Word of Warcraft Alterac Valley Guide for the Horde

Introduction

If your in a hurry, just read your class role and the "General Tips" part for now.

I decided to write this overly long "Beginners Guide to Alterac Valley on Argent Dawn", simply because I got tired of answering the same questions over and over again. I know its usually Horde winning Alterac Valley on all other servers, but seeing as how we have such great difficulty with it here on Argent Dawn, it has come to this.

This is in no way meant to be a perfect strategy guide. It is meant as a "Beginners Guide". I'm here to lay down the basics, not the brilliant golden eggs. This is meant to cover the most important things. If no one tells you, even the basic things can take many battles to realize, and seeing as how we have new Horde joining up each battle, and we only have one or two battles a week, I found it necessary to do this.

Last but not least, I may not always be right. I might make a mistake here or there, so please inform me if you see anything. Also, some of the basic strategies are how I like to do things, not how things should necessarily be done. I'm not offering a "read this and you'll win" thread. I'm offering a starting point for those that are new to Alterac Valley.

Also, I have not written everything here. At the end of the list you will find links and overviews of where I may have borrowed stuff. This is a big thing to write, so if someone has already written it better, why try to outdo them.

Also, some strategies I will give will work for both Horde AND Alliance. I don't care. Seeing as how the Alliance is winning so much these days, I assume they will know most of these anyway. I also assume the Alliance has a lot of the same problems, with people asking a lot of the same questions over and over again. I suggest you take this post and modify it to accommodate for Alliance side battles.

That said, I hope you will find the information here useful, and that it answers some of your questions. I spent a lot of time on this, so if you disagree on anything, be nice. Meh, I better stop now, this "Introduction" is getting way to big *s!@!@&*

Regards,
Tardon - Philip Zeplin - www.philip-zeplin.com

Version 1,3 - Last updated 16th November 2005

1) PvP and Alterac Valley

1,1 What is pvp

PvP is short for Player versus Player combat.

1,2 What is Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley is a 40 versus 40 PvP battleground, located in the Alterac Mountains. Compared to other battlegrounds, Alterac Valley both the biggest, but also has clear differences from the two other battlegrounds. First is that it's a lot more like the original Warcraft games, epic in size. Second is that PvE combat is included. There are many quests you need to do, which will involve the killing of NPC's, to win the battleground efficiently, and to win Alterac Valley, you need to kill the opposing side's General, a high level elite NPC (Non Player Character). Different from other battlegrounds is also, that you can't use the "Join As Group" function (which allows a pre-made raidgroup to enter together), this is because a problem began on other servers, where the casual player could not enter the battleground, as such you will always need to Alterac Valley individually.

1,3 What is a battleground

A battleground is an instanced PvP playground. There, you automatically go PvP enabled (always), and will always be able to kill opposing faction players. Battlegrounds give Reputation, extra Honor bonus, and an XP bonus.

The three current battlegrounds are Warsong Gulch (10v10), Alterac Valley (40v40) and Arathi Basin (15v15).

You can enter a battleground either through a Battlemaster (located in all major cities) or at the entrance portal to any given battleground. You can only queue up for 1 battleground at a time.

For more information on battlegrounds, go here: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/info.html

1,4 What is honor

Honorable kill (HK): killing a "green" or higher level player of the opposing team, or killing one of the NPCs considered a racial leader.

Dishonorable kill (DHK): killing a "gray" NPC flagged as a civilian.

Contribution points (CP): points awarded daily based on your honorable kills.

Honor points (HP): points awarded weekly based on your contribution points compared to the total contribution points awarded to your entire team throughout the week. HK has no direct effect on your honor points.

The more honor points you get, the higher your PvP rank will get, which will allow you to buy armor and weapons.

1,5 Lore of Alterac Valley

The official story line for Alterac Valley:

Long ago, before the First War, the warlock Gul'dan exiled a clan of orcs called the Frostwolves to a hidden valley deep in the heart of the Alterac Mountains. It is here in the valley's southern reaches that the Frostwolves eked out a living until the coming of Thrall.

After Thrall's triumphant uniting of the clans, the Frostwolves, now led by the Orc Shaman Drek'Thar, chose to remain in the valley they had for so long called their home. In recent times, however, the relative peace of the Frostwolves has been challenged by the arrival of the Dwarven Stormpike Expedition.

The Stormpikes have set up residence in the valley to search for natural resources and ancient relics. Despite their intentions, the Dwarven presence has sparked heated conflict with the Frostwolf Orcs to the south, who have vowed to drive the interlopers from their lands.

