World of Warcraft currently offers 3 types of server for players to play on, each offering a different ruleset in terms of how PvP is implemented in the game. These are called the “Standard Player vs. Environment Server” and the “Horde vs. Alliance Race War Server” which we will abbreviate to PvE and PvP (Player V Player) server respectively. On both servers, players will not able to attack other players on their own faction other than through a duel, keeping in line with the game world and lore.

The PvE servers are further split into two - PvE standard and PvE Role-playing both have the same combat rulesets however players have an expectation to roleplay there character when typing text on a role-playing server. For simplicity in this guide both PvE servers will come under the one heading – PvE.

Terminology

Honorable Kill (HK) - An honorable kill is gained when you kill an opposing faction member of a similar level. This varies and is very similar to the experience point system. Characters who are more than 12 levels lower than yourself at level 60 will not give you any HKs. This scales down slightly for lower level players. HK’s give players Honor Points (HP) which are essential for progression in the PvP ranking system.

Honor Points (HP) - Honor points were formerly known as contribution points. Once a player obtains a HK he will be assigned some honor points. Honor points can be gained in three ways : (1) Killing players of a similar level to yourself. (2) Killing racial faction leaders. (3) winning objectives in battlegrounds / killing NPCs in Battlegrounds.

A level 60 player killing another level 60 player will get more honor points than a level 30 player killing another level 30 player. The only NPCs which give out honor are special faction NPCs you cannot gain honor from killing normal mobs / or normal NPCs.

Dishonorable Kill (DK) - A Dishonorable kill is obtained by killing a low rank NPC character from the opposing faction. These characters are usually quest givers, vendors etc. DK’s reduce your PvP ranking significantly so they should be avoided at all costs. More on Dishonorable kills later on.

Mobs - Mobs is a term used to describe PvE opponents, for example spiders, kobolds, orcs etc. A mob is any computer controlled opponent.

PvP Ranking System - Players who compete in battlegrounds and who hunt down and kill players on the opposing faction will move up rank. The first level is rank 1, all the way upto rank 14. It should be noted that it is very difficult to do well in the PvP system unless you are very high level, 60 is recommended. That’s not saying that your task to get to rank 14 at level 50 is not impossible, its just it is very difficult and that your time would be best spent obtaining a high level before you participate in the PvP system full time.

Battlegrounds - Currently there are two Battlegrounds. Alterac Valley is located in Alterac and can be entered from either on site in person, or you can sign up through a Battele master at either Iron Forge (Alliance) or Ogrimmer (Horde) Warsong Gulch can be found on the border of Ashenvale forest and the Barrens and can be entered in a similar fashion.

Warsong Gulch - This is a 10V10 capture the flag style battleground on a fairly small map. This Battleground is designed for very fast play and can usually be won in around the 15-45 minute mark. More on WSG later on.

Alterac Valley - This is a 40 man V 40 man battleground and is designed for more strategic play where players can capture guard towers, graveyards and call in air strikes. Alterac takes a lot longer to complete, anywhere from 1 hour 15 to 6 hours depending on your team. It is also advisable to join Alterac during peak time as on some servers it can be hard to get in due to the 60 players required to start one.

Special Note on DKs ( by request)

(Q) I was in a raid group and my teammates killed a civilian & I got a DK, = (

Ok, there is only one way to get a DK. That is you must of taken part in killing the civilian. Case closed, however the following counts as taking part :

Healing a team mate who caused damage to the civilian, buffing a team mate who attacks a civilian , effects like sap, fear etc if used before the civilian dies.

If you just sit there and don’t do anything you will not get a DK. So if you group with random players on a frequent basis just be sure to double check who you are healing or damaging / in case they are going for civilians.

Player Vs Environment Servers

The PvE server is designed for players who wish to be able to play the majority of the game and quest peacefully without interference from other players, especially from the opposing faction. However, players will still be able to participate in PvP if they choose to do so, particularly in fair PvP battles when Battlefields is implemented. On this server, players from different factions may not attack each other unless the target player’s PvP flag is enabled.

