Filed under: PvP

Zach sees everything through the PvP perspective of The Art of War(craft), including eating homemade brownies baked by his supremely awesome and sexy baker wife. He sees the brownies as opponents that need to be devoured in a methodical, strategic and soul-crushing manner. He advises everyone to look at all things (especially food) as adversaries that must be defeated and guarantees that success in life will follow. Probably.

A new, exciting build of the Cataclysm beta has been released, implementing the promised overhaul to the talent trees. It's still raw at this point, but we get a glimpse of the direction the developers want to take. The basic or starter abilities have been defined and although some of these may change, such as Divine Storm for retribution paladins (Ghostcrawler, lead systems designer, mentioned that it would probably go back into the talent tree), the changes feel solid and refreshing. One of the ideas the developers have is that "both the 31-point and the 10(-point) ability need to have more single-target use," which means we should get very good one-on-one abilities early on as well as at higher levels. As we mentioned, the trees are a long way off from being done, but that shouldn't stop us from taking a look at them and picturing the possibilities.

One of the cooler, less noticeable things to come out of this build are the one-liner descriptions about each of the talent specs, allowing players to quickly grasp the concept of each spec. Blizzard seems committed to keeping this model, complete with talent tree lock-outs to prevent players from straying into other trees early on. As you might have suspected, the real culprit (or at least the most notable one) behind this change is PvP:

Ghostcrawler

Whenever a popular hybrid spec comes up, it's usually because of some sneaky build that is broken for PvP by snaking down to pick up key talents in two trees. It's not because the player really wants to play as say two specs -- they are just cherry picking the talents. Since those builds almost always feel broken (as in breaking the rules) we don't want to design around them.

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What was the best world PvP event you've ever enjoyed? Was it a cross-faction event? Did players from other realms join in? Was there an element of surprise for the other faction? Was it, perhaps, a more peaceful type of party? And now, what if you were in charge of designing and organizing a world PvP event ... what would it be like?

WoW.com is accepting article submissions describing three fresh ideas for organized world PvP events. Submissions should be between 750 and 1,000 words. We will not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your real name and email. Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or from creative commons.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening Music: One of Sinatra's best, My Way. I was going to choose a lesser-known Sinatra piece, but figured this one would be best for people who aren't huge fans.

Last Week: We talked about why arenas might be awesome in Cataclysm. I'm stoked to see what Blizzard has for us -- and that was before the talent change got my whistle wet.

This Week: I get a lot of common questions -- one of them concerns how to gear up for arena (or gladiator, etc). Cataclysm is still a while off, and now is as good a time as any to start PvPing. If nothing else, PvP gear is some of the best leveling gear around. The mix of offensive stats plus massive resilience gives you little downtime.

Zach Yonzon believes in social media and thinks that Real ID is the new battleground.

Oh man. We knew Cataclysm was going to change everything, but I don't think any of us really expected that Blizzard meant everything everything! Yesterday's bombshell of an announcement regarding the talents and masteries threw everyone for a loop. When talent trees from the alpha started appearing in Wowhead and MMO Champion, some of us wondered why most of the unexciting, passive talents were still there despite the developers' mentioning that they'd be removed in Cataclysm. Granted, the game was too early in its development to have concrete trees, but I don't think any of us thought they'd be pared down the way they would be. Let's review some of what Blizzard said.

Zarhym

Talent trees will have around 20 unique talents instead of today's (roughly) 30 talents, and aesthetically will look a bit more like the original World of Warcraft talent trees. The 31-point talents will generally be the same as the 51-point talents we already had planned for Cataclysm. A lot of the boring or extremely specialized talents have been removed, but we don't want to remove anything that's going to affect spell/ability rotations. We want to keep overall damage, healing, and survivability roughly the same while providing a lot of the passive bonuses for free based on your specialization choice.