2) Getting Started

2,1 Forming a raidgroup

No one ever wants to do it, but on Argent Dawn we hardly ever get Alterac Valley up without it. When starting to form a raidgroup, you can always use the Looking For Group channel, Local Defense and World Defense channels. Its also a good idea to sent a few people to different cities like Thunder Bluff and Undercity to "recruit" there.

Another thing I like to do is gather all the different classes in their own party. It makes it easier to make complete groups when you are about to be full, and gives a nice overview of what classes you need.

Making it possible for everyone to invite is also a great help. People will invite their own friends, and will speed up the process significantly. Just remember to turn the privileges off again, when you are about to enter. We have experienced several times that someone in the raidgroup starts kicking everyone out during the battle, which is, to say the least, quite disastrous.

Just because your making the raidgroup doesn't mean you'll have to lead Alterac Valley. Its just up to you to find someone that will. Don't worry.

Its also a good idea to remind people that you should join at the same time, and not before. Many people still don't know that its impossible to "Join As Group" for Alterac Valley.

Also remember not to overinvite. There will usually be 5-10 people that are in the queue, but have refused to join the raidgroup. Don't force yourself to kick people again that didn't get into Alterac Valley, it can be a real pain.

2,2 Getting invited to a raidgroup

First off, if your asking to be invited to a raidgroup, make sure you have left your current group. There is nothing worse than someone that keeps yelling to invite them, when in fact you can't.

When in the raidgroup, try to not completely spam raidchat. Useful stuff needs to be said. Especially if your doing tactics before entering.

Expect to wait a lot, making a full raidgroup takes time.

Don't leave and ask the raidleader to invite you when the raidgroup is getting full. If it was up to people, they would all do that. The raidleader has more than enough on his/hers plate as it is, don't make it worse. Stick it out and stay in the raidgroup, its not like its any more fun for the raidleader than it is for you.

2,3 Things to do before entering

Get the quests. Don't ask people to share them when the battle has started, that's your own fault, and your own problem.

If you're a class that needs either food or water, ask a mage before entering. Don't get mad or be surprised if no one wants to wants to conjure you stuff, with a battle raging around your ears.

Repair your gear. Enter at full power.

Make you sure you have inventory space, you are most likely going to be picking up a lot of loot.

Get bandages. I believe you can get Alterac Valley bandages (only usable inside Alterac Valley) at Friendly with the Frostwolfs, at a pretty cheap price. Fret not though, if you can't, a lot of Runecloth drops of the NPC's inside.

If you have the Frostwolf Insignia, remember to bring it. It reduces the time it takes to turn in loot greatly.

If your one of the few Horde players that are revered by now, remember to bring your Battle Standard, its extremely usefull.

2,4 Entering after the battle has started

If you are about to enter, leave your party/raidgroup before entering. Raidleaders are busy enough as it is, and its frustrating enough to keep track of who left the instance (but didn't leave the raidgroup), and who got in. There is nothing worse than trying to invite someone who stays in their former group.

Keep up the good attitude, don't be a mood spoiler. If you enter, and your faction is losing, don't go all leet-kiddie and start yelling "OMGZ! Weza l00zing! N00bs!". If they are losing, trust me, they know already, and don't need you to remind them.

Other than that, do what was mentioned in 2,3 right above this chapter.

3) The quests

(Note that I have put some quests under different categories where I thought they better fit.)

3,1 Korrak

First off, the Korrak quest is not there anymore. Period. Instead you get the quest rewards by winning Alterac Valley.

3,2 Fallen Sky Lords

Starts at Commander Mulfort who is located in the front part of Frostwolf Keep. You need to find the three Wing Commanders, Guse, Jeztor and Mulverick. You don't have to be the one that finds them to complete the quest (though I'm unsure if its only ok if your party finds them, or if its doable if someone in the raid finds them).

Guse: Icewing Bunker

Jeztor: The Alliance lumber mill

Mulverick: North Dun Baldar Bunker

Once you have freed a Wing Commander, you need to feed the gryphons. After that you call an airstrike on the place the particular Wing Rider is assigned to.

3,3 Towers and Bunkers

You need to assault (not take) a bunker. Easy peas. You don't even need the one doing it, as long as someone from your /party does it. You get this quest outside the entrance portal to Alterac Valley from Corporal Teeka Bloodsnarl.

3,4 Proving Grounds

You get this quest outside the Alterac Valley instance portal from Warmaster Laggrond. You need to venture into the Wildpaw cavern and get a flag. The Wildpaw cavern is straight east of Frostwolf Keep. Its an easy quest, but hard to solo because there are a lot of mobs that are connected (around 5 at a time) so its good to be two, or specced in AoE. The banner is at the end of the cave, somewhat to the right. Try and do the quest quickly, since it in no way contributes to winning Alterac Valley.

