Alterac Valley Strategy

This blog is a little late but comes on the heels of the Alterac Valley honor weekend. If you read my previous blog you know Horde on Vindication tends to get owned constantly in AV. This infuriates me to no end because AV is my favorite battleground.

Well things changed with the release of the last patch 2.2! Horde started rocking the Alliance all day Friday. Then Saturday… we lost about as many as we won… then by Sunday the Alliance had a firm grip on the Hord’s balls once again in AV. Some things never change.

If you want to understand the basics of AV you can go to the World of Warcraft website and find information under the Player Vs. Player Battlegrounds section. This is a guide for Horde-side players who want to understand how to win in AV. It may seem pretty basic but, as with my other guide, I find 9 times out of 10 the Horde loses because the basics are ignored. Hopefully this guide will help to limit the number of people who walk into an AV without an understanding of the basics… but I still can’t stop them from ignoring them.

Before I begin the guide I want to make clear that I have been playing in AV since release. My first character, Doombull, was fighting in AV back when Korrak the Bloodrager was wandering around the Field of Strife owning anyone and everyone who got to close… back when you had to grind to exalted reputation to get anything worthwhile… Back when you REALLY needed Lokholar the Ice Lord to push into the Alliance base. Back when a single AV match could, and often did, last 8 to 12 hours. I won’t claim to be the best AV strategist or player but I have an immense amount of experience. My new character, Doombulltwo has a mailbox, at this very moment, overflowing with AV tokens.

The guide will be broken into two parts; Offense and Defense. I will start with defending because, apparently, not a single horde player on Vindication knows how to defend… oh, except for this cool guild Terror I once defended with.

Defense: Stall bitches! STALL!

Ok Horde, here’s a shock for you. YOU LOSE BECAUSE YOU RARELY DEFEND AND WHEN YOU DO DEFEND YOU DON’T DEFEND WITH ENOUGH! Simple. I could literally stop here and, if everyone followed my directions, this guide would be successful. The Alliance can hold up 40 Horde with just 10 defenders while 30 Alliance walk into Frostwolf Keep undefended and bend Drek over in no time.

I never understand why people don’t like to defend. When you do have a strong defending team of 8-12 people you really wrack up the honorable kills (henceforth known as HK’s) like you wouldn’t believe. And, it’s a lot of fun watching wave after wave after wave of Alliance attack break like waves on rocks and knowing you’re responsible. You can make some serious enemies… enemies who will deliberately seek you out. And that’s always fun.

Iceblood Graveyard: Your first line of defense

In order to win consistently the Horde should have at least 10 defenders… ideally 15. To begin they should camp out JUST west of Iceblood Graveyard (henceforth known as IBGY). There’s a bottleneck on a path between the mountain just north of the IB GY flag and east of IB Tower. Camp ON the path because the Alliance likes to sometimes send runners through to cap Frostwolf Graveyard. Try and snare these runners and kill them. Keep them at the bottleneck.

If you’re ranged DPS it is huge fun to climb the mountain just north of the IB GY flag and reign down death on the Alliance who has to struggle to get to you. This position doesn’t allow you o cover the bottleneck but it’s a good position when the fighting around the IB GY flag gets really intense. Talents that increase ranged attacks are often required to be effective in this spot.

It is CRITICAL that IB GY be held until the offense is able to capture Stonehearth graveyard. We can’t have our offense running from the cave all the way up to Stonehearth while the alliance is pounding on IB GY from Snowfall Graveyard (SF GY)

Captain Galvanger: “I sit alone, in a big room, naked… ready for YOU baby!”

Now, if you find you’re sitting at the aforementioned bottleneck and Captain Galvanger’s screaming something like “HELP! RAPE!”, and there are few to no Alliance heading your way, going to help him is not a bad idea. But understand what genuinely helping Galvanger is. Galvanger is a PvE encounter (Tank and Spank) in a PvP battleground. You HELP Galvanger by breaking up the Tank/Heal/DPS on him. If you can fear, rush in and fear the MT (Main Tank) If you can fear-bomb that’s even better. Polymorph healers. Use DISRUPTION. Don’t try and kill anyone (unless you’re a rogue, just go kill a healer)… let Galvanger do the killing when the attack is disrupted and he goes ballistic owning every cloth wearer on his agro list. You will probably die as the DPS switches off Galvanger and on to you… but so what? You just killed them indirectly!

Iceblood Tower and Tower Point: I HATE defending Horde Towers...

