Alterac Valley (or AV) is a sprawling 40 Alliance vs. 40 Horde instanced battleground for levels 51 through 60 and 61 through 70. The battleground hosts a battle between the Horde’s Frostwolf Clan and the Alliance’s Stormpike Expedition. Players fight over various graveyards, towers, and other resources while attempting to assault the enemy General, whom is deeply entrenched in the enemy keep. AV hosts a variety of PvP and PvE objectives to supply ample ways for any player to get into the fight.
AV contains multiple graveyards, towers, bunkers, and other objectives that can be held by either the Horde or Alliance. After taking these objectives, players are rewarded bonus honor and reputation along with either disabling troop spawns, gaining access to a graveyard, or preventing a zone wide buff. Each objective (or “node”) is well guarded by upgraded troops and acts much like the objectives in Arathi Basin.
The actual match can last between 20 minutes or over many hours depending on the relative skills of each side, and provides a very casual atmosphere. There is plenty to do no matter if you enjoy PvP or PvE action, and a multitude of quests that provide excellent rewards. Those truly loyal to the cause can access special items that provide a benefit both inside and outside the battleground.
Alterac Valley Rules
Alterac Valley has one very simple win condition. Each faction has a General housed inside a heavily fortified keep. Once this General is slain, then the battle is won and the game ends. While this win condition is very simple, the actual act of getting to the General is not. Various towers, bunkers, and other defence points lay between your side and theirs. These points must be neutralised to move safely through the battlefield. Not only that, but various graveyards provide tactical positions to assault from and become valuable assets through the fight.
Each side begins from a cave located in the mountains, with an equal number of forces, graveyards, and towers/bunkers on each side. A “herald” announces whenever an objective has been taken and when graveyards change hands. The various Captains also announce when they buff each side with their destructive and protective buffs. There are also friendly NPCs who provide a means to summon destructive elementals, launch an aerial assault, a ground assault, and a mounted assault.
Taking objectives and graveyards is simple. A flag is located somewhere near the objective/graveyard that shows the current owner. The flag is also well defended by four or more guards (that upgrade through the game by quests players complete). After the flag is activated (by right-clicking on it when you are in range and completing the ten second timer) the location goes neutral before it changes hands in five minutes. The defending team only has to reactivate the flag whilst it’s in it’s neutral state to retake the objective/graveyard, after the flag change hands, they have to go through the capturing process themselves. Captains are optional objectives that only require your side to kill the opposing Captain.
Honour is gained through kills, like any type of PvP, but the nature of AV makes this honor quickly come to a stop. After a player has been killed five times he becomes worth about one honor point. This tallies up rather fast considering the amount of times players respawn. Killing though, isn’t the only way to gain honor. When various objectives are taken (for the first time) you gain bonus honor. When the game ends, you will gain a large amount honor and tokens to turn in for even more honor (one for losing and three for winning).
Objectives and Graveyards
Graveyards
Graveyards are the most important tactical point in the battleground. Every 30 seconds any player can be resurrected at a friendly graveyard with full health and mana. Warlocks and Hunters will revive with their pets, as long as they resurrect at the graveyard. This means that within 30 seconds of falling to an enemy’s blade, you can be back in the action! However, the location of where you resurrect depends on the closest captured graveyard. This means that if the battle is close by to a friendly graveyard, every 30 seconds friendly reinforcements will arrive. However, if you are fighting near an enemy graveyard, every 30 seconds all of their forces will be back to life with full HP/Mana. That’s why it’s important to work on capturing graveyards in an order that gives your team the most benefit.
There are seven graveyards total. Three alliance, three horde, and one neutral graveyard. Each graveyard (expect the neutral one, Snowfall) is guarded by a Lieutenant and Commander along with four regular troops. The Lieutenants and Commanders do not respawn. Once a graveyard flag is captured (successfully tagged by an enemy faction) it will take five minutes for it to change hands. The seven graveyards are Stormpike Aid Station (A), Stormpike Graveyard (A), Stonehearth Graveyard (A), Snowfall Graveyard (N), Iceblood Graveyard (H), Frostwolf Graveyard (H), and the Frostwolf Relief Hut (H). There are also two additional graveyards located in the entrance tunnels that cannot change hands.
