Honor system (pre-2.0 formulas)

This article will attempt to cover the mathematical formulas that are known about the honor system (pre-2.0). Some of this information was derived by other authors. Sources are listed at the end in the #References section.
==Variables==
; HK : Number of Honorable Kills you have made.
; DK : Number of Dishonorable Kills you have made.
; CP : Number of Contribution Points you have earned in a given week.
; WS : Weekly Standing, your CP standing relative to the other players on your faction side for the week.
; NR : Number of Ranked players for your faction in a given week. (Also the highest WS value awarded to a player for the week.)
; RP : Number of Rank Points you have earned over all weeks.
; HS : Honor Standing, your RP standing relative to the other players on your faction side overall.
; Rank : 0 - 14. Your PVP Rank determines your PvP Title.
; BHU : Bonus Honor Unit, the base amount of bonus CP earned for achieving objectives in battlegrounds. Each objective is worth 1 or more BHU's.
Note that in the old system, rank was used to determine what equipment you can purchase at the PVP faction vendors.
==Contribution Points==
* Your CP score is reset to 0 at weekly server maintenance, so every Tuesday in US and mainland China, every Wednesday in EU.
===CP for Honorable Kills===
* You get more honor for killing higher ranked players.
* Patch 1.8 raised these numbers. Unfortunately I do not possess numbers for all ranks, so I only add numbers I know and keep pre-1.8 numbers for historical purposes. --Drundia
Rank	Alliance Title 	Horde Title 	CP for Kill (pre-1.8)	CP for Kill (1.8+)
1 	Private 	Scout 	166 	198
2 	Corporal 	Grunt 	175 	210
3 	Sergeant 	Sergeant 	185 	221
4 	Master Sergeant 	Senior Sergeant 	195 	233
5 	Sergeant Major 	First Sergeant 	205 	246
6 	Knight 	Stone Guard 	217 	260
7 	Knight-Lieutenant 	Blood Guard 	229 	274
8 	Knight-Captain 	Legionnaire 	241 	289
9 	Knight-Champion 	Centurion 	254 	305
10 	Lieutenant Commander	Champion 	268 	321
11 	Commander 	Lieutenant General	283 	339
12 	Marshal 	General 	298 	357
13 	Field Marshal 	Warlord 	315 	377
14 	Grand Marshal 	High Warlord 	332 	398
* The CP per HK are divided among all the groups that caused damage to the killed player. 
* Your CP per HK is subject to the diminishing returns rule. Within a 24 hour period you will only get credit for 10 HKs against a given player, as follows: ( Updated to the new 1.12 Patch)
** 1st kill = 100% CP
** 2nd kill = 90% CP
** 3rd kill = 80% CP
** 4th kill = 70% CP 
** 5th kill = 60% CP
** 6th kill = 50% CP
** 7th kill = 40% CP
** 8th kill = 30% CP
** 9th kill = 20% CP
** 10th kill = 10% CP
** 11th and subsequent kills = 0 CP
* Contrary to official Blizzard statements there actually exists a group and even raid bonus when number of players who get the share of group honor is 3 or higher.
* DK's immediately lower RP's (overall score) rather than your CP's (weekly score).
* The CP's that you earn each day can be viewed under the honor tab of your character window on the next day.
====Estimated Honor Points====
* You can view your estimated honor earnings per kill in your Combat message window. You can also display those messages in your main chat window by enabling them in the Filters, Combat Messages, Honor Messages menu.
* An estimated honor message looks like this:
 Soandso dies, honorable kill Rank: Senior Sergeant (Estimated Honor Points: 38)
* The Estimated Honor Points number does not account for the diminishing returns rule. It is up to you or the mod of your choice to keep track of how many times you've killed each player.
===CPs from Faction Leaders===
* One report says that killing Thrall was worth 488 CP and 0 reputation.
===CPs from Battlegrounds===
* "Your team" in the notes below refers to everyone on your side of the battleground, regardless of groups or raid groups.
* CP rewards scale down for players under level 60. The amount of reward for each objective is a multiple of the BHU for the level of battleground that you are in. The BHU is determined by the CP that would be awarded to the highest level in the range, if they made an honorable kill on a Rank 1 target. (So 198 CP for level 60 battlegrounds, as per the honor per rank table above.)
* Bonus Honor Units (BHU) by Battleground Level Range:
Level Range	BHU 	Relative Percent
10-19 	24 CP 	12%
20-29 	41 CP 	21%
30-39 	68 CP 	34%
40-49 	113 CP	57%
50-59 	189 CP	95%
AV 51-60 	198 CP	100%
60 	198 CP	100%
* Bonus honor for objectives are awarded immediately when the objective is achieved. This means that:
** If you enter a battleground late, you will not receive bonus honor for objectives before you arrived.
** If you leave a battleground before the end of the match, you will keep any awarded bonus you have received so far, but you will not receive the bonuses awarded at the end of the match.
