[General] The PvP'ers Handbook - Core Rules

Introduction
Welcome to my baby. This is one of many PvP compendiums that i will be releasing over the following months. In here is the experience from many, many, MANY hardworked hours in the field. Please be respectfull if you disagree/agree with something, in the comment section. It is still a Work In Progress, but i feel i've been holding it out too long because of Patches. So here it is! Happy reading.

Core rules
These are the rules that a serious PvP'er should live by and uphold.

1) Start young. Starting a PvP career as level 60 is a battle lost in advance. Though you will gain more honor, there are still limits as to how many ranks you can get pr. week. Not to mention the 20% decay, it is a big plus to start young due to the lowered Honor points you get from Battlegrounds. Being low level also means decreased survivability. You are less gear dependent as a low level, meaning that Skill comes before Gear. This will of course change at the higher levels where Gear becomes the thin red line between "Make it or break it".
Starting young will also get you accostumed to your class, and your prefered PvP style. If you do not know your class, you cannot PvP.

2) Hotkeys. I cannot stress how important it is to have additional hotkeys. Not only does it provide above-average playstyle but also keeps your arsenal within the reach of your left hand. There is no need missing out on vital spells just because the basic action bar does not have enough spaces. I personally use the lower Right and Left action bar, and the Upper right action bar. My keys are currently bound to (Shift) 1-10, Shift (& ctrl) q-w-e-r-a-s-d-f-z-x-c-v. This might seem like overkill, but do not forget that these buttons can be used to both Macro's, Trinkets, Potions, Item Abbilities. Having ALL (and i do mean all) your options within the reach of your fingers is vital if you want to maximize your playstyle.

3) Common Sense. Common Sense is often that which you define the situation with. Regardless if your Raid leader or Raid paticipent. Do not rush into the middle of 3 enemies if you are alone. A good thumb rule is You go alone, You die alone. Assest the situation, look at what classes you are up against and try to find the best strategy to neutralize your opponents. A Druid cannot in a million years solo flags in WSG if the enemy has two hunters on defence, thus he needs support.
Common sense also involves sticking to the plan. If your flag runner says he needs help, HE NEEDS HELP. Don't run off trying to farm Honor Kills as you don't get any honor after killing an enemy four times, or being in a group that kills said target four times.

4) The Raid and You. Obviouslyas you start off PvP'ing, you will join up with what is called PUG's (Short for Pick-up-groups, this will also change at level 60). You might not know the people you are PvP'ing with, and/or might not like them particular much. Well here's only one thing you can do Get over it. A dysfunctional raid is a loosing raid. Teamwork and Tactics win any battle, but if one dislikes the other and refuses to help, it hurts not only that player but the rest of the team. And Battlegrounds are All about Teamwork.

5) Communication. Communication the most important thing. I cannot stress how important this is. Why is it important? Because people need to know where to go, if your flag has been taken and the flag carrier is running on the east side of Warsong Gulch. If half the raid runs west instead of east, your likely to loose. If your flag carrier runs into your Flag Room, thinking he's safe but runs into 4 enemies waiting for him cause the defence didn't relay that single piece of important information, you are likely to use. If a base is under attack in Arathi Basin, getting from point A to B takes time, and they will not be able to get help if they do not inform anyone that they are under attack. I think you get the picture.

6) Hardcore PvP? Go Horde! Why? Because it's a simple and common fact that the Alliance to Horde ratio is 31 on most (if not all) servers. This is important because for one, You'll (as Horde) always be facing more enemies than you have allies. This means that, while the Alliance has to wait in line, you are likely to come in everytime due to the low numbers of Horde vs. the high numbers of Alliance. the high Alliance to Horde ratio also means that the Horde players will gain ranks easier due to the lack of competition (I.E. Lack of PvP'ing Hordes)

BG Reward links
Warsong Gulch http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/rewards-warsong.html

Arathi Basin http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/rewards-arathi.html

Alterac Vallet http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/rewards-alterac.html

Rank System
The Rank system is fairly simple. You gain honor by 3 ways

1) Kills. Each time you kill an opponent within 10 levels of you, you get a pre-calculated amount of honor, based on His rank versus your Rank. How much damage you do to him (If multiple people are hitting same target) And of course your level versus his level. You will find that off-Battleground PvP'ing pays very well for solo kills. For each time you kill a person, you get 25% less honor from said target. Max Kills 4.