The following actions will enable a player’s PvP flag on the PvE server:

• Attacking an NPC of the opposing faction (NPCs with a faction are clearly marked)
• Attacking a player who attacked an NPC
• Aiding a player engaged in PvP
• Enable PvP by using the /pvp command
• Walking into an enemy faction city

Once PvP has been enabled by a player regardless of the method, it will remain in effect for five minutes and players from the opposing faction will be able to attack him.

Additionally, Area of Effect spells will not activate PvP. This means that if a player of the opposing faction with PvP enabled walks into your AoE spell effects while you are fighting monsters, your spell will not damage them and activate PvP for you. If your PvP flag is already on, your AoE spell will damage enemy players (those with PvP enabled) as normal.

The whole scoop is that you are not forced to participate in PvP unless you willingly join in such a fight. However, there will be times where some NPCs will not be available because they have been killed by the opposing faction. In such situations, players will have to wait for the NPC to respawn, which typically takes about 5 minutes. Note that it is illegal to camp and kill the same NPC repeatedly.

Player Vs. Player Servers

The PvP server is designed for players who wish to be able to participate in PvP while adventuring throughout the lands. Players from opposing factions will be able to attack each other on sight in most parts of the world, lending to a much more rewarding and exciting experience because you are always constantly in danger of being attacked by other players. This is truly the World of Warcraft, where the races are in constant conflict with each other.

Some players will recognise this system of PvP as being Faction vs Faction (FvF). For the purposes of World of Warcraft, the FvF and PvP mean the same thing, even Blizzard calls their servers “PvP servers”, it’s just a metter of semantics.

However, there are many things to consider before deciding to play on the PvP server. You will be killed by players 30 levels higher than you. You will be corpse camped. Your questing might be disrupted completely. Hide and seek is a common game. If you are strongly against many of the unfair PvP combats and encounters that will occur randomly whenever Alliance and Horde players see each other, this server is not for you. While all this does sound discouraging, Blizzard has many policies against griefing.

On the PvP server, various zones will be designated as Friendly, Contested or Enemy territories, coloured Green, Orange and Red respectively. When you enter a new zone, you will be informed of its status. The mini-map is also colour coded to indicate who controls the current zone.

• Players in friendly territories are safe unless they decide to engage an opposing faction player in combat.
• Players in enemy territories will always be at risk and can be attacked by all players that belong in the territory.
• All players can be attacked in neutral (contested) territories.

The following actions will enable a player’s PvP flag for 5 minutes on the FvF server:

• Attacking an NPC of the opposing faction (NPCs with a faction are clearly marked)
• Attacking an enemy player
• Aiding a player engaged in PvP
• Enable PvP by using the /pvp command
• Entering or being in a contested or enemy territory

Starting regions between level 1-20 for each faction are designated green while every other region is orange. Whatever is green to you would be red to the opposing faction. The following 11 regions are designated to the two factions, 6 to Alliance and 5 to Horde. All other unlisted regions are Contested. This means that all players should be able to reach level 20 with minimal PvP interference.

Zone	Level	Faction	Notes
Elwynn Forest	1-10	Alliance	Human Starting
Dun Morogh	1-10	Alliance	Dwarf/Gnome Starting
Teldrassil	1-10	Alliance	Night Elf Starting
Loch Modan	10-20	Alliance	Dwarf Favoured
Westfall	10-20	Alliance	Human Favoured
Darkshore	10-20	Alliance	Night Elf Favoured
Tirisfal Glades	1-10	Horde	Undead Starting
Durotar	1-10	Horde	Orc/Troll Starting
Mulgore	1-10	Horde	Tauren Starting
Silverpine Forest	10-20	Horde	Undead Favoured
The Barrens	10-25	Horde	Horde Favoured

Player Vs Player Rules (for all servers)

There are more special rules that apply only to the PvP server:

Death

Players that die in PvP will not suffer the 10% durability loss penalty that they would normally suffer from being killed by a PvE mob.

Spell Limits

Control spells such as Charm, Fear, and Stun are subject to diminishing returns. This means that if a second spell of the same type is used against the same player within 15 seconds of the first effect wearing off, the second spell’s duration will be reduced by 50%, the third’s duration will be reduced by 75%, and the player will be immune to the fourth casting. Other than this spell restriction, all spells function the same on players as on monsters.