While leveling, you will get 1 talent point about every 2 levels (41 points total at level 85). Our goal is to alternate between gaining a new class spell or ability and gaining a talent point with each level. As another significant change, you will not be able to put points into a different talent tree until you have dedicated 31 talent points to your primary specialization. While leveling, this will be possible at 70. Picking a talent specialization should feel important. To that end, we want to make sure new players understand the significance of reaching the bottom of their specialization tree before gaining the option of spending points in the other trees. We intend to make sure dual-specialization and re-talenting function exactly as they do today so players do not feel locked into their specialization choice.

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That's a whopper. There go the passive talents we were all wondering about. Instead, talents in the talent trees will all be cool and special, making every choice meaningful. That also means having fewer points to spend. At first look, it seems like something has been taken away from our characters -- fewer talent points feels less powerful. But when you realize that each talent point actually gives you something awesome, like a new spell or a cool effect, that changes things drastically. This also impacts PvP in a big, big way.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening Music: Elephant Gun, by Beirut. I've been listening to a lot of Beirut recently. If you don't like it, I don't blame you. It's not for everybody. I normally dislike a lot of brass, but Beirut manages to pull it off with my approval (whatever that's worth, obviously not much).

Last Week: We talked a bit about why certain 3v3 archetypes are successful in arena. As I mentioned in the comments, I'll consider going into detail about each archetype.

This Week: Maybe I've just hopped on the fanboi bandwagon, but Cataclysm looks awesome. I'm not in the beta, but friends have provided me with ample information about items, dungeons, and overall experience. Not to mention the amount of blue posts flooding the Cataclysm forums recently.

Interesting arena matches

I was writing about something else completely, but now that the NDA has been lifted and closed beta has begun for Cataclysm, I think it's just proper that we turn our attention to the Twin Peaks, the new capture-the-flag type battleground debuting in the next expansion. The floodgates have been (officially) opened, so us battleground freaks can join in on the fun ... You can soak in all the screenshot goodness over at MMO Champion. The coolest thing about Twin Peaks is that it's a fresh take on a familiar concept. Any player who has ventured into battleground PvP understands Warsong Gulch, as it's the first and most basic battleground, virtually eliminating any learning curve of the game's mechanics. The new, asymmetrical map rejuvenates the CTF concept and necessitates a new approach to the game.

Because of the geographical asymmetry, the Horde will have different strategies from the Alliance. The deep river adds a new dimension to the map in a way that hasn't been fully utilized in any other battleground except for Arathi Basin -- and even then only to a minor degree. That the river essentially cuts the map in half makes it a critical element in gameplay. Because there's a sewage-pipe-style opening on the Western side of the Horde base leading into the water, it isn't merely decorative; it's strategic, too. On the Northern end of the map, the Alliance stronghold utilizes multiple levels, making abilities that minimize or eliminate falling damage a nice bonus. Three ways in and out for each of the nearly identically laid out bases, two graveyards per faction, and a bothersome intersecting river make for an exciting new twist on an old premise.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening music: I asked you to provide me with some awesome music for this week's article, and you didn't let me down. The Flaming Lips with "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" is our listening music for today.

Last week: We talked about arena PvP in Wrath of the Lich King and some egregious errors with MMR and starting arena teams at 0 -- there are some upsides in there, too.

This week: While many different types of teams rise to the front page of arena ladders, it seems like only 10 or so compositions are really successful. And those 10 usually (if not always) fall into one of four archetypes.

According to the SK-100, elemental shaman + affliction warlock + restoration druid seems to be occupying a fair share of top spots all around the globe. Why is a composition like this one more successful than hunter + rogue + warrior? Err, OK, maybe that's a bad example to pick.

Classes work very well with certain other classes. Affliction warlocks and restoration druids complement each other for hundreds of reasons. Affliction warlocks and retribution paladins? Ehh, maybe not so much. So what makes a good team composition and why are certain strategies more successful than others? Read on, my friend.

Zach wanted to time this article with the NBA Finals, but alas, shoddy internet had other plans.

