The allure of battlegrounds in World of Warcraft Classic is what online gaming is all about. For many players, PvP is the most important activity in the game, yielding prestigious ranks, honor points, and powerful gear.
When world PvP is hard to find, just talk to your nearest battle master. Then get comfortable, as this popular activity can sometimes keep you waiting in a queue. Now you have some time to study battle tactics. No matter where you're going, be it Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley, or Warsong Gulch, here five ways to win and five ways to die.
10 WIN: Capture The Blacksmith
There's a blacksmith in Alterac Valley, too, but you don't fight over it. This rule only pertains to Arathi Basin. It's one of the key objectives in this particular fight. The center of the battleground's universe, it provides easy access to the other resources while also being surrounded by a body of water. Holding this position is not a guarantee that you'll win, but it's a strategic advantage that improves your chances.
9 DIE: Fight Anywhere Except On The Flag
This pertains to all three battlegrounds, not just in Arathi Basin or Alterac Valley where the flags are always stationary. We can vary this a little for Warsong Gulch, but even there it's important not to lose sight of the flag. If you fight on nameless roads or on open ground where there aren't any graveyards, towers or resources to gain, you're probably going to die, and you're definitely going to lose.
8 WIN: Bring Pots And Trinkets
Wait, you might be thinking, why potions and trinkets? This isn't a raid! Well, yes, it is a raid. The chat says so and you're playing with many other people. Just because you aren't slaying Onyxia or Ragnaros doesn't mean this isn't a legit raid.
Any battleground requires the same type of preparation. When you gear up for a raid, whether it's an endgame dungeon or a battleground, take preparation seriously and you'll be victorious.
7 DIE: Attack Totally At Random
It's hard to resist simply because it's fun. This is also a fun thing to do if you strongly suspect that your faction is going to lose the battleground anyway. It's a total subversion of the previous rule, which states that organization leads to winning.
This mistake is probably more common than other ones because it's not really a mistake. If you have to lose, you might as well take a few with you. At least you can farm some honor as you crash and burn.
6 WIN: Follow A Coherent Strategy
Semi-coherent is also fine, but at least have some kind of plan. It doesn't have to be complicated, just as simple as, "protect the flag carrier" or "hold three resources."
Alterac Valley is the biggest battleground and tends to have the most complex progression strategies, involving graveyards, towers, and bosses. Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch are much smaller and less complicated, so at least you don't get as distracted.
5 DIE: Ignore The Battle And Do Quests
Alterac Valley is the only battleground of our big three that actually contains gathering or finding type quests as opposed to gathering tokens or capping flags. However, this can pertain to all three.
If you're distracted by quests, you have a better chance of dying and a lesser chance of winning the battleground. On the other hand, it's tough to grind rep, so better to get it done.
4 WIN: Run As A Premade
Working with PUGS, or pick up groups, can be great or horrible. That counts for raids as much as dungeons. Hook up with some friends from your guild instead and go as a team with a pre-determined strategy. It is a hit or miss situation, as you and your friends will likely end up competing against another premade team that might be better than you.
3 DIE: Don't Wait For Flag Cap
You've melted a few faces and taken several insignias. Let's run to the next objective while they're on the run! Then the flag is left unchecked for the opposing faction to covertly grab it again. This applies to Arathi Basin too, which has flags at graveyards, towers and other important checkpoints scattered over a much larger area.
2 WIN: Focus on the Fight
Don't be afraid to use the Raid chat to communicate with others about what, who or where help is needed. It's not supposed to be for idle chit chat, however, so don't bother asking your friend how things are going in his guild, at least until you get that flag to cap.
Let the other team get distracted by random fights, mindless chatter, or quest objectives. That just means that they'll be easier to kill. And they'll lose, too.
1 DIE: Make It Personal
This might blow your mind, but nobody cares what you think, especially in the battleground. If you want to lose a fight, one of the best ways to do it is to use the raid chat as a place to air your personal grievances against other players. That includes whining about their style of gameplay. Which is ironically funny, because no matter how bad they are at PvP, at least they aren't crying about it in chat.