Zach is a Battlegrounds freak. Even if he doesn’t raid or quest or sell things at the auction house, he’ll make sure to get a small dose of Battlegrounds PvP to brighten up his day. You should, too. They’re like vitamins. Bloody, face-melting, honor-gaining, sword-clashing vitamins.

This little thing called patch 3.3 came out some time back, maybe you’d heard. I had planned it to be my return from an unintentionally self-imposed hiatus from hardcore play, considering that all the tools would now be in place to allow all players of all gear levels to catch up the the penultimate level of content. It was a good plan, except that a few things here and there kept me from jumping right into it when the Fall of the Lich King went live.

The new Dungeon Finder system is getting rave reviews from everyone who’s tried it. I think it’s an awesome tool — quite possibly one of the best things to happen to the game. The coolest thing about it for me is that the concept stemmed from the Battlegrounds! That’s right… the Battlegroup-wide grouping system is inspired by the way Battlegrounds get players from various realms from way back since Patch 1.12 in 2006. Who’d have thunk it, right? The rest of the PvE population getting something good — something really, really good — from the PvP aspect of the game.

Blizzard has been cleverly trying to sprinkle PvP elements into the PvE side of the game, such as the Princess Delrissa encounter in Magisters’ Terrace, and its more recent, scaled-up version, the Faction Champions in the Trial of the Crusader. If the message isn’t already clear, Blizzard is trying to make you like PvP. At any rate, this whole new PUG craze is a happy byproduct of the cross-realm Battleground system. The only difference is, in Battlegrounds, group composition isn’t as important.

This is why I was a little apprehensive trying to play again. The thing is, I’d practically retired from raiding midway through Ulduar, sometime back in July. I stopped playing regularly and only logged in on my main for the occasional game of Wintergrasp or a string of Battleground matches. I had gone from raider to slacker over the course of a few months. Essentially, my raiding skills eroded significantly. Admittedly, my PvP game slacked off, too, and I was a little surprised to be clashing head on against players with significantly more health, a reminder of how far behind one can fall when going on a hiatus.

A lot of things can erode with a loss of playing time, and a lot of things in the game can definitely change after five months. For one thing, the DPS rotations on my death knight aren’t quite how I remember them at all. The good news is that there’s always WoW.com to keep me up to speed on things (it’s never a bad thing to plug your blog), which is how I knew — aside from logging in a bit of playtime on the PTR — that the new Dungeon Finder System is the bee’s knees.

Here’s the dilemma: I’m rusty. And I mean so rusty that when I logged my death knight back on to unlearn my talents and get a new build, I asked a city guard to direct me to a class trainer. If you don’t have a death knight, you probably won’t see the problem. On the other hand, a lot of players will snicker at that display of newbness — death knights have a lifetime membership and free pass to that exclusive club in the sky, Ebon Hold. Yup, so rusty that I forgot even that.

So rusty, in fact, that when I logged on my hunter to explore Icecrown for a little reference research, my first instinct when I got Abomination aggro was to run. Sure, I threw a trap — a Frost Trap instead of the Freezing Trap I originally intended (they’re both ice icons, cut me a little slack!) — but I also forgot that it had been so long since I’d played that lovable troll that there was a talent reset somewhere along the way. I eventually escaped that undead monstrosity after finally figuring out what hotkey I’d bound Feign Death to, and only after my troll got dangerously close to actual death.

Now you can probably understand my apprehension. Amazing as the new LFG tool is, I’d degraded to the kind of player I would’ve voted to kick out of a group five months ago. From kicking pre-nerf Mimiron butt to getting my own butt kicked by slippage. So what’s the solution? Blizzard designed the new LFG tool precisely for casuals like myself to be able to catch up on the newest content. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not exactly in the best shape to socialize. And I don’t think I want to spend $10 on name changes just so people don’t recognize the horrendous player they’d just grouped with.

So what’s the solution? Well, interestingly, it comes back to the Battlegrounds. More than any other instanced content in the game, Battlegrounds are friendly to players of all skill levels. It’s also precisely why some so-called ‘hardcore’ PvP players hate them — they’re so accommodating to newbies.

In truth, the unrated Battlegrounds are the last bastion of true casuals. You are free from the scrutiny of the dreaded Gearscore, something that I have grumbling words for but in the same breath acknowledge as a partially useful and relevant tool (that merits a post in itself, actually, but that’s for another time). So here I was, formerly hardcore raider fretting — no, staining my shorts at the thought of being put under the microscope for having gear two patches old. Let’s not even mention that I was still getting my Plague Strikes and Scourge Strikes in the wrong order sometimes (disparate opening and subsequent rotations can be a pain in the butt!).

