Warsong Gulch Warsong Gulch is a battleground nestled in the southern region of Ashenvale forest . It is located near the area where Grom Hellscream and his Orc s chopped away huge swaths of forest during the events of the Third War . Despite disagreements from Thrall and the shamans , some orcs have remained in the vicinity , continuing their deforestation to fuel the Horde ' s expansion . They call themselves the Warsong Outriders . The Night Elves , who have begun a massive push to retake the forests of Ashenvale , are now fing their attention on ridding their land of the Outriders once and for all . And so , the Silverwing Sentinels have answered the call and sworn that they will not rest until every last Orc is defeated and cast out of Warsong Gulch . Warsong Gulch is similar to " capture the flag " games in other games . Each side tries to take the opponent flag and " cap " ( score ) it at their own base . You can only " cap " the flag if the enemy isn ' t carrying yours . Getting there . Alliance . The Alliance entrance is located in Silverwing Grove , southwest of Silverwing Outpost and Fallen Sky Lake in Ashenvale Forest . The Silverwing Outpost is near the junction of the main road through Ashenvale and the road south to The Barrens . Be very careful if you are below level 20 ; in the area around the Silverwing Grove are many spiders with strong venom . Instead of traveling to the actual entrance , you can be transported to the battleground by talking to the Battlemasters in the cities of Stormwind ( Stormwind Keep ) , Darnassus ( Warrior ' s Terrace ) , the Exodar ( Vault of Lights ) or Ironforge ( Military Ward ) . Horde . The Horde entrance is on the mountainside to the west of Mor ' shan Base Camp at the northern end of The Barrens . Or talk to the Battlemasters in Orgrimmar ( Valley of Honor ) , Thunder Bluff ( Hunter ' s Rise ) , Silvermoon ( Farstriders ' Square ) and Undercity ( Sylvanas ' chambers ) . Both factions will also find Battlemasters in Shattrath City and Dalaran . As of patch 3 . 1 . 0 , a player may queue up for Warsong Gulch anywhere in the world by going to the battlegrounds tab of the Player vs . Player window . They will return to the location they chose to enter the battleground , not the queue , when the game ends . Overview . Warsong Gulch is a multiple instance zone hosting a Capture the Flag style match for 10 on 10 level bracketed PvP action . Each side needs at least 5 players or the game will end after 5 minutes . Brackets . The brackets are currently ( as of Legion ) : There can be multiple instances for a particular bracket if there are enough level appropriate participants for a given level bracket . Resurrection . Resurrection in Warsong Gulch functions as normal , but if your insignia is taken you can only be resurrected at your local graveyard by an NPC who casts a resurrection every 30 seconds . As of Patch 1 . 9 . 2 you do not have to click anything . You are put in the " resurrection wave " . Hunter s and Warlock s will have their current or most recent pet resurrected as well , even if that pet was not alive at the time of the player ' s death or if the pet has not been summoned since entering the battleground . Death Knight s with the Master of Ghouls talent will have their ghoul resurrected if it was summoned at the time of death and was still alive when the Death Knight died . Mechanics . The object of the game is to capture the enemy team ' s flag , while defending your own against capture . The game ends when one team has scored 3 captures , or after 25 minutes . After that time , the team with the most flag captures wins . If this would result in a tie , the team that captured the last flag wins . If neither side has captured a flag , then the game ends in a tie . Prior to 4 . 0 . 0 , each player on the winning team would receive three Warsong Gulch Marks of Honor , and each player on the losing team would receive one mark . In the case of a tie , all participants received two marks . Currently , all battleground tokens have been removed and replaced with Honor Points Each team has one flag in their flag room . Players see the enemy ' s flag as a clickable object . Clicking on it causes the player to pick it up instantly . To score a capture , the capturing team must have their own flag at its base , and bring the enemy ' s flag to that same spot . If both flags are being carried , neither team can complete a capture . After a capture , both flags will reset to their original locations after 20 seconds . When both flags are held , the flag carriers will receive 50 % increased damage done to them after approximately 10 minutes and 100 % increased damage after approximately 15 minutes . Both levels of increased damage also bring a slowed movement speed to the flag carrier . Certain actions will cause the flag carrier to drop the flag . These include that player being killed , summoning a mount , entering stealth ( including via Vanish ) , receiving a paladin ' s Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection ( " bubble " ) , and Ice Block . The carrier can also drop the flag by clicking on their own flag buff ( received while holding the flag ) . Actions which do not cause the flag to drop include shapeshifting ( cat , travel , ghost wolf ) , Divine Protection , and using battleground power - ups . Also , picking up the flag breaks stealth . When the flag is dropped , it becomes a clickable object where it was dropped . A capturing team member can pick it up again and keep running , but the player who dropped it will not be able to personally pick it up again for 3 seconds . Or , a defending team member can click on it and it will instantly teleport back to their base ( this is called " returning " the flag ) . If no player picks up or returns the flag for about five seconds , it will return itself . Tactics . There are at least four different strategies commonly used in Warsong Gulch ; Split into O and D , Mid Control , All Escort the FC , and Zerging . The final is most common in PUGS and least likely to produce a victory while any of the first three can be made to work depending on the composition of the given team . The key to victory is communication with the other players in your faction . Take the time before the game starts to agree on what strat you will be using but be prepared to change if you need to as events develop . By communicating , your teammates will have the edge and be able to anticipate your enemies ' position and movements . It is useful to know , for example , if the opposing faction has characters camped at your graveyard . When allocating parties within a raid group , attention should be focused on not only the classes and abilities of the players involved , but also their levels . For example , it is foolish to send in some level 25 characters when you know that the enemy flag is guarded by multiple level 29s . It is important to keep in mind abilities that can root or snare a player , as well as speed enhancements , and the ability to successfully get away from a group . As in any PvP situation , the key ability to develop with your character is the ability to adapt . You are more powerful in Battleground s when you are at the higher levels of your bracket . If you ' re playing in a 25 – 29 Battleground you will be more effective in direct combat as a level 29 than a level 25 - 28 because you will be much stronger , have more powerful spells , and stronger , higher leveled weapons with more DPS . You will also notice the other faction attacks you depending on your level because a level 29 will know a player two or more levels below them is an easy fast kill and takes only a few hits . This is especially true at the expansion border levels ( 58 , 68 , 78 ) , as players geared with gear from the next expansion can have many times the health and stats of a player geared with the previous expansion ' s gear . Shamans , remember , Totems are a lifesaver ! When you are on your way to capturing the flag , lay a couple of totems , this will make a powerful escape route for you and your allies . Team Buffs are essential for flag capturing ! Blood Pact is great for EVERY ally . Defending , Healing or Attacking . Figure out what abilities you have that might be useful , and use them . Hunters , lay a Freezing Trap just on the flag . If an enemy captures it , they ' ll be " sticking around " for a while . Also , lay another damaging trap above to add insult to injury . You may want to lay a Frost Trap to slow multiple members of the enemy team . NEVER LEAVE THE FLAG CARRIER ALONE . Have at least one person with him / her at all times . The Flag Carrier is a big target , and will be primaried until the enemy realizes that the healers behind him are the only thing keeping him alive . Communicate effectively and efficiently . Don ' t spam the battleground chat with things not necessary to PvP . Short , concise communication , especially reporting enemy positions and incomings is vital to success . Power - Ups . There are three types of power - ups found in Warsong Gulch . To use them , simply walk up to one . They will respawn after a short period of time . Honor Rewards . The game awards bonus honor to everyone on your side of the match for reaching certain goals . Those goals are : Honor for lower level matches scales down from the amounts given . Other scored events do not grant bonus honor . These include : killing blows , picking up the opponent ' s flag , and returning your flag to your base . Honor is awarded for honorable kills as normal . Winning a complete match ( 3 captures and the win bonus ) gives you 140 honor ( at level 60 ) . It also awards you 3 marks of honor . These marks are used to purchase certain items under the new honor system , although as of patch 3 . 3 . 3 , you no can no longer obtain marks of honor . Losing a complete match ( 0 captures and a loss ) gives you no bonus honor . The only honor you will accumulate will come from honorable kills . You will receive 1 mark of honor at the end of a loss , so you can still collect some for honor purchases . However , a careless attitude about losing a match is generally frowned on , and considering that a winning match grants three marks and the substantial honor bonus , winning matches allows for accumulating honor points and marks much more rapidly . During the Warsong Gulch Battlegrounds Holiday , you will earn an increased reputation bonus for each flag captured on your team . The winning team will earn an additional 121 bonus honor ( at level 60 ) for completing the match , in addition to the usual 20 bonus . The losing team will earn 60 bonus honor at the end of the match . Thus a 3 – 0 match will award a total of 266 bonus honor to the winners , and 60 honor to the losers during the holiday . Reputation . Warsong Gulch items . Warsong Gulch items are now available by spending honor accumulated ( as Warsong Gulch Mark of Honor have been removed from the battleground reward ) with Illiyana Moonblaze ( Alliance ) or Kelm Hargunth ( Horde ) . Though some of the Sentinel and Outrider factions items have different names and artwork , their bonuses and equip effects are identical . More powerful versions of some items can be purchased as you gain levels , allowing higher level players to receive faction rewards with better equipment bonuses . However , the quality bracer rewards are only available from level 40 , and the quality leggings are only available at level 60 . Achievements . Useful Terminology During the course of playing , you may hear the following frequently used acronyms and terms used by players to give out directions :