WotLK PvP guide for 3.3.5a, from your first battleground to rated arena
PvP in Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a comes in three shapes: battlegrounds, where teams of 10 to 40 fight over objectives; arenas, where small teams of 2, 3 or 5 fight to the death for rating; and world PvP, where the other faction finds you while you quest. Battlegrounds earn honor, rated arena earns arena points, and both buy PvP gear with resilience, the stat that makes you harder to burst down. If you are new, the short version is: reach 80, queue random battlegrounds for honor, buy a PvP trinket and resilience gear, then try arena with a friend.
WotLK battlegrounds
Patch 3.3.5a has six battlegrounds. You queue for them from the PvP window (press H), from anywhere in the world, and you are taken in when a match is ready. Each one unlocks at a minimum level and groups players into level brackets until 80.
| Battleground | Team size | Minimum level | How you win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warsong Gulch | 10 v 10 | 10 | Capture the enemy flag three times |
| Arathi Basin | 15 v 15 | 20 | Hold bases to reach the resource target first |
| Alterac Valley | 40 v 40 | 51 | Kill the enemy general |
| Eye of the Storm | 15 v 15 | 61 | Hold towers and carry the flag from the middle |
| Strand of the Ancients | 15 v 15 | 71 | Break through the gates to the relic faster than the other team |
| Isle of Conquest | 40 v 40 | 71 | Break into the enemy keep and kill its leader |
Warsong Gulch
The classic capture the flag map. Each side has a base with its flag; you take theirs and bring it home while your own flag is still in place. Good teams split into defence, escorts for their carrier and a group that hunts the enemy carrier.
Arathi Basin
Five bases: the Stables, Blacksmith, Farm, Lumber Mill and Gold Mine. Each base you hold adds to your resources over time, so holding three of the five is usually enough to win. The most common mistake is leaving a captured base unguarded.
Alterac Valley
A huge valley where 40 players a side push past towers, graveyards and captains towards the enemy general: Drek’Thar for the Horde and Vanndar Stormpike for the Alliance. Each team has a pool of reinforcements that drops when players die and towers fall. With so many players, it is a forgiving place to learn.
Eye of the Storm
Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch combined. Four towers (Blood Elf Tower, Draenei Ruins, Fel Reaver Ruins and Mage Tower) give points while you hold them, and a flag in the centre gives a burst of points when carried to a tower you control.
Strand of the Ancients
Added in Wrath. One team attacks by boat and the other defends. Attackers drive demolishers and plant seaforium charges to break a series of gates, while defenders use turrets to stop them. When the relic falls or time runs out, the teams swap sides, and the faster attack wins.
Isle of Conquest
The other Wrath battleground, built around vehicles. Capturing the Docks, Hangar and Workshop gives your team vehicles, from glaive throwers to siege engines and a gunship, and the Quarry and Refinery add bonuses of their own. You break through the enemy keep’s walls and kill its leader: Overlord Agmar for the Horde or High Commander Halford Wyrmbane for the Alliance.
Random battlegrounds
The PvP window also has a random battleground queue, added in patch 3.3. Your first random win each day pays bonus honor and arena points, which makes it the best single habit for a new level 80. Wintergrasp, the open world PvP zone in Northrend, is its own thing and has a separate Wintergrasp guide.
WotLK arena
Arena is small team PvP with no objectives: the last team standing wins. Class choice and team composition matter most here.
2v2, 3v3 and 5v5
There are three brackets, each with its own team and rating:
- 2v2 is the easiest to organise and the most punishing for weaker class pairings. A healer and damage dealer is the most common setup.
- 3v3 is the bracket most players think of as “real” arena. Popular teams usually have one healer and two damage dealers who work well together.
- 5v5 is the hardest team to keep together.
You make a team by buying an arena team charter from an arena organiser in a major city and inviting your partners. Unrated skirmishes let you learn the maps without risking rating.
The Wrath arena maps
There are five arena maps in 3.3.5a. Every one of them has something to hide behind, because breaking line of sight is the most important skill in arena: a healer who cannot be seen cannot be interrupted or killed.
| Map | What makes it different |
|---|---|
| Nagrand Arena | Open ground with pillars to hide behind |
| Blade’s Edge Arena | A bridge across the middle and a pillar beneath it |
| Ruins of Lordaeron | A central tomb that blocks line of sight |
| Dalaran Sewers | Water pours from pipes and can wash players off the raised centre |
| Ring of Valor | An Orgrimmar arena where pillars rise and sink during the fight |
Dalaran Sewers and the Ring of Valor are the two maps added in Wrath. Both change during the match.
Arena points
Arena points are paid once a week, based on your team’s rating. A higher rating pays more, and the 5v5 bracket pays more than 3v3, which pays more than 2v2 at the same rating. To be paid you have to play at least 10 games that week and take part in at least 30 percent of your team’s games. The best gear also asks for a minimum personal or team rating before you can buy it.
Honor, arena points and PvP gear
Wrath has two PvP currencies:
- Honor comes from battlegrounds, Wintergrasp and killing enemy players. You earn it whether you win or lose, though winning pays more.
- Arena points come only from rated arena, paid weekly as above.
Both have a cap, so it is worth spending them rather than hoarding. PvP vendors sell gear for honor, for arena points or for both. The newest season’s best pieces cost arena points and rating, while older season gear becomes buyable with honor alone. The WotLK gearing guide covers how PvP gear fits with dungeon and raid gear.
What resilience does
Resilience is the PvP stat. It reduces the chance that other players land a critical strike on you and reduces the damage of the critical strikes that do land. It does nothing against monsters, which is why PvP gear is weaker than raid gear of the same item level in a dungeon or raid. A fresh 80 in dungeon blues dies very quickly to players in full PvP gear, which is why you buy some resilience before taking arena seriously.
The PvP trinket
The Medallion of the Alliance or Medallion of the Horde, bought with honor, frees you from stuns, fears and other effects that take control away from you. Humans have Every Man for Himself, a racial that does the same and shares its cooldown with the trinket. Without it, one stun can be the whole fight.
How to start PvP in WotLK as a beginner
- Reach 80 first. You can play battlegrounds while leveling, but gear and honor rewards only start to matter at the level cap.
- Queue random battlegrounds every day. The first win of the day is the best honor you will get for your time.
- Buy the PvP trinket first, then resilience pieces in the slots where your PvE gear is weakest.
- Learn your class’s control and escape tools. Know which of your abilities stun, root, slow, silence or interrupt, and keep them on easy keys.
- Practise line of sight. In battlegrounds, step behind a wall or tree when you are focused and watch how quickly the damage stops.
- Find a partner for 2v2 or 3v3. A healer friend makes everything easier. If you heal yourself, read the best healers in WotLK for the widely held views on which do best.
- Use cooldown addons. OmniCC puts cooldown numbers on your buttons, which helps you see exactly when your tools come back. The best WotLK addons guide lists more.
World PvP on a PvP realm
On a PvP realm, players of the other faction can attack you in contested zones such as Stranglethorn Vale, Hillsbrad Foothills and most of Outland and Northrend. A quest hub can turn into a fight at any moment, and you learn your class under pressure long before your first arena match. If a zone gets too busy, move on and come back later.
Play PvP on Lasthavens
Lasthavens is a free Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a PvP realm, so world PvP is part of every trip through a contested zone. You earn twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, which gets you to level 80 faster. The real 3.3.5a client runs in your browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android, with no 17 GB download and no launcher; the first visit downloads about 50 MB to reach the login screen, where you make an account with Create Account. The AddOn Library at character select lets you switch on addons such as OmniCC and Skada. Play Lasthavens and find your first fight.