Just as the Battlegrounds are the have of casual players, they’re the greatest training grounds for newbies and a fantastic refresher on how to play. Sure, most players will use different skill sets, but for the most part you’ll be able to refresh your muscle memory and re-train your responses with very little consequence. Dying in the Battlegrounds inflict no durability loss, and failing to play things right won’t result in your group wiping. You won’t get pinpointed for blame half as much as you would if you were in one of those newfangled cross-realm PUGs.

The Battlegrounds are the next step after getting your rotations down pat with a training dummy. My point is that before you buckle down to abuse the new Dungeon Finder system, why don’t you give the Battlegrounds a whirl? The new daily quest also awards a fairly modest 25 Arena points, too, so even the most casual of casuals will get some Arena incentives, too (we’ll conveniently ignore the fact that you’ll need ratings for most items).

The Battlegrounds as a training grounds for players who’ve just hit max level and ready to explore all that rich endgame content. It’s excellent training for players who want to dust off those cobwebs. It’s an excellent primer for those who are just itching to use the new Dungeon Finder but are wary (and justly so!) of getting the collective boot! It allows players to reacquaint themselves with their characters without fear of aggroing stray abominations. Heck, if all hell breaks loose, hide in some corner and look for where your keybound that PvP trinket.

I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated the Battlegrounds more. As friendly as the new system is, you just don’t go into it willy-nilly. As 20% of a group, you’re accountable for a lot more than just guarding the farm flag. The Battlegrounds is an excellent place to — I hate to say it — be a little out of sorts. I mean, more than most content in the game (even more than soloing random mobs, which can go all sorts of wrong and cost you gold), the Battlegrounds are very forgiving.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for organized, learned play. I love hardcore PvP. And I definitely want Battleground matches to go the right way. Just like a lot of other people, I hated it when players mucked around “my” Battleground like headless chickens. But oh, how our fortunes change. I see it from the other side of the fence now. And it’s not so bad. When I finally get my groove back, I think I’ll just chuckle a little when players mount up while carrying the flag or stand aimlessly for a while (they might be looking for that special spell, after all). It’s all good, it’s all for fun. No need to pop a vein, these aren’t Arenas.

Of course, I’m saying this now because of the catch-up quagmire I’m in. Check back on me in a few weeks after I’ve ground all my characters shiny new pieces of Tier 9 and sexy, last-season Furious Gladiator gear (which can be conveniently purchased with Emblems of Triumph)… if I’ve got my asshat face on, please slap me silly and remind me of my roots.

Zach loves the Battlegrounds. He loves them so much that he spends nearly all his playing time mucking around in them. He loves them so much he writes a column devoted to them. He loves it so much he makes a comic based on Battlegrounds play. You could say he eats, lives, and breathes Battlegrounds and world PvP. And maybe some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It’s kind of hard to get by without doughnuts.

Alright, so you have some kind of vague idea about what a Battleground is. Basically, Battlegrounds are where players go to consensually bash each others brains out. Or fry them. Or freeze them. These instances are designed for players to enjoy PvP, get a bit of honor and, if you’re not already at max level, some experience. In the future, Blizzard has revealed plans to make the Battlegrounds even more like instances or dungeons by hinting at possible actual loot rewards. It’s an interesting concept we’ll have to revisit sometime in the future.

For now, we’ll get back down to the basics. Last week we discussed how to get inside a Battleground. That’s easy enough, especially with the new changes to the Battlegrounds queue system. This week we’ll take a closer look at the different Battlegrounds available. Think of it as a nice buffet of PvP that you can choose from. What kind of Battleground you choose will depend on what kind of game you want to play (or more realistically, what Marks of Honor you still need. We’ll get to that later). Hit the jump to check out this week’s featured Battleground, Warsong Gulch.

WARSONG GULCH

What is Warsong Gulch?

Basically, Warsong Gulch is a Capture-the-Flag type of game where players must take a flag from the enemy base and bring it back to their own base while having control of their own flag, with the first team to capture three flags winning the match. Flags can be taken by right-clicking on it, and captured by stepping into the spot where your team’s flag is. Your team’s flag must be at its spawn point in order for your team to score.

In Patch 3.2, the map became a timed Battleground that lasts no more than 20 minutes. If the timer expires, the team with the most flag captures wins. If both teams have the same number of flag captures at the end of the match, the team that captured the last flag wins. If neither team has captured a flag, the game ends in a tie. There are 10 players per side in Warsong Gulch, currently making it the smallest Battleground.

