WoW Rookie: 20 tips for PvP realm leveling
by Lisa Poisso 
Jun 17th 2009 at 4:00PM
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.There's no doubt about it: it's trickier and twitchier to level a character on a PvP (player versus player) realm than it is on a "Care Bear," PvE (player versus environment) realm. Some players thrive on the electric anticipation of the unexpected ambush; others wilt under the unrelenting stress. Being an experienced gamer and having the proverbial "friends in high places" can make the experience a lot more enjoyable – so is leveling on a PvP realm beyond the reach of a WoW rookie? Absolutely not!
But make no mistake, it's war out there ... and only the savvy will survive unscathed. Sounds ominous, eh? Let's knock off some of the mystery. First, we direct you to Zach Yonzon's insightful introduction to the PvP attitude. Zach explains exactly what is different about playing on a PvP realm, as well as the basics of concepts such as "flagging" and "honor." Soak up the basics, then join us after the break for 20 tips to help you survive your time as a WoW rookie, PvP style.
Our PvP survival tactics include pointers from WoW.com's Robin Torres, who shared some fabulous tips for leveling on a PvP realm in this week's WoW, Casually. Check it out; it's an informative read. We've included some of her most useful tactics in our own rookie-centric list here.
- Prepare to die. Yes, you're going to die. Suck it up. It's almost always nothing personal -- this is, after all, the point of PvP. Run back to your corpse and get back to business.
- Stay healthy. Enemies pick on vulnerable targets. Running your health and mana bars into the ground invites attention from opportunists.
- Use the buddy system. The enemy is looking for easy pickings; reinforcements take you out of that category.
- Monitor the defense channels. Local and World Defense chat are your distant early warning system, telling you where not to go. Before you head out to your quest area or dash back into town, make sure the defense channels aren't scrolling kill messages faster than Twitter in a slaughterhouse.
- Announce ganking and camping to the zone. If you're being "ganked" (most classically defined as being killed when you're at a significant disadvantage, such as being killed by a group of players or being killed by a much higher level player) or "camped" (being killed repeatedly), announce it to the local chat channels. Friendly players of all levels are often happy to come lend a hand.
- Being in a town does not make you automatically safe. Guards in lowbie and mid-range towns are nothing but troublesome gnats to high-level players. If enemies know you're there, they can and will get you.
- Stay off the roads. You'll attract the least attention if you stay off heavily traveled paths.
- Don't go AFK during flights. Gankers love to strike players as they land.
- When in doubt, hide. Yes, your nameplate may stick out -- but it may not. Bushes, trees, buildings, vines, rocks ... Use the environment to conceal your presence.
- Keep your back to the wall. Don't expose your back to Backstabbing Rogues, and keep an eye out for approaching enemies.
- Don't give up or run at the mere sight of a high-level player. Many high-level players are simply passing through. They'll ignore you as long as you ignore them. Even if they attack, many will move on after a single kill.
Make nice. If you're questing near players from the opposite faction, you can try to elicit peace. Cooperate with enemies by helping them finish off the occasional kill; make a friendly emote (/smile, /wave, greet/, etc.; enemies can't read your speech or custom emotes, but they can read the text of your set emotes); or simply ignore enemy players altogether. Just remember: no matter how long an enemy seems to be cooperating with you, he may turn on you at any moment.- Creature corpses on the ground mean player activity. Approach with caution.
- If a high-level player attacks, crowd control and flee. Your spells and skills will be resisted by players who are higher level than you. Put your efforts into crowd controlling or slowing them, then escape.
- Don't waste consumables. Most of the time, that health or mana pot won't turn the tide -- and the expense can add up quickly.
- Cover your resurrection. When you return to your corpse after a death, resurrect as far from your corpse as possible, preferably behind a tree, bush or other cover. The moment you pop back to life, run for safety.
- Be aware of the danger zones. Stranglethorn Vale and Hillsbrad Foothills are notorious for their world PvP. If you are going to quest there, expect to get killed despite any and every precaution. Find out what areas are questionable on your own realm.
- Save quests in trouble zones until you're higher level. It's easier to fend off enemy players if you aren't generating level-based aggro from every monster in the immediate vicinity. Increase your control by saving quest lines in hotspots until the quests and monsters are green to you.