2) Battleground Bonus Honor. This differs from Battleground to Battleground. so i will note both three.
A)Warsong Gulch You gain Bonus honor for each time your team captures the enemy flag. 3 x Bonus honor per battle.
B) Arathi basin You gain Bonus honor for ever 200 point score your team collects. 10 x Bonus honor per battle.
C) Alterac Vallet You gain bonus honor for every time you destroy an enemy structure or vital component.

3) Battleground Marks. You gain 1 or 3 Battleground Marks. 1 if you loose, 3 if you win. These Marks can be turned in at the Warmaster for Reputation from Mark faction and Bonus honor. Note that Double Reputation Weekends only affects the reputation gained inside of the Battleground, and not from the reputation gained from turning in Marks.

Quest Items

Ethics 101
While Battlegrounds are battlegrounds, and the ultimate goal is to hurt your opponent, there should still be some base lines as to how one can act. While WoW may just be a game, doing a /spit, or mocking your opponent one too many times, may make the person gain a personal hatred towards your character and yourself.
Amoungst the things you just don't do is

1) Graveyard Camping. All battlegrounds have Graveyards. Though in the Alterac Valley, these are capturable, they are not in the Warsong Gulch, nor Arathi Basin. Nor is it fair to camp these graveyards, because the people resurecting there will be unbuffed, cought flatfooted, and mainly discourage them to fight against you again (I.E. Less battlegrounds for you!) And may if they so wish, take it a step further and slander you on the Realm Forum. Do not think that graveyard campers can hide behind the new Naming & Shaming politics. You can only get so much honor out of one target.

2) Respect. Respect your opponent cause they spend their real life time to fight you, win or loose, it is still of their choosing. Do not call them stupid for trying to achive what you desire. They might just one day find out what they are doing wrong, and it'll be you who's left with the short end of the stick. If you are 15 inside Arathi Basin against 5 enemies, show kindness towards them, and do not kill unless attacked. If they try to beat you, they desirve death, but otherwise leave them alone and do alittle /dance.

3) Stay in one Battleground!. This is a particular touchy area. Blizzard added a feature to the game that will let you queue multiple Battlegrounds (For what reason i have no idear) And this has caused a wave of "Lets join WSG, but if AB comes we join that" meaning that half the raid instantly disapears to go to Arathi Basin, in the middle of a Warsong Gulch game. This shows complete and utter lack of respect for your fellow players as you leave them to be horribly farmed by the opposite team. Not only does it hurt your own but also strenghten your enemy. They will be left facing "X" amount of enemies more than themselves which, trust me on this, builds up personal resentment towards those who leave the battlegrounds. Afterall, in a team game, there's no room for unreliable people.

Class PvP
This is an index over PvP threads from the different Class' Forums.
I've sellected the threads that i found most usefull for PvP, and left out PvE as much as posible.

Druid
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-druid-en&t=112571&p=1&tmp=1#post112571
(Feral, personal PvP recomendation)

2) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-druid-en&t=117464&p=1&tmp=1#post117464
(Balance)

Hunter
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-hunter-en&t=138053&p=1&tmp=1#post138053
(Look under "The PvP Build and/or PvP Trap Build" - Cookie Cutters)

Mage
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-mage-en&t=80305&p=1&tmp=1#post80305
(Different Talent Builds. See posts for further comentary)

2) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-mage-en&t=19809&p=1&tmp=1#post19809
(Technical Mage Bible - Read All)

Paladin
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-paladin-en&t=10281&p=1&tmp=1#post10281
(General Guides on Paladins. They're a one way class, whats to say?)

Priest
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-priest-en&t=123566&p=1&tmp=1#post123566
(I could marry the person who wrote this. Simply Beautiful, Shadow Power!)

Rogue
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-rogue-en&t=40785&p=1&tmp=1#post40785
(Stealth and You!)

2) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-rogue-en&t=135629&p=1&tmp=1#post135629
(Talent Builds / Arch Builds - Read Posts)

Shaman
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman-en&t=5768&p=1&tmp=1#post5768
(Shaman FAQ - Lack of better information)

Warrior
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-warrior-en&t=47395&p=1&tmp=1#post47395
(FAQ + Cookie Cutter build - They're warriors, what do you expect?)

