Relief Hut

As an update to a previous post on Alterac Valley I have come across a finesse for the strategy that seems quite sensible. Take Relief Hut before you take Frostwolf Graveyard if you can. Doing so stops the Horde from resurrecting at the Alliance end game. You don't want them there, they just get in the way of taking down Drek. Ideally they should be resurrecting at Iceblood Graveyard (IBGY). They then have to choose between two long runs, back to the defence or off to the attack. Only true believers will head back to the defence and leave the cowboys to the attack. If they do make the long run back then it will take them a while and we have time to consolidate the defence.

Gotta Dash ... things happening

"... Well... four things. Well... four things and a lizard." This memorable quote from the Doctor in the Blink episode sums up pretty well my feelings about Alterac Valley. The strategy for taking Alterac keeps time warping, seemingly depending on which shift is on and what day of the week it is. I have seen just about everything lately. I have seen the now obsolete strategy of holding SHGY, yes I know I made a big thing about it but with 2.4 patch it is obsolete. I keep seeing people take IBGY, and man that makes it hard to win. Taking down Galv is a good thing but it has to be timed right. Doing him first when everyone is riding past seems simple enough to do but no. No people. No. Take him out by all means but let the groups who defend Iceblood Tower and Tower Point do it once the towers are gone. Let the Horde have IBGY otherwise they get in the way of taking FWGY and Relief Hut. The latest strategy is about speed. Strategic points must be taken and taken quickly. See previous posting about the details.

The New Alterac

With Patch 2.4 and moving the Horde entry point further to the rear, basically bringing the travel distances for both teams into line appears to have made a big difference to the outcomes for the Alliance. It seems that now the Horde are more actively defending Ice Blood Graveyard. It is the point which if well defended creates a geographic bottleneck and is difficult to get past. It hasn't meant that the Alliance will defend Stonehearth Graveyard any better but has made it's defence a little less necessary. The team still rides off in bulk and runs straight past SHGY. Ho hum. I am much less concerned about it now with the changes.

The latest strategies seem to revolve around either going straight for the Relief Hut (RH) then taking out Drek or going straight for Frostwolf Graveyard (FWGY), then the Towers (East and West) then Drek. Either way it pains me to see so many people going straight past Galv when so many would take him down in seconds. The body of opinion, if you can suspend credulity and call battleground chat opinion, is that it takes too long and we don't have time to waste. I just weep at so much honour being left behind. There is bonus honour for "map completion", which I understand to mean that all the Towers, Graveyards and Bosses are destroyed or controlled. Drek, of course, must be the last because his death will end the game and win for the Alliance.

I believe there must be a better balance between speed and map completion. Further observations will come.

Old Dog New Tricks

Learnt a few things over this last weekend in Alterac Valley. It was character building being in so many battlegrounds where it ended with the Horde still on 400+, and sometimes 500+, reinforcements.

The first thing I realised was that the Horde have a shorter run from their start point to SHGY than the Alliance has from their start point to IBGY. It has been so obvious when you look at the map and yet I never saw it before. Apparently the new release of 2.4 is going to fix that. Will this change the game? Possibly. The current tactic for the Alliance is to go first to IBGY, take and hold it, then the two towers (Iceblood Tower and Tower Point). From there it is either Galv or the Frostwolf GY. Rarely do the Horde have an issue with taking Stonehearth Graveyard (SHGY). Alliance forces will generally run straight past it heading for Iceblood Graveyard (IBGY). What happens next most people will be familiar with. Alliance fails to hold IBGY or take either of the towers. Horde take both SHGY and Stonehearth Bunker, then Stonehearth Outpost and Icewing Bunker. From this point it is virtually game over as the Alliance reinforcements are in disarray with the loss of these imortant places. Read the Frostwolf Artichoke and work out why. So, will the change make a difference? None at all if the Alliance doesn't learn to keep SHGY for as long as possible; at least until IBGY is in our hands.

The second thing I learnt was how powerful 3 rogues and 2 druids working together can be. Sadly it was not an Alliance group but a Horde group. They took and held Dun Baldar North Bunker then moved on to take and destroy Dun Baldar South Bunker. Combined with their destruction of the Stonehearth area this was the final straw for the Alliance - game over.

The third was confirmation of something I suspected anyway. The Horde have a small team in the rear whose job it is to reclaim towers and graveyards. I was able to run the gauntlet at Stonehearth and break through. I was chased but eventually they gave up. I ran to the Coldtooth Mine and then back tracked to near Tower Point where I went stealth and watched. It was so empty and vacant up there. I saw 3 separate horde patrolling. When all was clear I went through and claimed Tower Point. I knew I couldn't hold it so I trapped the flag and then bolted over the side to find a safe place to watch what would happen next. Stupidly I landed on top of an NPC patrol - an orc and two dogs. My pet took on the two dogs and I lead the orc away and trapped him in an ice block. My health was low when I saw the expected Horde patrol come along. I feigned death however it did not fool the patrol and they killed me before reclaiming the tower. I did not immediately accept return to the graveyard as I wanted to see what was happening. It was just the one in the patrol and after they reclaimed Tower Point they ran back out and took my insignia, thereby sending me straight off to the First Aid station at Dun Baldar. If I had a second elf with me, someone who could stealth it would have been possible to reek havoc behind their lines. I hope to try this next time.

The Drek Rush

The Alterac Valley weekend just passed was very interesting. I usually run them numerous times to get as much Honour as possible. Win or lose doesn't really matter to me just so long as it's interesting. And, this was interesting.