* If a game ends prematurely due to lack of players outnumbering team will be granted victory when timer expires regardless of objectives.
====Alterac Valley====
* This section is a work in progress (see talk page).
* Each side has 1 General. Killing the General gives your team bonus honor, and wins the match. If a game ends prematurely due to lack of players, General of outnumbered team will be killed when timer expires, unless both teams don't have enough players in which case all players will be kicked out and awarded a Deserter debuff.
* Each side has 1 Captain, 4 Commanders, and 6 Lieutenants. These NPCs give your team bonus honor when killed.
Alliance NPCs(targets for Horde) 	Alliance NPCs(targets for Horde) 	Horde NPCs(targets for Alliance) 	Horde NPCs(targets for Alliance)
Vanndar Stormpike<Stormpike General>	Vanndar Stormpike<Stormpike General>	Drek'Thar<Frostwolf General>	Drek'Thar<Frostwolf General>
Captain Balinda Stonehearth 	Captain Balinda Stonehearth 	Captain Galvangar 	Captain Galvangar
Commander Duffy 	Commander Karl Philips 	Commander Dardosh 	Commander Louis Philips
Commander Mortimer 	Commander Randolph 	Commander Malgor 	Commander Mulfort
Lieutenant Greywand 	Lieutenant Largent 	Lieutenant Grummus 	Lieutenant Lewis
Lieutenant Lonadin 	Lieutenant Mancuso 	Lieutenant Murp 	Lieutenant Rugba
Lieutenant Spencer 	Lieutenant Stouthandle 	Lieutenant Stronghoof 	Lieutenant Vol'talar
* Each side has 4 Towers or Bunkers. These structures give your team bonus honor when destroyed.
Alliance Bunkers(targets for Horde)	Alliance Bunkers(targets for Horde)	Horde Towers(targets for Alliance)	Horde Towers(targets for Alliance)
Dun Baldar North Bunker 	Dun Baldar South Bunker 	East Frostwolf Tower 	West Frostwolf Tower
Icewing Bunker 	Stonehearth Bunker 	Iceblood Tower 	Tower Point
* Each side has 3 captured Wing Commanders found in enemy territory. These NPCs can be rescued for bonus honor. After rescue, these NPC's collect items (medals for Alliance, flesh for Horde) to release the flight to help your side fight.
Alliance Wing Commanders(rescued by Alliance)	Horde Wing Commanders(rescued by Horde)
Wing Commander Ichman (West Frostwolf Tower) 	Wing Commander Guse (Icewing Bunker)
Wing Commander Slidor (Tower Point) 	Wing Commander Jeztor (Stormpike Lumbermill)
Wing Commander Vipore (Frostwolf Village) 	Wing Commander Mulverick (Dun Baldur North Bunker)
* this table is not yet complete...
Qty 	Bonus Objective 	BHU Value 	Level Range
 	 	 	51-60
11 	Killing enemy Lieutenant/Commander/Captain 	1 	198
4 	Destroying enemy Tower/Bunker 	1 	198
3 	Rescuing friendly Wing Commander 	1 	198
1 	Summoning Ivus the Forest Lord or Lokholar the Ice Lord 	* 1 	* 198
4 	Controlling friendly Tower/Bunker at end of match 	1 	198
1 	Friendly Captain survived until end of match 	1 	198
10 	Friendly Lieuetenant/Commander survived until end of match 	* 0 	* 0
7 	Controlling graveyard at end of match 	* 0 	* 0
1 	Killing enemy General 	4 	792
1 	Winning the match 	* 1 	* 198
1 	Extra for winning the holiday match 	* 2 	* 396
1 	Extra for completing holiday match (win or loss, but not tie) 	* 8 	* 1584
* indicates that this value requires extra confirmation, but it has very high probability of being correct	* indicates that this value requires extra confirmation, but it has very high probability of being correct	* indicates that this value requires extra confirmation, but it has very high probability of being correct	* indicates that this value requires extra confirmation, but it has very high probability of being correct
====Arathi Basin====
* Your team earns bonus honor for collecting resources. During normal days, the bonus is awarded every time your team collects a multiple of 330 resource. On the Arathi Basin Holiday weekend, your team collects bonus for every multiple of 200 resources.
* Your team also gets an additional bonus honor award for winning the match, regardless of the holiday schedule.
