WOW Alterac Arathi Basin Battleground Guide

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Welcome to Arathi Basin!

Grab a sword, staff, or bow and head out to battle! Your side needs you to secure resources located inside of the Arathi Basin. Arathi Basin hosts a 15 vs. 15 battle over resources which the other side desperately needs to fuel the warfront elsewhere. You can join the battle starting at level 20 (5 brackets of 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and level 70) to assist either the League of Arathor (Alliance) or the Forsaken Defilers (Horde). Constant fast paced battles are the main draw to this excellent and quick game.

So escape the level grind today! Give Arathi Basin a try, you will not be disappointed. The one thing to note is that you should wait until the higher level range of each bracket as you will be a liability to your team if you are level 40 in a 40-49 bracket, you really should be at least at the mid point.

Arathi Basin Rules

Each team begins with zero resources and work towards gaining 2,000 in order to win. There are five ¡®resource nodes¡¯ located within Arathi Basin that when captured provide resources every few seconds (exponentially, the more nodes controlled the faster it goes). To capture these nodes, simply activate the flag at the resources located. It has an activation time of ten seconds and any damage done to the person activating the flag will interrupt them.

All nodes start out in a neutral state, with no owners. After each node has been claimed then it¡¯s officially owned by the faction that claimed it. Anyone who seeks to assault the location will have to activate the flag and place the node is a ¡°in conflict¡± status. The defenders have exactly one minute to reclaim the node before its ownership is transferred to the attackers. If a node is reclaimed while it¡¯s in conflict, then that side instantly regains ownership of the node. While a node is ¡°in conflict¡± it provides no resources at all to anyone.

If any players die during the game then they have the option of releasing to the nearest graveyard. Each side has a graveyard at their starting location, just outside of the exit portal. Each graveyard has a spirit ¡°rezer¡± that will resurrect any players within their radius. Furthermore, each resource node has a graveyard located nearby that works only for the side that owns it.

At certain intervals of resources you will gain honor and reputation. If you win then you will gain a large amount of honor, reputation, and three tokens. Losing only gains some reputation and one honor token. That's why it's always best to work towards defeating objectives instead of trying to kill the other players for honor!

Premade raids of up to 15 people can queue up for this BG at the same time, allowing them to enter as a team Single groups of five may enter as well, but nothing is as effective as a premade raid of balanced classes divided into teams. Check out our "Communication is Key" section for more information on groups.

That¡¯s pretty much all there is to Arathi Basin! All that¡¯s left is tactics to win the day!

Resource Nodes

The Farm

The Farm is located in the south-east part of the map and is located right outside of the Defilers Den (where the Horde spawn). The Farm, so close to the location of the Horde¡¯s entrance, is generally captured first by the Horde and is generally always well defended. Inside of the house near the farm is where a random buff will spawn that anyone can take advantage of. The graveyard is located west of the Farm and can be a long walk if someone is assaulting the flag. To attack the Farm, it's best to come up from the Mine. While you have to cover more distance to reach the Farm, you will be able to hide your assault from the buildings and will have plenty of space to flee if required.

The Stable

The Stables is located in the north-center part of the map and is located right outside of Trollbane Hall (the Alliance Spawn point). Like The Farm, the Stables are generally well defended by the alliance and is captured by them at the start of the map always. The buffs spawn inside of the stable building and the graveyard is located right near the flag. A difficult location for the Horde to attack except later in the game!

The Lumber Mill

Located on a hill to the west, the Lumber Mill is one of the best nodes to capture and defend. Its location gives it a good scouting position,as you can look all around and spot attackers from a distance. It also has a very small amount of actual land to fight in, meaning attackers must get directly into the fight to assault the flag. Not only that, but one wrong stepand a player can find themselves going over the edge of the steep cliff (no duration loss is acquired by falling deaths in the bg). To assault the Lumber Mill simply go up the cliff and fight! There is no tricks here for the assault, well other then not falling off of the cliff. If you do fall be sure to use a potion or some other restoration ability.

The Mine

The Mine is a location that is generally assaulted and forgotten about (rarely defended). Its wide open space generally leads to the most well equipped playerswinning which gives it no tactical advantage. A common strategy is to hide one player in the mine itself. When someone assaults the mine and leaves,simply have that player exit and recapture it then go hide again. Hunters and casters can snipe from the top of the mine as well, if a team decides to defend this area. This location is also easily accessed from the blacksmith by heading straight east and jumping down over the cliff. To assault the Mine simply jump down from the cliff (if no one is there, you will loose some HP) or go downward toward the mine through one of the passages.