Zone Under Attack Messages

When a NPC with a faction is attacked by a player, a “xxx is under attack” message is sent throughout the server to everyone on the server via two separate chat channels. By default they are both off; to join either type /join LocalDefense and /join WorldDefense. The first one only reports attacks in your current zone, the other reports all attacks in the world.

Death Rush (FvF Server Policy)

A single player or a small group of players that die inside of an enemy city may not death rush more than two times. The defending players that are friendly to the city must fully eradicate the invading players in order to put this policy into effect. This policy does not go into effect if a member of the invading force resurrects dead party members back into the fight, since the party member was not fully eradicated from the area. The defending force must clearly demonstrate control of the area. Players that do not adhere to this policy will be asked to leave the area by a GM, but could be subject to further disciplinary action if the GM’s instructions are not followed. Players must leave the area for a period of no less than one hour. This policy is subject to change in the future, as the PVP rule set may change.

Hypothetical Example: Jonny the Undead Mage (Horde) sneaks into Stormwind (Alliance City) with a raiding party. He and his party are able to kill an NPC that is important to the area. The defending Alliance players are able to kill Jonny and his party or force them to leave the immediate perimeter of the city. After Jonny and his party are eradicated, they decide to come back and attack more NPCs (possibly even the same NPC). According to this new addendum, Jonny and the rest of his party are not allowed to return to do this if he and all the members of his raiding party are eradicated twice. However, if Jonny’s raiding party was never killed or forced to retreat, Jonny and the rest of his party can continue to fight in the area as long as they please.

This policy will be enforced on a case-by-case basis determined by the sole discretion of the GMs. This policy is not intended to prevent legitimate raids on an enemy city. This policy is only designed to address players who continually attack enemy towns by dying and returning to harass/grief other players.

A city is defined as any region with either Horde or Alliance guards.

• Death rushing is defined as repeatedly returning to an area after being killed.
• Eradicating is defined as fully defeating an opposing force by either killing the entire raiding party or causing them to retreat to a reasonable distance away from the city.

Colour of Player’s Name

Players in the game have their names (and clan name) floating above their avatars. This option can be turned on or off in the game options. When it is on, the names are colour coded to reflect the PvP status of a player.

Colour	Status
Dark Blue	PvP flag is not enabled, you may not attack him. Usually seen on all players in your faction in a Green zone, as well as all opposing faction players in a Red zone.
Light Blue	PvP flag is not enabled, he is in your party, you may not attack him. Usually seen on players in your party in a Green zone.
Yellow	Target’s PvP flag enabled, but yours is not so he cannot attack you. Attacking him will turn on your PvP flag and change all Yellow names you see to Red. Seen on enemy faction players in a Green zone. The target will see you as Dark Blue.
Red	Target’s PvP flag is enabled. He is on the opposing faction and your PvP flag is on. Seen on all enemies if your PvP flag is on. The target will also see you as Red.
Dark Green	Target’s PvP flag is enabled. He is on your faction, you may not attack him. Seen on all players on your faction with their PvP flag turned on. The target will see you as Green or Blue depending on your PvP flag.
Light Green	Target’s PvP flag is enabled. He is in your party, you may not attack him. Seen on players in your party with their PvP flag turned on.

As a summary, only 3 colours can appear on opposing faction players, Dark Blue, Yellow, Red. Dark Blue means you cannot attack him, Yellow means you can attack him but he cannot attack you, and Red means you can both attack each other.

Similarly, 4 colours can appear on players on the same faction as you, Dark Blue, Light Blue, Dark Green and Light Green. You may not attack your own faction, so the colours merely indicate whether their PvP flag is on and whether they are in your party.

Duels

At any time in your travels, you may opt to have a 1v1 duel with another player. You do this by selecting and walking up to him, right click on his portrait and choose the Duel option or by using the /duel command. A duel flag will then appear between him and you. If he accepts the duel, the battle will commence; he will turn hostile and his name will change colour to red. During this time, all combat rules specific to your server ruleset will apply, such as the spell limitations of control type spells on the PvP server.

