Slorkuz tells you how to win Arathi Basin
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 30th 2008 at 5:30PM
I have to admit, I've been giving Arathi Basin short shrift lately -- while I'm having a great time hitting all the solo achievements (just got my Delicious Chocolate Cake the other day, and Mr. Pinchy is my next goal), battlegrounds have fallen by the wayside on my play schedule. But AB is a great time, and if you've recently found your way back in there, Slorkuz happens to be an expert on AB winning -- when a player wonders how to win AB in a tournament setting, Slork shows up a wall of text on how to walk away with at least 3 nodes.Of course, Zach has already written extensive tips on how to win in there, but Slorkuz has a few tricks of his own -- rather than the usual 5-5-5 group, he recommends a 4-3-3-3-2 setup, with a group of four holding down what he says is the most important node, the Blacksmith. It's the closest point to all of the nodes, so if you group has to move fast, that's the place to be. The other three person groups hold down the other nodes, with an extra three person group and a duo moving back and forth and defending as necessary. And in a tournament setting, there are lots of things you can do to make the setup even stronger -- give mount buffs to the moving players, communicate back and forth to match the numbers, and make good use of CC when possible.
Definitely food for thought (and probably enough to pull me back into AB for a few fights this weekend -- to get Make Love, Not Warcraft, if nothing else). When Wrath actually releases, Wintergrasp will probably be the place to be, and I'm just plain tired of WSG and all the shenanigans in AV, but AB still seems to have some fun in it.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Manatank Oct 30th 2008 5:37PM
I prefer to just kill all the horde instead of letting them kill me and 5-cap.
Kakistocracy Oct 30th 2008 5:50PM
You're crazy, I am sticking with the get killed and watch them five cap while I tilt at windmill method, it hasn't worked yet, which means it must work soon!
Jay in Oregon Oct 30th 2008 7:16PM
I am sticking with the get killed and watch them five cap while I tilt at windmill method, it hasn't worked yet, which means it must work soon!
Are you in my battlegroup? *grin*
I swear, I've had arguments with people who believe that rushing Drek is the only way to win in Alterac Valley; as the Horde picks us apart and stomps us into the mud, the rallying cry next round is "OK stick together this time!" Lather, rinse, repeat.
Kakistocracy Oct 30th 2008 10:40PM
Could be the same battle group, do you get the, "We are only leading by 20% now, lets just let the win so we can get quick markz!!!1!" a lot?
Darthregis Oct 30th 2008 5:48PM
What, no EotS love?!
*snicker*
jay Oct 30th 2008 10:41PM
EoTS is like testicles on a female..... pointless.
superfrank Oct 31st 2008 7:21AM
half the raid zergs the flag.
wtf.
superfrank Oct 31st 2008 7:23AM
I used angle brackets and the post failed. it should have said:
"ok guys, get 3 towers then start capping the flag"
*half the raid zergs straight out of the gate to the flag*
wtf.
Illucid Oct 30th 2008 5:50PM
I always end up with players who insist, at any cost, on holding the stables, because it's 'our' node. Doesn't matter what's happening on the rest of the field. I can only assume they have a Special Relationship with one of the donkeys.
Better groups cap and abandon the stables, grab the blacksmith and one of mone/lumber mill, then opportistically take the other one and the farm. This leaves the horde with the stables, miles from doing any real damage.
In general, if Alliance are holding the stables. they're losing.
pungkow Oct 30th 2008 6:02PM
Since when does holding a node equate to a loss? If you have 1 or 2 people standing back defending the node, getting ready to call an incoming, that's good strategy. Otherwise the opposing faction will just quick cap it, leave a person or 2 there, and go cap something else. If this happens during the first minute of the match, as it often does, that means anyone who attacked the node can just camp your spawn, cutting you off, and making a 5 cap that much easier.
I play Alliance, and very rarely does people holding the stables mean a loss, in fact it's usually NOT having anyone there to defend it that guarantees failure.
Illucid Oct 30th 2008 6:21PM
I agree that capping the stables is necessary. The problems start when Horde attack it. In many groups, people rush back to defend 'our' node, and end up losing two others, getting into a pitched fight, then losing the stables anyway. Down three nodes.
It's better to focus on the blacksmith, then radiate out from there.
