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 4 of 5)
Paprikka Jun 17th 2009 5:25PM
Something to remember for stealth classes is even though it's very easy for high levels to see you, it's still simple to get away. Just as soon as you gain some distance, or if you see them coming early, jump in one direction and stealth, then immediately do a 180 and run off. I've never been found that way and so far 100% of the time the higher level will run off in the wrong direction trying to cut you off, allowing you to escape. It's also funny to see them spamming aoe in the completely wrong area until they get tired and leave.
dAnixx Jun 17th 2009 5:35PM
Don't go to Stranglethorn Vale.
Naix Jun 17th 2009 5:36PM
My friends and I are all leveling undead rogues on a pvp server. Imagine 5 rogues subtlety spec'ed shadow stepping and ambushing you at the same time.
Even level 80s run from us now.
Agerath Jun 18th 2009 12:07AM
/clap
Deadlock Jun 17th 2009 5:39PM
World PvP is unbalanced 95% of the time, and no matter how good you are at PvP, it's almost always decided entirely on levels due to ridiculous WoW mechanics. Usually either you or the opponent simply have a win button, called 'attack'. I simply don't see how anyone can possibly find that fun.
Adamn Jun 17th 2009 6:10PM
While the article does give excellent advice on how to survive on a PvP server, I do take exception to the general tone of the author and many of the comments above.
Mainly, "if you aint PvP you aint sh!t".
Well I can only speak for myself, but I think others might agree.
Maybe some of us play the game for relaxation and/or interacting with friends. Plus I PAY for the privilege to do so.
Pardon me if I'm not willing to leave my PAID for fun to the whims of a 12 (or 42) year old loser who's self image is based on their ability to play uberbully to people 20 levels below them.
Wanna prove you're tough?? Fine, stick to the arenas and battlefields where its a semi fair fight. But that's not what most PvPers want. They want to take a level 80 wearing all purples to Refuge Point and keep the flight master dead. That's my definition of a loser.
It is certainly not ALL, but its been my experience that they are a majority.
It is certainly two different games I'll grant that.
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 6:18PM
Here! Here! :)
There is totally the bully factor to a lot of the WORST (not all) of PvP
Friday_Knight Jun 18th 2009 3:01AM
Your attitude makes me wonder if you've ever played/leveled on a PvP server. I kind of doubt you have, or I have the impression that if you did it was a short-lived endeavor.
Most people who have leveled on PvP servers do have something of a tiny chip on our shoulders. We've played part of the game that you've opted out of. Think about you respond to a player when you find out that they've bought an account and never leveled the class they're playing on their own. How can someone really know their class when they didn't even level it? It's sort of the same mentality (albeit on a smaller scale) with those who have never leveled on a PvP server. How can you really know everything there is to know about your class when you've never had to use its every trick and skill to fight for your very survival?
Don't be too quick to get defensive and rip on someone when they sound a bit like they know something more than you do. Every once in a while they just might. You might not think something is a good ol' barrel of laughs while you're doing it, but sometimes you find that things like that enhance the overall experience. Leveling on a PvP server is kind of like that. Every frustrating, keyboard slamming moment is potentially something you might look back on fondly later down the road. Some of the funniest stories I have about the game came from crazy world PvP moments. Even some from when I was getting ganked or camped.
If open warfare PvP is not your cup of tea that's cool. You have the option to play on a PvE server. Just realize that you really ARE missing out on something. And you're a wuss.
Sergeant Anton of Magtherodin Jun 17th 2009 6:40PM
i've been on a pvp realm for four years, magtherodin ftw, and the horde wont sympathize for queting and what not, so if you want to join a pvp realm , you only need 2 rules, kill them first , and never ever...EVER go to bootybay, even at 80, they have ganking guilds on my server, its horrible. ohh, and a third rule, when you kill a horde say kek, they know what it means...
Shulkman Jun 17th 2009 6:17PM
I leveled on a pvp server, choosing the server based on a friends recommendation. Being new to the game, I didn't think to ask about realm balance. If you are on a low pop, 70% horde, 30% alliance server, and you roll alliance unknowingly, be ready to buy a new keyboard when you get done leveling. I practically ate mine.
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 6:20PM
Lol, you wouldn't be on Auchindoun (sp?) perchance? Fun ain't it? ;)
Agerath Jun 18th 2009 12:10AM
Try 85% horde, 15% alliance (Laughing Skull-EU).
Tight-knit community, though, as you'd expect.
Dreyja Jun 18th 2009 12:50AM
Yowza. wow
Shulkman Jun 18th 2009 12:54AM
Gul'dan-US
Friday_Knight Jun 18th 2009 3:01AM
Yeah I leveled my Alliance main on Laughing Skull (Domitrius - draenei warrior) and the disparity between Alliance and Horde was simply awful. I feel your pain Agerath. Quel'Danas on Laughing Skull was probably the most frustrating experience I've ever had playing this game. I think it took us upwards of 5 months to finally get the Naaru to appear on the island. Horrible.
