Warsong Gulch

Warsong Gulch (WSG for short) is a battleground nestled in the southern region of Ashenvale forest. It is located near the area where Grom Hellscream and his Orcs 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 focusing 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.



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.

The brackets are currently (as of patch 4.0.3a):
 * 10–14
 * 15–19
 * 20–24
 * 25–29
 * 30–34
 * 35–39
 * 40–44
 * 45–49
 * 50–54
 * 55–59
 * 60–64
 * 65–69
 * 70–74
 * 75–79
 * 80–84
 * 85

There can be multiple instances for a particular bracket if there are enough level appropriate participants for a given level bracket.

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 1.9.2 you do not have to click anything. You are put in the "resurrection wave". Hunters and Warlocks 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 Knights 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.

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. 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.


 * Split into Offense and Defense. As simple as it sounds: part of the team protects your flag while another part goes to get the enemy flag.  In the case that the enemy gets your flag D will try to chase the enemy flag carrier down and retrieve it while O may or may not assist depending on the tactics.  It is very important that O sticks together to make this strategy work. Generally, all stealthers (rogues, druids) go to the enemy base, while the rest of the team stays back to stop any intruders.


 * Middle Control. The team attempts to establish control of the middle of the field by sending most, if not all, of the team there and attacking the enemy as they can.  The goal is to prevent any enemy from reaching your fort, or to prevent any enemy flag carriers from returning to their fort.  While the middle is held, class appropriate flag carriers are sent into the enemy fort to get their flag.


 * All Escort the Flag Carrier. Everyone stays in a group, charges across the field, and takes the enemy's flag.  Everyone escorts the FC back to a safe spot and then some protect your FC while others go look for the enemy FC as they will almost certainly have taken your flag by now as well.


 * Zerging. This strategy involves most of the team charging the enemy flag in a random way and largely as individuals or groups of two.  Against any of the organized strats zerging is unlikely to produce a victory, however, it is the strat most commonly used by PUGS as it requires no communication or planning at all.

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 much more powerful in Battlegrounds 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.

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! Aspect of the Pack can speed up your team as they protect the flag, also Blood Pact is great for EVERY ally. Defending, Healing or Attacking.

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.

NEVER LEAVE THE FLAG CARRIER ALONE. Have at least one person with him/her at all times.

Communicate effectively and efficiently. Don't spam the battleground chat with things not necessary to PvP.

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.
 * [[File:BerserkingPowerUp.jpg]] Berserking - Increases all damage caused by 30%, all damage taken by 10% and increases your size by 10%. Lasts 1 min.
 * [[File:RestorationPowerUp.jpg]] Restoration - Restores 10% of your health and mana every second for 10 seconds. Attacking or being attacked will cancel the effect.
 * [[File:SpeedPowerUp.jpg]] Speed - Increases movement speed by 100% for 10 seconds.

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.
 * capturing the opponent's flag rewards 41 honor at level 70 (40 honor at level 60).
 * winning the match rewards 20 honor at level 70 (20 honor at level 60).

Winning a complete match (3 captures and the win bonus) gives you 140 honor (at level 60).

Losing a complete match (0 captures and a loss) gives you no bonus honor.

While it is possible to lose a match and still accumulate honor from honorable kills, a careless attitude about losing is generally frowned on, and considering that a winning match grants a substantial honor bonus, winning matches allows for accumulating honor points 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

 * Flag Capture - 35 reputation for entire team (10 extra reputation on a Battlegrounds Holiday for a total of 45).

Warsong Gulch items
Warsong Gulch items are available by spending honor accumulated 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.

Useful Terminology
During the course of playing, you may hear the following frequently used acronyms and terms used by players to give out directions:
 * fr: Flag Room
 * fc: Flag Carrier
 * efc: Enemy Flag Carrier
 * inc: Incoming
 * gy: Graveyard (the area or in the proximity of the area in which players re-spawn after death)
 * roof: Refers to the area above the respective flag rooms, accessed via the side exit in each tunnel
 * tun: Refers to the tunnel leading in and out of the base
 * ramp: Refers to the sloping terrain the other side to the graveyard