WoW Rookie: How to win Tol Barad
by Michael Gray 
Mar 31st 2011 at 2:00PM
Tol Barad can be a massive, confusing, hot mess to anyone who isn't already accustomed to its evolution. Don't worry, though -- despite all of the dailies quests, NPCs, and various fluff, Tol Barad is actually fairly simple.
There are two parts of Tol Barad. There's the "always open" quest area and the battlefield area. The quest area is Tol Barad Peninsula, while the battlefield is just plain Tol Barad.
Winning Tol Barad gets you honor and other fabulous prizes. Winning is about flag control, similar to Arathi Basin. Essentially, there are three flags located in a triangle inside larger fortification. When you stand near the flag, a slider will move in the direction of your faction. The more people near the flag, the faster it goes.
The basic rules
There are a few basic rules that add depth to the game of Tol Barad. The most important part of these rules depend upon whether you're attacking or defending.If you're attacking Tol Barad, you win as soon as you capture all three flags. When you die, you resurrect near the flag you were attacking. There are three locations with siege engines. You can park the siege engines by the towers to extend the timer, giving you longer to win the three flags. The attacker's challenge is all about coordinating your strike teams so that you get all the flags simultaneously.
If you're defending Tol Barad, you win by letting the timer run out. That means your challenge is one of endurance as well as coordination. The moment all three flags are owned by the attackers, the game is over. You can't risk letting the enemy's getting even two flags for longer than necessary, because the second that third flips, it's game over. If you die while on defense, you resurrect at the center of the map. This is a good situation because it allows you to quickly reallocate your team equally across all three flags.
If the attacker owns two flags, then the slider will move considerably faster on the third. Owning two flags is not a neutral situation because of how much faster the slider moves in that case.
Smash-face tactics
Even though the rules for Tol Barad are a little different depending on whether you're attacking or defending, the general tactics are about the same. You want to deliver a slightly more powerful force to where your opponent is the weakest, forcing them out of that flag.
When attackers have two out of three flags, then obviously they must go to the third. The danger here, of course, is that if you leave the first two flags insufficiently defended, the defenders will easily take it back.
Tol Barad comes down to smash-face PvP. Warsong Gulch depends on your ability to run with flags. By contrast, in Tol Barad, if your force can't force the other team out of the flag areas, then you can't take back the base.
Be sure you always leave at least two or three people to defend your owned flags; this will allow them to yell for help before getting overwhelmed.
Personal performance
Since Tol Barad relies so much on personal performance, here are some tips to help make sure you can do well in the battle.
- Duck and cover. There are lots of corners, poles, and obstacles in Tol Barad. If you have the option, get behind them. Don't give hunters and casters a chance to go hog wild on you.
- Pair up. Grab a partner to watch your back, and in turn, watch his back. This is especially important because rogues will take the opportunity to stunlock and gank people who stray from the pack. If a pair is protecting one another, rogues will have less chance to do that.
- Heal. Healing is a key part of winning in Tol Barad. Because of its fast-paced and energetic nature, a lot of the damage in Tol Barad is relatively "incidental." Damage dealers rarely get the chance to lock down on a single target and really unload. Throwing heals will minimize the likelihood of half-hearted opponents' easily killing your team.
- Protect the healers. Healing is important; therefore, protecting the people who are doing that healing is equally important. It's also a great way to mow down the enemy; if opponents are trying to kill someone that's not you, you're left relatively open to fire through a full rotation of damage.
Caveats
There are a few things that can significantly set back your team. Here are some things to avoid (or at least be really sure of the situation before you start doing them):
- Don't fight away from the flag. The goal of the game is to flip the flag; the farther from the flag you are, the less likely it is that you'll take it. Fighting on the roads tends to be the ultimate sin, because it's a distraction.
- Don't chase siege engines. If you don't pump out huge amounts of DPS, it probably won't be worth your time to chase down siege engines. It takes one attacker less than a minute to set up two siege engines on a single tower. However, if you're on defense and it seems like a chunk of attackers are actively defending siege engines ... make them defend it! If they're defending a siege engine, they're not attacking a flag.
- Don't think you're safe. Tol Barad is fast-paced. You can't stop because you think you're safe. You've got to stay focused and keep pushing to win, or you'll lose ground as soon as you relax.
Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new player, from how to control your character and camera angles when you're just starting out, to learning how to tank, getting up to speed for heroics and even how to win Tol Barad.Filed under: WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Marasai Apr 1st 2011 8:30AM
"There is, however, a new twist: each time a member of your faction is killed in the immediate vicinity of a keep, a slider bar will move slightly in favor of the opposing faction. So not only does the size of each force in the area determine who controls each keep, but losing allies during the contesting process determines control as well"
You forgot this. Most people have no clue about it. From http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/1159457
If you stay to defend, don't die in the cap area.
qitsyoj45 Apr 1st 2011 9:03AM
I see that more and more people understand the basic elements of TB, particularly of the late TB dance in which a flag is taken by one side just as a corresponding flag is being taken by the other side.
The early fight needs work though. If your side have trouble winning attacks this is the period to concentrate on more than any other. The enemy don't yet have a clear leader and there is no established pattern for them to follow.
Blitzkrieg can work. Small teams, maybe 3 each sent to WV and SW may find limited opposition or even none. These should be among your first people to get into TB, because they have a long way to run. They should try to co-ordinate to capture both simultaneously or as close as possible. This increases confusion for the enemy - they know they must re-take these flags, but which one first?
Remember there are two alerts, first for the defenders losing a flag, and then a few seconds later (hopefully) for your side capturing. On the first, your main group, at IG should try to consolidate, and then when you see the captures announced, go all out. The increased capture rate for having two flags means that if everybody plays their part you should take IG before the confused opponents can re-take either WV or SW. If the world freezes and you lag out for a few seconds congratulations, you have just Blitz'd TB. You should receive an achievement ding too.
For defenders, be aware that you are vulnerable to this blitzkrieg. Try to have one defender at every base even when you're not seriously contesting it. When the flag is lost their purpose is to harass, and to report what's going on. Is it heavily defended? Is it just one rogue who thinks no-one sees him? But in the early game they are the early warning system. When the solo guy at WV says four attackers arrived and killed him, you can expect to lose WV soon. With the red and blue portions of the flag bar much larger now the built-in warning is very short, so the extra few seconds notice is valuable. And if just one person is sent to WV and SW the scout can keep them waiting indefinitely - the flag bar won't move with 1:1 so it's a game of hide and seek.
dcb2124@gmail.com Apr 1st 2011 3:12PM
The strategy on my server for TB is as follows:
Attacking - Whole team zerg one flag.
Defending - Get killed by the zergers. Go to another flag and wait to get zerged.
Then the attackers win.
I hate TB.
Cayse Apr 1st 2011 3:49PM
If your realm, like most realms, TB is a circle-zerg then a handful of people defending a node is just about the fastest way to lose it whether you're on attack or defense. Having them there to "call out" for assistance is essentially having them there to call out that they just died and helped the other faction cap that flag faster.
Especially on defense, road fighting is one of the most effective tactics you can employ so long as you are providing a numerical advantage; a few of your faction delaying or outright stopping a large number of the opposite faction from entering a zone of control. You don't want them on a flag that you control.