Well, so much for PvP guilds, huh? That's good news for everyone, I think. That means I no longer have to put up a separate battleground-specific guild and break away from my more pacifistic friends who prefer dungeons and raids. Scrapping guild talent trees and currency just might turn out for the better and it's good that Blizzard decided to drop the bomb sooner rather than later. Perhaps if they'd told us that about the dance studio back before Wrath was released, we wouldn't still be whining about it. At least this way, we can set our expectations accordingly. Blizzard didn't reveal much about the Path of the Titans, so it doesn't feel like such a big loss. It was a cool, curious concept, but now we can keep our focus back on the basics.

Today, we'll discuss how to form our battleground dream team. Unlike battleground PUGs where we're beggars taking scraps -- figuratively, of course -- we can actually choose whom to bring in our battleground premades. For a guild to earn achievements or XP, roughly 75% of the team has to belong to the same guild. It's still unclear as to whether rated battlegrounds will function identically to arenas, where teams have set rosters at any given time ... although in that scenario, guild recruitment seems like an easier way to assemble teams.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Also, apparently, arena history is discussed as well, as evidenced by these last three articles. Mmm arena history -- the tastiest kind.

Listening Music: Sufjan Stevens with Chicago. Someone recommend me an awesome band for next week in the comments plz, kkthnx.

Last Week: We talked about personal ratings at the tail-end of The Burning Crusade.

This Week: We've spent the last two weeks looking at arena with a rating system that was originally designed for chess matches. Let's talk a little about Wrath of the Lich King and some very significant matchmaking changes.

MMR: The new frontier.

MMR (matchmaking rating) was designed to prevent high-rated teams from stomping low-rated teams game after game. Arenas are generally more competitive if teams are evenly matched -- therefore, competition is greatest if teams are evenly matched all the time.

In case you haven't set foot in arena for the past three or four seasons, matchmaking rating is often called the most important rating in arena. Why, you ask? Arena points, titles, and mounts are based on your TR (Team Rating). PR (Personal Rating), if you recall correctly, is a qualifier that says you do or do not deserve the benefits of your team rating.

Matchmaking rating, however, is what makes your TR and PR go up or down. The higher your MMR is, the more points you will win from teams if your TR is vastly lower than your MMR. Likewise, if your MMR is very low, it will be harder for you to get to those gladiator ratings.

Interesting, right?

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Also, apparently, arena history is discussed as well, as evidenced by these last two articles. Mhmmm arena history -- the best kind.

Listening Music: ELO with "Don't Bring me Down." Alright, my bad for not dropping some Elo in the last article. I felt the wrath of my readers. I offer a humble sacrifice.

Last Week: We talked about the beginning of arena and how the old rating system differed so dramatically than the one we have today. The Elo system was implemented on a firm foundation, but quickly eroded due to...

This week: Personal ratings and why we have them!

Season 3 and season 4.

While the old system was grand in many respects, it had flaws. The biggest flaws with an Elo rating system which only had one rating (team rating) were point-selling and win-trading. Both of which are virtually non-existent in today's arena world. Personal rating was created in season 3 to end both of these problems. Even though many arena-boosting groups tried to duplicate their success before season 3, it was much harder, and therefore, much more rare.

If you aren't familiar with point-selling, it was a pretty big deal early in WoW's arena history. Essentially, a high-rolling exceptionally good PvP team would level up a 3v3 or 5v5 team to around 2100 or 2200 rating (at the time, these ratings were unbelievably good -- think 2700 or 2800 in today's arena world). Then, they would sell spots on the team for gold. Individuals would buy 1000+ arena points for 500-1000g. It would usually be advertised through trade and it would be assumed that the individuals would be entering three to four losing arena games. The team rating would suffer as a result, but they'd still get the points advertised.

In an expanded answer to the news of cross-battlegroup battlegrounds, we now hear from Kalgan (aka Tom Chilton, lead game designer) that there will also be an option to enter a "war games" style of play. What does that mean, you may ask? Well, here's the answer from the floating lich-head's hands themselves. (That's the icon he uses.)

Kalgan on "War Games" mode

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Q u o t e:


Too bad. Cross-server BGs were one of the things that, while convenient, overall have hurt the game and it's sense of community.

At least an option to only queue on-server would be nice.