* If a game ends prematurely due to lack of players outnumbering team will be granted victory when timer expires regardless of resources.
Bonus Objective 	BHU Value	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range
 	 	20-29 	30-39 	40-49 	50-59 	60
Every 330 resources, non-holiday	1 	41 	68 	113 	189 	198
Winning the match, non-holiday 	1 	41 	68 	113 	189 	198
Total Win bonus, non-holiday 	7 	287 	476 	791 	1323 	1386
Every 200 resources, holiday 	1 	41 	68 	113 	189 	198
Winning the match, holiday 	1 	41 	68 	113 	189 	198
Total Win bonus, holiday 	11 	451 	748 	1243 	2079 	2178
====Warsong Gulch====
* Your team earns 2 BHU for each capture of the opponents' flag.
* Your team earns 1 BHU for winning the match.
* During Warsong Gulch Holidays both teams also earn an additional 3 BHU when match ends.
* During Warsong Gulch Holidays the winning team earns an additional 2 BHU (in addition to normal 1 BHU for victory).
* If a game ends prematurely due to lack of players outnumbering team will be granted victory when timer expires regardless of flags.
Bonus Objective 	BHU Value	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range	Battleground Level Range
 	 	10-19 	20-29 	30-39 	40-49 	50-59 	60
Every flag captured 	2 	48 	82 	136 	226 	378 	396
Winning the match 	1 	24 	41 	68 	113 	189 	198
Total Win (3 flags + win), non-holiday 	7 	168 	287 	476 	791 	1323 	1386
Total Loss (0 flags), non-holiday 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Extra for completing a holiday match, win or lose	3 	72 	123 	204 	339 	567 	594
Extra for winning a holiday match 	2 	48 	82 	136 	226 	378 	396
Total Win (3 flags + win), holiday 	12 	288 	492 	816 	1356 	2268 	2376
Total Loss (0 flags), holiday 	3 	72 	123 	204 	339 	567 	594
====Quests====
* Marks are awarded at the end of the match in each of the three battlegrounds.
* You earn 3 Marks for winning a match, 1 Mark for losing a match, and no marks if you quit out before the match is completed.
* Turning in the quest for 3 Marks from each of the 3 battlegrounds (Concerted Efforts for Alliance, For Great Honor for Horde) is worth an additional 2388 CPs (at all levels, although only 51 and up can actually accomplish it because lower levels have no access to Alterac Valley).
* Turning in one of the quests for 3 Marks from a single battleground is worth as follows:
Level Range	CP
10-19 	50
20-29 	82
30-39 	138
40-49 	228
50-59 	378
(AV) 51-60 	398
60 	398
===CP Pseudo-Code===
 my CP = 0; # on Tuesday after the patch
 CP = CP + SomeHKFunction(My Level, Target Level, My Rank, Target Rank); # for each HK
 CP = CP + SomeBGFunction(My Level, BG Points, ???); # for battleground objectives
 CP = CP + SomeNPCReward(); # for killing NPC honor targets
==Weekly Standings==
* Your WS is calculated every week during the Tuesday server patch. 
* The person with the most CP's for the week on your side will have a WS of 1. The next highest CP score will have a WS of 2. And so on...
* Your CP score is relative to the other players on your server/side. The absolute number of CP's you gain in one week can be wildly different from those you get in another week, and yet you may still get the same WS.
* Any player that does not earn at least 15 HK's in a week will not be included in the weekly standings, and therefore cannot gain Rank.
* There is also "a cut-off calculated based on the number of Honorable Kills made by all characters of your faction this week. Those having less HK than this cut-off (but at least 15 HK) will not be included in the calculations this week, but their points for the week will be enough to at least attain or keep Rank 1." 
* The HK cut-off was changed from 25 HK to 15 HK in or shortly after patch 1.10. (28-Mar-2006)
===WS Pseudo-Code===
 @ListOfPlayers = list of all players on the server on this side (alliance/horde);
 foreach player (@ListOfPlayers) {
 if (HK(player) < 15) {
 delete player from @ListOfPlayers;
 } else if (CP(player) < cutoff) {
 delete player from @ListOfPlayers;
 if (Rank(player) == 0) {
 # 15 HK's is all you need to promote from no Rank to Rank=1
 Rank(player) = 1;
 RP(player) = 0;
 }
 }
 }
 standing=1;
 foreach player (@ListOfPlayers sorted by CP highest to lowest) {
 WS(player) = standing;
 standing++;
 }
 NR = standing; # total number of ranked players this week
==Rank Points==
* Your RP score is adjusted weekly, during or before weekly maintenance (Tuesday for US, Wednesday for EU) .