Warlock
1) http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-warlock-en&t=13126&p=1&tmp=1#post13126
(Warlocks PvP Bible - Has my personal aproval)

FAQ - Q & A

1-A) If there's such a large honor difference between the 10-59's bracket and the 60's bracket, how will i be able to compete?

1-B) You won't. It's one of the major flaws in the Honor system. Level 60's will at any point be able to beat the lower bracket's with honor for 2 reasons. 1, Blizzard made it so that you gain more Honor for everyone battleground won at the higher brackets. 2, level 60's simply have more time on their hands for Battlegrounds, as they don't need to worry about leveling or quests.
My own advice will be to run around flagged (PvP tag Active) You'll be surprised how much honor you can get from non-battleground pvp'ing. This is a good addition to already-made Battleground honor.

2-A) I don't think what you have written here is exatly true. My view point is .... etc!

2-B) PvP'ing is an individual experience, and that is what makes the better PvP'ers. I'm not saying that what I have written in this guide is the Truth with capital T, but merely my take on the more important aspects of PvP. What makes a good PvP'er, is their evaluation of individual situations. You are of course welcome to add feedback, but don't expect me to change anything written.

3-A) I'm currently playing -X- Class and I'm on a post-BWL server. I'm considering to make a PvP alt, but I cannot decide wether or not I should twink him. Help!

3-B) Ultimately it's your money and your time, thus your decision. But if you ask me No!
Twinking will prevent you from knowing the fullest of your character's limits, which is important to know in many situations. It will also be unfair to the opposite team and may aswell create a disliking to you & public disgrace through forums (Yes, it happens more than one would think)
And it'll also take away a good deal of the leaning process of PvP if you run around as a level 30 demi-god with twin-Crusader enchantments.
Gear does NOT make Skill.

4-A) I want to start PvP'ing, but my class sucks at it!

4-B) Wrong again! All Classes (Yes, including Paladins) add their unique side to the face of PvP, and no class what so ever is useless. I know most think that, for example, Hunters are a useless class for PvP. But they are infact one of the most effecient defenders available. I will not go into detail here, but check out the different links above to the PvP-Class threads. And be sure to check out the additional posts on those threads, there's some very important information in some of them.

5-A) I want to PvP but i'm stuck in a PvE guild. I'm afraid they'll favor another over me if I choose to respec for PvP instead of PvE. What do I do?

5-B) This is surprisingly not an uncommon issue. My advice is that you take it up with your guild. If you belive that you can do just as good with a PvP talent spec, as a PvE talent spec, Prove it! And get rid of that fear of faliure. Most of the PvP people I know do a heck of a better PvE job than most of the PvE people I know. Talents are nice yes, but they do not make or break the class. The will to actually want to DO your class' role counts ten times more than what talent spec you are. But alas, we are still restricted to rules placed apon us by a gaming system that does favor a strict path. So always remember to have a dedicated set of PvE armor/items to help you make up for the lack of PvE-talents.

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Demonstration in the differences between Epic Tier 1 Set and PvP-Rank Reward Sets

Champion's Battlearmor (6 Piece, Blue, 60, Honor Reward)
Rank 10

Armor 3375

Strength 98

Stamina 122 (+20)

Agility 9

Total 229 (+20)

Bonus
Hamstring Rage Cost Reduced by 3
+5% Critical Chance.
+1% Chance to hit.

Set Bonus
2 pieces +20 Stamina.
3 pieces Reduces the cooldown of your Intercept ability by 5 sec.
6 pieces +40 Attack Power.

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Warlord's Battlearmor ( 6 Pieces, Epic, 60, Honor Reward)
Rank 13

Armor 4087

Strength 120

Stamina 165 (+20)

Agility 42

Total 324 (+20)

Bonus
+5% Critical Chance.
+3% Chance to Hit.
Hamstring Rage Cost Reduced by 3

Set Bonus
2 pieces +20 Stamina.
3 pieces Reduces the cooldown of your Intercept ability by 5 sec.
6 pieces +40 Attack Power.

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Battlegear of Might (8 Piece, Epic, 60, Molten Core)
Molten Core (Boss) Drops.

