective is to get to the base and kill the Boss. It is a noob tactic, and if the opposition has got anything about them it should fail spectacularly.

Of course if both teams use the offence/defence tactic I have outlined the game will be decided by the team with the best leadership who are able to adapt and maintain objectives. I am not the first to outline this tactic but my articles are principally aimed at new players, and going by how poorly Alliance perform, at least on the Realm I play on, there must be a lot of new players around.

Hopefully, if you are a new player you will have picked up a few useful tips. If you need a few more come and join me on my website which is specifically for new players.

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, http://new2worldofwarcraft.com, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.Copyright 2011 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.

PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.

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World of Warcraft Battlegrounds; a series: 1) Warsong Gulch

2011-10-31T16:08:00.000+00:00

This is the first of a series of articles about World of Warcraft Battlegrounds and they are principally aimed at new or inexperienced players.

Battlegrounds are where most players get their first taste of player versus player (PvP) action. Of course you may have decided to experiment with casual battles with your friends beforehand, and these are great for developing your skills, although you may get a little disheartened when you find they haven't really equipped you for the "big league". Don't let your first few experiences of PvP play put you off. You will improve, I promise.

On your game screen there is a WoW toolbar that houses your character details, spell book etc... you will also find access to Battlegrounds through an icon housed on it. This doesn't become active until level 10. Please do not be tempted to join a BG at this stage for this very simple reason... you will die in seconds. BG's are graded 10-19, 20-29, 30-39 and so on. So if you join at level 10 you will find yourself up against guys and gals at level 18 and 19. There is a huge difference in the power and armour of a level 19 compared to a 10. The only way a lower level could compete is if it was equipped with heirlooms and other buffs, that you will not be able to get... but that is another story, which you can read all about on my main site.

The first BG you can join is Warsong Gulch... it is a simple defend and capture a flag theme, one which is present to a degree in some of the other BG's, although most of them are more about capturing and defending territory. You start off in your base with 10 fellow Alliance or Horde compatriots. You should use the waiting time to discuss tactics. The most important tactic is to always group together, the only classes that can act on their own are Rogues and Druids. Usually their principal role is to ambush prey, hence why it is important to group. When you die always look at the map (M on the keyboard) to locate team members and try to avoid those cowardly Rogues and Druids.

There are a number of ways of approaching Warsong Gulch:

The first is, all head off to their base and capture the flag. If they have any defenders in the flag room they will be simply overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The flag should preferably be carried by a tank and they should be kept alive by the healers. On the way back confront the enemy and ensure their flag bearer is killed, but don't neglect the others, because they will not neglect you. During the melee it is often possible for the flag bearer to veer off unnoticed, so be aware. Of course your flag bearer should be looking to veer off as well. Some players get carried away with idea they are invincible and often carry the flag as a come get me symbol, and forget the game scenario. If their flag bearer has stolen away and yours gets killed, they have the advantage.

In group battles it is vitally important to target the opposition healers first for this reason... it is a pain in the proverbial to have tanks constantly being healed. Firstly silence those healers and then kill them quickly. If they have a lot of Paladins you might have problems. Remember the opposition flag cannot be placed in your base whilst the opposition has your flag. It is a good tactic to always keep one player in the opposing flag room, so that your team can quickly grab their flag again if it is lost. But remember there is strength in numbers, if you have too many missing from your main group you will lose. If you die always look to get back in a group.

Another tactic is to send only two members to capture the flag while the rest defend. Your team should confront the enemy outside of the main tunnel to the flag room. The problem with this is that you might be outnumbered, although if this is the case you will have time to regroup and have another attempt at reclaiming your flag. After your death I recommend heading towards their re-spawning area with your group and preventing their "reborn" from joining their team mates. This should give you a numerical advantage for a short while. The two you sent to get their flag can play their part in reclaiming your flag. In fact one of them should remain in the flag room.