* Your weekly adjustment is equal to your RP Earnings, minus your RP Decay.
===Weekly RP Earnings===
* Your weekly earning depends on your WS, CP and the NR.
* The function to convert CP to RP is piecewise-linear in CP. This function changes every week, depending upon how everyone on your server/side scores in the weekly standings.
* The WS and NR are used to determine where the end points are for each linear segment.
* The top end point is defined as (CPmax, 13000). In other words, the player scoring the most CP in a given week will earn 13000 RP. (Except on small servers, see below.)
* The bottom end point is defined as (0, 0). In other words, 0 CP earns 0 RP.
* The middle points are defined using Breakpoints, which are fractions of the total NR who will earn enough points to make progress toward each of the given ranks.
* The Breakpoints are observed to be (pre-1.12): 
Group 	BreakPt 	% in Group 	RP at BreakPt 	v1.12 BreakPt
14 	0.002 	0.2 	12 000 	0.003
13 	0.007 	0.5 	11 000 	0.008
12 	0.017 	1.0 	10 000 	0.020
11 	0.037 	2.0 	9 000 	0.035
10 	0.077 	4.0 	8 000 	0.060
9 	0.137 	6.0 	7 000 	0.100
8 	0.207 	7.0 	6 000 	0.159
7 	0.287 	8.0 	5 000 	0.228
6 	0.377 	9.0 	4 000 	0.327
5 	0.477 	10.0 	3 000 	0.436
4 	0.587 	11.0 	2 000 	0.566
3 	0.715 	12.8 	1 000 	0.697
2 	0.858 	14.3 	400 	0.845
1 	1.000 	14.2 	0 	1.000
These observations are approximate due to the sparse data available in the low-ranking groups.	These observations are approximate due to the sparse data available in the low-ranking groups.	These observations are approximate due to the sparse data available in the low-ranking groups.	These observations are approximate due to the sparse data available in the low-ranking groups.	These observations are approximate due to the sparse data available in the low-ranking groups.
* The 1.12 patch changed the breakpoints, placing more people in the highest brackets for faster advancement. The new breakpoints listed above are estimates from a single server study.
* This is used to determine the WS at the top of each Breakpoint by:
 WS (at breakpoint) = round( NR * BreakPt )
* The CP for the person at that WS, and the person at the next higher WS are used to determine the CP location at the breakpoint:
 CP (breakpoint) = ( CP(WS) + CP(WS+1) ) / 2
* CP location at breakpoint seems to be almost exactly in the middle for the datasets that I have checked so far.
==== Breakpoint Example ====
* This is real data for the week ending Jan 25, 2006, on the Lothar Server, Alliance Side, as recorded by Greenman.
 # CPmax for WS=1 was 431492
 # NR was 2045
 # Breakpoints are:
 WS(14) = 0.002 * 2045 = 4.09 = 4
 WS(13) = 0.007 * 2045 = 14.32 = 14
 WS(12) = 0.017 * 2045 = 34.76 = 35
 WS(11) = 0.037 * 2045 = 75.66 = 76
 WS(10) = 0.077 * 2045 = 157.46 = 157
 WS( 9) = 0.137 * 2045 = 280.17 = 280
 ... and so on ...
 # CP value at the 14 breakpoint is:
 CP(14) = (CP(WS=4) + CP(WS=5)) / 2
 = (323844 + 306394) / 2
 = 315119
 # CP value at the 13 breakpoint is:
 CP(13) = (CP(WS=14) + CP(WS=15)) / 2
 = (227956 + 225061) / 2
 = 226508
 ... and so on ...
 # the complete function is defined by the points:
 (431492, 13000) # top CP score gets top RP score
 (315119, 12000) # breakpoint 14
 (226508, 11000)
 (164960, 10000)
 (120420, 9000)
 ( 76316, 8000)
 ( 54408, 7000) # breakpoint 9
 ( 36958, 6000)
 ( 23369, 5000)
 ( 15491, 4000)
 ( 9221, 3000)
 ( 5231, 2000) # breakpoint 4
 ( 2539, 1000)
 ( 910, 400)
 ( 0, 0) # bottom end point
==== Using the Fitted Function ====
* The function is linear between each of the points, so find the two points that bound your CP score, and you know which group you are in.
* Then take the linear fit between those two points to determine your RP earning.