There is one good thing about the quest though, it will let you get the Frostwolf Insignia trinket, wich will, when used, teleport you back to Frostwolf Keep for easy off-loading of loot. Note though, that you only get the trinket outside the instance, and as such, is no use the first time you do the quest during the actual battle.

3,5 Brotherly Love

You get this quest from Commander Karl Philips. It doesn't matter if you're the one killing him, I don't even think it matters that its someone from your group that kills him. All he needs to be is dead, and you've completed the quest. Commander Karl Philips is located in Tower Point.

3,6 The Battle for Alterac

You get this quest from Voggah Deathgrip, who is located in the camp outside the Alterac Valley instance portal in the Alterac Mountains. You complete this quest by winning a game of Alterac Valley, which will let you (if you haven't done the Korrak quest back when it was still here) start the quest Hero of the Frostwolf, which will let you choose one of these rewards: http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?wquest=8272

This quest is repeatable.

3,7 Graveyards of Alterac

This quest is given by Teeka Bloodsnarl, who is located outside the entrance portal to Alterac Valley. You need to assault a graveyard. Note that you dont have to capture it, merely assault it. See chapter 7 for more information on Graveyards.

3,8 Capture a Mine

You get this quest from the Supllies Officer (located right after the "tunnel" in Frostwolf Keep). You need to kill Snivel, however as long as someone from your group kills him, its all good. You turn in this quest to Teeka Bloodsnarl, who is located outside the entrance portal to Alterac Valley.

4) The loot

A lot of loot drop inside Alterac Valley, most of it from opposing faction players. Some of it is strange loot like the "Broken I.W.I.N. button" or the "Nubless Passifier", which doesn't do a thing. But some of it is really usefull. Considering the amount of loot that is dropped, don't turn something in each time you get a single piece of loot. You will get a lot. So make "loot runs" where you turn in all the loot you have in one run, then back to battle.

4,1 Armor Scraps

Enemy players and NPC's drop Armor Scraps. You need to turn these in (20 at a time) to Smith Regzar, located at the blacksmith in Frostwolf Keep. When players have turned in enough Armor Scraps (a lot) you can upgrade your troops armor. These are the troops that patrol graveyards, your base, etc, and its very useful to have fully upgraded troops. Due to the amount that drops, its usually a good idea to wait until you have 40 or 60 before turning them in.

4,2 Blood

Blood is most likely the single most important loot you will ever get. When a the Horde has gathered enough, we can summon Lokholar the Icelord (see chapter 10), a huge very mean elite monster that will fight for us. Blood is turned in to Primalist Thurloga, who is located inside the cave in Frostwolf Keep (right besides the Smith). There are two quests, but don't worry, they do the same time. One quest you turn in one blood at a time, the other you turn in 5, but the end result is the same.

Usually turn in blood when you have 5-10 of it. It is extremely important to remember.

4,3 Various flesh

The various flesh is needed when you have the Wing Commanders ready. Until then its useless, but hold onto it.

5) The NPC's and mobs

For names and pictures of Lieutenants, Commanders, Captains and Generals, go here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/battlegrounds/enemies-alterac.html

5,1 Rams and Wolfs

Kill rams, collect the hides. Don't kill wolfs.

The ram hides are used to send out cavalry, so if you kill one be sure to collect the hide and remember to turn it in (read more under 11,2). Please oh god please don't kill Wolfs. We need the wolfs alive also for Cavalry. The alliance will need to kill wolfs to send out their cavalry, so if you see an alliance player (usually druid or rogue for stealth) killing Wolfs, stop them!

5,2 Lieutenants

Killing grants bonus honor. Kill all lieutenants to disable the respawning of some enemy troops. Does not respawn. Lieutenants are placed at key points like Graveyards and Bunkers, or wander around on predetirmined paths. Note that being near a Lieutenant will grant you a buff.

5,3 Commanders

Killing grants bonus honor. Kill all lieutenants to disable the respawning of some enemy troops. Commanders are placed at key points like Graveyards and Bunkers.

5,4 Captains

Periodically gives all PC allies in Alterac Valley a size, DPS and HP buff. Killing grants bonus honor. Killing disables the respawning of some enemy troops. Killing grants an additional periodic buff if your Captain is still alive.

The alliance captain is Balinda, located inside Stoneheath Outpost. The Horde captain is Galvangar, located in Iceblood Garrison.

Note that it is impossible to lure a captain outside his/hers little room. If they run outside, they will laugh at you, gain full health, and run back in.

5,5 Generals

Killing wins the game and grants honor bonus based on what locations are under your faction's control.

