Part 9 of a guide for new, beginning, or returning players in World of Warcraft.
Welcome to part 9 of this ultimate guide for new World of Warcraft players. Part 8 looked at player vs. environment (PvE) modes — specifically dungeons and raids. This time around, we are going to look at PvP in World of Warcraft.
What is PvP in World of Warcaft?
PvP is an abbreviation for “player vs. player” and refers to battles between players. You may engage in PvP while exploring the open world (known as world PvP) or you can participate in organized PvP matches. In PvP matches, you team up with other players to achieve objectives that can range from being the first to eliminate the opposing team to capturing their flag.
Let’s jump in and talk about all the different flavors of PvP in World of Warcraft!
War Mode — World PvP
War mode, also called “world PvP”, is a setting that players can toggle on or off. When turned on, it allows players to engage in combat with opposing faction players in the open world.
War mode can only be toggled on in each faction’s major city — Stormwind or Orgrimmar — but can be turned off in any rested area. To do so, you will need to navigate to the talents tab of your Specialization and Talents (shortcut ‘N’) window. You will then see an icon in the lower-right part of the window that can be clicked on or off.
Enabling war mode will provide you with extra benefits as a reward.
World PvP and war mode allow you to use your three PvP-specific talents throughout the world. These can provide an extra boost of power to your character and make some objectives easier to complete.
Enabling War mode grants increased quest rewards and experience but also makes you vulnerable to attacks from the opposing faction.
The final benefit you gain from enabling war mode is being able to earn PvP currencies.
What are PvP currencies?
Player vs player currencies are points or “marks” earned for participating in PvP. They can be used to obtain gear, pets, mounts, and other power-enhancing items. There are three major PvP currencies:
- Honor points
- Conquest
- Mark of Honor
Honor points
The number of honor points determines your honor level. As their honor level grows, players receive rewards in the form of toys, character titles, mounts, and pets. You can also use it to purchase PvP gear from vendors in just about every major city. For a specific list of the rewards, check out Wowpedia’s great article here.
Conquest
While honor points are level-based, conquest is centered on weekly rewards. Early in a new expansion or patch, the amount of conquest you can earn is capped at a low amount (usually around 500-600) and increases each week. Conquest can be used to purchase and upgrade some of the most powerful PvP gear in the game.
The best way to earn conquest is to win PvP game modes like battlegrounds and arena.
Mark of Honor
The last major PvP currency is the Mark of Honor. Marks are different from the previous two currencies because they are items that can be saved and stored in your bag. You can then visit PvP vendors to exchange them for gear, profession recipes, profession supplies, or other consumables.
Strongboxes, a type of loot received from battlegrounds or arenas, are generally the best way to earn one or more Marks of Honor.
PvP Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft
Battlegrounds are objective-driven battles that include anywhere from 10 to 40 players. Normal battlegrounds have smaller groups — with either 10 or 15 players on either side. In contrast, epic battlegrounds have large groups of 25 or 40 players per side.
Joining a battleground is as simple as queuing up for one in the looking for group window (‘i’ key shortcut) under the “Player vs. Player” tab. You can also choose whether you want to queue for a specific battleground or one at random.
List of battlegrounds and their objectives in World of Warcraft
Overall, there are a few categories of objectives for battleground:
- Domination – Capture and hold objectives (like King of the Hill)
- Capture the Flag – Capture enemy flags while defending your own
- Resource Race – Be the first faction to collect enough resources
- Power Orbs – Players earn points by holding orbs
- Payload – Capture and defend a moving vehicle until your team scores
- Epic battlegrounds — Defeat the opposing faction’s leader, reduce their reinforcements to 0, or destroy strategic structures
At the time of writing, there are 13 battlegrounds you can queue for. The following table shows the name of each battleground, the number of players, and the main objective:
| Battleground Name | # of Players | Objective |
| Warsong Gulch | 10 vs 10 | Capture the flag |
| Arathi Basin | 15 vs 15 | Domination |
| Eye of the Storm | 15 vs 15 | Domination |
| Twin Peaks | 10 vs 10 | Capture the flag |
| Battle for Gilneas | 10 vs 10 | Domination |
| Temple of Kotmogu | 10 vs 10 | Power Orbs |
| Silvershard Mines | 10 vs 10 | Payload |
| Deepwind Gorge | 10 vs 10 | Domination |
| Seething Shore | 10 vs 10 | Resource Race |
| Alterac Valley | 40 vs 40 | Epic Battleground |
| Isle of Conquest | 40 vs 40 | Epic Battleground |
| Battle for Wintergrasp | 40 vs 40 | Epic Battleground |
| Ashran | 25 vs 25 | Epic Battleground |
In addition to these standard battlegrounds, there are also rotating “brawls.” These are special PvP modes that take the normal battlegrounds or arenas (which we’ll talk about more in a moment) and apply a twist.
A brawl usually lasts only a week or two before changing. You can queue for a brawl like any normal battleground; they are a great way to keep PvP feeling fresh.
PvP Arena
The final PvP activity we are going to cover is the arena.
Arena matches are played with smaller groups than battlegrounds — either 2 or 3 players on each side. Like battlegrounds, you can queue for a basic arena match through the Player vs. Player tab in the looking for group window. For a normal arena match, you will want to select “Arena Skirmish.”
The objective of arena is simple: defeat the opposing players before they defeat you.
Once your HP reaches zero, your character is out for the match and it is up to your teammates to win. Winning an arena skirmish will reward you with honor points and conquest.
Rated PvP
Rated PvP is a great option for players seeking a more competitive player vs. player experience. This mode includes the same battlegrounds and arenas but wins/losses impact your player rating. Wins increase rating, while losses drop it. Your rating determines the skill of the players you are matched against and rewards at the end of a PvP season.
To play rated PvP, you will either need a group of friends to play with or you can find a group through the “Premade Group” option. If you choose to find a group, it is helpful to understand a few abbreviations that commonly appear in the group name.
- CR = Current rating
- LF = Looking for
- EXP = the highest rating a player has played at.
So a group advertised as “2s 1.6kcr, exp 2.2k LF healer” would mean that the group leader has a current rating of 1,600 but has played games in the 2,200 rating bracket and wants a healer for their 2-person arena group.
If you are new to rated PvP, your rating will start at 0 and you need to win games to increase it. At lower ratings, you will not lose rating for losing matches. As you increase your rating, you will receive greater rewards and special rewards reserved only for the best players. This includes better gear in the Weekly Vault in Oribos. The rating tiers are as follows:
- Unranked: 0 – 1399
- Combatant: 1400 – 1599
- Challenger: 1600 – 1799
- Rival: 1800 – 2099
- Duelist: 2100 – 2399
- Gladiator: 2400+
Final Thoughts
If you are more of a visual person, you can also find helpful videos that walk you through how PvP works like this one:
There is a lot to learn when it comes to PvP, but just remember that it is still a game and meant to be fun.
In the final part of this new player guide, we will look at the Basics of Using Addons. If you want to revisit another part of the guide, check out one of the following:
- Introduction Guide for New WoW Players
- Creating Your Character
- The WoW User Interface
- Questing, Combat, and Movement
- Introduction to Gear in WoW
- Items in World of Warcraft
- Professions in World of Warcraft
- Dungeons and Raids in World of Warcraft
- You are here
- World of Warcraft (WoW) AddOns (for Beginners)
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