Alterac Valley

From WoWWiki

Alterac Valley
Level 51–80

Race	Dwarf Orc
Location	Alterac Mountains

The Alterac Valley in-game map.

Alterac Valley is a battleground in the continuing war between the Horde and the Alliance. The two opposing sides are the Frostwolf Clan (led by General Drek'Thar) and the Stormpike Guard (also known as the Stormpike Expedition, led by General Vanndar Stormpike), both of whom lay claim to this secluded territory. Alongside the Generals are their two Captains, Captain Galvangar and Captain Balinda Stonehearth, respectively.

History and politics

Long ago, before the First War, the warlock Gul'dan exiled a clan of orcs called the Frostwolf Clan (led by Durotan, father of Thrall) to a hidden valley deep in the heart of the Alterac Mountains for refusing to drink the blood of Mannoroth. It is here in the valley's southern reaches that the Frostwolves eked out a living until the rise of Thrall's new Horde.

After Thrall's triumphant uniting of the clans, the Frostwolves, now led by the Orc Shaman Drek'Thar, chose to remain in the valley they had for so long called their home. In recent times, however, the relative peace of the Frostwolves has been challenged by the arrival of the Dwarven Stormpike Expedition.

The Stormpike Expedition have set up residence in the valley to search for natural resources and ancient relics. It is likely that they did not know of the Frostwolf orcs' connection to the area when choosing to visit the valley. Despite their intentions, the dwarven presence has sparked heated conflict with the Frostwolf orcs to the south, who have vowed to drive the interlopers from their lands. The Stormpike dwarves sent in an initial expedition, the Stormpike Guard, to search for ancient relics of their past and mine for natural resources and were attacked (they felt) without provocation by the territorial Frostwolves.^{APG 166, 169} [1]

Alterac Valley is also being threatened by trolls in the area.^{APG 172}

It is important to note that the Alterac Valley is just one of many of "the valleys of Alterac" where the Stormpike Clan live, and are known to "defend fiercely against the trolls and orcs that invaded the area."^{APG 166, 169} Nevertheless, Brann points out, apparently he understands why the Horde are interested in the area, but is not sure why the trolls want the area.^{APG 166} The valleys of Alterac are also sometimes referred to as the "Dwarf Highlands" — for example, "Frost Wolf was sent into the Dwarf Highlands in the mountains". – Bill Roper [2] ^{APG 166, 169}

While the main conflict seems to be limited to Alterac Valley,^{APG 168, 174, 217} the fighting has apparently spilled into the other valleys of Alterac as well.^{APG 166-169}

Additionally the Ironforge dwarves believe they have a right to the lands as well, and Magni Bronzebeard has issued a "sovereign imperialistic imperative" to the Stormpike Guard to take the land for the kingdom of Ironforge.

At this point in time both factions (possibly even the troll faction as well) believe they have historical connections to the valleys and want to take them back. Note that the Winterax gave up on the valley and went to look for greener pastures.

Faction viewpoints

This section concerns content exclusive to World of Warcraft.

Alliance viewpoints

Vanndar Stormpike has been given orders from Ironforge against making peace with the orcs, and appears to agree with the orders. He dismisses the orcs as "savages trying to halt Ironforge's sovereign imperialistic imperative". He wants to slaughter all orcs including Drek'Thar, believing that when the General falls, the land will finally turn over to its rightful owner, "Ironforge". See also, Vanndar's book The Frostwolf Artichoke: Tales of Stormpike Glory.

Lieutenant Rotimer clarifies that the "sovereign imperative" originates from Ironforge, and was issued by King Magni Bronzebeard. He claims that they are fighting a brutal battle in the valleys of Alterac. The cannibalistic Winterax trolls attack them from one side and the savage Frostwolf Clan from the other. He believes both must be exterminated in the name of King Magni Bronzebeard. "The taking, culling, and turning of that land is a sovereign and territorial imperative to the kingdom of Ironforge." [60] The Sovereign Imperative

Wing Commander Ichman, said he had spent three years in the hell hole. Three years as a prisoner of war to who he believed were "damnable Frostwolf Clan". He believes he was made to sit in their tower and listen to them endlessly whine about the bridge to Dun Baldar. About how "unfair" the war was... even if "War isn't fair!". This is a humorous reference to player complaints about how the Dun Baldar bridge is a 'choke point'. [70] Dragonmaw Race: Wing Commander Ichman

The Alliance Brigadier Generals believe that the Horde was quite right when they said that Alterac Valley is Frostwolf Territory, it was never Ironforge territory. They claim that Stormpike Expedition arrived as peaceful visitors to the area in search of ore and relics. They believe that the Frostwolves reacted with the most brutal and uncivilized act of aggression the Alliance has experienced. They never want to forget the brave dwarves that perished in that "cowardly unannounced attack". [60] Remember Alterac Valley!

Prospect Stonehewer lets it slip that he recently plundered a few treasures. [3]. It is likely from the Frostwolf clan as they offer the same reward and the weapons all have an ice theme. It may also be from the Winterax trolls.

