Today is Tuesday. I get my weekly Quest in World of Warcraftand in between doing some World Quests, I need to win a few Battlegrounds – Blizzard Entertainment’s attempt at cooperative PvP. I thought it couldn’t be that hard to queue up a Death Knight on my Alliance side. How wrong I was. Over the next few hours, I would be defeated. Blood Troll Hunters surrounded me, an Orc Fury Warrior tore me apart, and a Zandalari Troll Shaman attacked me. In just a few moments, I was dead on the ground and waited six seconds to respawn.
I think this must be a one-off. So I tried again. And I keep trying. Ultimately I decided PvP wasn’t for me. Grappling hard just to get a few Tokens of Honor for a transmission and get some gear for end-game activities isn’t really worth it. But a few other friends who play on the Horde side tempted me to join them in my Blood Elf Sharpshooter. I sighed and joined them in line.
And we win. And we just kept winning. I was excited because even when I died, I felt like our teams were more coordinated and when the ball got rolling, we started winning. And I mean we won big. We ground the Alliance to dust, and I grew 20 Marks of Honor richer and closer to the zweihander from the Shadowlands that I had coveted for months.
Admittedly, I still don’t know how Battlegrounds works World of Warcraft. Only you need to capture a point, sometimes run a flag somewhere, defeat a boss or simply kill a lot of other players. But I’ve had more success on the Horde side than on the Alliance side. I asked Siliconera employee GC Vazquez why that was the case (he’s been playing since Vanilla), and he explained that Horde just gets better PvP passives. Tauren have more stun, Orcs are more resilient, and Forsaken aka Undead can shake spells and other things.
Now that gives you quite a few advantages over your standard Humans, Night Elves, and other options available to the Alliance. Gaining reputation doesn’t mean much if you’re attacked by a pack of Mag’har Orcs. The ability to move faster in ghost form won’t stop Tauren from stunning you to death while a group of Blood Goblin Hunters rush at you. Even the ability to hold out and simply not die when you are a Death Knight cannot help you survive. (Trust me, I’ve lived a lot longer in fights with about six more people attacking me than I should have as a Frost Death Knight.)
I almost switched to Horde when it comes to PvP for that reason. It also makes me really enjoy playing my Marksman Hunter, who I absolutely hate when playing PvE content. There’s nothing more satisfying than shooting down a Draenei Paladin from across a long bridge, or unleashing a volley into a group of Alliance players. Or, and this is one of my favorite moments, shooting down a Night Elf Demon Hunter gliding towards me. It also gives me an excuse to use my traps, which I feel are functionally useless. But if you’re a Sharpshooter and I’m playing the wrong class, please let me know!
I think I’ve finally found a place in the Horde and a place for my Sharpshooter. As I write this, I’m waiting in line in Battlegrounds, eager to join my teammates in another fight. Who knows PvP will be so much fun when you win or when you snatch victory from the hands of defeat. So I will pour a drink for you, lords of the Horde. I’m excited to join your ranks, and I can’t wait to one day understand how Battlegrounds works in World of Warcraft.
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