Does PvP Teach You PvE Techniques?

I'm sorry for this rant, yes it stems from my mains

From my experience in all 4 aspects of group composition the answer to "Does PvP Teach You PvE Techniques?" the answer is YES. As a healer this teaches you triage and how to gauge your heals in a pinch situation. As a tank it teaches you positioning and awareness. As a melee it teaches you how to angle yourself for the best damage output as well as additional raid awareness. But where it really comes into play is when you are a ranged DPSer. This is because as you can see with the other 3 aspects it teaches you awareness, but for a ranged DPSer there is one additional point that PvP teaches you that seems to be very lacking in many of the current players.

So I say to you "Hardcore" PvE fanatics. Try a battleground or two, and see how much harder it is to just face roll through. PvP takes skill that cannot be honed in PvE content, yet every bit of experience you would receive from PvP will help you in a PvE environment.

Why BG Brackets should be shrunk.

I've enjoyed BG's since the first time I stepped into WSG on my paladin. The fast paced, unpredictable action was a big lure for me. But what always got me was that while I was leveling I would pop a bracket and suddenly I was completely out matched, so I had to do more leveling to get up to a competitive level again, this magic range was the #5 - #9 range. I always asked myself why only the top 5 levels in a bracket were "supposed" to be there. Then Blizzard released patch 3.2 and allowed leveling via PvP. I was in love, there was a sudden rush of people that were below this magical range coming in and getting slaughtered right along side of me. Not to mention that there were all of those twinks that didn't read patch notes suddenly leveling out of the bracket that they so loved. Two of my favorite things were suddenly occurring, crying and mass murder on a pixel level. But, this didn't last long, most of the twinks, on my battlegroup, that had read the patch notes, became mothballed. And soon the mindset of "Level until you're #5 - #9" returned because as we all know the prior levels were not very useful and easily one shot. This is the purpose behind this blog though, to change that concept.

So, back to the concept. If BG brackets were shrunk down to a 5 level bracket, you would have 100% competition in all levels, it would equal the playing field. The fact that this concept didn't come with leveling in BG's still baffles me. I mean you don't go into an instance that has mobs or bosses that are 8-9 levels higher than you and expect to do any damage, and that idea was the foundation of placement through the Random Dungeon Finder. So why wouldn't a BG allow you to be more competitive?

Most of my characters have been able to take on mobs that are up to 5 levels higher than them and succeed. This has held true through World and Organized PVP also. So if I had a level 10 fresh into the bracket, I can compete with most people up to level 15, but obviously once they hit 16-19 it is nearly impossible to hit them and they can usually do enough damage to kill me in two to three hits if I don't have a healer behind me. So, for a pure leveling experience that allows for a balanced competition between the two factions it is logical that offering a 5 level bracket would bring more interest to the PVP aspect of the game. I am sure many people are put off by the fact that they can't be competitive at all levels, where as in instances you have a set choice of instances that you can be competitive.

I would honestly like to see this change in Cataclysm with the rest of the perspective changes. I imagine many changes are going to occur in the battlegrounds with the rated battleground concept. Since they are looking to organize battlegrounds more I can see a reduction in the amount of people required for AV as one of the major changes, and hopefully this change will come along with it.

As always, we are still recruiting in both guilds, hit me up with an email or catch TLDNR [H] / CHRGR [A] or KTALGSTO [H] / Tinibubbles [A] online. You can also find me on Twitter.

PvP During Downtime or Through the Expansion?

WoW.com had an article on The Art of War(craft) about using Battlegrounds and PvP as a bridge between expansions. This made me wonder how many people actually use PvP as a stop gap between expansions when they are not raiding or their guild has called it quits until the next expansion. Myself I almost always try to slip into a BG or two when I can. Though when trying to maintain even a small raiding guild it was nearly impossible to squeeze a good night of PvP. But at the end of an expansion PvP becomes a lot more accessible. BG queue times are quick, there are premades being made and less and less raids being done each week. While raiding usually sees a lull PvP sees a boom.