There was a move afoot to try something that I haven't seen so publicly discussed before. I shall call it the "Drek Rush". The chat was filled with cries to rush Drek, everyone rush Drek and kill him, quick as possible. Kill Drek and the game is over and won. Anyway, "interesting notion" I reflected to myself. I put in a comment encouraging the idea and maybe a warning that leaving everything undefended would give the Horde an equal chance to do the same thing to us. Prophetic as it turned out, several times over.

The first time, I died at Tower Point and ended up "rezzing" at Dun Baldar First Aid Station. Thats how far the Horde had advanced while we were still only at Tower Point. They had already taken Stonehearth GY and Stormpike GY. We had taken Iceblood GY but it wasn't ours yet, perhaps they were in a similar situation. Through attrition at the frontline our numbers increased in defending Dun Baldar. We were able to push the Horde back and eventually retake Stormpike GY however it was far too late. Our reinforcements were depleted to the point where it was only time before we ran out.

The second and third times our people actually got as far as Drek and the two Frostwolf Towers, and there it seemed to stall. Once again I ended up in the defence however this time we were outgunned and outclassed. The forward elements seemed to have the numbers and the time but kept arguing about what to actually do. Both times they just ran out of time. The Horde, far more together and co-ordinated, and no appearance at all of hesitation over what they needed to do, just pushed through against all opposition and killed Stormpike himself.

So why didn't it work. The Drek Rush. Well I figure for several reasons. One, it was AV weekend. All the best Horde are going to be there when there is bonus honour to be made. Two, it was evening. The Horde are at their worst early in the morning; as they start waking up late morning they get on and go for it. Three, there must be no hesitation about a Drek Rush. All your own resources are abandoned in the hope of taking theirs quicker than they take yours. Four, everyone thought it was a good idea but there was no precise plan of action, and no clear idea of what actually works.

So. What actually works? Phase One. Take Iceblood Graveyard. Leave a small group to defend it and move up to Tower Point. Wait for Tower Point to fall to you, burst into flames, before moving forward. While waiting send a group to take out Iceblood Tower. This is a short period of defence. The team must hold Tower Point, Iceblood Graveyard and Iceblood Tower. These three make an immensely strong triangle in the middle of their territory. When all three are definitely yours then move on the Frostwolf Graveyard in bulk. This begins Phase Two and roughly 10 minutes have elapsed.

Frostwolf Graveyard must be overwhelmed and a small force must defend it to ensure that it comes to the Alliance. FWGY is the resurection point for troops who die when taking out Drek, the run from IBGY is too long. The bulk of the forward elements must then take both East and West Frostwolf Towers, and they must burst into flames before taking out Drek.

Phase Three. Final Phase. Take out Drek. Everyone goes in and focuses on Drek. The Drek supporters are not material and will die however it is important that Drek dies first. Drek dies and the game is won. In the old days there was time to take out the Drek supporters one at a time. Not anymore. Go in, spread out and focus on Drek. DO NOT leave the room. If Drek leaves the room chasing an idiot runner then he resets to full health. (Same applies to Galv).

When I was part of a team that took out Drek in 20 minutes we also took out Galv and the Frostwolf Relief Hut. It was dream like. I have not mentioned Galv or the Frostwolf Relief Hut here however so long as the team can do them without being distracted by the main goal then by all means do them. Galv must be brought down while waiting for Tower Point to fall and when Tower Point falls everyone must be ready to move on FWGY. The Frostwolf Relief Hut can be taken while waiting for the East and West towers to burn. Good luck.

Defending Stonehearth Graveyard

If you like straight out PVP and massive melee then SHGY is a good place for it. The Horde really want this place because it is generally the beginning of the end for the Alliance if it is lost. Not always, but mostly it is. The Horde need it to successfully take down Balinda Stonehearth and Icewing Bunker. Without it they have to run from either Snowfall (Winterax Hold) Graveyard or Iceblood Graveyard (aka IBGY) after they die. This takes time and time is crucial.

So defending SHGY can be pretty frantic and it is not that easy to defend. Really, you are aslo defending Balinda Stonehearth in her outpost and Icewing Bunker. The Stonehearth area is quite large and spread out with split levels. The Outpost itself is a large building and the attacks when they come from across the Field of Strife can flow around the Outpost on either side. If the bulk of the attack is coming from one side I have seen small groups of Horde sneak up the other side and cause havoc. Sometimes enough to take the graveyard because the Alliance are focussed on looking and defending the other direction. Always watch both approaches to the graveyard banner. The majority of times the Horde come from the shortest direction, up the road leading from Stonehearth Bunker.

Another successful strategy is the mass charge lead by a shadow priest. The priest will run into the waiting Alliance and fear everyone within their attack radius. They are quickly followed by the rest of the group who focus on the graveyard banner and the npc guards (if they are not already dead), while the defence is running in fear like headless chooks. This strategy is how they make the yards forward in a number of scenarios, not just at SHGY. See a shadow priest, silence it, suck away its mana and kill it. In that order. Same with warlocks.

Hunters should constantly lay traps around the banner. Renew them all the time. The Frost Trap is effective at slowing the opponents down and should be used in all front line battles. The explosive trap is excellent because of its area effect and because it explodes twice; once when set off and again when the cooldown expires. Anything to interrupt a player trying to claim the banner.

Warlocks and Shadow Priests for the same reasons used against the Alliance. Mages should freeze opponents in their tracks with Frost Nova. Rush in set it off, turn and Blink then range attack.

There may well be a whole host of other individual class strategies to disrupt attacks which I am not familiar with. If you have worked something out, use it. Slow them down, disrupt spell casting; whatever damage you can, do it. Especially when the Horde are close to the banner.