...but that’s because I’m a hunter and my dead zone prevents me from shooting anything in our towers. If IB Tower is under attack it doesn’t hurt to go recapture it with one or two people. Towers just aren’t that awesome so I wouldn’t make a huge deal out of it. They’re nice to have around... but not something that’s critical to defending. If you can recapture them without expending a large amount of manpower, go for it. Otherwise, stick to defending graveyards.

Frostwolf Graveyard: “FUCK! We lost IB GY! Lets fight east of Tower Point!”

I don’t know why this phenomenon exists but it does. Often, when IB GY falls people start resurrecting in the cave and fighting directly east of Tower Point. There is absolutely nothing of strategic value here. There are a handful of alliance here that you can kill but, FYI, the other 25 alliance are riding west around tower point to Frostwolf Graveyard (henceforth known as FW GY).

When IB GY falls go DIRECTLY to FW GY! This graveyard sucks to defend. There is almost no terrain to use as cover. You have some huge-ass trees around but that’s not that great. You also have some wolves running around attacking alliance but that’s not that great either because sometimes your area attacks can hit the wolves and you have them attacking you now.

So basically, fight on the flag. The alliance likes to send a Warrior, Pally, or Feral Druid to agro the NPCs from this graveyard and drag them back to the group (they do the same thing at most graveyards). Use snares on the runners and kill them as priority. The alliance will usually get the NPCs eventually and you’re defending team will be standing alone against 20-30 Alliance. That’s fine. You’re resurrecting close by… they have to come all the way from Snowfall graveyard initially and then IB GY.

Crowd Control (CC) is your friend here. If you see a sheep, someone sapped, someone trapped in a freezing trap, even someone feared… DON’T FUCKING ATTACK THEM.

There are plenty of active and dangerous targets to choose from. If you see a gnome stuck in a Freezing trap don’t think of it as an easy target. Think of it as TIME. Time to KILL something ELSE until that little bitch gnome becomes a threat again.

Also, try not to let anyone sneak into FW keep and ninja the Relief Hut.

Relief Hut: “We lost FW GY! Everyone go on O!”

I don’t know why this phenomenon exists either but it does. For some reason people think that when FW GY falls that they should stop playing D and just go O. This attitude almost ALWAYS results in a loss.

When FW GY falls you should begin defending the Relief Hut (RH). That shouldn’t be tough because you’ll most likely be resurrecting there and if you aren’t, just ride up the hill just northeast of the first outer wall and rush in. People do this all the time, it should be easy to see.

So, when defending the RH the towers are a little more handy to have around. There are two of them for one thing so, if they’re under attack, try and retake them. It’s also big fun, if you’re a ranged attacker, to chill on the second level of the towers and nuke… but you’re way out of range of the RH so be ready to jump down if the RH flag is being overwhelmed.

One sneaky thing the alliance does, usually with gnomes, is to stand at the bottom of the small creak directly north of the RH flag and cap it. It’s hard to see anything but the swirls of someone trying to cap so be alert.

The RH is the last and most critical GY. Hold it at all costs because Drek is next, and last, on the Alliance hit-list.

Drek’Thar: “I am the commander of the Frostwolf Legion! But I am not smart enough to run like a bitch when the chips are down.”

Drek is another PvE encounter in a PvP environment. When the Alliance is working on him and his nearby elite NPC’s treat the situation exactly as I instructed with Galvinger. Those NPC’s hit HARD. A feared tank, or polymorphed healer can spell doom for an entire raid. The alliance is usually well aware of this and will focus fire (FF) you the second you set foot in Frostwolf Keep.

That’s defense in a nut shell. A few minor points;

1. if a graveyard was taken by the alliance but the battle was close leaving only one or two Allies at the GY just ride up from where you res as fast as you can, roll the remaining defenders, and retake it.

2. back in the day Lokholar was very common. He isn’t so much any more. The alliance has their own version; Ivus the Forest Lord. He’s a giant tree. It’s unusually for the Alliance to get him up because AV battles tend to go fast and the Horde Offense tends to kill off the summoners before they get to the summoning point. But, if he DOES get summoned he used to be dealt with in a very simple way; kite him back to Drek who will own him. Druids and Hunters are best for this because he is WAY faster than someone who can’t enhance their speed. I have yet to see Ivus in close to 100 games since the expansion so the kiting may not work anymore.

Offense: “Premature ejaculation in video game form!”