* For example:
 # Greenman earned CP=61353 during the week ending Jan 25th.
 # Upper bound point: ( 76316, 8000)
 # Lower bound point: ( 54408, 7000)
 RP = (CP - CPlo) / (CPup - CPlo) * (RPup - RPlo) + RPlo
 RP = (61353 - 54408) / (76316 - 54408) * (8000 - 7000) + 7000
 RP = 6945 / 21908 * 1000 + 7000
 RP = 7317 # which is exactly what he did earn that week
====RP Earning Pseudo-Code====
 # Variables:
 # NR = total number of ranked players ont he server/side
 # @CP = array of the CP scores for each of the ranked 
 # players, indexed by their WS
 # @FX = the X (CP) value of the 15 function control points
 # @FY = the Y (RP) value of the 15 function control points
 # 
 # Before any scoring can be done, we need to determine 
 # the parameters of the piecewise-linear function for 
 # this week. This is done with the following function call:
 #
 (@FX, @FY) = GenerateFunction(NR, @CP);
 sub GenerateFunction (NR, @CP) {
 #
 # initialize the breakpoint values
 BRK[14] = 0.002;
 BRK[13] = 0.007;
 BRK[12] = 0.017;
 BRK[11] = 0.037;
 BRK[10] = 0.077;
 BRK[ 9] = 0.137; 
 BRK[ 8] = 0.207; 
 BRK[ 7] = 0.287; 
 BRK[ 6] = 0.377; 
 BRK[ 5] = 0.477; 
 BRK[ 4] = 0.587; 
 BRK[ 3] = 0.715; 
 BRK[ 2] = 0.858;
 #
 # get the WS scores at the top of each break point
 foreach i (2..14) {
 BRK[i] = round( BRK[i] * NR );
 } 
 #
 # set the high point
 FX[15] = CP[1]; # top scorer
 FY[15] = 13000; # ... gets 13000 RP
 #
 # set the low point
 FX[ 1] = 0;
 FY[ 1] = 0;
 #
 # the Y values for each breakpoint are fixed
 FY[ 2] = 400;
 foreach i (3..14) {
 FY[i] = (i-2) * 1000;
 }
 #
 # the X values for each breakpoint are found from the CP scores
 # of the players around that point in the WS scores
 foreach i (2..14) {
 FX[i] ={ CP( BRK[i] ) + CP( BRK[i]+1 ) }/ 2;
 }
 # 
 # function is complete, return the arrays
 return (@FX, @FY);
 }
 # Variables:
 # CP = the given player's CP score for the week
 # @FX = function params from above
 # @FY = function params from above
 # RP = the given player's RP earning for the week
 #
 # RP is found by a linear fit to one segment of the 
 # generated function.
 # 
 RP = LinearFit(CP, @FX, @FY);
 sub LinearFit (CP, @FX, @FY) {
 #
 # search the function for the two points that bound the given CP
 i = 15;
 while ((i>0) and (FX[i-1] > CP)) {
 i--;
 }
 # 
 # we now have i such that FX[i] > CP >= FX[i-1]
 # so interpolate
 RP = (FY[i] - FY[i-1]) * (CP - FX[i-1]) / (FX[i] - FX[i-1]) + FY[i-1];
 #
 # that's all there is to it
 return(RP);
 }
====Earnings on Small Servers====
* It is possible for a server to have an NR too small to support even a single Rank 14 player in a given week.
* If NR < 250, the Rank 14 bracket will contain NR * 0.002 < 0.5, rounded to 0 players. In that case, the top scoring player for the week will earn 12000 RP (top of bracket 13) rather than the usual 13000 RP.
* This was observed over multiple weeks, including the week ending 23-May-2006, on Muladin/H. NR for that week was estimated to be 207, and the WS=1 player earned 12000 RP.
* Theoretically, if a server has NR < 71, then the Rank 13 bracket will also contain no players. In that case, I expect the top WS=1 player will earn 11000 RP (top of bracket 12).
==== How to Determine NR for a Server ====
* If you know the standing at one of the breakpoints, you can estimate the NR from the breakpoint percentage value.
* Examples:
 # if your server regularly supports 4 people in bracket #14, then
 NR = 4 / 0.002 = 2000
 margin of error = 1 / 0.002 = 500
 so NR = 2000 +/- 250
 # if the person earning closest to 7000 RP this week had WS=297, then
 NR = 297 / 0.137 = 2168
 margin of error = 1 / 0.137 = 7
 so NR = 2168 +/- 4
===Weekly RP Decay===
* Your weekly RP decay is 20% of your current RP total.
* But, if your weekly adjustment (Earning - Decay) negative, that adjustment is cut in half. 
* Also, your weekly adjustment will never drop you down by more than 2500 pts.
* This limit does not include DK losses.