The duel does not end until one of two things occur. When one player’s hp is reduced to 1 or less, the result of the duel is announced to the area near the duel flag. No deaths actually occur and the defeated player is simply set to 1 hp. The duelling area is a large area of roughly 50 yards centered on the duel flag. If one player leaves the duelling zone for more than 10 seconds, he is considered to have forfeited the duel. Alternative, a player may also use /forfeit command. The results of this will also be announced to other players nearby.

There is no penalty for winning or losing a duel except that both parties have to spend some time after the battle to heal their hp and mana.

NPC Guard System

Many NPCs in the game will have guards protecting them including quest givers and vendors. Some of these guards are clearly visible while others are summoned only when the NPC is attacked. Some of these guards will keep spawning regularly until the NPC is killed.

Since the introduction of the PvP system some NPCs from the opposite faction will come up with the civilian tag. Killing civilians will now result in a Dishonorable kill.

Guards all have very fast respawn rates. If you want them to stay dead for a longer period of time then don’t loot their bodies. As soon as you loot a guards body that body will decay and spawn within minutes. By not looting bodies you can double the re-spawn time.

Paper, Scissors, Rock

Game balance is of the utmost importance to Blizzard and they’re approaching PvP with a rock, scissors, paper type solution so some classes will fare better against others in combat. It sounds unfair but Blizzard have made this decision to encourage teamplay and guild formation. A mixed team will always fare better than a team with only one character class. An example of this is that Priests can beat a Mage fairly easily however Priests find it much harder versus a Shamen.

This also allows for exciting gameplay as unlike other fast paced 3D multi player killing games it means that everyone doesn’t have the same armor / weapons. It offers an entire new platform of tools to players to offer much more depth to player versus player combat.

Level-Based Combat

PvP Combat in World of Warcraft will be mostly level-based, just like when fighting against monsters. Attacking players higher level than you will result in most of your spells being resisted. This means that a higher level player will always hold a combat advantage unless their levels are very close to each other. Blizzard is aiming for a system where 2 players of a certain level are roughly equal in combat versus one player that is 10 levels higher. There are currently no level restrictions on who you may or may not attack, Blizzard have suggested that there are no short term plans to introduce a system where high level players cannot attack low level players.

Arenas

Arenas are places where players can meet up to battle in pre-arranged PvP battles which would be suited for guild vs guild combat. (although currently it isn’t used for this) There are actually 2 known arena spots, one is located in Orgrimmar, the other in Stranglethorn Vale, near Grom’gol. These areas are currently designated to be Free For All (FFA) areas where anyone may attack any other person regardless of faction.

Currently the only Arena which is open is Gurubashi. Here players can compete every three hours for treasure which is dropped off by a pirate. This treasure is strongly fought after on all servers and contains items from around level 30-45 which is consistent with the level of mobs in STV. It has been noted that some level 50-54 items have dropped however this is much rarer.

If players wish they can team up to defeat a common enemy, typically this encounter lasts from 5-15 minutes, first one to the chest gets the contents there are no loot sharing rules even if you are in a party.

Player Vs. Player Ranks & Rewards

There are currently 14 ranks in the player versus player system , these are:

Rank	Icon	Alliance Title	Horde Title	Reward
14		Grand Marshal	High Warlord	Epic-quality weapon and shield
13		Field Marshal	Warlord	Epic-quality helm, shoulder armour, and gloves
12		Marshal	General	Epic-quality chest armour, leggings and boots
11		Commander	Lieutenant General	Commander’s epic mount
10		Lieutenant Commander	Champion	Superior-quality helm and shoulder armour
9		Knight-Champion	Centurion	Battle standard
8		Knight-Captain	Legionnaire	Superior-quality chest armour and legggings
7		Knight-Lieutenant	Blood Guard	Superior-quality boots and gloves
6		Knight	Stone Guard	Access to offier’s barracks, offiers tabard and potions
5		Sergeant Major	First Sergeant	Superior-quality bracers
4		Master Sergeant	Senior Sergeant	Superior-quality necklace
3		Sergeant	Sergeant	Superior-quality cloak, 10% discount on all goods and repairs from your faction’s NPCs
2		Corporal	Grunt	Team insignia trinket
1		Private	Scout	Tabard

So how do you progress up the rankings, and what do the items do?