The Blacksmith

Kind of like Tic-Tac-Toe, those who hold the Blacksmith control the map. The Blacksmith is in the center of the map and extremely hard to defend with any special tricks. The attackerscan come from most any angle, but at the same time the defenders can launch an assault from anywhere on the map. This location is generally where the bulk of the fighting happens as well, since its location is heavily desired for its graveyard and ability to access all other resource nodes in less then a minute. The Blacksmith can be assaulted from any direction with a short swim or a cross of a bridge, so always try to assault it from a unique angle. Rush the flag and try to hold that area!

Resource Points

As you gain control of the resourse nodes you start earning points towards winning. The more nodes that you control the more points you earn and the faster you earn them as shown in the chart below.

As you can see the more nodes you control the faster you gain points, making it much easier to win as you control more nodes.

Communication is Key¡­

Working together as a team is a key factor to winning Arathi Basin. While the battleground is quite simple in nature, those without the ability to communicate efficiently will be a great disadvantage against those who can¡¯t. For organized teams some form of voice communication can greatly help in this task. (If you are in a pick-up group or going at it solo, scroll down). With voice communication planning attacks and adapting to the enemies strategy becomes a breeze!

To use voice communication to its fullest, you will need some planning beforehand. Work out who is on what team and work out example teams (5/5/5 5/5/4/1 4/4/4/3) that may be needed depending on the enemies¡¯ actions. Work who will stay to defend certain nodes and who will reinforce the other team. This can greatly decrease the amount of confusion in the middle of battle!

To Victory! Ways to Win Arathi Basin!

There is no sure fire way to win Arathi Basin, but there are some very common things to keep in mind that can greatly aid your chances in battle. The first is that you need at least more nodes then the other team most of the game in order to win. If they are constantly controlling more nodes then your team, then their advantage will eventually become near unstoppable. Next is to understand that two people can defend a node (with the proper abilities) for a decent amount of time. This can allow for reinforcements to arrive without the node going into conflict.

Outside of these basic tactics, there are a few generic strategies that a lot of teams try to run since they generally work.

¡°Three Cap¡±

The three cap strategy is basically where your team attempts to hold and defend three nodes (generally the Stables or Farm, Blacksmith, and Lumber Mill). The team splits into three teams of five and stations themselves at each node. If one node comes under attack by a large force, then reinforcements from another node will intercept. However, no node is left undefended by at least two people no matter the circumstance. If ¡°zerging¡± happens (when the enemy all moves together as one) then a different strategy will need to be used.

¡°Four Cap¡±

More experienced teams will attempt to ¡°four cap¡± the enemy by holding three-four nodes for most of the game. To accomplish this, the team will position three teams of five people at the Lumber Mill, Blacksmith, and the Mine. The Stables or Farm will contain one person who stays back and defends. The teams stand lookout for anyone trying head toward the Stables/Farm and defend the three nodes. Even if a team who is trying to ¡°four cap¡± looses its fourth node and has to work on defending the three nodes, it has a much greater advantage over the enemy. To ¡°four cap¡± a team must have good organization since it gets more complicated then just holding three nodes.

¡°Five Cap¡±

Whenever five nodes are held, the timer races up extremely fast and the game can over within just two minutes. The only problem is that holding all five nodes can be extremely difficult and requires excellent timing at the start of the game. Have one person capture the Stables/Farm and then send teams to the Mill/Mines. Have one person each capture these, and then rush towards the Stables/Farm (opposite of what you captured at the beginning). The trick is to have all of the nodes either owned or in conflict so that the enemy spawns at their starting area. At that point it¡¯s all about keeping them located there while the resources clock up in a speedy fashion. Very difficult to make happen, but very rewarding!

Team Positioning (Three Capping)

• Team A (Home Defense) (Farm/Stables) - This team should defend the farm and should be ready to reinforce any other node that goes under assault. Always have two people here planned to defend this node.

• Team B (Blacksmith) - This is the most important node to keep captured and this team should be your "A Team" players. They should expect to be rushed by the opposing team with large numbers and must keep the node defended at all costs.

• Team C ( Lumber Mill or Mine) - This team should defend the Lumber Mill (or Mine, but many argue the Lumber Mill is a lot better) and assist the Blacksmith if it goes under attack. There should always be a defense here as well of atleast two people to prevent the enemy from caputring this point.

Going at it Solo

Being solo in Arathi Basin can be an interesting experience. While your team isn¡¯t the best, you can still make a large difference in how the match turns out. The first thing you should do is ask if there is a raid group going and if you can join. While not having voice communication will dampen your efforts, it won¡¯t completely ruin them. If you can join a raid then try to work out strategy with your allies for victory!

If you can¡¯t get into a raid, don¡¯t worry! There is still plenty of fun to be had. Simply press ¡°M¡± (or whatever key brings up the map) and have a look at where other allies are. Find a good location where it looks as if they need reinforcements. Head there and assist your allies! There are plenty of other things to do, such as trying to ¡°ninja¡± resource nodes and just going out and slaughtering the enemy! While killing the enemy doesn¡¯t help with the main goal that much, it still helps!