====RP Decay Pseudo-Code====
 Earning = calculated above
 Decay = round(0.2 * RP);
 Delta = Earning - Decay;
 if (Delta < 0) {
 Delta = Delta / 2;
 }
 if (Delta < -2500) {
 Delta = -2500;
 }
 RP = RP + Delta; # change from last week to this week
====Decay as Weighted Average====
The official PVP Honor Guide describes the rank point system a little differently. This system is mathematically equivalent to the system described above, but it gives a better understanding of the reason why decay exists and how it is expected to work.
* Every week your CP score is converted to a weekly rating point score. (Call this WRP, while RP is still your overall RP score from week to week.)
* The WRP score is on the full 0 - 65000 point scale, just like RP. So WRP in this system is 5 * RP Earned in the above system.
* Your new RP score for the week is calculated as a weighted average of your WRP and your RP to date.
** If WRP > RP, then new RP = (4 * RP + 1 * WRP)/5
** If WRP < RP, then new RP = (9 * RP + 1 * WRP)/10
** and if (new RP) < (old RP - 2500), then new RP = RP - 2500
* If you consistently score the same WRP from week to week, then this weighted average system will make your RP score approach that WRP value. (Just like in the old system, where 5 * your RP Earned is the expected limit of your RP over time.)
* This system shows that the points are never actually taken away from you when you move up. You simply gain less ground when your total RP is approaching your potential WRP score.
===CP to RP Rule of Thumb===
* You can derive how much honor (CP) you need to earn rank points (RP) for any given week on any given server, but only after the fact. There is no exact formula that can tell you how much CP you need this week to earn so many RP at the end of this week.
* Furthermore, the Battlegrounds Holiday weekends change every week, which will also adjust how much CP you need for a given standing.
* By reviewing the formulas for 28 server/week combinations, I have found a somewhat useful trend: the amount CP required for a given rank bracket is roughly 1.5 times the amount of CP required for the next lower bracket.
* The calculated ratios are:
BracketN	RatioCP(N)/CP(N-1)
14 	1.35
13 	1.47
12 	1.44
11 	1.47
10 	1.58
9 	1.58
8 	1.53
7 	1.53
6 	1.57
5 	1.58
4 	1.66
3 	1.87
2 	2.42
* So if you want to increase your weekly earning by one rank bracket, you need to increase your honor earned per week by 1.5x. To go up two brackets, you need to increase your honor per week by 1.52 = 2.25x. And so on...
To increasebracket by	You must increaseyour honor by
1 	1.51 = 1.50 x
2 	1.52 = 2.25 x
3 	1.53 = 3.38 x
4 	1.54 = 5.06 x
5 	1.55 = 7.59 x
This Rule of Thumb is an approximation. It is particularly bad for the highest rank brackets where voluntary server caps and individual performance can wildly skew the CP required. If you are looking to make the top #13 or #14 bracket on your server, you are better off inspecting people already in that bracket to see how much honor they are making.
==Rank==
* Your total RP determines your Rank, as follows:
 Rank = 0, no title, all players start here
 Rank = 1, requires 15 HK in one week
 Rank = 2, requires RP >= 2000
 Rank = 3-14, requires RP >= (Rank - 2) * 5000
Rank 	RP Req'd 	Min Level 	Alliance Title 	Horde Title
1 	15 HK 	1 	Private 	Scout
2 	2000 	1 	Corporal 	Grunt
3 	5000 	1 	Sergeant 	Sergeant
4 	10000 	33 	Master Sergeant 	Senior Sergeant
5 	15000 	38 	Sergeant Major 	First Sergeant
6 	20000 	41 	Knight 	Stone Guard
7 	25000 	44 	Knight-Lieutenant 	Blood Guard
8 	30000 	46 	Knight-Captain 	Legionnaire
9 	35000 	48 	Knight-Champion 	Centurion
10 	40000 	51 	Lieutenant Commander 	Champion
11 	45000 	53 	Commander 	Lieutenant General
12 	50000 	55 	Marshal 	General
13 	55000 	57 	Field Marshal 	Warlord
14 	60000 	59 	Grand Marshal 	High Warlord
see #Level Limits section belowfor details on Min Level	see #Level Limits section belowfor details on Min Level	see #Level Limits section belowfor details on Min Level	see #Level Limits section belowfor details on Min Level	see #Level Limits section belowfor details on Min Level
==Dishonorable Kills==
* For level 60 PVP'ers, each DK costs you 100 RP. Lower level characters lose less RP per DK as seen in this table:
{| style="margin: -1px 0px -1px -1px; text-align:right;"	
Level	RP/DK
<29 	10.0
29 	10.0
30 	11.5
31 	13.0
32 	14.5
33 	16.0
34 	17.5
35 	19.0
36 	21.0
37 	23.0
38 	25.0
* DK penalties are subtracted from your RP score immediately.