Towers & Bunkers
Towers (Horde) and Bunkers (Alliance) provide tactical defensive points. The towers contain many strong NPC defenders along with very aggresive bowmen who have very good range from the top of the tower. To destroy a tower (preventing those bowmen from raining arrows on your team) simply reach the top and activate the flag. After the point has been captured you have exactly 5 minutes until the tower is set ablaze and disabled. During that time the defending team can activate the flag and reclaim the tower. Once destroyed the towers stop spawning troops and become useless. Though, even destroyed, towers do make nice sniping spots.
Captains and Outposts
There are two Captains for each side. The Alliance has Captain Balinda Stonehearth and the Horde has Captain Galvangar. The Captains will provide a buff that increases your damage, hp, and size. The Captains are defended inside of the two outposts, Stonehearth Outpost (Belinda) and Iceblood Garrison (Galvanger). Once a Captain has fallen, the buffs discontinue and it’s reported that the other side will begin receiving their buff more often. Along with the buffs discontinuing, the NPCs who spawn near the outpost will stop.
Quests
Alterac Valley has a slew of quests that provide both free (up to 110 for Humans) reputation and experience. There are two quests that most consider as "must-dos".
The first quest is to acquire your insignia. The insignia gives frost resistance, HP regeneration, and the ability to teleport (like a hearthstone) back to Dun Baldar or Frostwolf Keep. The quest is rather easy and available from an NPC outside of the main battleground entrance (in the Alterac Mountains). The quest has you enter either Icewing Cavern (Alliance) or Wildpaw Cavern and obtain a flag. Return to the quest NPC for your insigna! The flag is deep inside of the cavern and you will very rarely find anyone to help you with this quest, but worry not! If you feel brave enough, you can simply try to go as far as possible, die, and then resurrect at your corpse and try to get further. When you’ve arrived at the flag, attempt to resurrect as a safe spot and clear the harpies/gnolls nearest to the flag (shouldn’t be that difficult). Gather the flag and make a mad dash for the exit (or die and resurrect at a friendly graveyard). You’re done!
The second quest to obtain a very nice level sixty weapon at level 51, which can really help you with those last few levels. The quest, available outside the BG entrance in Alterac Mountains, is called either the “Hero of the Stormpike” or the “Hero of the Frostwolf” and the quest is really simple. Just enter and win an AV to obtain your reward! The rewards are as follows:
Ice Barbed Spear – A two handed Polearm that (while debated) is on terms with the costly Arcanite Reaper. Any Warrior, Paladin, or Hunter can use this weapon all the way until they can get a much rarer weapon.
Bloodseeker – A decent bow for Hunters while being a wonderful reward for Rogues (agility stat is very helpful).
Wand of Biting Cold – A frost wand for mages.
Cold Forged Hammer – A must have for Priests, Druids, and healing Paladins.
Assaults
There are four player triggered assaults. Your team can work together to summon a giant elemental lord, a group of ram/wolf riders, a ground assault, or an aerial assault. Each time you turn in a set of quest turn-ins, you generally get 1 reputation for your character.
The Elemental Lords
By turning in storm crystals (from looting enemy soldiers) you can summon a large elemental lord who will push towards the enemy’s base. The alliance can summon Ivus the Forest Lord and the horde can summon Lokholar the Ice Lord. Once enough storm crystals are turned in (each turn in grants reputation), the summoners will move towards the field of strife and ask a group of players to help summon. Once summoned, the elemental lord is an extremely destructive force. It has one big problem though, it’s speed. A solo player with enough aggro can kite the elemental lord to their base and have their general kill it. This is why many AV’s do not bother with the storm crystals expect for the reputation.
Ram/Wolf Riders
Inside Dun Baldar and Frostwolf Keep is a stable master who will take collections of both rams/wolfs and hides to summon an assault of Ram/Wolf Riders. You need both 25 of each to begin the assault!
Ram/Wolfs – You talk to the stable master and take the “Empty Stables” quest. You’ll have a collar that will allow you to charm one of the beasts and return it to the stables. Head out of your base and use the collar to charm either a Ram (Alliance) or Wolf (Horde) then return to the stable master. Talk to the stable master and click “Here you go!” and the quest will complete. Talk to the stable master again to receive your reward and 10 Ironforge/Orgrimar reputation.
Hides – You gain Ram/Wolf hides by killing Rams and Wolfs. The Rams are outside of Dun Baldar and the Wolfs are outside of Frostwolf Keep. It’s a very dangerous mission since these areas are generally well guarded by the enemy, so it’s generally a mission for Rogues to undertake. Take the hides back to your stable master to gain 10 Ironforge/Orgrimar reputation.