Typical Class Roles

• Druid - Druids will play either DPS (feral) or support (restro). They can also sprint towards resource nodes at the start of the match and capture flags before the other teams.

• Hunters - Hunters can be really useful in Arathi Basin. Multishot can stop an entire team from capturing a node, while frost trap provides a wonderful defense against those solo assaulters. Hunters can also use "Wing Clip" to snare anyone incoming towards the flag and can hide with "feign death" until an enemy comes.

• Mages - Mages are critical to winning Arathi Basin. Arcane Explosion, Blizzard, Flamestrike, and Ice Nova all interupt large groups of enemies trying to assault a node. Not only that, but with Polymorph and Ice Nova it's completely possible to keep several people at from assault a flag for a very long time. Not only that, but any offensive roles are instantly filled with your nukes!

• Paladins - Paladins are another great defensive class. Their Consecrate is a wonderful spell for stoping any enemy from assaulting a node. Being neigh unkillable allows them to survive for ages while reinforcements come and they defend the flag. Pair one with a Mage/Warrior and you have a very awesome defensive duo!

• Priests - A Priest can either be on an offensive DPS role (Shadow) or as a support character. Either way, Priests are a great asset for their AoE fear which can help turn the tides of battle. Not only that, but a shadow Priest's snares are wonderful for stopping an assault.

• Rogues - Rogues have plenty to do in Arathi Basin! They can stealth and hide at nodes waiting on unsuspecting enemies to come and then Sap them (rendering them useless for an extended period of time). They can also sneak about and "ninja" nodes that no one is watching without anyone seeing them heading there. Rogues are also vital assets when it comes to slaying other players. This is a very good thing.

• Shamans - Shamans are excellent support characters, but they truly shine on defense. Totems provide plenty of ways to keep a resource node well defended. Earthbind totems keep mass amounts of enemies snared while flame totem keep enemies interupted. The various "instant" spells can interupt enemies who are attempting to capture the flag. Chain Lightning is the big move to interupt a mass of enemies going for a flag.

• Warlocks - AoE Fear is the main duty of the Warlock. While feared, enemies are unable to capture the flag and are in prime condition for your team to slay them! DoTs and Seduce also greatly help keeping people at bay.

• Warriors - Warriors provide good defense and the bulk of the offense. Sweeping Strikes (and similar skills) can interupt a large group of enemies (along with fear) while their other skills simple kill the enemies!

Defence Tactics

While defending a node it is critical to remember that the enemy needs to capture the node by activating it for 10 seconds. Your goal is the ensure you damage that player often enough that they can not complete the 10 second capture. Even just 3 players can stop a team from capturing a node forever if they rotate into the center to damage the capturing player before you die and rez. You should ensure that you always fight at the flag so that you can interrupt the play attempting to capture and to prevent being drawn away from the flag so that an enemy can stealth in and capture the flag behind you.

Key to defense is getting support, so make sure you call for assistance as soon as you see the incoming attack. As simple "Inc at LM" will do to announce to your team that there are enemy attacking at the Lumber Mill. If possible try giving some additional information though, such as the number of attackers, as simple as "Inc at LM 4+" or "Inc at LM 2" to show the strength of the attack.

Another key defense tactic is crowd control. You can crowd control in any number of ways such as fear, traps, slow effects, mind control, polymorph, and more. By limiting the number of attackers you have to deal with at a time, you greatly increase your chance of success.

The last big tactic to remember is to attack the healers first. A good healer can keep up several DPS'ers at one time. Killing them first allows you to deal with the DPSers far quicker.

Attacker Tactics

There are a few main ways to assault a resource node and they are defined by the tactics shown here.

The main tactic used when assaulting in most Arathi Basin battles is the Zerg. A Zerg is where most or all of your teams players attack the same node and overrun the defense simply through numbers. While this tactic is very effective it also has a severe flaw in that the opponents can take advantage of most of your team being at one node by ninjaing one of your nodes.

That brings us to the second tactic, the ninja. To ninja a flag you simply sneak in while no one is watching and steal the node. This is done best by a rogue or druid who can stealth in and not be seen until the last second.

Another assault method is to pull the enemy away from the node by a false initial assault and then falling back. This allows another assault or even a single player to come in from behind and capture the flag.

The last major way to capture a flag is through crowd control. A team of priests and warlocks can keep several players feared and away from another team mate while they capture the flag.

The last big tactic to remember is the same as the tactic for defense, attack the healers first. A good healer can keep up several DPS'ers at one time. Killing them first allows you to deal with the DPS'ers far quicker.