I've since transferred to Ner'zhul where the population is far more balanced and slightly in favor of the Alliance. It was rather weird going into Wintergrasp for the first time on Ner'zhul and NOT having Tenacity.
If you're going to play on a PvP server make sure that the faction you're playing is the larger of the two. Having the advantage of numbers slightly makes up for the fact that most of the people who participate in large-scale PvP events are pants-on-head retarded.
Waco Jun 17th 2009 6:54PM
World PVP by and large is for assholes. Consisting almost entirely of higher levels, oftentimes 80's, being enormous dicks. KEK KILLED YOUR FLIGHTMASTER, KEK CAMPING YOUR BODY FOR TWO HOURS, KEK STRANGLETHORN VALE. I've leveled a pally and a warrior on a pvp server (Lightning's Blade), and it was an infuriating experience that I will *never* relive. It took every bit of fun out of the game. There's been very few fun moments of world pvp, and most of those were me being a dick back to them.
Most of these tips are quite laughable, if only for the fact that you have to turn any strategies you'd normally use on their head. Tell people in general chat? Good way to get laughed at. Buddy up? Then that jerk camping Southshore has two mice to play with. Keep off the main roads? Enjoy running into every mob on the way (Note that this is entirely impossible in places like STV).
I wouldn't have such an enormous problem with all this, except for the fact that it's all while you're trying to level. It's especially horrid when it's your first time through.
Do I think it's important for new players to experience PVP servers? Yes. So that any illusions that you're playing with any sort of decent people are immediately stripped away.
And really, if you enjoy PVP servers, please, continue to enjoy them. I have nothing against you.
kmfolino Jun 17th 2009 7:18PM
I've leveled 2 toons to lvl 80, and have 4 others between lvl 35-71...all alliance on a PVP realm (Smolderthorn). The estimated population is between 2.5 and 3 to 1 in favor of horde, so there's lot of looking over your shoulder. I normally don't PVP myself (I can maybe count actual "ganks" on both hands)....I just prefer not to kill horde for no reason. That's not to say I haven't. I've logged onto my hi-level toons to "get revenge on that lvl 55 that ganked my 30 in Arathi"...but that's a lesson in humility for the other person. I've also come to teach another player not to AFK in the open, but always my lvl or higher (once ganked an AFK 80 rogue with my 69 rogue at Amber Ledge fp). I'm also likely to help out a low level horde with their quest kill if they look in danger. I have teamed up with a decent lock in Tanaris when questing on my 42-ish hunter having e-mote conversations in the process (/point, /charge, etc). I have met some good players on the other side, and have ran into some real jerks...I could only begin to psychoanalyze the mentality of some of the people who play this game.
Tori Jun 17th 2009 8:08PM
That sounds pretty similar to my own beliefs. :) I don't go around being a jerk to Alliance for no reason. However, if they've been ganking lowbies or just being a general pain in the ass they will get what they deserve. (okay, I do have to note my one exception is gnomes. xD I hate them with such a passion that they're usually a see=kill target for me. ;D)
I also enjoy 'teaming up' with the opposite faction. There have been many cases where, say a quest calls for killing an elite, I'll show up and there's be an Alliance there looking like he needs help. With a few emotes we team up and kill him first for one person then the other, and thank each other and be on our way. Or if I'm travelling with my 80 through a low level zone and see an Alliance in trouble I'll run in and help. :)
Dreyja Jun 17th 2009 8:59PM
My hat is off to you. This is exactly the kind of thing I've been talking about. Why not act with some fairness... especially given the fact that members of the opposite faction are not actually even EVIL, neither are they the real problem in Azeroth. (Minus the Forsaken ;-p)
Krick Jun 17th 2009 9:54PM
My biggest tip is to completely avoid questing in Tarren Mill/South Shore and Stranglethorn Vale. I leveled my current main character without questing in those areas, and it was before they increased the XP gains, so I know people can definitely do it now without any trouble. You just have to figure out what other zones are level appropriate and quest there instead.
Don't be in a hurry to skip zones. Quests give EXACTLY the same XP when green as they do when they are yellow, orange, or red. More importantly green quests = easy gold. I recommend staying in Azeroth until 62 at least, since the level 60 areas are nearly devoid of people, which means less ganking and easy questing. The same goes for Outland, stay there until 74 or higher. Very few people quest in Blades Edge, Netherstorm, or Shadowmoon Valley so there will be a lot less ganking there as well.
I leveled a hunter to 63 in Azeroth, and made it to 77 in Outland before heading to Northrend. It sure was nice starting in Northrend with an epic flyer. I did this without running a single instance too. If you run instances, it's even easier.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com