WoW Classic PvP Overview

PvP in WoW Classic lets you battle for your faction across Azeroth. Joining the fight bolsters your reputation and earns you epic rewards. Gain honor and status by slaying similarly-skilled foes; lose it by preying on the weak and helpless.

PVP Implementation Timeline

Blizzard has announced its six-phase plan for implementing PvP in WoW Classic. Right away in Phase 1, Azeroth will be a free-for-all. No PvP stats will be tracked and any player or NPC is fair game.

Phase 2 will implement the Honor System including Honorable Kills, Dishonorable Kills, and PvP Rank Rewards. This is when you can start tracking your stats and proving yourself among your faction. While all players may rank up through the Honor System, only the most dedicated PvP players will earn the highest Ranks and their rewards.

Battlegrounds will arrive in Phase 3. These arenas are objective-oriented events that pit your faction against the opposing faction in a test of teamwork and skill. Alterac Valley (Warfare) and Warsong Gulch (Capture the Flag) will become available in this phase.

In Phase 4, the Battleground Arathi Basin (Resource Race) will be released.

In Phase 6, PvP objectives in Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands will become available.

Honor System

The Honor System is used to track your experience in PvP. Your achievements over the past week are tallied and you can see how you stack up against other players on your faction’s side. As you gain Honor (also called “Contribution Points”), your Rank will rise bringing with it better titles and more valuable rewards!

The Contribution Points you earn each week are added to your total week over week. Your Rank is determined by your cumulative Contribution Points relative to other players among your faction.

Titles and Rewards

Each faction has 14 Ranks. Ranks are calculated weekly and reflect your status relative to members of your faction on your server.

The three ways to receive Contribution Points are:

• Honorable Kills
• Killing racial leaders
• Fulfilling Battleground objectives

Honorable Kills

Honorable Kills are a basic way of earning Contribution Points. When you or a member of your group kills a player from the opposing faction, you are awarded Contribution Points. Only killing players within 10 levels of you counts as an Honorable Kill. Also, the higher the level of your victim, the more Contribution Points you receive. The names of players whom you can receive a Honorable Kill for killing will appear green or red; players whose names appear grey are ineligible for a Honorable Kill.

The amount of Contribution Points you receive for a Honorable Kill depends on your experience in PvP and your victim’s experience in PvP. Killing a player who has lots of Honor from spending time fighting other players will yield more Contribution Points than killing a PvP first-timer. Killing players with higher Ranks also nets you more Honor.

If you carry out an Honorable Kill as part of a group or raid, the share of Contribution Points is approximately proportional to the percentage of damage inflicted by your group.

Don’t keep killing the same weak player over and over, though! You face diminishing returns of Contribution Points for each subsequent kill of the same enemy. Each time you kill the same enemy within 24 hours, you receive 10% fewer Contribution Points. By the 11th time you kill them, they will yield zero Contribution Points. Kills made while in a group or raid are still subject to this penalty.

Also, make sure you’re alive and close by when your enemy is killed. You won’t be awarded Honor if you’ve fallen or fled.

Killing Racial Leaders

Six NPC racial leaders give Contribution Points to the players who slay them. The distribution of Contribution Points for killing racial leaders will be divided among solo players, groups, and raids based on proportionate damage contributions. These leaders spawn every two hours.

Alliance Racial Leaders

• Highlord Bolvar Fordragon (Stormwind)
• King Magni Bronzebeard (Ironforge)
• Archdruid Fandral Staghelm (Darnassus)

Horde Racial Leaders

• Thrall (Orgrimmar)
• Cairne Bloodhoof (Thunder Bluff)
• Lady Sylvanas Windrunner (Undercity)

Fulfilling Battleground Objectives

Each Battleground has a primary objective, which will earn the winning faction Contribution Points, and secondary objectives, which provide bonus Contribution Points.

Dishonorable Kills

Killing an NPC labeled as a “civilian” is considered a Dishonorable Kill and has immediate repercussions. Performing Dishonorable Kills may cause you to lose Ranks immediately, instead of as part of the weekly Rank calculations.

Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds offer players the chance to team up with other members of their faction to complete objectives on maps designed for PvP combat. Players can access Battlegrounds either by arriving at the Battleground location and using a portal or by queuing with a Battlemaster located in one of your faction’s capitals.

Warsong Gulch

Warsong Gulch was deforested by the Warsong Outriders to fuel the Horde’s expansion during the Third War. The Silverwing Sentinels are determined to replant the land and cast out the rapacious orcs.

• Location: Kalimdor (Between Ashenvale and Barrens)
• Team Size: 10 players
• Level Brackets: 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60

Capture the Flag

Return the enemy’s flag to your base while protecting your flag from enemy capture! Capture your enemy’s flag three times to win the Battleground.

Arathi Basin

The Arathi Basin is abundant with resources coveted by the Horde and Alliance alike. The Forsaken Defilers and the League of Arathor descend into the basin hoping to seize these resources for their faction.

• Location: Eastern Kingdoms (Arathi Highlands)
• Team Size: 15 players
• Level Brackets: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60

Resource Race

Capture nodes located at the Farm, Smithy, Lumber Mill, Gold Mine, and Stables to generate resources. The more nodes you control, the faster the resources accumulate. Defend nodes you control while trying to wrest nodes out of your opponent’s control. The first faction that generates 2,000 resources wins.

Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley is where the Frostwolves resettled after their exile by the warlock Gul’dan. When the Dwarven Stormpike Expedition arrived searching for natural resources and ancient relics, the two sides came to blows.

• Location: Eastern Kingdoms (Alterac/Hillsbrad Foothills)
• Team Size: 40 players
• Level Bracket: 51-60

Warfare

Kill the opposing faction’s NPC general to win the Battleground. Take control of Towers, Graveyards, and Mines to change the tide of battle in your favor. (Bonus Contribution Points are awarded based on how many objectives your faction controls.)

Tips and Tricks

• The Honor System is designed to reward players who use teamwork on the Battlegrounds. Be sure to fulfill Battleground objectives to attain a high Rank.
• Raiding with a larger party will grant you less Honor per Honorable Kill, but have the same diminishing returns for repeatedly killing the same player. Try to rack up Honorable Kills alone or with a small group before joining a raid to continue gaining Honor.
• The Honor System reconciles your Contribution Points and Honorable Kills on a weekly basis. Make sure you make you’ve completed Battleground Objectives and carried out Honorable Kills before the weekly calculation to up your Rank!
• You need 25 Honorable Kills in a week to be included in the weekly Rank adjustment. Players with fewer than 25 Honorable Kills will have their Contribution Points set to zero for the week.
• Players should expect to attain about one Rank per week until Rank 11. Ranks 12-13 should take about two weeks each. Finally, Rank 14 is expected to take about three months for the most effective and active players.