Arathi Basin Strategy Guide

Ah! I finally hit 70 a day before the Arathi Basin honor weekend and had tremendous fun as, not only was I 70, I had time to PvP unlike last AB honor weekend. Now, it appears I even have time to write a strategy guide about it. If you want to know the details of the game visit the link above and, like all my guides, it's very basic as 9 times out of 10, when we lose, we lose because the basics are forgotten. Also, since I am a horde player, the guide will be written from a Horde perspective but can be easily modified to the alliance side.

Things seemed relatively balanced on Vindication this past weekend. I'm used to walking in with a PUG group and mopping the floor with the alliance who traditionally suck horribly in AB. I had the pleasant surprise of not dealing with pushovers. I dipped into my AB tokens and purchased some PvP gear and promptly spent the weekend earning them all back. I'm not going to claim to be the best AB player in the world but I do have a huge amount of experience.

The opening of AB tends to set the scheme for the rest of the game. The team that caps three nodes first will usually win as the opposing team is forced to play catch-up. Before the game begins, buff the raid and, if you're a warlock, furnish a health stone from a soul well to everyone. These buffs can make a huge difference and tip the scales ever so slightly in favor of your team.

The raid should split into three groups. One group of roughly 4 should hit the Mine on the right. Another group of 4 should hit the Lumber Mill on the left. The last group of roughly 7 should proceed directly to the Blacksmith but leave 1 at the farm on their way to capture it and defend.

At this point capturing the nodes is a very important step but the two most important nodes to capture are the Blacksmith and Lumber Mill. You want to send people to the mine because if the Lumber Mill gets rolled you still want the extra node... and besides, sometimes you can grab a 4-cap right out the gates.

You want the Blacksmith because the graveyard is a critical strategic point equidistant from all other nodes on the map. If you control this node your casualties will be able to quickly join the battles at any other node on the map when they resurrect.

You want the Lumber Mill because it's fricken hard to take. Unlike the other 4 nodes you can't be sure who you're fighting till you're up there. You don't know if you're attacking a position with 2 defenders, none, or 8. Controlling this node is very important because you don't want to be the ones trying to take it.

I will admit I'm not the best at this because I'm used to steamrolling my opponents but there should be one defender, preferably two at every captured node on the map. One defender can yell for help and hold off two attackers until it arrives. Two defenders can hold off 5 attackers until help arrives. But we are all familiar with the rogue/druid stealth ninja which should be avoided.

Pet classes, particularly hunters, work best as defenders because they have the ability to attack multiple opponents who are trying to capture the flag without changing targets. Additionally pet classes have excellent crowd control abilities that give them serious longevity when defending and, even if they're sapped or crowd controlled in some other way, they have a pet they can send to prevent the node from being captured.

Now, much like Eye of the Storm, Arathi Basin is a game of "water". As I've mentioned in previous guides, the game of "water" is to flow around the "rocks" Where the alliance is strong, let them be strong, attack where they are week. If you see five or more defenders at a position, leave it be unless all positions have 5 defenders.

AB is rarely static. Nodes will change hands. The best way to attack is to have a few defenders at each captured node while all other players function as a "response team" working as a single group to attack specific targets. You can't do anything about that ONE guy who just has to go off and try and solo 3 defenders... but that's no big deal and I'll explain why in a second.

Attacking is not necessarily always attacking a node that is under the enemies control. Attacking is often attacking a group of Alliance who are attacking your defenders at a node you control. Apply your strength in focused bursts at strategic points... unless you can steamroll a group of defenders they will resurrect within seconds and finish the job after having buttered you up from round 1.

That one guy who like to solo 3 defenders can be very useful. This is why; If he continuously attacks an opposing node with even just 2 defenders over and over again he is forcing those defenders to stay at the node. Thus, one player is tying up two or more opponets. On a similar note if you harass in groups of 2 the opposition is often required to defend their node with 3 or 4 players. This ties them up even further giving them fewer players to devote to attacking.

I've heard my own teammates while defending a node say things like; "that stupid priest thinks he can kill all three of us? What a noob. Why does he just keep coming back to get his ass kicked?" That's when I mount up and leave because that "stupid" priest is tying up two or more players. The rest of his team is probably kicking around our team which is now outnumbered thanks to this SINGLE priest trying up a few of our guys.

If you are going to harass, be mindfull of what the rest of your team is doing. If there isn't a concentrated offense, join it. If there is, you can harass but the offense better not be getting owned. Harassing is a way to KEEP a lead, not a way to obtain one.

Obviously a 5-cap or 4-cap is ideal but when things are close it's best to grab nodes and hold them. The 3 ideal nodes to hold as the horde are Farm, Blacksmith, and Lumber Mill. With 3 defenders at each a response team of 6 can be available to reinforce a node immediately.

Communication between nodes is very important. Horde tends to be very good about this fortunately. What's more, a strong leader can also make a tremendous difference directing the priorities of the raid.

That's my Arathi basin guide. I will have additional guides as time goes on detailing more advanced strategies and the roll each class should play.

Tagged with: AB, Alliance, Arathi Basin, Horde, PvP, World of Warcraft