The obvious problem with this tactic is that the two you sent to get their flag were out numbered, or were not strong enough to capture it. However, as 99% of teams go as one group it's a worthwhile tactic and a Rogue/Druid combo are very hard to deal with. If the opposition have defended with 3-4 players your team will have wiped out their first attempt at getting to your flag. You should all then rush to their flag room with your two initial attackers going to defend your flag room. Send a tank back with their flag and then head towards their re-spawning area, leaving one player in their flag room

The game gets more complicated after the first team has completed a capture, because if the opposing team are next to complete a capture they are in the winning position. The team that wins is the first to capture three flags, or be ahead at the end of 15 minutes. If teams are well matched it can become very tactical. Like all the BG's the primary objective is to impose your superiority and one of the best ways of doing that is to keep the opposition penned back to the re-spawning area. But make sure that when you are doing this that you keep your focus on the point of the game, which is to capture and return their flag to your base at the same time as stopping the enemy from doing it.

Now go win your first Battle Ground...

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.Copyright © 2011 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.

PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.

World of Warcraft Explained - The Basics

2011-10-27T14:45:00.000+01:00

World of Warcraft is an on-line role-playing computer game, which had at its height over 12 million people of all ages playing it. The numbers are set to rocket with new markets opening up in China and India, and all over the Asian continent. Its popularity is down to curiosity and if you have ever played the game you were no doubt impressed with its graphics and content. The number of different aspects to the game give it a hypnotic quality that means people are drawn back again and again. It also means it is a huge time thief. Children playing it should be closely monitored and their playtime limited.

The main points of the game are to quest with your chosen character and to take part in player v player combat. You do not have to do the latter, but it is probably the most entertaining and appealing aspect of the game. There are two factions in the game: The Horde and The Alliance, and you have to choose which one to be in. You then have to choose your race. The Horde is comprised of the Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Forsaken, Blood Elves and Goblins; and The Alliance is made up of Humans, Dwarves, Night Elves, Gnomes, Draenei and the Worgen. There is no distinction between the factions in terms of good and evil, although the Horde do appear to be made up of predominantly and traditionally evil "real world" human mythological creatures. The introduction of the Worgen does not really address this mindset, and presumably in the next major expansion we can expect a further development on this theme?

So once you have chosen your faction and race the next conundrum is what class to be: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior. For a beginner I would definitely recommend a ranged hero, as attacking from distance is an easy option and allows one time to ease into the game whilst getting used to all it has to offer. I definitely suggest that a Warrior is not a good choice for a beginner, unless you intend to play in a group with friends, in which case it is a fine choice. People playing the game often have preferences for certain racial features and matching them up to the class they choose. To explain what I mean more clearly...it is believed that a Night Elf Death Knight is a more powerful choice than say a Dwarf DK. However there is usually a lot of debate about these choices and a lot of it is down to personal preference.

Well, once you have gone through all of that decision making you can start to play the game, phew! Oh, wait a minute I forgot about the realm (server) you choose to play on. There are lots of pros and cons about what you do choose, but do not choose a PvP (player v player) realm because you really do not want to be attacked by another player when you are in the middle of a quest. Those realms are for the experienced pros. You will also see realms for new players and you will be tempted to believe that you will only meet inexperienced World of Warcraft players like yourself. Unfortunately it is not the case and another problem maybe that there are too few players on the server. The advantage I find is that you will find more people in the starting areas than in other realms, which gives you the opportunity to group up. However, it is not hard to solo quest, apart from on the very occasional quest. Your better choice of server would be one with a medium sized population.

From level 1 to level 17 there is not much opportunity to practice PvP skills other than in "friendly" challenges. Right click on another player and you will see a menu. It's a bit of fun and you suffer no lasting damage, well maybe a bruised ego! But really at this level most of your time and enjoyment will be spent on World of Warcraft quests. The game is actually pretty good at guiding you to your quests, but the game advice generally given by Blizzard is very basic and comes no where near close in explaining the very deep layers to the game. Which is why I have developed my own website which advises people on all of the nuances and complexities of the game and leads players to the best resources to improve their understanding and abilities.

The author has been playing this and other PC games, on and off over a number of years and is able to pass on his wealth of experience and know how. He is a website developer and experienced article writer and his latest project is New to World of Warcraft, which is a guide for the new player. It is probably the best free beginners guide available.

Copyright © 2017 PB Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.

PB Enterprises and this article is the property of Philip Bailey.