Alterac Valley buildings See : Alterac Valley Bunkers and Towers . Bunkers are Alliance defensive structures , and Towers are Horde defensive structures . Each side has 4 of these buildings , and 3 house an enemy Wing Commander . 2 of the 4 house a Commander . These towers have ranged attackers posted inside them that shoot enemies outside the structure . Towers and Bunkers can be destroyed if an enemy player captures the flag inside . This will prevent the ranged fighters from attacking and allows an opportunity to save your Wing Commander . Once a flag is cap ped it must be held for 4 minutes before the Bunker / Tower is destroyed . Once a tower is destroyed , it is gone for the rest of the battle . ( Changed from 5 minutes in Patch 2 . 3 ) Moreover , when you destroy a tower , a Warmaster / Marshal will spawn in your General ' s room , and a Warmaster / Marshal will disappear from your enemy General ' s room . These NPCs are very powerful and will greatly delay the offense of the opposing team . In Patch 2 . 3 , reinforcements were added . Destroying Bunkers and Towers will decrease the opponent ' s reinforcement count by 75 reinforcements . Alliance Bunkers : Horde Bunkers : Graveyards . Graveyards are where dead PCs resurrect upon death . If you die in Alterac Valley you will resurrect at the closest graveyard that your side controls . Capturing graveyards is therefore a critical part in the Alterac Valley assault because it allows PC reinforcements to arrive much more speedily . After capping the Graveyard flag it takes exactly 4 minutes ( As of Patch 2 . 3 ) for the Graveyard to cede control to your side By capturing a graveyard you change the resurrection location to that new graveyard . PCs resurrect at the closest graveyard . When a graveyard is under control , it is protected by 4 troops . At the start many of your Graveyards are protected by Lieutenants and Commanders . There are 7 Graveyards in total : Mines . There are 2 mines in Alterac Valley : Coldtooth Mine and Irondeep Mine . At the beginning of the battle , each Mine has a complement of humanoid NPCs , and one named NPC . If the named NPC is killed by your faction , the mine will flood with aligned troops and will cede control to your side . In Patch 1 . 11 Mines have become significantly easier for individuals to capture , and many classes can easily solo each mine . Most groups in each mine are linked three pulls , with two workers and either a caster or melee overseer . Each individual within these groups has around 1000 to 1200 hitpoints and are easily brought down . Some of the alcoves house larger numbers of NPCs , either four or five , and there is a patrolling route of five NPCs throughout both mines . The named leader inside both mines , regardless of alignment , is no longer elite , and can usually be killed single - handedly , allowing control to switch over . As a result , mines have become largely insignificant in Alterac Valley , due to the change in pacing of each game and how easily gained and lost they become , and can sometimes be ignored throughout an entire game . Mining supplies inside the mine can be looted and returned to base , provided you have the corresponding quest . After a mine is taken , your troops will begin to spawn wiping out the mine of neutral NPCs . After taking a mine , the original enemy mine boss will eventually respawn to try and retake the mine . Be sure to kill this boss when he respawns and you will continually have access to the mine . In Patch 2 . 3 , with the addition of reinforcements , mines will grant 1 reinforcement every 45 seconds . If your faction controls both mines , you will gain 2 reinforcements every 45 seconds . Irondeep Mine . Store supplies for mining quest . Guarded by troggs . Neutral Leader : Morloch , Warlock type , kill his imp first to knock out some of his DPS . Horde Leader : Keetar , 2H Warrior type , has a nasty whirlwind that can dice up rogues . Alliance Leader : Umi Thorson , 1H / Shield Warrior type . Coldtooth Mine . Store supplies for mining quest . Guarded by kobolds . Note : The kobolds have an annoying fire damage aura that can knock you out of stealth , take care in sneaking around the mine , fire resist gear can help . Kobolds , unlike Troggs , will run and can bring friends if not killed quickly . Also , despite being very easy to kill , they can cause a high amount of melee damage after repeatedly applying Sunder Armor . Lower level warlock s should consider using their Felhunter , whose Tainted Blood skill can mitigate this increased damage . Neutral Leader : Snivvle , nothing special to note . Horde Leader : Masha Swiftcut , rogue type . Alliance Leader : Aggi Rumblestomp , two - handed warrior type . Caverns . There are 2 Caves in Alterac Valley which serve no purpose except to house an item used for the Proving Grounds quests . Icewing Cavern . Location of Harpies . Strategically insignificant . Involved in quest for Alliance . Wildpaw Cavern . Location of Gnolls . Strategically insignificant . Involved in quest for Horde . Field of Strife . The Field of Strife is not a building , but rather an open expanse in Alterac Valley where the initial fighting begins . It is located in the middle of Alterac Valley . It contains no key structures , a few scattered NPCs for both faction , and is important for summoning Ivus the Forest Lord and Lokholar the Icelord . The Field of Strife is also an important site for Alliance ( and probably Horde ) to launch an aerial offensive , with each Wing Commander , having successfully received enough collected medals or flesh , asking for a beacon to be planted in either the west or east crater . This beacon must be protected for one minute , and if done so successfully , an aerial assault will launch .