- Learn from each death. How did that enemy manage to take you out? Consider what you might do next time to make yourself less vulnerable to attack.
- Learn about the other classes. What can your enemies do to you? Read up about the abilities of other classes. (Try the class columns and guides here at WoW.com.)
WoW Rookie feeds you the basics to get you off to a good start in the World of Warcraft, from game lingo to joining your first guild and even what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, Tricks, PvP, Features, Leveling, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Athralsatar Jun 17th 2009 4:43PM
^-^ I never avoided the roads for this reason, staying just off them in the bushes is probably the best way to be safe..since you can duck if someone's coming, but you have the lesser enemy density that the road provides.
killabeeze Jun 17th 2009 4:36PM
a few addons never hurt either. i HIGHLY reccomend vanasKOS, its supposed to be a kill on site addon for guild/party use, but i never use it for thast purpose, i use it because it puts a customizable box on your screen that shows ALL enemy players doing ANYTHING recognizable in combat log, from healing, eating, fighting etc. when me and my partner leveled up, we'd target a name in the box, shed mind vision it and we'd stalk and kill it before it even knew we were in the area.
another decent addon for this is carbonite. you can set it to make sounds when enemies are detected. i use both at the same time since it seems one will pick things up sooner in some cases.
Athralsatar Jun 17th 2009 4:42PM
Another tip. Quest where no one else is questing. You're going to get ganked in STV. You will get left alone in Desolace.
Enemy players 10 levels or less higher than you that you can't beat can get slaughtered by your town and neutral town guards.
If someone is camping you, go do something else. Take a 10 minute break. Quest elsewhere..They think they're making you mad, when you're just wasting their time while they stare at some unmoving pixels.
oldwisemonk Jun 17th 2009 5:05PM
Heh! Yup. If they are camping you, it's a good time to swap out and check your banker alt. If you swap back and they are still there, go to your banker alt and scan the AH and get a drink. :P
Templar Jun 17th 2009 4:44PM
Suggestion: if you start to get camped, after about the 2 or 3 time, log off, log on an alt, play for a half hour or whatever, go back. Camper should be gone.
Its also amusing to get camped in say, hellfire, then fly over on an alt and see how long it takes them to realize you aren't coming back.
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 4:44PM
Oh, I don't know maybe - DON'T be a Douch - DON'T gank? Play with an ounce of honor. I mean jumping someone roughly your own level is not the same thing as sitting and whiping out lowbies in a given area and getting off on that kind of thing.
Kay, that was opinion but it would be a lot easier for all of us to level if we actually played with a little more dignity. ;-p One could argue that you'd learn to be a better pvp player if you were facing people of roughly the same level?
@ Glaras - I totally agree. I play on a pvp server but you are right that there is an odd sort of arrogance to people who consider themselves to be "Pvpers." Some of them suck at teamwork and raiding but man they are so good at jumping on people 20 lvls lower than themselves and teabagging people. lol It's amusing really. One could put just as negative a spin on such people as those who choose to play, "Carebear."
vinniedcleaner Jun 17th 2009 10:52PM
I agree totally... PvP without honor is just harassment
Brainded Jun 18th 2009 3:52PM
/agree
I love the fact that I can be attacked at any time, anywhere (almost). I don't see the point of getting a kill with no honor though. And the stupid gankers who give us PvP-ers a bad name do that all the time. I love when I can make their waste of time better for me though. I had an experience in Coldarra in the Shield when I first went there where I was camped by an 80 waiting for his Heroic group. He must have killed me a dozen times inside the shield. The Mages killed him every single time. I delighted in that I had zero repair bill (PvP kills do not degrade durability) but he probably had a hefty one before he could even run his heroic.
I play on Dunemaul (Horde). I know there are idiots on both sides (I've encountered enough of them) but I always scratch my head when I see on WorldDefense "Splintertree Post is under attack" for half an hour. Nobody even GOES there. Who are you ganking? Sometimes it will be Freewind Post, or some other lowbie town. What is the point? Do we (Horde) on DM do that too? I obviously wouldn't be able to see that on WD.
