Newbie battleground guide The anti - thesis of dungeons , Battlegrounds offer a completely different experience to players . Dungeons are completed by calculated , methodical progression ; the goal being to " control the game " rather than letting the game control you . PvP is quite the opposite . In PvP battlegrounds , you are not pitted against digital entities with calculated behaviors , but fellow humans with all the common sense and lack there - of that comes with being human . PvP rewards quick thinking and situational awareness : the moment you think everything is safe and good , a rogue will appear behind you and you ' ll have the choice of releasing your spirit now or in 6 minutes . Warsong Gulch . Warsong Gulch , or WSG , is the first Battleground that leveling characters can access . The game flow is the classic capture the flag model which grew up in real world paintballing and has made its way into many online multi player games . ( e . g . " Blood Gulch " in Halo ) . As battlegrounds go , WSG is the standard fare ; games tend to resolve quickly resulting in high turnaround and thus increased opportunity to gain honor . Leadership & Play Style . The Instance Grouping Guide briefly mentions the role of the party leader ; designating targets and planning the flow of the battle . The party plans a fight , executes that plan , and then advances to make the next plan . In this way , Dungeons are similar to American Football , where play action is interrupted regularly and the emphasis is on anticipating what the opponent will do in the next snap . This is not the case in WSG . Game flow is never interrupted ; if you stand still for a span of time in the middle of the battle you can expect that the opponent will either kill you or ignore you and go after the objective . Here , the leader must coach in a style more akin to basketball , where players know their roles and do them to the best of their ability according to their knowledge of the situation at the moment . A good battleground leader will remind people what their job is , and tell them information that they need to know that they might not know , such as where the flag bearer is . The MOST important thing in WSG is positioning : being in the right place at the right time to react , particularly in the lower levels of the battleground , before people can be mounted . It takes time to move across the map , and in many cases you could follow someone for minutes and gain no ground at all if they choose their path correctly . You can ' t hit what you can ' t catch . Class Duties . If you ' ve read the Instance Grouping Guide , or have played WoW at all , you should already be aware that there are significant differences between classes . In a dungeon , warriors and healers exist to allow dps classes to do their work . This relationship is reversed in WSG . Flagbearing : Druids , Warriors , Paladins The flag bearer is absolutely assured to be target " numero uno " to the opponent . S / he can expect to take fire from any and every player who can disengage to intercept them in time . Thus , it is absolutely critical that the flag bearer be a class capable of surviving the run with the flag . Druids , with their animal forms , can be useful in this role because of their great speed or armor / stamina . Mages , with their snares and blink , and priests , with shielding and fear , can also survive in this role but not against a determined and focused opponent ; once a few DoTs pile up , cloth classes tend to die quickly . Warriors and Paladins are ideal if a druid is not available . Skirmishing : Warlocks , Hunters , Shamans The role of the skirmisher is to harass the opponent . Classes with combat pets can present a threat to the opponent , particularly hunters with pets similar to druid animal forms . This role is less about killing the opponent , and more about stalling and forcing the opponent to become entangled in battle instead of running towards their objective . Shamans , with their combination of skills , also make excellent skirmishers . Skirmishers should concentrate on wing men going in for the flag , and the flag bearer . Wingmen : Priests , Mages Mages and Priests , with frost nova and fear respectively , make excellent wing men for flag bearers . Frequently they can run alongside opponent players behind the flag bearer with little risk of being attacked merely because the opponent is focused solely on recovering the flag . AOE snares can stop pursuit cold . Against a particularly disorganized opponent , wing men might also stay behind at the opponent ' s graveyard and snare players as they rez ; a suicidal move frequently but certain to draw attention away from the rest of the fight . Flag Guards : Mages , Hunters Classes with the ability to detect rogues also make good guards . Hunters , with their flares and traps , can detect rogues and booby - trap the flag area . Mages , with frost nova and arcane explosion , have equally good abilities . In some cases an opponent rogue will camp the flag alcove while the flag is being carried , for a quick rebound should the team score or the flag be returned , and guards have the abilities to detect these infiltrators before they can act . Hunter - Killers : Rogues , DPS Casters Despite the name , this role has little to do with hunters and everything to do with killing . Hunter - Killer players roam the backfield , or sometimes camp the flag , looking for otherwise unengaged players to pick off ; in practice this is similar to sniper - camping in most shooting games . If the skirmishers have picked off wing men , the HK rogue camping the flag can pick off the flag bearer before the flag can leave the base . Other DPS classes can support this role as well : night elves give the alliance an advantage in this way with their shadowmeld ability .