6) Class roles

6,1 Warrior

The warrior is the most famous of all tank classes - in PvE it is a member of the "Holy Trinity", in PvP it maintains this role, but the methods are slightly different. Whereas in PvE a Warrior can maintain agro by abilities such as Taunt and Sunder, in PvP the Warrior is up against other people, where Taunt is completely useless. The key to grabbing agro in PvP encounters is Tab targetting. Ultimately, you want to have as many people as possible targetting you, rather than the squishy mage.

How does the Warrior accomplish this? It is quite simple actually. Simple charge in before the mage, and then allow the mage to come in afterwards. This does two things. First of all, those using the Tab key to pick up targets will find the Warrior and begin to attack it. Secondly, the swarm around the Warrior will cause others to join the attack hoping to get loot when the Warrior eventually dies. Luckily Warriors wear Plate armor, so this kind of beating can be withstood.

A second method to achieve agro is by being a big target. Get on your mount and run in circles around the enemy. An interesting twist to this is to pull people away from the fight by leading them to a remote area. The more people you pull away the easier it is for your teammates to form an attack.

Leading charges and soaking up damage are your main roles. Keep the enemies' attention on you while the DPS classes take out the enemy. Another very effective attack is to charge and then AoE fear. Mortal Strike and Hamstring are you friends on high-value targets.

6,2 Mage

AoE, standoff, and snaring runners are your basic roles, but the best use of your abilities is to run into enemy players fully buffed on a suicide run, spamming Arcane Explosion. This can cause lots of damage and chaos to the enemy while also netting you tons of CP. It works especially well when multiple mages do it. You also make excellent bait.

Mages play one of the most important roles in Alterac Valley. With a large group of mages using area of effect spells, they can easily wipe out any resistance from the opposite faction. In addition, this AoE is effective in protecting graveyards, and wiping out respawns at graveyards that you are trying to capture. Area of Effect is also effect against guard zergs from towers or bases. Simply frost nova, step back, and AoE those guards to death. Mages can also push back the enemy's lines by blinking in, and then using Arcane Explosion.

Improved Blizzard is also an excellent Mage spell in Alterac Valley. Cast Improved Blizzard and your enemies will be unable to run, they will be forced to sit and die.

A group of 5 well coordinated mages can easily wipe out 15 tightly nit enemies.

Gundalf wrote an excelent guide for Frost Mages, which you can read on page 4 of this thread.

6,3 Priest

Priests in Alterac Valley should simply be healing. Try to avoid guard aggro, and make sure that your group realizes that healing will cause guards to go straight to you, so they must be killed. Healing makes a tremendous difference in Alterac Valley, and is much more useful than the DPS of a Shadow Priest.

Somebody close to dead or going in on a charge will thank you profusely for a Holy Word: Shield. Give it to them, and watch your team work its way to victory!

Priest can also greatly help out mages charging into a suicide run. Keeping the mage group healed, or providing them with Power Word: Shield, can greatly encrease the damage they will do, since they live out the full length of their mana.

6,4 Shaman

Healing and general DPS during the big melees are your bread and butter. Chain Lightning can be used to attack groups of players. You can use your Frost Shock or Earthbind Totem to snare enemy players that try to run. Your Grounding Totem is good for absorbing enemy offensive spells.

Shamans are mainly a healer/dps class in battlegrounds, but can also provide others with buffs through totems. Totems are also an excellent way to prevent people from capturing graveyards. Whenever an offensive totem attacks/debuffs somebody, they are interrupted from capturing the graveyard.

6,5 Druid

Druids have three roles in Alterac Valley, which will vary with the play style of the individual. Druids can assist with healing, which is self explanatory. When attacked Druids can shift to Bear form and take hits, charging into the front lines, keeping people from attacking the cloth wearing casters.

Furthermore, the Druid has the unique role of being the only healing class that can stealth. this can make a huge difference for stealth groups that are trying to capture enemy graveyards behind the lines, or Coldtooth/Irondeep mine. A druid can stealth in cat form with a group of rogues, and heal those who are performing stealth missions.

For more information on Stealth Groups, read the Rogue class guide (6,6).

6,6 Rogue

One of the class defining roles of the Rogue throughout PvP and PvE is Stealth. This does not change in Alterac Valley, and Rogues are able to easily steal Graveyards behind enemy lines, take out casters and healers, people who are bandaging, etc. Rogues are also excellent at gathering Frostwolf or Ram Hides to get a cavalry charge due to Stealth. It is beneficial for groups of Rogues to form "Stealth Teams" and do stealth missions together, making them a unpredictable force able to do things that regular members of the Alterac Valley raid can not (this also works great with a druid going with them to heal).