Anyway, PvP servers necessitate alts. Sometimes you get someone who just won't leave you alone, for no reason at all. Then you go play something else. And make sure you add them to your KoS list so you can take them out next time you happen by on your main. ;)
Dreyja Jun 18th 2009 7:19PM
@Brainded
Well I can't speak to your server but it happens on both sides on mine. Moreso to Alliance towns ONLY because of the number imbalace. You get ass-hats on both sides and trust me, I tell off my own faction all the time. They can at least understand me. ;) I get the same response: It is pvp noob! BS, not when you are jumping lvl 20s and you are 65, that is just you getting a silly power trip from a freaking game.
--- my 2 cents. ;)
The alliance ganking Crossroads is legendary and it makes me sad.
Spectral Jun 17th 2009 4:46PM
Really great guide.
If you want more survival tips: there's an option in the keybindings menu to hotkey the camera so you can look behind you, its also very useful.
Probably the best thing you can do is to stack up on lesser invisibility potions before you start to level(or roll alchemy), if you have the chance to do so, they are cheap and easy to make and will save your ass more times than you can count.
DruidGuard Jun 17th 2009 4:50PM
Another tip: Don't act suspicious. If you see a player around your level and you try to hide from him, immediately drink/eat/bandage, or stealth (if a rogue or druid), don't expect him to /wave and carry on. He'll assume you're going to try to gank him, and may make an effort to get you first. Don't target him for to long in any case either; if the other player has Target of my Target on, he'll see you targeting him and no matter what will get antsy, unless you quickly de-target him or do a /smile to show you mean no harm. These suspicious activities This can actually be advantageous if you see a lower level player coming to kill the mobs you're after, as this can make him run away or move to a different spot without putting up a fight. If you're low on hp/mana or severely out-gunned by the opposite player, then feel free to get your vitals up, but don't try to top-off in front of him.
Also: If you see a higher level nearby, don't run away as a first resort. Unless you know that this player is ganking in the zone or pillaging the town, its best not to flee upon glancing at a red or skull level. Chances are, that higher level can drop you in seconds and often has a way of catching you or slowing you down. Running away only provokes them. Staying calm and ignoring or simply ridding past them is a better way to continue on your business.
Final tip: If you see another player around your level killing the mobs you're after, unless you know you can bully him out of the area, don't go after him. Doing so can make the killing in the area much harder, as now you'll have to worry about being ambushed from the player you just killed at anytime, as well as the possibility of him calling on friends and disrupting your leveling process. On that note, feel free to kill someone grinding mobs if you just finished in that area/won't be going to that area for a while. This way you get a kill and don't have to really worry about repercussions, and the opposite player gets to kill grinding.
Happy hunting! (And sorry of the long post!)
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 4:52PM
Real suggestion:
Don't get "tunnel vision." Be careful to always keep one eye on your surroundings. There is nothing a ganker wants more than to catch you unawares or in combat with the environment.
oricus12843 Jun 17th 2009 5:00PM
I can't count on both hands the amount of people I've had fights with in Un'Goro. From High levels to same level toons, and I'm on a low pop server!
As frustrating as it is to get ganked or camped, it feels good to do it back, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. The only time I run on carebear servers is when I'm playing with my girlfriend who doesn't have enough reaction time for PvP.
oldwisemonk Jun 17th 2009 5:10PM
Great advice on the acting suspicious and behavior around higher lvls.
oldwisemonk Jun 17th 2009 5:10PM
That was supposed to be @DruidGuard.
ethan Jun 17th 2009 5:15PM
Rule 22: Remember exactly where you got ganked the most and when you turn 80 go back there and decimate the entire town. (/wink Southshore)
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 5:32PM
I couldn't disagree more. How does that help anything? Many people feel the same way as you and actively do it so... I'm likely the nutbar here. ;-p
garinow Jun 17th 2009 5:18PM
I have always had characters on a PVP server, and what is strange is that I don't even like PVP'ing so much. There's just something about the possibility of constant danger that makes playing seem more real to me (so much so that I have actively avoided going to a PVE server, even when I have friends on them that are asking me to cross over).
Naix Jun 17th 2009 5:22PM
On my rogue I always come out of stealth, /wave, and if the other person waves back I backstab them. If they don't wave I sap them over and over.
See to the horde waving is a sign of aggression with harsh consequences.
Pantyraider Jun 17th 2009 5:23PM
#12 is wrong. What's the fun of a PVP server if you don't ever take advantage of it?
I suppose it could save you some time in the long run by not starting a mini war. But killing gnomes is fun. You should get at least double XP for gnome kills.