Aerial Assault
There are three Wing Commanders that, when rescued from their tower, accept various medals that drop from players to summon an aerial assault. The aerial assault is one very large, very mean NPC that flies through the air and attacks a set location until it has been defeated. The Gryphon/Bat Rider will do an AoE knockback along with a very strong direct damage attack, along with various debuffs.
There is one catch though! If the Wing Commander is killed on the way back to their base, then he can not be resummoned nor can any of the medals be turned in that game. That’s why it’s always wise when taking a tower to guard the Wing Commander on his way back to your base.
Ground Assault (Mines)
Capturing a mind and delivering the various supplies to an NPC in your friendly base will allow your team to launch a ground assault on the Field of Strife. While later in the game when the fighting is concentated outside of the Field of Strike, early on this is an invaluable tactic to get an early advantage. One of the simpliest ways to get the supplies to your base is to have a group with two warlocks summon players into the mine, have them pick up a supply box, summon them to the base, have them turn it in, then summon them back to the mine.
Mines start held by goblins and can only be held for 30 minutes before the goblins retake the mine.
Reputation and Rewards
Every time you kill a player, meet a goal, or kill an NPC you will gain about 1 reputation point with either the Frostwolves or the Stormpikes. As your reputation increases you can begin gaining access to more and more powerful items along with battleground potions and “standards” (banners that provide a buff to your group).
There are multiple ways to gain reputation! The most common way is to get it through killing enemy players. Anytime you do damage or heal someone who is doing damage to an enemy then you will gain reputation when they die. It generally is one point per person, no matter how many people get it.
The other ways is to turn in tokens (you receive one token for losing and three for winning AV), winning or losing AV, killing various NPC enemies, and doing the AV quests. You also can gain faction by turning in storm crystals/soldier’s blood (for summoning the elemental lord), armor scraps (to upgrade troops), and any other quests (like rams or aerial assaults).
Getting into the Queue
Simply head to any major city and find a “Alterac Valley Battlemaster.” Talk to the Battlemaster and he’ll place you into the queue for AV. You’re free to go about your business at this point since it is most then likely going to take a while. The AV queue works by allowing an even amount of players in on both sides. If there are 30 Alliance and 25 Horde, then 5 horde will be get to join instantly while the Alliance has to wait for the Horde to join to even out the game. There has to be a minimum of 20 people on both sides, or else a match is called with no winner (everyone gets honor though, and tokens).
It's a good idea if you have a taste for PvP to queue up for all three battlegrounds. You can join AV from anywhere, including other battlegrounds. As a small note, leaving AV before the finish will leave a "deserter" debuff on you preventing you from rejoining a battleground for 15 minutes, however, leaving an existing battleground, such as Warsong Gulch, due to being invited to Alterac Valley will not activate the Deserter debuff.
Unlike the other two battlegrounds, no groups may join AV. That doesn't mean a group of friends can't all queue up at the same time so that they will enter as soon as spots are available.
Organization is Key…
No matter what your role is in the battleground, it should always be in an organized effort with your fellow faction members. While attempting to get forty people into a Ventrilo (or other voice communication method) server (and in a civilized discussion) is outside the grasp of this guide, there are several settings where you can help your team and share in the rewards.
Solo
A lone soldier in a field of chaos.
Honor: High for damage dealers, extremely low for healers.
Reputation: Low unless you have a means to attack a large radius or heal someone who is.
Going solo and completely groupless has its benefits, but rarely helps your side win faster. If you have enough damage output, you can maximize your honor gains from the various kills by doing the most damage to someone (and therefore gaining the most amount of honor from their kill). However, without any support you will most then likely die very fast. Honor is near impossible to gain for pure healers, since their damage output is very low and healing non-group members provide very little honor. Solo players though can go farm Wolfs or Rams to help the war effort or just have fun on their own..
Public Raid
Grab a sword and fight the horde!
Honor: Very low, the entire raid shares any honor earned and that low honor dwindles out as the raid continues to kill the person over and over.
Reputation: High! With support you will be able to stay alive longer and hit more enemies, and a as a healer you will be able to efficiently heal your allies and gain reputation from their kills.
When entering AV you should be inside of a raid automatically. Should this not be the case, ask around for an invite. Public raids are probably the easiest way to get reputation and honor, just listen to what people are talking about and look for fights. If you're a healer, heal those who need it. If you're someone who does damage go out there and try to take out as many enemies as possible. Remember death only takes you out of the battle for just a little while, so don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. A raid won't move anywhere but backwards if everyone is scared to launch an assault.
