Less honor from Alterac Valley, no arenas and a duel arena in Hyjal, says Blizzard's PvP podcast

Episode 4 of Blizzard’s podcast was the PvP one. Aggrend and Tim Jones answered for the team, with PvP streamers Savix and TipsOut as guests. Nothing in it is in the patch notes yet, so we checked what we could against the files of build 70374.

Rule sets

Each rule set is one big server, and Blizzard doesn’t expect free moves between them because of faction balance. If you change your mind later, plan on a new character. Pick with care. ▶ 1:42 The four rule sets are on Blizzard’s ruleset page: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying and, after launch, Hardcore.

There’s no RP-PvP rule set planned. Past RP-PvP servers turned into plain PvP servers, Blizzard says (Crusader Strike lost its RP tag three months into Season of Discovery), and the RP community is small enough that a second rule set would split it. “Never say never”, but nothing for now. ▶ 7:51 ▶ 9:17

Nothing stops a level 60 from camping you on a PvP server, and nothing will. Blizzard steps in only for cheating or exploits. The answer it wants is social: a guild, friends, your main. ▶ 35:27 ▶ 39:45 For events that turn PvP on in the open world, it may add the short immunity after a resurrection that Season of Discovery’s events had.

Battlegrounds and honor

Alterac Valley pays less honor, and every other battleground pays more. Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and the Darkspear Islands should all be worth queuing for honor, and a holiday weekend for another battleground should never leave you asking whether Alterac Valley still pays better. Rank points and honor are balanced apart, so the best activity for currency and the best for rank can differ. ▶ 41:58 ▶ 42:40 Honor is tuned on the server, so the files don’t show it.

The Darkspear Islands are 15 against 15 for levels 30 to 60. The files say the same, with at least 8 players a side since build 70291.

Premades meet premades. Solo players and small groups (two or three, still being tuned) shouldn’t face a premade.

▶ 46:12

War games, one group challenging another by chat command, should come at launch or soon after, and they give no honor.

▶ 47:57

Alterac Valley keeps its reinforcements, so games end. Whether Warsong Gulch gets a timer isn’t decided. Spots where a flag carrier can’t be reached are being fixed, and Blizzard says it will keep watching battlegrounds after launch.

▶ 44:58 ▶ 49:44

More battlegrounds are planned, with new game types and places. ▶ 22:10 One is already in the files: Battle for Gilneas, a new battleground for 10 a side, with no levels set, so it’s switched off for now.

No arenas

No arenas or rated battlegrounds for a while. Blizzard wants fights of 10 or 15 a side, balanced for groups, not for 2v2, and gear that’s good in PvE and PvP alike, not a PvP-only currency. ▶ 21:28 ▶ 22:47

World PvP

Killed by another player is the most common death in the open world, according to Blizzard’s own death maps.

▶ 13:25

Engineers reworked the servers so large fights hold up. Blizzard is still working on groups larger than a raid, and on raid members landing on another layer. ▶ 14:34

The Eastern Plaguelands towers and the Silithus turn-ins are off at launch, because they didn’t start fights. Blizzard would like to bring back events like Season of Discovery’s Battle for Ashenvale and Blood Moon, and hasn’t decided whether world bosses get instanced. ▶ 31:03 ▶ 31:39

Rare recipes and materials past level 30 are hidden in the client, and some drop in one place only. Blizzard won’t say where. ▶ 28:52 That fits what we see: new Forever items are encrypted until someone loots one.

TipsOut named two new trinkets as the best PvP tools of the beta. Transformative Cocoon absorbs 260 to 300 damage and stuns you for 5 seconds, then gives 60% movement speed for 8 seconds, on a 5 minute cooldown. Satchel of Potions says “Reach into the bag and hope for the best”, on a 10 minute cooldown. ▶ 17:14

A duel arena in Hyjal

The old crater in Mount Hyjal didn’t fit the new questing zone, so Blizzard cut it out into its own map to keep it for duels. ▶ 55:03 It’s in the files as Hyjal Crater, an arena map for up to 5, next to a second one named Mak’gora Arena for levels 1 to 60. Both have been there since the first beta build.

For now it’s only for the top 32 of the community tournament, with vendors for soul shards and reagents. Blizzard may open it later, maybe during Darkmoon Faire week, but wants dueling to stay visible outside the cities.

▶ 55:42 ▶ 58:06

The tournament itself is TipsOut’s, not Blizzard’s: more than 6,000 players signed up, and it runs on October 17 and 18. Blizzard says no class is tuned for it; Penance is just good. ▶ 53:39 ▶ 1:00:41