Elite Player

This is a short Arathi Basin tale of something unusual that I saw. I was outclassed being level 44 in an Arathi Basin however there is always some way to contribute positively. For me the contribution was as fodder for the Horde. Distract them, annoy them, slow them down - it still takes time to kill a Paladin. Heh heh.

We had lost the Stables, which makes you want to cuss, and we were about to lose the game; there was probably 40 seconds remaining before the Horde realised 2000 pts. I headed out of the gates at Trollbane Hall and feinted towards the Gold Mine but what I really wanted was a last hit at the Horde defending the stables. As I was approaching the horse yard another Alliance character came up on my left. I don't remember why but I clicked on them. I vaguely remember that I might have wanted to whisper them for a co-ordinated attack. I didn't do that in the end, their icon was surrounded by a silver dragon. It was an elite player. The only thing I know is that they were not from Khaz'goroth. Game over and they disappeared of course.

Since then I have been trying to work out how I can get an elite player. There is nothing on the web about it. They may have been a Blizzard employee. I have an idea that there must be something special available to players who take the trouble to get Exalted with all the core factions. Much more than just being able to get an epic mount from an alternative faction.

Drek'thar

This is a most surprising tale, lacking the sort of detail that I usually like, however the sequence of events took me so by surprise that I felt like a piece of flotsam on the tide with little control over events.

It started at the beginning of an Alterac Valley battleground and at the time surprised to see that I had got in at the first. The gates hadn't opened yet. I had got a little used to coming in with the battle already started and little hope of getting through to the forward elements. As part of the general chaos getting mounted we surged forward and took the usual path. As we cruised past Stonehearth Outpost we were a flood. My tracking Humanoids showed a river of blue dots on the mini-map.

Some of us departed to capture the Snowfall Graveyard. There was little talk but a feeling of invulnerabilty was strong. We flowed past Galv and his Tower, straight for Iceblood Graveyard. The sheer ferocity of the attack overwhelming the Frostwolf guards and the few Horde attempting to stem such a tide. We moved straight on to Tower Point and overwhelmed it too. It was here that we seemed to pause. I remember working out that we were waiting for the tower to be claimed and destroyed. The odd Horde turned up and the chat bar reported the loss of Stonehearth Bunker and Icewing Bunker; Balinda still alive.

Apparently a few of our number, possibly half, returned and took Iceblood Tower and brought down Glav. As these people returned we gathered new momentum, the Tower burst into flame, and we headed to Frostwolf Graveyard. Little resistance, seconds only to claim, capture and destroy Horde resurrecting there. The mass heading through the village and up to claim the East and West Frostwolf Towers. I took part in claiming the East Tower but by the time I got to the top it was already done. I leapt off the Tower and headed for the last Graveyard but the Frostwolf were so demoralised we had that too in brisk fashion however the chat bar reported the loss of Balinda; the graveyard there long since gone and not noticed.

I had not been in this position since the days before Reinforcements were introduced. Standing on the mound outside Drek'thars Keep waiting and preparing for the beginning of the final assault. We had people scattered around waiting for the East and West Towers to ignite. I remembered the routine. Someone would go inside and kite out a wolf, this happening in turn until ony Drek was left. I thought perhaps I should begin this process and headed into the keep, targetted a wolf and attracted his attention. I then bolted outside.

There was no one there and no wolf had followed me. Quizically I turned around and took stock. Everyone had surged inside not bothering with pulling mobs one at a time. I ran back inside targetted Drek and just began hammering away. The score was roughly equal, around 280 each and falling. With shock and awe I noticed Drek's health dropping steadily. I thought to myself "We are going to kill Drek!" I just fired a steady stream of anything that was going to do damage, focussed entirely on willing his death with every breath.

