Forever keeps the war in Warcraft. Factions stay separate on every ruleset, the honor ranks are back, and a new fifteen-player battleground joins Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley. PvP is also one of the biggest sources of Legacy points: twelve of the sixty-five challenges come from it.
Choosing where to fight
- PvP ruleset: every trip into contested territory is dangerous. You can only create characters for one faction on it, and Blizzard can temporarily limit character creation for a faction to keep populations closer together, as it did in Season of Discovery.
- Normal and Roleplaying rulesets: you choose when to fight. Battlegrounds are open to you either way.
- Battlegrounds mix rulesets. Players from Normal, PvP and Roleplaying meet in the same battlegrounds. Hardcore will stay separate when it arrives.
See the rulesets guide for the full rules.
Darkspear Islands
Darkspear Islands is a new fifteen-against-fifteen battleground on the Echo Isles. The Darkspear trolls defend their home against the Theramore Expeditionary Force, and the map mixes Eye of the Storm's central flag with Arathi Basin's capture points, so you score by holding nodes and by running the flag.
So far it has four brackets: 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and 60.
Reputation and rewards. Darkspear Islands has its own reputations: the Theramore Expeditionary Force for the Alliance and the Darkspear Raiders for the Horde. Their quartermasters, Bryanna Embreeze and Creeg Bothunk, sell gear for every bracket:
| Standing | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Friendly | Trinkets such as  Volunteer's Lucky Seal and  Darkspear Voodoo Seal |
| Honored | Rings, necklaces and cloaks in versions for each bracket, like  Seal of the Expedition |
| Revered | Two-handers, spellblades, maces and off-hand tomes, like  Darkspear Insurgent's Spellblade |
| Exalted | Epic gloves for levels 50 and 60, and epic shoulders for level 60, in every armor type:  Theramore Mantle, Darkspear Mantle |
What wins it: hold more nodes than the enemy, then send a small, fast group for the flag. Classes with speed and escapes carry flags best: druids in Travel Form, shamans in Ghost Wolf, rogues with Sprint, and anyone with the Windshaper Skyborne's Skysight.
The classic three
- Warsong Gulch: ten against ten, capture the flag.
- Arathi Basin: fifteen against fifteen, five resource nodes.
- Alterac Valley: forty against forty in the snow.
Ranks, reputation and the season
The Legacy challenges confirm that honor ranks run up to 14 again. They also mention four battleground reputations to take to Exalted, and a Field of Honor PvP Season's Journey with weekly quests: the quests for weeks 4, 7 and 10 each award a Legacy point.
| PvP Legacy challenges | Points |
|---|---|
| Reach honor ranks 3, 7, 10, 13 and 14 | 5 |
| Reach Exalted with each battleground reputation | 4 |
| Complete the week 4, 7 and 10 quests of the Field of Honor season | 3 |
Because PvP challenges cannot be completed in Hardcore, Hardcore will get its own set of challenges when it launches. The Legacy perk For Great Honor increases the honor you earn, and High Alert improves stealth detection outside battlegrounds.
Honor sets for every spec
The game files carry honor sets for the new class and race combinations, in separate versions for hybrid specs. Horde paladins get sets such as Warlord's Vindication, Alliance shamans get Field Marshal's Earthshaker and Field Marshal's Wartide, and druids choose between Refuge, Sanctuary and Wildhide versions. Browse them all on the item sets page.
Class tools that shine in PvP
- Warriors: Mortal Strike's healing reduction,
Concussion Blow and 
Improved Hamstring. - Paladins:
Voice of Truth makes you immune to silence and interrupts for 6 seconds, 
Repentance and Templar's Bulwark for burst survival. - Rogues:
Preparation, 
Improved Kick, 
Dirty Tricks for cheaper Sap and Blind. - Priests:
Silence, Psychic Scream and Shadowform's 15% Physical damage reduction. - Mages:
Improved Counterspell silences for 4 seconds; Frost's Ice Lance shatters for huge damage. - Shamans:
Earthbound makes Earthbind Totem root on cast; Grounding and Tremor Totems. - Hunters: Entrapment on every trap and Scatter Shot.
- Warlocks: Fear, Howl of Terror, Death Coil and
Curse of Exhaustion. - Druids: Feral Charge in bear and cat form, and every shapeshift frees you from roots, snares and Polymorph.
Racials that matter
- Undead:
Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, charm and sleep. - Human:
Will to Survive breaks stuns, and 
Perception spots stealthers. - Orc:
Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%, and 
Shatter Curse removes curses and Banes and cuts magic damage by 15% for 8 seconds. - Gnome:
Escape Artist breaks roots and snares and grants immunity to them for 3 seconds. - Dwarf:
Stoneform clears bleeds, poisons and diseases and cuts Physical damage by 10%. - Tauren:
War Stomp stuns up to five enemies. - Night Elf:
Shadowmeld and harder-to-spot stealth for rogues and druids.
Just for fun
The Replica Ironforge Air Rifle, a Legacy reward, is a toy that lets you join shootouts with other players. Its shots stun, and it keeps score.