Armor 4306

Strength 143

Stamina 189

Total 332

(Resistance)Fire 34

(Resistance)Shadow 24

Bonus
+1% Chance to Hit.
+1% Chance to Dodge.
+2% Chance to Block.
+1% chance to Parry.
+29 Defence.

Set Bonus
3 pieces Increases the block value of your shield by 30.
5 pieces Gives you a 20% chance to generate an additional Rage point whenever damage is dealt to you.
8 pieces Increases the threat generated by Sunder Armor by 15%

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World PvP
A short introduction - World PvP is based outside the Battlegrounds.
It's in sellective Areas, such as Eastern Plaguelands.
The differences between the Battlegrounds and World PvP is that you cannot "Win" as such. There are different objectives, that allows you to win various buffs, but no Reputation system like in the BG's.
Battlemaps are also available for EPL/SIlithus, so be sure to have it on if you want to participate (Hotkey Shift+M)

Eastern Plaguelands
The objectives of the Eastern Plaguelands World PvP is to capture and hold 4 towers. The image below displays the different positions of the 4 towers.
Capturing and Holding all 4 towers till result in your team (Those that are inside the EPL at the moment of victory) getting a Buff.

How to capture a tower
If a tower is left unprotected, it will be open for conquer.
You have to enter the tower area and you'll get a buff icon named "Tower Control". Depending on how many of your friends are with you, the shorter time it will take to capture. There are Alliance/Horde Buffers placed around the tower that displays the time left, inform of a level 1 NPC that will fight the other. If you are Horde, you will start spawning level 1 undead NPC's that will fight the Alliance level 1 NPC's, untill they are dead and you have taken the tower.

Different Towers, Different Abilities!
The tower marked as 1 on the map, has a small flight path that allows you to fly on a dead bird, to any of the 3 other towers.
The tower marked as 2 can spawn 5 level 60 elite Ghost guards that will help you kill the opposing forces.

Tactics
It becomes obvious early on that the best way to win is through Zerging.
Take tower 1, so you have access to the other Towers without having to travel a large distance on Mount. Use this by sending your men out in groups to a Tower and take them by surprise and in Large numbers. The more you are, the faster you will have a tower.
If you are 20 people, you can send 5 out to each tower and catch the enemy off guard & take the tower relatively fast.
Remember, there is no Force, if there isn't a raid. Organization wins the battle.

Silithus
Silithus contains a Collection-Based World PvP. On the map below are marked the different positions for the Alliance (Blue !) and Horde (Red !) bases. To win a round in this, your faction must collect and return 20 Dusts and transform them in the Cleansing machine located at every base.

Dust Collection, How to?
There are bunks filled with dust, located at round the black Question marks on the map above. To collect a dust, you must right click on the pile and you will be enveloped in a orange dust cloud. Its your mission to transport this cloud dust on you WITHOUT getting attacked. If you get attacked, DoT'd or other things alike, you will drop the dust. Once the dust is dropped, you'll have to kill the enemy and then recollect the fallen dust off the ground. You have to transport each dust from A->B (Pick-up to Base) and get into a big machine that will cleanse the dust off you and give your team 1 point. Points are shown the same way as Warsong Gulch flag tracking.
Once you've done your first turn-in, you will get a buff that will allow the dust to stick better to you, so you can now have a % chance to keep the dust on you, if attacked.

Help! It's a Sandworm!
With this new patch there comes a new outdoor Boss-encounter related to the World PvP Event. This boss is a gigantic sandworm that will get up from underground and attack everything that comes near it. It's level 63, elite and not to be taken lightly.
Once it spawns, each Officer of the Alliance/Horde camps will shout out and you will be able to locate it on your battlemap.
When you slay a sandworm, it will drop 5-10 Dust spawns, which you can retrive and score an extra large amount of points for your team.

Tactics
It's good to have 1 collector and 1 protector. One to take the hits before the carrier so the carrier can do his job undisturbed.
It's also good to have renegades out scouting for the opposing faction, and try to kill them to delay their Dust gathering.
You can, if enough players, surround the enemy camp (But don't get too close, nasty NPC guards)and make sure nothing leaves or enters alive.
Again, numbers and organization wins the battle here.