That sounds silly! Why are we doing all this?

The battle for Warsong Gulch is one of the oldest and most touchy conflicts in the game — it represents the clash between those tree-hugging night elves, the Silverwing Sentinels, and those resource-gathering orcs, the Warsong Outriders. The Sentinels are trying to retake the forests of Ashenvale while the Warsong Outriders are furiously trying to gather lumber because, well, the Horde needs it to make those fancy war machines. While getting the flag probably has absolutely nothing to do with deforestation and the green movement, it continues a proud tradition of one-upsmanship between the Alliance and the Horde because, you know, flags rule.

Awesome. Will those guys like me better if I help them out?

Absolutely. The going might be slow, but Warsong Gulch is one of the three Battlegrounds that has factions associated with it. The Silverwing Sentinels (for the Alliance) and Warsong Outriders (for the Horde) will even give you token gift packages at different stages in your reputation grind. At the very end, you can get the Silverwing Sentinel or Warsong Outrider Achievements for a cool 10 points. I know, it’s not much, but at least you feel like you’re actually fighting for something.

Aside from getting chummy with these guys, what else do I get?

Because the Alliance and Horde know that players actually play for loot on top of enjoyment (you mercenary, you!), each game of Warsong Gulch awards bonus honor for winning a match as well as capturing flags. If your team doesn’t capture any flags (and likely lose), you don’t get squat. How’s that for incentive? You do get honor for killing enemies, though. Players are also awarded Warsong Gulch Marks of Honor at the end of every game — three marks for every member of the winning team, two marks for tied games, and one mark for those on the losing side. These Marks of Honor are currency for items such as mounts, tabards, lower level potions and food, and even as turn-ins for quests that award honor. Oh, and there are a bunch of other Achievements, too, but you can probably get into that during advanced class.

I’m interested! Sign me up!

Great. Since you already know how to enter the Battleground, you’ll probably want to know what level bracket you’ll be entering when you queue:

• 10–19
• 20–29
• 30–39
• 40–49
• 50–59
• 60–69
• 70–79
• 80

Players are grouped into brackets with a ten level range, so keep in mind that entering a particular bracket while on the lower end of the level spectrum might not be the most pleasant experience. It’s not a bad idea to be on the higher side of the levels in order to contribute more and to be able to take a little more pummeling.

I don’t want to go in without a clue, what are the basic strategies?

Play a Druid. Ok, well, if you don’t play a Druid — for a long time considered the kings of Warsong Gulch owing to their superior mobility — simply keep one important thing in mind: the game is Capture-the-Flag. It’s not Kill-the-Most-Enemies-in-the-Middle. It’s not Graveyard-Camping. The focus should be on getting inside the enemy base, getting the enemy flag, and bringing it home. How your team wants to go about doing this can vary.

The most basic way to play it (and often the most effective) is to have some folks go on offense while the rest stays on defense to protect the flag from getting captured. Because characters with the flag automatically drop it when they summon a mount, classes that have some form of movement bonus such as Travel Form, Ghost Wolf, or even Sprint and Blink, make excellent flag carriers. Because characters who carry the flag are often focus fired upon, classes that can take a beating are great candidates, as well.

Other strategies involve controlling the middle of the map, that area between the two bases. Although always in constant danger of degenerating into a mindless slugfest, control of the middle when handled well ensures that no enemy flag carrier can get through without major resistance. Having the middle also allows your team to run quickly to the support of your own flag carrier.

One other way involves the crazy, all-out zerging of the enemy base as a team of ten, virtually ensuring that any defenders left in the enemy base will be overcome. This also has the disadvantage of guaranteeing that your flag will be taken from your base, but most zerg tactics focus on moving together as a group even on the way back to the base, ideally killing the enemy flag carrier along the way.

There are a few variations between these three basic strategies, and many players will see a mix of two or three or even see all come into play during one match. The key, as with all good group PvP, is communication. Talking amongst your group at the beginning of the match should at least get all players on the same page and ensure that nobody runs around like a useless, headless chicken. I mean, after all, there aren’t any chickens in Ashenvale.

On to Arathi Basin!

Warsong Gulch is an extremely fun Battleground, vastly improved by changes made by Blizzard over the years — particularly the timer that has driven those old five-hour WSG games into distant memory. After we take a quick look at all the other Battlegrounds (ugh, that’s going to take a while…), we’ll look at specific strategies every class can employ in each one. In the meantime, get your feet wet — or bloodied, if you prefer — and cause some mayhem! Next week, we’ll take a beginner’s look at Arathi Basin.