The most efficient way to move up the ranking is to farm Honor Points in the PvP Battlegrounds. Warsong Gulch is without a doubt the best way to do this. Remember diminishing returns apply to battlegrounds as well, that is the first kill will be worth 100% of the targets HP value, the 2nd time you kill the same person the kill is worth 75% of its HP value and so on all the way to 5th kill and beyond being worth no HPs.

Therefore if you play 3-4 Warsong Gulches in a row against the same players its actually not a good way to get Honor points due to the fact that most the kills you will be getting wont be earning you any honor. It takes 24 hours before the server considers the target to be a fresh target again.

The amount of time it will take to move up the ranks varies from server to server. There are no set hard and fast rules. Unlike for example experience which has pre determined levels – for example going from level 1 to level 2 requires 400 experience points. The honor system ranks you on how everyone else is doing.

Therefore on a hardcore server you may have to fight for weeks in battlegrounds just to get your first rank while on another server you might be entitled to your first rank after only 25 kills, and might go up 2 or 3 ranks in your first week.

Keep in mind that every week you need a minimum of 25 kills to get a PvP ranking. If you get less than 25 kills you will not be ranked for the week and will in fact loose rank. So to progress in the world you will need to compete in battlegrounds on a frequent basis and get 25+ HKs per week.

The first ranks are easy to obtain then it gets progressively harder as there can only be a few at the top, its almost like giant pyramid with the majority of the players around ranks 1-6.

Rewards

Rank 1 – Tabard – Nothing too exciting here just a stock standard blue tabard.

Rank 2 – Trinket – This is an exceptional item it has a slightly different use for each class, for a priest it allows you to automatically break a mages polymorph, a rogues stun and a priests fear. This is one of the more useful trinkets in the game.

Rank 3 – Cloak – This is a blue quality cloak which suits your class. It is a fairly decent low level cape.

Rank 4 – 10 – Here you can start collecting the Rank I PvP combat set. These sets greatly enhance your pvp experience by granting you impressive stats and a set bonus. At rank 6 you also gain access to the officer barracks ( located in Ogrimmer for the horde and at Stormwind for the alliance).

Rank 9 grants you the use of a battle standard this can be placed in combat and grants all allies 15% more HP for 2 minutes. Be sure to protect it as it can be taken out in combat ( like a Shamens Totem ) (It has 1500 HP)

Here is the Priest complete Rank 4-10 Set as an example.

Ranks 11-13 allow you to work towards your classes epic set items. Rank 11 grants you an epic mount and ranks 12-13 grant you access to your epic armour. Here is the Priest’s epic PvP set

And finally Rank 14 Grants you access to your Priests epic weapon, for Horde – High Warlord Staff and for Alliance Grand Marshal’s Stave.

PvP Reward Mounts Here is the concept art for the Night Elf racial PvP mount and the Tauren PvP Racial Mount. Details of the PvP Reward Mounts.

F.A.Q

What happens if I don’t get involved in any PvP for the week, or get less than 25 kills, do I keep my rank?

No you don’t keep your rank unlike experience which stays the same, PvP rank can go decline and you can loose a PvP ranking level The rate of decay is fairly minor though suffice to say that if you were rank 2-5 and you didn’t participate for a few weeks that you would probably not loose any rank. In fact it could take a good couple of months to loose all of your PvP rank.
If you are at the top though and you don’t compete for the week you could very well loose 1 or 2 ranks just like that, just because it is so competitive at the top.

Remember your goal every week should be to get 25 HKs if you don’t then you wont get any Honor points for the week.

For example lets say you got 24 Kills for the week and 2,000 Honor points. The week ends and the server goes down for maintenance.

The following week those 2,000 honor points are wiped completely – meaning that they were worth nothing to you, so be sure to hit that 25 Kill target so that you will at least maintain your rank.

How are HPs distributed in a raid?

Very similar to experience points, everyone gets an equal share with minor adjustments based on level. The amount of damage you cause/heal does not impact on the amount of HPs you earn. Keep in mind though that like experience while you are in a raid that you will receive a reduced amount of HPs this is to signify the fact that playing in large groups is much easier than attacking either solo or small parties.