Not only does almost everyone want to go offense on Horde, almost everyone sucks badly at it. The Horde is like a 16-year-old getting ready to fuck for the first time. He’s not sure where it goes, when she’s ready, what foreplay’s all about, but he’s really enthusiastic and suddenly SPLAT! He just blew his load… but he’s not ready to give up yet! He tries again. SLPAT! And again. SPLAT! Until the chick eventually just says; “fuck it! I’m going to just kill Drek and get this over with.”

Offense is a delicate art. If you go too crazy than things fall apart. If you’re too slow, than you lose. Work as a team and it will be successful almost every time.

Snowfall graveyard: “Where one Horde player can single-handedly fuck over 40 Alliance and 40 Horde.”

Leave this graveyard alone. For the love of god. Let the alliance have it. It’s of absolutely no strategic value to the Horde. If you capture it you put the entire Alliance directly in front of our Offense making it impossible for them to advance.

There’s nothing wrong with attacking the Alliance who may be GUARDING Snowfall graveyard (SF GY) just to scare them a little but please, do not capture it.

Stonehearth Graveyard: “The first step in a long journey.”

Stoneharth graveyard (SH GY) should be the first objective of the Offense. On your way up from the cave you’ll pass Stonehearth Bunker and get shot by arrows, but I’ll get to that in a bit. Stonhearth graveyard is the key!

You’ll ride up and you may have to deal with some elite mobs that are relatively easy to kill and worth decent honor but keep your eyes on the prize; SH GY. If you’re ranged DPS it is often a good idea to use the buildings directly south of the SH GY flag as cover as you advance while your melee pushes the line.

Usually the Alliance defense here is relatively week and you can capture SH GY easily. Sometimes, however, the alliance has a ridiculous number of players on defense. If this is the case form a group of 8-12 Horde and gather directly south of Balinda. The Alliance will push the Horde back directly north of Stonehearth Bunker and East of Balinda. Take your team and ride west around Balinda and hit SH GY from behind the Alliance line.

This maneuver, when successful, snaps the Alliance back like a toothpick and they are forced to completely reapply their manpower.

When SH GY is capped. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! DEFEND IT! There was an old technique that we used to use back in the day. If you were on O and you died, you would wait at the SH GY flag until the next group of Horde resurrected. You would then join the Horde offensive line while the newly resed Horde would take your place defending.

There is nothing worse than seeing 30-40 horde capture SH GY and be so overzealous that they split into three groups… one to attack Icewing Bunker, one to attack Balinda, and one to move up and attack Stormpike Graveyard… but no one to defend. It’s like watching a bunch of retarded kids play Smear the Queer.

The alliance just walks up and retakes SH GY and then the Hord’s like; “WTF!? No one defended SH GY?” Christ! DEFEND IT YOUSELF!

Stonehearth Bunker: “Like a tower, but much more fun!”

I like taking bunkers. I have enough range to keep people out of my dead zone. It’s huge fun to kite someone around the outside ledge of the bunker while your pet beats on them. Bunkers are nice to take but not critical. If you have SH GY and there’s no one defending the bunker… go ahead and take it. When I go O I like to pull the elite guard out of the bunker and into the Horde train of mounted attackers. Usually someone will help me kill him and the bunker’s easier to take later. If you’re gonna take a bunker leave a defender to see that it’s destroyed. Honestly, if you leave it empty the Alliance is just gonna send someone in to retake it.

Icwing Bunker: “Easiest Ninja EVER!”

I recommend taking this bunker after you have SH GY. Not only is it positioned at a bottleneck which will guarantee you’re gonna get shot by it, but it supports the Alliance defense if they move up to SH GY to try and retake it.

It’s easy to take. If you just ride up the WEST SIDE of the tower there’s a nook that you can jump through. BAM! You’re there. Kill the gaurds, destroy the tower.

Balinda: “She’s a ho.”

If the battle looks like it’s gonna drag on I highly recommend killing Balinda. If it’s a race where time is of the essence, leave her be. As with Galvinger, she’s a PvE encounter in a PvP zone. Tank her and Spank her… she’s an old sorority chick, she’s used to it.

Stormpike graveyard: “Three pathes to choose and we always choose the same one… the wrong one.”

After SH GY is secure Stormpike Graveyard (SP GY) is next on the list for your Offense. There are three avenues by which to attack SP GY but, for some reason, the Horde ALWAYS chooses the most difficult one; the main road.

The main road puts you into ANOTHER bottleneck where 5-10 alliance can hold you up ALL DAY. You can take SP GY eventually but it’s never easy unless there is no Alliance defense.