* It is possible to lose rank when you score a DK.
* DK losses are not included in the weekly adjustment and thus can make you exceed the -2500 pt loss cap.
===Example===
 Tabithea of Frostwolf ended one week with RP = 16861.
 During the following week, she scored 6 DK's. Her score became:
 RP = 16861 - 6 * 100 = 16261
 By the end of that week, she had scored only 1 HK. 
 Thus she did not earn any RP for the week. 
 She did lose 10% of her RP total to decay. 
 RP = 16261 - 1626 = 14635
 and the next week's rank list shows her RP = 14635 as expected.
==Level Limits==
* Your RP total is capped based on your level below 60.
* Your RP earning does not appear to be capped, except that your new total will not exceed your level cap.
* Aurai's predictions on these caps are copied here, along with my recorded observations for the weeks since Dec 28 2005.
 	Predicted	Predicted	Observed
Level	Cap RP 	Rank 	Max RP
1-29 	6500 	3 	6500
30 	7150 	3 	7150
31 	8125 	3 	8125
32 	9100 	3 	9100
33 	10075 	4 	10075
34 	11050 	4 	11050
35 	12025 	4 	12025
36 	13325 	4 	13325
37 	14625 	4 	14625
38 	15925 	5 	15925
39 	17225 	5 	17225
40 	18850 	5 	18850
41 	20475 	6 	20475
42 	22100 	6 	22100
43 	23725 	6 	23725
44 	26000 	7 	26000
 	Predicted	Predicted	Observed
Level	Cap RP 	Rank 	Max RP
45 	28275 	7 	28275
46 	30550 	8 	30550
47 	32825 	8 	32825
48 	35100 	9 	35100
49 	37375 	9 	37375
50 	39650 	9 	39650
51 	41925 	10 	* 41607
52 	44200 	10 	* 43324
53 	46800 	11 	* 41033
54 	49400 	11 	* 44296
55 	52000 	12 	* 44514
56 	54600 	12 	* 46875
57 	57200 	13 	* 47964
58 	59800 	13 	* 50091
59 	62400 	14 	* 59029
60 	65000 	14 	* 64432
&42; Observed Max RP was less than Predicted Cap RP
==Examples==
===How much RP did you earn?===
* You need to know your total RP score for this week, and for last week.
* If your HS is ranked in the top 2000, you can get the exact numbers from the WoW PVP Rankings Page for the current week.
* If not, you can estimate your RP by looking at the Rank progress bar. It's a linear scale between your current Rank RP score and the next Rank RP score. (or use the RankScore UI mod)
 # week of Dec 7, Greenman didn't quite make the top 1000, which cut off at 11640 RP.
 # his estimated RP for that week is RP=11500.
 # week of Dec 14, Greenman was WS=299 on his server, and made the total top 1000 with RP=15498.
 Decay = 0.2 * 11500 = 2300.
 Delta = 15498 - 11500 = 3998.
 # Delta = Earning - Decay gives
 Earning = 3998 + 2300 = 6298 
 # so WS=299 earned RS = 6298 for that week.
 # week of Dec 21, Greenman was WS=310 on his server, and made the total top 1000 with RP=18870.
 Decay = 0.2 * 15498 = 3100
 Delta = 18870 - 15498 = 3372
 Earning = 3372 + 3100 = 6472
 # so WS=310 earned RS = 6472 for that week.
 # higher score for a lower standing? More ranked players the second week?
===How far can you advance?===
* If you play consistently, and thus place consistently, you can expect to earn roughly the same amount of RP each week.
* Your advancement is then limited by the 20% Weekly RP Decay.
 # Max RP is reached when Decay = Earning
 0.2 * MaxRP = Earning
 MaxRP = 5 * Earning
 # If Greenman keeps up a consistent 6300 pts/week earning
 MaxRP = 5 * 6300 = 31500
 Max Rank = 8
===How fast will you advance?===
* Step it out each week, using constant Earning and 20% Decay
 # Greenman starting at week 0 with RP=18870, Rank=5:
 Week 1: RP = 18870 + 6300 - 3774 = 21396, Rank = 6
 Week 2: RP = 21396 + 6300 - 4279 = 23417, Rank = 6
 Week 3: RP = 23417 + 6300 - 4683 = 25034, Rank = 7
 Week 4: RP = 25034 + 6300 - 5007 = 26327, Rank = 7
 Week 5: RP = 26327 + 6300 - 5265 = 27362, Rank = 7
 Week 6: RP = 27362 + 6300 - 5472 = 28190, Rank = 7
 Week 7: RP = 28190 + 6300 - 5638 = 28852, Rank = 7
 Week 8: RP = 28852 + 6300 - 5770 = 29382, Rank = 7
 Week 9: RP = 29382 + 6300 - 5876 = 29806, Rank = 7
 Week 10: RP = 29806 + 6300 - 5961 = 30145, Rank = 8
* The decay catches up with you quickly, earning the last level will take some weeks.