On my travels I run into a friendly player who is fighting the opposition, should I join in?

Definitely – if you join in by either healing the friendly player, or by causing damage to the opposing player you will get a HK and will get some Honor points. The amount depends on how much damage you caused and you level compared to your allies level. So you donot need to be in a party to get a HK, merely assisting in the kill will get you a HK. ( unlike PvE mobs which are tagged for one person/party only ) Remember even if you just heal your allied member you will get a HK, so Priests / Druids / Shammys / Pallies can also easily get a HK just for keeping your allied member alive.

Ok, so I found an opponent fighting PvE and I can take him down easily, should I?

Keep in mind that if a player is worth 100 HPs and he is at 20% health and you kill him then you will only get 20 HPs. The proportion of HPs assigned is in direct relation to the damage done, so if the mob has done most of the damage to the player then you wont get many HPs.

Ok, so I found an opponent fighting PvE and I can take him down easily, should I?

Keep in mind that if a player is worth 100 HPs and he is at 20% health and you kill him then you will only get 20 HPs. The proportion of HPs assigned is in direct relation to the damage done, so if the mob has done most of the damage to the player then you wont get many HPs.

What happens to my PvP rewards if I go below the required rank?

In patch 1.5.0 you were penalized and were no longer able to use them, now however in patch 1.6.0 it has been adjusted that once you obtain a certain rank and providing you purchase the rewards then you will be able to use the items even if you drop in rank.

Is there any dishonor, for example if I kill players lower than me will I be penalized?

No. You can kill any players that you feel appropriate to do so, the only way to get dishonor is to kill low level opposing faction NPCs. When you click on one of these NPCs the tag “civilian” will show up. Killing civilians impacts on your PvP “experience bar” instantly. Avoid killing civilians.

When is the PvP experience bar updated and when do we level up?

Once per week, depending on where your servers are located. When your server goes down for weekly maintenance and comes back up again your rank will be updated. Note that killing civilians will immediately reduce your rank.

Arggghhh a Horde/Alliance keeps killing me over and over what should I do?

Your best bet here is to try the following:

1. Wait for a good 5 minutes before you spawn, hopefully in this time he will get bored and move on.
2. Spawn at your graveyard and hearthstone out, try a different location. There should always be around three areas of an appropriate level to your level to quest in.
3. Ask for support using the local area defence channel, hopefully someone will come to your aid.
4. Sometimes just standing there and doing nothing will put them off from killing you. Gankers don’t get much satisfaction killing players that don’t do anything, its likely he will get bored and move on.

Original by Xinhuan, Updated by Gaza

Other Resources

• Battlegrounds
• PvP UIs/Mods
• PvP Strategy Guides
• PvP Reward Mounts

Patch Changes to PvP

Patch 1.8.0 (11 October 2005)

• Honor System
  • The percentage of players that may reach ranks 6 through 14 has been increased.
  • Lower-level players should advance in the Honor System more quickly than they had previously (although this change does not affect the highest ranks they can achieve).

Patch 1.6.0 (12 July 2005)

• Honor System
  • There is now a progress bar on the Honor tab of your character window that displays how close you are to your next rank.
  • There is a new “This Week” section of the Honor tab, which will display PvP accomplishments of the current week.
  • The honor screen now displays a bar indicating how far along your current rank you are (Scout, Private, etc). This will let you know whether you are moving towards your next rank or falling back towards your previous rank.
  • The “This Session” section of the Honor tab has been changed to”Today”, and will now display the entirety of your accomplishments for the day instead of the most recent session.
  • Players rank 11 or higher can now chat in the WorldDefense channel.
  • The WorldDefense and LocalDefense channels will now display your rank as well as your name when chatting.
• Dispel Magic can no longer be used on players participating in a duel unless the caster is in the duel.
• You are considered in combat for the entire duration of a duel.
• You can’t assist players which are engaged in free-for-all PvP unless you are also in free-for-all PvP.
• If you have PvP combat toggled on, it will no longer be cleared when taking a flight.
• Removing an insignia in PvP no longer marks both players as being in combat.