You could ALSO take the high road to SP GY. This gives you the ability to used ranged attacks on any Alliance fighting on the main road. You can ride up the high road and pop out behind SP GY directly in front of a mine. If you have a group of 3-5 Horde you can take SP GY very easily.

You can EVEN take the valley beneath the bridge into the alliance base. This valley is riddled with mobs but they’re nothing to worry about. The valley spits you out behind SP GY as well and, again, 3-5 people can take the GY easily.

Once you have SP GY, DEFEND THE GOD DAMN THING! The alliance is resurrecting either at their Aid Station or in their starting area. This leaves the SP GY open to attacks from two sides and… GHASP! That DOESN’T INCLUDE THE 3 SIDES YOU USED TO TAKE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE… so yeah, it doesn’t look like it but there are 5 directions from which the Alliance can attack and retake SP GY.

North Bunker and South Bunker: “The bridge of tears, shed by countless babies who think the map is imbalanced.”

After capturing SP GY you are looking at a bridge into the Alliance base flanked on the north by a bunker and on the south, but back a little further, by another bunker.

In games of old there used to be 40 Alliance fighting 40 horde on the bridge. The battles used to take for ever. That’s usually not the case anymore. Usually you have to deal with a handful of defenders. And the towers buttering you up.

Taking these two bunkers is far more simple than people think.

Mount up in a group of 5-10 Horde and RIDE INTO THE GOD DAMN BUNKER AND TAKE IT! Yeah, your group of 5-10 will PROBABLY be down to 2-5 by the time you get in there but so what? 2-5 is enough to take that bunker. If you go alone you will get focus fired by the archers. Get a team together and just GO!

Oh yeah, and after you have it, leave a defender or two in the bunker until it’s destroyed.

The Aid Station: “Surrounded by Mobs”

Taking the Aid station can sometimes be a long and arduous process. It’s surrounded by a good number of elite and non-elite mobs. Once you’ve cleared the mobs you can start focusing on taking the Aid Station. There isn’t much advice to be given here other than push it until you have it. It often helps if you send fear bombs or AOE up to the res point to deal with the newly-resurrected Alliance. It’s also a good idea to ride up and fight on the flag in a group.

When it’s captured, DEFEND IT.

Vanndar Stormpike: “You’ll never get me out of my bunker… but my marshals will go!”

Once the Aid Station is captured you can start pulling marshals. It’s usually best for ONE hunter to go in, mark a marshal, and drag him out. The raid can focus fire him and move on to the next. Often, when time is of the essence, you can’t afford to wait for the Aid Station to cap. Just pull marshals and kite them to SP GY where they can be dealt with.

Once the Marshals are dead, tank and spank Vann. Sometimes marshals will spawn WHILE you’re fighting Vann but that’s no big deal. If they become a nuisance grab agro from the marshal and kite it out of the fortress.

Do NOT! For the Love of GOD! Leave the Vann’s fortress if you are high on his agro list. You can reset him (I’ve seen this on more occasions that I care to remember).

That’s offense in a nutshell. A few minor points:

1. The mines are only valuable if the battle is going to be long and drawn out. Don’t worry about the mines. Leave them be.

2. If you free a sky lord, and you have the manpower to escort him back to base, do so. These guys can REALLY give the D a hand and can help the O out even more. The payoff isn’t immediate because you have to feed them a bunch of crap before they’ll be ready, but it can be worth it in long battles.

3. When trying to capture a flag. If you’re and Undead or Blood Elf try and stand INSIDE a Tauren (stop being retarded, you know what I mean). If you’re a Tauren, try and stand ON TOP OF a Blood Elf or Undead. This makes the smaller models difficult or impossible to even see let alone select. If the Alliance does see the smaller model they usually have to tab-target to select it… and with 20+ attackers there’s a limited chance they’re gonna select the correct model.

4. If you find yourself in a dead-locked race (40 alliance on O and 40 Horde on O) stop for nothing. Cap SH GY, leave a defender or 2, Cap SP GY, leave a defender or 2, destroy North and South Bunker. Take Aid station. When the Aid station flag is caped move all of O to the Aid station and begin pulling Marshals.

That’s it for the Alterac Valley strategy guide. I hope this helps all Horde, but more specifically the Horde on Vindication, win a few more battles.

Tagged with: Alliance, Alterac Valley, AV, Horde, PvP, Strategy, World of Warcraft