===How do you reach Rank 14?===
* You need to earn more than 12000 RP every week to beat the Decay to Rank 14 (RP=60000)
* On most servers, only the top 3-6 players each week earn more than 12000 RP, depending on how many ranking PVP players on are your server.
 # How long to progress from Rank = 13 to Rank = 14 earning 12500 RP per week?
 Week 1: RP = 55000 + 12500 - 11000 = 56500, Rank = 13
 Week 2: RP = 56500 + 12500 - 11300 = 57700, Rank = 13
 Week 3: RP = 57700 + 12500 - 11540 = 58660, Rank = 13
 Week 4: RP = 58660 + 12500 - 11732 = 59428, Rank = 13
 Week 5: RP = 59428 + 12500 - 11886 = 60042, Rank = 14
* So you can expect to spend around 5 weeks fighting to stay in the top WS on your server just to gain the last Rank.
===How fast will you fall?===
* If you stop competing in PVP, your RP will fall by the Decay amount each week.
* Players of Rank 7 or higher will lose 2500 RP or 1/2 of a Rank per week.
* Players of Rank under 7 will lose 10% of their RP total each week.
* Your RP total will approach 0 again, but you will not fall below Rank 1.
 # If Greenman gives up on PVP for 3 months:
 Week 1: RP = 18870 - 1887 = 16983, Rank = 5
 Week 2: RP = 16983 - 1698 = 15285, Rank = 5
 Week 3: RP = 15285 - 1529 = 13756, Rank = 4
 Week 4: RP = 13756 - 1376 = 12380, Rank = 4
 Week 5: RP = 12380 - 1238 = 11142, Rank = 4
 Week 6: RP = 11142 - 1114 = 10028, Rank = 4
 Week 7: RP = 10028 - 1003 = 9025, Rank = 3
 Week 8: RP = 9025 - 903 = 8122, Rank = 3
 Week 9: RP = 8122 - 812 = 7310, Rank = 3
 Week 10: RP = 7310 - 731 = 6579, Rank = 3
 Week 11: RP = 6579 - 658 = 5921, Rank = 3
 Week 12: RP = 5921 - 592 = 5329, Rank = 3
 Week 13: RP = 5329 - 533 = 4796, Rank = 2
=== What standing do you need to make a given rank?===
* The answer depends on your server/side PVP population NR. 
* Use the breakpoint values described above to calculate the WS for each breakpoint.
* This table shows the calculated values for some average servers: NR=1500, 2000, and 2500.
* To achieve the Rank Wanted, you will have to make sure your Weekly Standing (WS) is at or smaller than the value in the table every week.
Rank Wanted	NR=1500	NR=2000	NR=2500
14 	3 	4 	5
13 	10 	14 	17
12 	25 	34 	42
11 	55 	74 	92
10 	115 	154 	192
9 	205 	274 	342
8 	310 	414 	517
7 	430 	574 	717
6 	565 	754 	942
5 	717 	956 	1195
4 	880 	1174 	1467
3 	1072 	1430 	1787
2 	1287 	1716 	2145
* In addition, you can use the #CP to RP Rule of Thumb to estimate how much honor you need to increase your earnings.
 # one week, Greenman collected 62000 CP
 # that week he earned 7800 RP (bracket 9)
 # to reach rank 11, he needs to earn at least 9000 RP
 # so he needs to go up by 2 brackets
 CP (bracket 11) = 1.52 * CP (bracket 9)
 CP = 2.25 * 62000 = 139500
 # so he needs to earn around 140k CP each week to reach rank 11
==References==
* Official Honor Guide
* A Guide to Understanding the Honor System (another author's notes)
* How the WoW PVP CP System Actually Works (and another author's notes)
* Allakhazam Guide (more notes, mostly on how to work with the honor system)
* PVP Honor Limits by Level
* World of Warcraft Weekly PVP Rankings
* WoW Guru - Search by character name to view recorded honor history
* Greenman's Ranking Data and Analysis
fr:Formule:Système d'honneur
Category:Formulas and game mechanics
Category:Honor