General battleground strategies General strategies . Golden rules . No matter the BG , these rules should be adhered to ensure maximum use of force . Before you begin . There is a waiting period before each BG for a reason . This period is referred to as the " Buff Phase " . If you are a buff class but you don ' t buff everyone you can , you are not doing everything you can . All buffs cost 0 mana . That warrior you failed to buff might not be able to save you when the time comes . It means you warlocks too ! We might not need to breathe under water or to detect invisible mobs that much in a BG , but it will cost their priests more mana to dispel the extra buffs . Have a plan and stick to the plan . Listen to the BG leader . This may not actually be the player named " Battleground Leader " . Usually one person will speak up with advice to help . Give them support , even if you think the idea is not the best , it ' s better to work together than spend a minute arguing . Plans can change on the fly . Path to Victory . Some general tips to bring focus to the battleground and quickly give your team the edge . Battlegrounds . Alterac Valley . Please read this link for an up to date and detailed strategy on Alterac Valley The goal of AV is to kill the enemy general before your general is killed . What gives honor in AV ? AV is usually considered a race to the other faction ' s general . 90 % of the players will go on offense , immediately running across half the map . The remaining players are defense that fight a losing battle to delay the enemy from reaching the general . Since AV is a race to the other side , if you fail to " get out of the gate " at the moment the BG begins , you will get stuck behind an advancing wave of enemy players . Your best option is to hunker down with the defense . If you are on defense , consider rushing ahead with 1 or 2 other defenders . The opposition will certainly kill you , but every precious second they take doing that could be essential for your team . A good Defense is a Great Offense . Offense Group 1 - 5 Note : You want to make sure to capture the Relief Hut graveyard BEFORE the Frostwolf graveyard ( FWGY ) or you will get a nice turtle effect where their defense spawns in a nicly protected area with some free offense all around if you don ' t have the FWK towers . This will cost you precious minutes inching your way fighting the horde to get to Drek while their offense is killing Vanndar . Offense Group 6 - 8 Defense There is no defense unless you happen to be an unfortunate soul that died before the cap . At this point it is your job to do anything you can to defend the towers , this means you had better be standing in the towers on the flag with a nice hunter who is smart enough to know that on defense the flare is one of the greatest offensive weapons out there . . . pesky rogues . Also , let your offense know when the Horde have started fighting our General . Many Alliance losses are due to people waiting on towers to cap thinking the Horde are going to wait indefinitely to start fighting our General . This will allow for 10 - 15 minute AV ' s Getting roughly 400 - 600 honor depending on how well you personally do . The one thing to note is that you make sure to allow the towers and the relief hut to completely cap before you even touch the General . I have won with this strategy around 80 - 90 % of the time , unless the enemy happen to have a great defense and you do not have the requisite amount of people on offense . Note : Beware of priests in the general ' s keep they like to sit right around the corner and fear you into them , Yes its cheap , but it is also VERY effective if you are peeking in before the relief hut is completely capped Eye of the Storm . EotS is part capture the flag and part king of the hill . There are 4 towers that capture based on proximity and a flag in the middle that can be captured for points . More flag points are earned for each tower the Alliance controls . The key to EotS is not the flag , it ' s good tower control . Controlling 3 towers is ideal for an easy win , but it takes work . Many players get so focused on capturing the flag they fail to defend the towers , leading to the 3 - 4 cap . I cannot stress how important the towers are . Even a lightly defended tower will have 2 players to prevent a sneaky cap . Once you get 3 towers secured , everyone should be on defense , shifting players to towers that the enemy is assaulting . Grabbing the flag at this point is nice , but should NOT be a focus . One of the most common mistakes I see when there is a 3 - cap is every player rushing the middle for the flag thinking the towers are safe . The enemy usually counterattacks and retakes 2 towers leading to a reverse 3 - cap . Arathi Basin . Arathi Basin is a map with 5 flag points that give points based on how many flags each faction controls . Capturing more flags results in faster points for the controlling team . Owning all 5 flags will result in massive points and a usually win for the 5 - capping team if they can hold for a minute or two . The strategy to use in AB is very similar to EotS . You always want to own 3 or more of the 5 flags . While flags are switching sides , they are neutral . This is when they are vulnerable because defenders will not respawn there . Once captured , all flags need at least 2 - 3 defenders to thwart any attack . Because the map is rather large , travelling alone is certain death . Some resource points are worth more than others . They all give the same number of points , but the ability to move quickly from one to another and to a lesser extent see what ' s going on nearby is critical . Warsong Gulch . WSG is a traditional capture the flag , with 2 bases separated by a short battlefield . It is rather wide , but most action takes place in the middle . It appears that the best tactic is to simply travel across the map in a group of 10 , let a few players go in to cap the flag , and have the entire group shield the flag runner as he runs back to the friendly base . If the enemy captures your flag you need to kill him before he returns to the base and hides , as it is hard to get inside . Usually , a well played team will have little trouble killing off enemies as they spawn or attempt to run out of the base with the flag . The game basically comes down to a giant melee in the middle , usually right near the Alliance graveyard , while fast druids and rogues capture the flag . The key to WSG is to travel in a huge group and focus fire any enemy you can , and keep their numbers in the Graveyard , not on the field . Once a team gets momentum in the middle , it ' s over . Strand of the Ancients . - Offense : and everyone else needs to be peeling the defender ' s off your siege tanks : rogues spam FoK w / crippling poision against enemies on tanks , hunters snare and trap , DK / Frost Mage freeze them , Warlocks Fear bomb , etc . and it is crucial to have a teammate on foot charge the the newly openened siege shop near the graveyard . Generally , you want to keep pressure on the side of the first gate you ' ve taken down , where you have the momentum . the opposite GY you ' ve taken to cap it , allowing for more siege and another closer spawn point . ) this will almost always ensure a fail , for you now spawn damn near a mile from the siege shop . whilst they try and diffuse your bomb . try to keep your team inside the Courtyard of the Ancients to allow easier access for your siege to roll in . - Defense : Your MAIN PRIORITY is to KILL SIEGE , over everything else , you want to always be attacking the siege tank , if you ' re not , you will probably lose . you always want at least one person to guard the GY flag nearest that gate . Doing this will make it a lot more painful for the enemy team to keep the pressure on your gates , slowing their momentum . this way you are able to CALL INCS of enemy siege and what side they ' re coming from , also at this point it ' s not a bad idea to have a person on yellow ' s turret , because they can basically do uninterrupted ( usually ) to incoming siege , AND gives you a nice vantage point . From this point hold them off with everything you have . If they manage to burn down Yellow , turtle inside the yellow gate , and have a few outside the Relic Chamber door to diffuse potential bombs . slow / burn the tanks before they can start shooting at the Chamber .