So my goal going into Cataclysm. More PvP, with the two new BG's (Twin Peaks and Battle for Gilneas) and rated Battlegrounds I will definitely be getting into more PvP, especially battlegrounds. This was the reasoning behind this blog and the guilds on either side.

So, with that I welcome anyone interested in joining either guild. You can contact me at TakingBackPVP@gmail.com. Or if you find yourself on feel free to do a /who for Chrgr or Tinibubbles (Alliance) / TLDNR or KTALGSTO (Horde), and we would be happy to send an invite.

PVP Podcasts....

So as you should know if you read this blog, I love PVP. So with this love of PVP, and to be honest the form of PVP that World of Warcraft provides has to be one of my favorites, I am curious why more PVP based Podcasts have not popped up over the years. I realize that the world of PVP is not overly fast paced, but I'm certain with a little creativity and dedication a podcast could sprout up, between interviews, tips and tricks and news updates.

What inspired this post is the guys over at Castaclysm, Markco, Jhaman and Thunderer are awesome. They almost always have information not covered by the other WoW Podcasts. To be absolutely honest, this is one of two that I am willing to listen to on any consistent basis (Call to Auction doesn't post consistent enough). But one of the best things about this Podcast to me is the references to their PVP antics. It was what inspired me to create Chrgr (thanks Markco).

So if you have the opportunity, head over to Castaclysm and listen to these guys. You won't regret it.

More PVP, Horde Side

We came back to the horde a few hours later. And low and behold, Warsong Gulch Perfection. And the most amazing part is we started the BG with only 2 level 15's as our highest level characters in the group. most were sub 13. KTALGSTO decided to go with the PVP tip of the week and played full support for our FC, and did great. I was the only healing class in the BG so I stayed with our FC and luckily we were able to fend off about 6 people.

Second attempt, we had half the group at level 18+ and due to one persons attitude towards low levels participating, and due to his own inability to communicate the whole team was drug to the floor. We lost 3-0. Oh and the hunter/rogue combination taking people out at the bottom of our GY.

P.S.: I would like to let everyone know that yes, you do get XP from BG's. (this was in fact an argument provided as to why level 10-15 shouldn't be in BG's)

But we persist we are setting out to change these types of attitudes, to get people to understand that BG's are not for level 18 & 19's with the highest quality of gear anymore. BG's are for everyone, and a great way to progress through the levels. To be absolutely honest I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing more low level PVP gear available in Cataclysm to start equalizing this attitude.

The rest started with a better attitude but we still lost. Though we are progressing through out level at a steady pace.

Tomorrow I will be writing an article as to why BG's should be shrunk down to a 5 level bracket instead of the current 10.

We are now openly recruiting on both sides, no level requirement and encourage all players that enjoy a PVP based environment for leveling. Also watch for our guild rules post this week.

Tabards....

Well, we have finalized our Tabard selection. So we are now a "real guild" we have a tabard. Still working towards bank slots and potentially a vent server. But we definitely have a tabard. And it's pretty cool looking, Alliance will be Black on Gold, and Horde will be Gold on Black. Check it out in the Armory (Alliance) (Horde) and tell us what you think.

Horde & Alliance PVP Today

This morning we went in and did some PVP on the horde side. Since we were only level 11 and about 6/10 of the WSG group were below level 15, it was pretty much a slaughter. So, we decided to take advantage of this and jumped over to Chrgr and Tinibubbles to see how we would fair on that side.

And guess what... Warsong Gulch Perfection was attained. And I made an enemy. Despite being killed by a Lock a level 18 shaman made it his mission for the last round of the BG to kill me. I am so flattered.

Go figure, the second run we had the typical "to many chiefs and to many illiterates". Most people were staying infront of our base while only a couple people were trying to take out the enemy flag carrier. Then two different strategies were being vocalized and not confirmed.

PVP Tip of the Week: When a low level in the bracket, try your best to slow down the EFC or anyone pursuing your flag carrier rather than trying to be some hero and taking out a top level opponent. If you can pick off someone your own level, do so, but not at the expense of the flag carriers. You can be vital, you just have to know your role in the game. DPS is for raiding and instances, control is for PVP.