Lemons Oct 30th 2008 7:15PM
Unfortunately, you sometimes you just have to cave into them. If there are 3-4 alli who won't give up stabs, just get over there and help them. You can usually take it back, and if you do you've just brought 3-4 alli back into play.
At least look at the situation, if it's truly hopeless, than just keep telling them to abandon and run past, they usually listen after a bit.
Danel Oct 30th 2008 7:34PM
I wouldn't go so far as to say that holding the Stables is *bad* for the Alliance, but as a Hordie I've definitely noticed that some Alliance have a strange overattachment to the stables - I've seen fights where we've held everything else yet the Alliance fights desperately with all they have to hold the stables, rather than even sending anyone off to spot a weakpoint. Gradually, the rest of our defenders trickle up until it's thirty players fighting for a single flag. Either one of ours slips through just long enough, and we win 5-0, or they manage to hold for long enough that we win 4-1.
It's almost depressingly pointless, since while the 3 marks are nice there's not really much satisfaction in defeating opponents that stupid.
Jason Oct 31st 2008 10:11AM
Don't even talk to me about the stables. That should be the last objective the Horde should even try to take. All it really ever does is over extend the group.
What battle group are you guys one because it sounds like the Horde on those servers know what the heck they're doing?
Eufimische Oct 30th 2008 6:17PM
Every time I join an Arathi Basin PUG, I have a conversation that goes like this.
Me: "So what's the plan"
Some guy: "Kill the Horde!"
Me: "That's not a plan"
Some guy: "Whatever, just have fun, it's only a game"
I can only assume these guys theorise that the Horde's plan is preventing them from having fun, so even as their score hits 2000 while ours has barely cleared the 1000 mark, we're the true winners.
Unfortunately you can't buy PVP gear with fun.
superstone Oct 31st 2008 1:51AM
Not implemented yet, huh?
That'll be in one of these patches soon...
pudds Oct 30th 2008 6:09PM
Slork's strategy is much better than the typical 5-5-5. The trouble with 5-5-5 is you're conceding 2 nodes. Conceding 2 nodes means they can defend them with minimal effort, while committing most of their efforts to taking a single node. The result is that any of your nodes can easily be overrun by 10 or more enemies.
Putting pressure on the opposing side at 4 or more nodes means all nodes must be defended, which makes subsequently makes defending your own nodes that much easier.
Mike Oct 30th 2008 7:39PM
THANK YOU! I have been trying to get people to stop yelling "Just defend 3" for years now!
Roxton Oct 30th 2008 7:05PM
AB is the best BG. By far. It's got the size balance just perfect, meaning that while one person cannot single-handedly win a match (unlike a druid in WSG), they can still exert a good influence on the outcome. In AV it is all too easy to feel that whatever you do is really pointless; there are so many other idiots that you might as well give up.
It also has the best map: all the nodes are spaced closely enough to make response a possibility, and the fact that graveyards are flexible and based on nodes make whole new tactics available.
Everyone has their own views on how to win, and to be honest it depends on the game. Sometimes, you'll have a sufficient advantage in player skill or starting numbers to make a 5-cap a possibility. At other times the two sides will be fairly evenly matched in individual player skill, and it comes down to precise tactics.
And ultimately, it comes down to individual players. Many is the time I have slowfalled from LM to BS, killing one player before I land and then using the element of surprise to claim the node for the Alliance. And equally, many is the time I've done all this just for some rogue to come out of stealth with .5 seconds left on the flag cap and kill me.
I remember the days when all you had to do to win was to zerg through BS and camp the enemy in their own GY while you frantically tried to grab the other nodes from behind the scenes. This doesn't work anymore.
gd1107 Oct 30th 2008 6:36PM
sure its a good plan, but u still need 14 other in the bg to follow...unless you run a premade. 4-3-3-3-2 is how all the premades I was in grinding for high warlord, and it was quite effective. that just doesn't happen in a pug.
what you need to win in a pug is a good dedicated healer. im an enhance shaman and i used to go in with a holy priest or paladin. we'd win 95% of our games with me being at the top with most damage and him being at top healing. add a warrior to the mix, and its just that much better...
if you can accomplish the full on push and hold the opposing team at their spawn, its game over.