Patch 1.5.0 (7 June 2005)

• Honor system
  • Dishonorable kills - gained by killing a trivial Civilian NPC - now has a negative impact on a player’s honor.
  • Enough dishonorable kills will reduce a player’s rank all the way to zero.
  • Players may now see an “estimated contribution point value” in the combat log for an honorable kill. Note that this value does not take diminishing returns against the same player into account, and is therefore “estimated”.
  • “Team Contribution Points” has been renamed to “Honor” Added tooltips to the different elements of the Honor System UI.
  • Players will see their last week’s kill data in the “Last Week” section of the Honor System UI even if they did not achieve the 25 honorable kills required to gain standing or rank.
  • Fixed a bug where the PvP trinket rewards were not always removing the effects they were designed to remove (e.g. Polymorph, Fear, Stun).
  • Sitting characters will now stand up immediately after an attack, even if stunned.
  • Players can no longer swap inventory gear while dueling.
  • Dueling is now allowed within Everlook.

Patch 1.4.0 (19 April 2005)

• Honor System
  • The Player versus Player Honor System is now active. Players will be able to gain rankings based on their PvP performance, with lucrative rewards for those who distinguish themselves on the field of battle!
• A handful of spells were added to the list of spells subject to diminishing returns in PvP. It is our goal to set as few spells as possible to be diminished. We’ve identified this short list of spells as having durations and cooldowns sufficient to almost permanently slow or immobilize targets but without adequate controls or other limiting factors. When a spell with diminishing returns is used against a target in PvP, the first effect has full duration. On the second use of the same category of spell (e.g. slowing), that spell’s duration is reduced by 50%. On the third use, the duration is reduced by 75%. On the fourth attempt, the target becomes immune to the spell. Spells must be used on the same target within 15 seconds of the *end* of the duration in order to be diminished. In other words, if a target hasn’t had a slowing spell active on them for more than 15 seconds, the next slowing spell will have full effect. The list of affected spells is:
  • Frost Shock
  • Entangling Roots
  • Frost Nova
• Guard directions, signs and signposts have been added to point you toward the PvP Officer Lounges in Stormwind City (Champions’ Hall) and Orgrimmar (Hall of Legends).

Patch 1.3.0 (22 March 2005)

• Most humanoids NPCs have gained the ability to swim.
• Numbers and punctuation will not be passed through chat communication to members of the opposing faction.
• Spells in PvP now have a slight increase in range and area of effect when targets are moving. This should improve the overall usability of spells and ranged attacks.
• Certain key NPCs (such as bankers and auctioneers) in the cities and main outposts are now harder to kill. Additionally, when they die, they will respawn more quickly.
• Patrolling scouts that can see through stealth and invisibility have been added to both Orgrimmar and Ironforge.
• Players under Mind Control pass reputation changes due to kills to the controlling player, and do not receive the reputation changes themselves.
• You cannot see your enemies’ buffs while you are charmed.
• Dueling players can now cast helpful spells on their allies (but not vice versa).

Patch 1.2.0 (21 December 2005)

• Gurubashi Arena - The arena in Stranglethorn Vale has been changed so that free-for-all PvP will only take place on the floor of the arena, and no longer in the stands or on the entrance ramp. Please keep in mind that on PvP realms, members of the opposite faction can still attack you anywhere in the arena because Stranglethorn Vale is a contested area.
• There is now a short countdown before a duel starts.

Patch 1.1.1 (17 November 2005)

• Texture linear filtering is turned on for the user interface.
• Escort NPCs will assist players more often.
• Escort NPCs and guards will no longer follow enemy players around.
• NPCs which are performing work emotes will pause them and turn to you when you interact with them.
• The Reanimated Corpse actually falls down now when it plays dead.
• New graveyards have been added to many zones.
• Players will not be able to train and purchase non-race specific mounts. In the next patch, we plan to implement a system in which players can obtain mounts from other races once they have reached a certain level of reputation with that race.
• Mind Control flag you for PvP when used on enemy players.
• Healing and buffing NPCs will not flag you for PvP unless those NPCs are in combat.
• NPCs no longer tap creatures they are fighting.