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We're simultaneously working on a "war games" mode for battlegrounds that allows groups to challenge other groups to a battle in a specific battleground (including horde vs horde and alliance vs alliance). Granted, the rewards aren't significant, but it's more for players to be able to have fun battling their guildmates and friends or for players on a server to throw down for the sake of pride and bragging rights. ... You'll still only be grouped with players of your language, although your opponents can be from whatever part of the region, regardless of language.

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If Mr. Chilton's statement here actually comes to pass, this seems like a really cool option to make BGs useful for more than just queuing for points against faceless Horde or Alliance. Now, you would be able to go into a BG against people you know, do fights against the same faction and have mass tournaments organized solely by players. A fairly elegant answer to the "cross-battlegroup BGs will dilute community even more" statements that have been coming out.

Kalgan

We're currently expecting both normal and rated battlegrounds to be cross-battlegroup (within a region) for the launch of Cataclysm. So, players queueing from anywhere in North America (for example) could play vs players on any North American battlegroup, etc. This applies to all regions, not just North America.

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Yes, battlegrounds will no longer be locked to battlegroups in the coming expansion. The pool of players to pull from is going to grow dramatically with this change, which can only be a good thing. It also has interesting implications for PvE content. Cross-realm battlegrounds came long before cross-realm 5-mans via the dungeon finder, so cross-battlegroup battlegrounds could potentially suggest that the dungeon finder will pull from the entire region eventually as well. With the Battle.net revamp and the incoming Real ID features, what realm we play on may become less and less relevant for anything but the guild we're in and which faction holds Tol Barad.

[via World of Raids]

Zach brings you the weekly column The Art of War(craft) where he talks about good, old-fashioned PvP. He's also a huge NBA fan, so he's taking this opportunity to remind you that Game 4 of the NBA Finals is on right about now. Which means you should probably read all this during halftime. Or not, since the StarCraft 2 commercial should be debuting during the game.

Last week's column generated quite a bit of a stir when I recommended taking a break ... even during an ongoing match. A lot of you took exception to the suggestion, noting -- with much merit -- that being away from the game has a detrimental effect on the ongoing match. I agree, although as unreasonable as this may sound, I still think it's no big deal. Make no mistake, I'm strongly against AFK play or soaking up honor while deliberately not doing anything. That's just abusing the system. Most of you downranked my responses to blackness, which is actually an encouraging sign for me because it means there's a lot to look forward to when Cataclysm unleashes rated battlegrounds.

I'll say right off that I don't take current battleground play too seriously because the environment simply isn't conducive to true competitive play. I would have said neither should you, but clearly many of you feel otherwise. This is a good thing. I still think arenas are currently the better environment for intense PvP competition, but it was promising to read your opinions because it revealed that many of you actually do get invested in the game and that you keep your focus clearly on the match -- even with a PUG! That's perfect, because rated battlegrounds will be the environment to do just that.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening music Young MC's Bust A Move. Because I can.

Last week We talked about griefers in arena and some of the tools they can use to make WoW a much more miserable place.

This week We'll be talking about the old arena system in The Burning Crusade. From season 1 to season 4, we used a completely different system to gauge where we stood among everyone else on the arena ladders. The shift from an Elo rating system to a Gaussian Density Filter caused more changes than most people realize. We'll get into that a bit later -- don't worry, it's not all mumbo-jumbo.

Arena representation dropped 65% from season 4 to season 5. One of the reasons players decided to no longer participate in rated arenas was the change in the arena rating system.

PvP fans can rejoice -- Blizzard released information today regarding the new Twin Peaks battleground today, located inside the Eastern Kingdoms' new Twilight Highlands zone. Twin Peaks is described as a "10 vs. 10, capture-the-flag style battleground" reminiscent of Warsong Gulch.

Alliance players will be called to the defense of the Wildhammer Dwarves, who are fighting to regain control of their home territory of Grim Batol. The Horde will be forging a new coalition with the Dragonmaw Clan, who seek to take hold on the territory as well.

More details are beyond the break.