Cabull wrote: "From experience of having been in stealth teams, I think a 3:2 split of rogues and druids (either way) is better than 4:1 in favour of rogues, especially if you can get one feral- and one resto- druid in the group for LotP (lovely lovely crits) and improved heals.

Couple reasons for this - firstly more healers are useful if the first gets initial aggro and snuffs it quickly, secondly by having a second druid you can incorporate a tank into the group - giving greater aggro control over NPC guards when trying to stealth-take graveyards."

Try stealthing up on a weak cloth class, such as a Priest or a Mage for an easy kill.

Boneking wrote an excelent guide on Stealth Groups, which you can read on page 5 of this thread. It talks in more detail how you capture mines, graveyards and even bunkers.

6,7 Hunter

Hunters are the ideal class for "Riding the zerg" because of their ranged attacks, and mail armor. Hunters can easily pick off unsuspecting cloth casters, and kill Mages and Warlocks as they are casting AoE spells. Hunters can also assist Mages and Warlocks of the same faction with Volley, Multishot, and Explosive Traps. Although these may not seem like much damage, Volley adds up if give proper placement. Multishot should always be used in Alterac Valley, and Explosive Traps can deal an impressive amount of damage. Furthermore, Hunters can protect the raid from stealthing Rogues and Druids in cat form with Tracking, Hunter's Mark, and Flare. Hunters will generally be near the top of the Alterac Valley scoreboard at the end of the game due to the few deaths they will receive and the large amount of killing blows they will deal.

When assaulting towers Hunters can use multishot on the bowmen and bring the commander out, giving other classes the chance to burn the flag. Just be warned that this will bring a large NPC train and you will feel a world of pain if your healer is not prepared!

6,8 Warlock

The Warlock's role is similar to that of the Mage, AoE. Furthermore, Warlocks can stack on Damage over Time spells to prevent other players from capturing graveyards or towers, and can apply curses to members of the opposite faction.

Infernals can be used in conjunction with a large push for some Warlock ownage. Warlocks can also banish the opposing team's Infernals.

7) Graveyards

Graveyards are very important to control. Control over the graveyards is how you advance across the map. Once you've captured a graveyard, your allied players can now spawn there when they die. Eventually, if you capture the graveyards outside the enemy town, you can use them as a base of operations to launch your final assault.

7,1 Assaulting a Graveyard

Graveyards are defended by NPC guards from the faction that controls them. You must eliminate these guards before you can begin capturing the flag.

To capture a graveyard you must click on the flag located at the center of the graveyard. There is a capturing process time similar to casting a channeling spell. After you've completed "casting," the flag will change to contested status. If you're attacked during this time, the process will be interrupted and you will have to start over again. So when someone is trying to capture a flag, the opposing players generally cast AoE (area-of-effect) spells on the capturer to interrupt their flag capturing. Once the graveyard has become contested, enemy troops can no longer spawn there. They must now travel from another graveyard further away. A message is sent to everyone that the graveyard is under attack. Expect the enemy to come and try to recapture the graveyard.

At this point, the graveyard assault group needs to defend the graveyard until it's converted to your side. This process takes about five minutes. If the enemy comes over and is able to complete the flag re-capture, the graveyard is instantly converted back to their side. They don't have to wait several minutes to get it back; they only have to complete the flag capturing action.

A common mistake players make is to leave the graveyard after it has turned to contested. The enemy then just shows up and recaptures the graveyard. Some players need to stay behind and guard the graveyard until it's converted to your side. If there aren't enough players staying, make sure you alert your team.

7,2 Defending a Graveyard

When you receive an alert message that the graveyard is being taken over, you need to send some team members to save it. Since the graveyard was under your control, all you need to do is go back and click on the flag and complete the channeling time to recapture it. The enemy will try to prevent you from doing this. If you don't have enough people, you might not be able to recapture the graveyard.

If the enemy has not yet contested the graveyard but is trying to, your troops will continue to respawn at the graveyard for its defense. It's good to cast AoE spells over the graveyard so that anyone trying to steal the flag will be interrupted. Rogues often like to sneak in and try to steal it when no one is looking. If you ever see an enemy standing next to your flag, attack them to stop them from capturing the flag.

Note that destroying the Tower will get rid of all troops there, after they have been killed.

8) Towers

Towers contain allied NPCs and have powerful bow-equipped guards at the top that attack enemy troops from long distance, and is surounded by meelee troops at the bottom. Towers are very effective in supporting your defense. Once a tower is destroyed, it will not come back again. It will remain on fire/destroyed for the duration of the Battleground instance.

