World of Warcraft Battlegrounds

For new players just entering the online World of Warcraft, or for returning players just looking for some insight on battlegrounds, this article will procure the knowledge needed.

A battleground is a player versus player (PVP for short) arena where you get to fight other actual players (not NPC's or non-playable characters). There are certain areas that have their own battleground that will co-relate with a questing story, but some areas do not have one. PVP also means that any character of the opposing faction (Horde or Alliance, depending on which faction you are in), can attack you, its not just one on one attacking. Upon entering the battleground there are other objectives as well, such as 'capture the flag' or to retain a certain amount of resources within a limited amount of time.

The main reason most characters enter battlegrounds is for Honour Points (sometimes known as Honour Kills). This is a system that can be used to buy special weaponry and armour that you can not find elsewhere within the game. You can redeem your Honour Points at the Hall of Legends in Orgimmar (if you are playing a Horde character) and at the Champions Hall in Stormwind City (if you are playing an Alliance character). To gain Honour Points you kill another character of the opposing faction (if you are playing a Horde character, then you kill an Alliance character; or vice versa). Another way to receive Honour Points is just to simply be apart of a team within the battleground. Whenever someone on your team makes a kill you will get Honour Points. The Honour Points are distributed much like the Experience Points (XP) when you are in a group.

You can start entering Battlegrounds when your character reaches level 10 (and continue entering up until level 60). However there are battlegrounds above level 60, but they are essentially free for all's, you can enter these at any level (though would not be suggested unless you like getting your butt whooped). Battlegrounds are tiered, generally for nine levels. For example, from level 10 through 19 would be the first tier, then level 20 through 29 for the second tier and so on and so forth. It is recommended that you go in at the higher end of these tiers (again unless you like getting your butt handed to you on a silver platter). So for the new players, try for level 19 before your enter your first battleground.

There are three ways to enter a battleground. Firstly, through the physical entrance (which happens to look like an instance portal only its red swirls and not blue). Or you could talk to a battlemaster in any major city, where they will port you to a battleground. Finally, you could click on the PVP icon in the hot bar on the bottom of your screen. This is generally a little symbol representing your faction, either Horde or Alliance. Be wary, before you can actually enter you will be put into a queue for that battleground. This is to ensure that there are an equal amount of players on each side (usually ten players). This queue could take anywhere from three seconds to three hours (or longer!). So be sure you have something else handy to do in the mean time in case you are stuck waiting for a few hours!

Whether you are for the Horde or for the Alliance get ready to do the Battlegrounds!