Then it happened. Alliance Wins. Leave Battleground. I was in shock, elated, oh my god!! I managed to quickly check the stats. Bowforce, 1 killing blow, piss weak, as if I had hardly taken part, zero deaths. Yes, correct, I didn't die at all. Another shock, I usually die several times! It took somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes. I did not record the time so I can't be sure but it all happened so quickly; with our points around 250.

Stonehearth Graveyard

SHGY. Stonehearth Graveyard. Some of the best battles I have been in in Alterac Valley have been in the defence of Stonehearth Graveyard. Alterac Valley can be won without holding SHGY however, sadly, the majority of them are lost if SHGY is lost. The Horde know this.

A simple fact of battle is bringing superior force to bear on the enemy by the shortest possible route. This is why the graveyards are so critical. The graveyards are WOWs supply chain. If you die, and you will die, then the closer the GY is to the battle the quicker you get back into it. There is only one thing more frustrating than having a 30 second resurrection and that is having to do the interminable run from Stormpike Graveyard back to the Icewing Bunker heights. This is where my children learned a few choice oaths, watching Dad do an AV when SHGY is lost.

There are four strategic points in a close but geographically horrible area. Stonehearth Bunker, Stonehearth Outpost (Balinda Stonehearth), Icewing Bunker and Stonehearth Graveyard.

Typically Stonehearth Bunker is a gimme for the Horde. There is too much to defend, so the bunker is not heroically defended. The Horde know that to take down Balinda they need to bring superior force to bear over the shortest possible route. So after the Bunker they will attempt to take SHGY. If after we kill them they have to run from Iceblood Graveyard across the Field of Strife to get to the battle again then it favours the Alliance. Their supply chain is long and they wish above all things to shorten it by taking SHGY.

If the Horde take SHGY the following things become possible for them:

1. Take Balinda Stonehearth down at their leisure with plenty of the ugly bastards getting back into the fight very quickly;
2. Destroy Icewing Bunker; and
3. Make it impossible for the Alliance to get past the Icewing Bunker heights.

Once all four strategic points are taken and destroyed there is a bottle neck on the road leading up the hill to Icewing Bunker that is easily defended by even the moderately intelligent. I have tried to run through the mass of Horde holding the heights a few times. I made it once, only to be picked off by a group coming in from behind their lines. I have tried to find a sneaky mountain pass that will get me past them without their knowing. I haven't found one yet. Effectively Alliance forces in Frostwolf Territory are split from those on the wrong side of Icewing Bunker. These forward elements will not get re-inforced in their attempts to take the Towers.

It is not essential to victory to keep SHGY but it is a challenge to hold on to it and it frustrates the crap out of the Horde if you do. In another post I will tell you how I have seen Horde take SHGY despite a determined defence.

Alterac Valley map from WOW Wiki.

Battleground Madness

When I first started playing WOW I spurned battlegrounds and PVP. I had no idea, and quite possibly still don't, however now I enjoy battlegrounds. This blog is simply an outlet for letting people know what I experience, the strategies that I believe will work, and observations that I have made.

Since discovering that PVP is fun and frustration all rolled into one, it has become a little obsessive for me. I am not on a PVP server, because that would be more frustration than fun, and it is my understanding that Horde outnumber Alliance in these worlds. It is not PVP per se that thrills me its the Battlegrounds themselves and what it takes to win a battleground. Out in the big wide PVE world there is plenty to do and its hard enough without having bloody Horde pouncing on you whenever you go out to achieve something.

No, it's a madness totally to do with getting into a battelground with a group of others and defeating the opposition (read effing Horde). I suppose if I wanted to win a lot I should have taken up a Horde character, so the challenge for me is to get a character to Conqueror in the Alliance. That is my battleground madness, I want a Conqueror.

For those of you who don't know, a Conqueror of the battlegrounds has to achieve Exalted reputation status with each of the three Azeroth battleground factions. The Silverwing Sentinels (Warsong Gulch), The League of Arathor (Arathi Basin) and The Stormpike Guard (Alterac Valley).

That is my goal and along the way I shall tell you how it goes.