Towers are full of NPCs. At the top of the tower are many bowmen. In the center of the tower rooftop is a flag. The enemy has to get to the top and capture the flag in the same way as the graveyard. They must then defend the tower in its captured status for several minutes. After that time, if the enemy hasn't recaptured the tower, the tower is then destroyed.

8,1 Assaulting Towers: One method of taking a tower is to have one player train out enemy defenders while another sneaks in and grabs the flag. The other method of capturing a tower is simply to send in a lot of troops and start from the bottom and fight your way up. You will need to cast a lot of overlapping AoE spells to fight the large number of enemy guards. The key in capturing the tower is usually numbers (more allied people helping the better) vs. how many enemy players are trying to defend the tower. You also need to take out the bowmen stationed around the top. Rogues and Druids can sneak up there and kill them. Other players can kill the bowmen from range or move up there while the guards are fighting other players. Once you have killed the bowmen, it's much easier to capture a tower.
8,2 Defending Towers: It can be pretty easy to defend a tower. Make your way to the top of the tower and defend it from enemy players or recapture the flag if necessary. You can spam AoE spells in the flag area to stop players from taking the flag. You can also heal the bowmen stationed there to keep them fighting longer.

9) Ivus (aka "How to kite a Treelord")

Just as we can get an Ultimate unit, so can the Alliance. Theirs is called Ivus, and is a huge tree that will root you if you run, and can kick major butt. He has an obscene amount of hitpoints and will need a lot of effort to take him down.

The best way to kill Ivus, is to stop him from being summoned in the first place. It takes effort to summon him, and it takes time where you aren't disturbed. Elite druids will gather in the Field of Strife, near Stoneheath Outpost, and will need alliance players to help with the summon. There are about 5 druids, they only need one alive to summon him. The druids hit hard, really hard, and are just as big challenge to take down as Cavalry or Ground Units. One great way to get rid of them, is either kiting a druid back to a graveyard or tower to let the NPC's there take care of him, or using Mind Control on them (yes you can) and have them kill each other.

Should the sad thing happen that they do manage to summon Ivus, you have to move fast. He will stay at the Field of Strife for about 10 minutes, not moving and only attacking Horde that get near him. Many people make the mistake thinking he is so strong he doesn't need any help, they are wrong. Here is what you do:

A hunter (or perhaps a Warrior and a Priest?) kite him. Shoot, run, and keep running. If your good, its not that hard to get him all the way back to Frostwolf Keep, or just to Iceblood Garrison. There, 15 people and the guards can take him down. Forget any alliance player that tries to stop you, ignore them completely, unless they are a healing class. All healers will be focus on keeping Ivus alive, don't let them.

If done correctly, Ivus can be taken down in 5-10 minutes. If done badly, he'll rampage all the way through every graveyard we have to Frostwolf Keep, killing and killing for hours to come.

And most important of all: Remember to /yell "TIMBER" when he's killed.

10) Lokholar the Ice Lord (aka "How to love a Popsicle")

Lokholar is our Ultimate unit. Learn to love him. Badly. We get him by collecting blood (see 4,2), then allowing the summoners to summon him. The Alliance will try to kill our Summoner's, please don't let them. They can mind control them, if they do, don't hurt them. Let them kill you, just don't hit the summoners. When its safe, they will need a few players to help them summon Lokholar, which takes about 20 seconds if left alone.

The Alliance will try the same tactic as we do with Ivus, don't let them. Kill anyone that hits him and start to run.

Lokholar is very weak in the beginning, small and puny, but gets stronger the more he kills. He starts only the size of Korrak, but will end up bigger than the Towers in Alterac Valley.

Buff him up completely. All DPS classes should be focusing on taking out enemies hurting dear Lokholar, while all healing classes (yes, this means shamans and druids too) should only be focusing on healing him. Keeping Lokholar alive might just win you the battle. Don't let him run off, he's fast, keep up with him, and whatever you do, keep him healed. For anyone inside Alterac Valley at that point, he is now priority number 1.

11) Cavalry Charges, Ground Assault and Air Strikes

These are NPC's you can get through repeatable quests. Some take time to get (like the Ground Assault), but they can be worth it. Many times, they can greatly increase your chances of winning the battle, if used efficiently.

11,1 Cavalry

You need to gather 25 Ram Hides, and 25 Wolfs.

You can get the Ram Hides behind enemy lines off the dead Rams. Rogues and druids are best for this, since you need to get past some very heavily guarded places to get there, it can be impossible for some other classes. You turn them in to Frostwolf Wolf Rider Commander who is located in a small camp east of Frostwolf Keep, through the quest "Ram Hide Harnesses". You do not need the quest to gather the hides, only to turn them in. Note that Alliance players need these alive to send out their own cavalry, so they will try and stop you from killing more.