Private Groups/Raids
Stand back and watch how to win!
Honor: High if the group is very good at PvP and fighting away from the main task force.
Reputation: High if the group concentrates on fighting enemies often enough, otherwise it depends on the size and goal of the group.
5-man and small raids of experienced players (or friends) can go a long way in assisting the battle. While they do not share their honor with the public raid, they can easily take out graveyards behinds the enemy lines or a variety of other nifty things. A good small scale raid can penetrate the enemies main base and take their graveyard inside of the base. To do this, simply run (while mounted) through the base using no skills until the bulk of the guards fall back. Then dismount and take out the guards near the graveyard and capture the node. The main task force will take way to long to return and whatever comes your way should be easily taken. If the main task force DOES return towards you then your main task force can easily plow through their main defensive line since everyone has pushed back
Alterac Valley Map
Class Roles
* Druid - Druids are like the jack of all trades in AV. They can either do direct DPS, stealth attacks, or be a primary healer. Feral and Restoration druids are both an asset in this battleground.
* Hunters - Hunters have a lot of tools to aid the battle in AV. Multi Shoot is a very useful skill for doing damage to large groups of enemies and interrupting everyone who is trying to capture a node. Not only that, but Frost Trap creates a nice defence around bridges and nodes that can help slow the assault until reinforcements get there. Hunters can also target bowmen high inside of towers and bunkers to take them out and lift some of the pressure off of their team.
* Mages - Like to rain fire down on your enemies? Is that what you signed up for when you became a Mage? Guess what? You can! Mages can deliver devastating amounts of damage in large radiuses that can push the enemy back or severely weaken a large amount of them. Frost Nova and Instant Arcane Explosion can prevent a node from being captured.
* Paladins - Finally the Paladin class has an excuse to go consecrazy! Consecrate is a wonderful skill that will defend any node without fail. The pulsing damage continues to interrupt anyone in it’s radius who attempts to capture a node. Past that Paladins can provide support DPS or support with their heals.
* Priests - Holy Priests will find their role the same as it always is, healing. Fear also works wonders on a large group of enemies or any attackers who break your front lines. Shadow Priests provide good single target DPS and any support that they can spare.
* Rogues - Stealthing to the enemy side and killing any stragglers is always an excellent way of assisting your team. Outside of that the Rogues job is to kill the enemy anywhere they can find them. A very simple role!
* Shamans - Shamans can provide devastating amounts of AoE damage with their chain lightening while placing down very strong totems like Earthbind which can stop an entire raid in its tracks. Non-DPS Shamans can help by placing down totems and healing their teammates.
* Warlocks - Warlocks are "crowd control;" by scattering a meleer or two with fear (the "DoT DoT Fear" tactic, referring to applied "Damage Over Time" debuffs before "Fearing"). Excellent in one-on-one encounters, Warlocks seem best suited to supporting the midfield group with DPS.
* Warriors - Warriors have a much more difficult time staying alive then a lot of the other classes. Where a Rogue can escape through stealth, a Warrior has no sure fire way to get out of a giant group of enemies. If the Warrior can survive though, they provide massive amounts of AoE and single target damage.
Rushing
A somewhat recent tactic is "rushing" or where most of the players on both side somewhat agree on charging the generals and deciding the match based on who can kill each others general first. If this is happening then the best thing to do is follow the biggest group of players on your side and help them take out the general. It's one of the quicker ways to get tokens and is fun as well - although doesn't have the exciting benefit of real battle.
Misc Tactics
Got a friend and want to take an undefended graveyard? Have your friend mount and aggro the guards, then begin running off kiting them away. Then capture the node, mount, and escape. The guards will eventually return but the graveyard will still be in the process of changing sides. This helps a great deal in either taking a graveyard away from the enemy or causing them to backtrack weakening their front line.
A lot of the NPC’s in AV are powerful elite characters who will attack any enemy player within their aggro radius. It’s entirely possible to take advantage of this and help friendly NPC’s in their attacks on the enemy. For example; a Druid defending a grave yard flag can quickly cast Entangling Roots on a player attempting to aggro the guards away from their flag, leaving them open to attack from 5 very aggressive NPC’s. Or a Priest in their General’s bunker spamming Psychic Scream on enemies trying to pull the General’s Warlord’s can disrupt an attack almost indefinitely.
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