You get the wolfs from starting the quest from Frostwold Stable Master, who is located the same place as the Wolf Rider Commander (east of Frostwolf Keep).

Note that the Cavalry stops at Snowfall, and need to be given the order to move onto Dun Baldar. I believe you need to be Honored with the Frostwolf Clan to do this.

11,2 Ground Assault

You need to collect supplies from a mine (doesn't matter which one, but it will usually be Coldtooth Mine). You get the quest from Frostwolf Quatermaster. To get to him, you run through the base towards the graveyard. When you are in the room in the middle with 3 ways out (one of which you used to get there), you take the one to the right. I'm pretty sure you don't need the quest to collect the supplies, only to turn them in.

But before doing that, you need to get the Coldtooth Mine first. Snivel, a pesky little fellar, will try to keep it from you! Kill him, and Horde NPC's will spawn and take care of the rest. This one is fairly simple. Go through Coldtooth or Irondeep mine, kill the boss at the end of it, and you will finish this quest. You will most likely want to take a few other people with you for this quest, as you will not be able to solo it. A sneakie snakie team considering of 4 rogues and a druid can bypass a lot of it, and just get to where Snivel is.

You will need 300 supplies (30 runs) to have enough to send out a Ground Assault. In my personal experience, I feel that a Ground Assault is a weaker version of the Cavalry, that takes longer to get ready to send out. Only bother with it if you expect the battle to be long and hard, or you have the upper hand and need that extra "push" near the end.

Note that the Ground Assault stops at Snowfall, and needs be given orders to move on. You get these orders from the Supplies Officer, and you need to get them to the Ground Assault (located in the Field of Strife near Snowfall) before the 15 minute timer runs out.

I believe you need to be Honored with the Frostwolf Clan to do this.

11,3 Air Strikes

All rescued Wing Commanders will collect flesh. The first one collects Soldier's flesh, the second one Lieutenant's flesh, and the third one Commander's flesh. After they have collected enough, they will hand out a beacon which is to be placed in the Field of Strife. If an Alliance player doesn't hit the beacon within a minute, then a gryphon or war rider (with about 75,000 health) will be summoned and will patrol the Field of Strife.

Additionally, all Wing Commanders have a secondary (though more useful) function: they can send an air strike at the enemy's base, patrolling near it and helping an offensive.

The location of the Wing Commanders is as follows:
Guse: Icewing Bunker
The second one: The Alliance lumber mill
Mulverick: North Dun Baldar Bunker

12) Taking down Dun Baldar

Dun Baldar, the Alliance's main base, is the last and greatest battle there is for Horde in Alterac Valley.

12,1 The Bridge ‘o Doom

From the Stormpike Graveyard to Dun Baldar, there is a bridge. A mean bridge. It's a very good choking point, and can be hell to cross. When you run over, Alliance will AoE the crap out of it. Just remember that when they charge, we can do the same.

Usually some form of help from either Lokholar, Cavalry or similar is needed to cross it.

12,2 The Two Towers

You should also take the north tower first. Right after the bridge, you can run straight right, up the hill, mount up, and jump into the top of the tower, right to the flag, and the 3 lonely npc's guarding it. Do that.

It is unknown if Blizzard considers this an exploit or not. It has been known for many patches now, and has still not been fixed. After the north tower has been done, its time to move onto the southern one.

12,3 The Last Graveyard

The last alliance graveyard inside Dun Baldar is both a blessing and a curse. Its stationed very close in the middle, not like the Horde graveyard, and is in plain sight from the bridge.

However, while it is nice that its so easy to get to, it also provides quick support from the Alliance. They need to run a very short distance to be smack right in the middle of the battle (about the same distance we have to run from our Graveyard to our towers in Frostwolf Keep). This can make it very hard to advance into Dun Baldar, and again, NPC support is nice to have.

13) Vandar Stormpike and Ending the Battle

Killing Vandar Stormpike will end the battle. He is a tough mofo, and will take a lot of damage before going down. Don't attempt this before we completely own every single part of Dun Baldar.

During this time, Alliance players will try and capture Graveyards do diminish our honor at the end, don't let them! Retake all graveyards etc, that the Alliance will try and take down during this time.

After this, the battle is finally over.

14) General Tips (stuff you NEED to know)

Dun Baldar, the Alliance's main base, is the last and greatest battle there is for Horde in Alterac Valley.

14,1 For raidleaders

Talk in CAPS. You may want to even turn on caps lock. This allows others to see clearly what you are saying amongst spam from others looting corpses. If people are leaving the raidchat alone, then its all good, but sometimes people wont listen and will be chatting away in raidchat, and talking in caps will be necessary.

Say things multiple times, again so that they can be seen amongst others.

If you have a Ventrillo server or Teamspeak server available to you, use it. Then make a macro that spams the information for it so that you don't have to take the time to write it out.

If you have CTRaid turn on auto-inviting. Type "/rakeyword Invite" and it will automatically invite anybody who whispers you with "Invite". Then make a macro that tells people to whisper you Invite to get invited to the raid group.

Make organized groups so that you can work together as a team better.

Create a Stealth group of Rogues and possibly a Druid. Have this group complete objectives such as capping Mines, or stealth capping Graveyards.

Create AoE bomb teams with 4 Mages and a Priest. 5 mages can also work well, or even better.

As the game ends, the opposing faction will try to take away graveyards and towers to diminish your bonus honor and get some of their own. Counter this by having 3-4 groups camp their entrance and take back anything that they do get.

14,2 For raiders

LISTEN to your Raid Leader.

Don't go off doing your own thing, stick with your group so that you can be healed, and so that you can easily take out members of the opposite faction. Remember this motto: "Work as a team, accomplish your dream"

Don't talk about randomness in /raid. Use either /party for that, or /general. Ask questions there, talk about your kill there, talk about randomness there. Only use /raid for very important battle related things, and even then you can usually whisper your raidleader about that.

Don't clog up your raidleaders window. Raidleaders are usually busy enough as it is, if it can at all be avoided, ask someone else the question, and avoid having to whisper the raidleader.

Don't be a "loot!@!#&". Attack rather than looting every single corpse that you see as fast as you can. Reputation is shared equally between all members of the raid.

Do not ignore NPCs, kill the Commanders and Lieutenants. Kiting Commanders/Lieutenants to a nearby graveyard for guard support is also recommended.

Join the raidgroup, you have absolutely no excuse that is any good not too.

If you type /afk or go away from your computer too long, you'll exit the Alterac Valley instance. This is in place to encourage players to actively participate in the battle. Because you can't go afk, make sure you do everything you need to do outside of the game (eat, drink, etc.) before entering the Battleground.

Try to stay together with a pack of allies. If you are off on your own, you might be very susceptible to Rogue attacks or attacks by a mass of enemy players. If you stay around your allies they can heal you or help you fight if you get in trouble. Don't get frustrated when you cannot survive a large number of enemies attacking at once. This will happen when you go off alone.

The battlefield is all around you 360 degrees. There are also situations where the enemy might be firing down at you from above or from behind rocks or other obstacles. As you fight, continually look around you and above and below to make sure the enemy isn't sneaking up on you or that you are getting too far away from your allies. As you play more, you should gain a better understanding of where the enemy players like to hide out and where attacks might be coming from.

Raidleaders usually leads very painfull and stressfull lives inside Alterac Valley. Its not easy, and there is always someone mad at you. So take it with a grain of salt if your raidleader happens to make a less night comment on your, or your teams, effort. Its happens to us all, dont take it personally.

Here is a map of Alterac Valley. Memorize it. People wont have time to tell you where what is, when the battle is on: http://wow.gamepressure.com/map.asp?ID=67 (note that Winterax Hold is no longer there, and that path is cut off).

14,3 A Strategy, with Map

from http://www.branya.com/avmap2.gif

World of Warcraft Alterac Valley Guide for the Horde

About this Guide

Introduction

1) PvP and Alterac Valley

2) Getting Started

3) The quests

(Note that I have put some quests under different categories where I thought they better fit.)

4) The loot

5) The NPC's and mobs

For names and pictures of Lieutenants, Commanders, Captains and Generals, go here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/battlegrounds/enemies-alterac.html

6) Class roles

7) Graveyards

8) Towers

9) Ivus (aka "How to kite a Treelord")

10) Lokholar the Ice Lord (aka "How to love a Popsicle")

11) Cavalry Charges, Ground Assault and Air Strikes

These are NPC's you can get through repeatable quests. Some take time to get (like the Ground Assault), but they can be worth it. Many times, they can greatly increase your chances of winning the battle, if used efficiently.

12) Taking down Dun Baldar

Dun Baldar, the Alliance's main base, is the last and greatest battle there is for Horde in Alterac Valley.

13) Vandar Stormpike and Ending the Battle

14) General Tips (stuff you NEED to know)

Dun Baldar, the Alliance's main base, is the last and greatest battle there is for Horde in Alterac Valley.

15) Addons for Alterac Valley

Here is a list of mods that can be usefull inside Alterac Valley:

16) Frostwolf Faction

17) Alterac Valley Language

18) Contributions, links, and thanks