Horde viewpoints

Drek'thar sees the valley as Frostwolf territory and that the Stormpike Expedition has no right to take their land away. He has no intention of making peace with the Stormpike, instead wishing to execute them all to the last man (Vanndar himself) following the Rules of military conduct. He believes that the Stormpike have copied the Frostwolves defense plans and exactly how the Frostwolves own forces are set up, although Vanndar would claim otherwise (this is likely a reference to the gameplay balancing of the battleground). Drek'thar wants players to ask Vanndar to surrender (likely knowing that he would refuse), and orders his forces execute him whatever the response. See also Drek'Thar's book Peeling the Onion: The How to Guide on Dismantling the Stormpike.

The Horde Warbringers, claim that despite what others might have heard, that the truth is that "the Stormpike Expedition invaded Frostwolf Territory". They believe that the day the Horde allows the Alliance to invade Horde lands without a forceful response is the day they will hang up their axes and live the rest of their lives in shame. [60] Invaders of Alterac Valley

Ravak Grimtotem was sent to the war-zone by the Elder Crone to research the other races. More specifically, he was to collect gnome samples. Magatha was primarily interested in their survivability. They believed, that the gnomes — while pitifully weak and minuscule — exuded great resilience both in and out of combat. [60] Ally of the Tauren

The Wing Commanders of the Frostwolf Clan wanted hundreds of pounds of flesh from the Stormpike soldiers, lieutenants, and others to feed to their fleet of War Riders. They wanted the riders to consume their enemy.

Commander Louis Philips believes his brother is undoubtedly the most dangerous of the four Stormpike commanders. He believes that, perhaps if he is slain, the Banshee Queen could make his brother what she made of him, and show him the error of his ways... [60] Brotherly Love

Battleground overview

The Alterac Valley

There can be up to 40 players on each team in this battleground, making it the largest battleground in the game.

Primary Objectives

The goal of Alterac Valley is to reduce the opposing faction's reinforcement count to 0. Each team starts with 600 reinforcements. There are a number of ways to reduce reinforcements, named below, but killing the enemy General does it instantly, and awards extra honor for killing him.

Secondary Objectives

The enemy Captain can be killed. This will award your entire team bonus honor and reduce the enemy reinforcements by 100.
The enemy towers/bunkers can be burned. This awards your team bonus honor, and reduces the enemy reinforcements by 75 per tower. There are four towers per side, for a total of 300 reinforcements. These structures are also important because, if they are lost, your team loses the respective Warmaster (H)/ Marshall (A).
Enemy graveyards can be captured, giving your team another place to resurrect. Note that each team controls one uncapturable graveyard, their starting cave.
The two mines can be captured by eliminating the enemy boss in the mine. This will give back 1 reinforcement per mine.
Collecting supplies to turn in. See: Battle Quests.
Killing enemy players. This will reduce enemy reinforcement by one per player killed.

The primary bases are Dun Baldar for the Alliance and Frostwolf Village for the Horde.

For information relating to balance issues in Alterac Valley, please see Alterac Valley Tactical Overview.

Entry to the Valley

The official entry to the valley is in northern Hillsbrad. The Alliance entrance is due north of Southshore and the Horde entrance is north-east of Tarren Mill. Like any battleground, you can also enter through a Battlemaster in any capital city.

Alterac Valley has three level brackets: 51-60, 61-70, and 71-80.

Note that these level brackets are different from Arathi Basin, Warsong Gulch, and Eye of the Storm.

NPC Officers

Alterac Valley

Each side in the Valley has one General and one Captain (also see Blizzard's Alterac Officers page)

The Generals, Vanndar Stormpike and Drek'thar, stay inside their faction fortresses at the far north and south ends of the map. When a General is killed, the match is over. Generals are tough, raid-level bosses; and typically require coordinated tanking and DPS to take down. If a General is drawn out of his fortress, his health will reset to full.

Generals are guarded by several Marshals (Alliance) or Warmasters (Horde), and they can not be pulled separately. Each general starts with four, but each one is linked to one of the four towers and dies when the tower is detroyed. Each Warmasters and Marshalls add a stackable buff that increases damage and health by 25%, so the general begins with 200% health and 200% damage, which makes him very difficult to kill without any tower destroyed.

The Captains, Balinda Stonehearth and Galvangar, stay inside the more central bunkers of Stonehearth Outpost and Iceblood Garrison. As long as these captains are alive, they will periodically grant a 20% health buff and a size increase to all members of their faction. They are fairly tough bosses that can be taken down by a skilled 5-man group.

In addition, both factions have a number of non-elite NPCs that assist their side. These NPCs spawn at all graveyards and towers, and a small number of road patrols. When a graveyard is captured by a faction, the NPC guards for the graveyard spawn immediately. NPC players in AV can be buffed, healed, bandaged, and many other spell effects apply to them, like paladin auras or the AoE buff of Battle Standards.

On some servers, people are using a strategy that is usually called "the race". In this strategy, both sides bypass the main enemy group and rush the graveyard nearest the enemy base, quickly clear the two bunkers in the base, pull the Marshals, and then pull the General. Each side may also kill the opposing captain and claim a mine or easy Graveyard on the way, but the goal is still to rush the General without directly engaging players of the opposing faction. This leads to a faster-paced game which can be easily won or easily lost. The safest route is to leave some defenders to at least slow the opposing team's attack, but to still maintain an overpowering offense; to give up some ground, but not too much. The way some of them do it is to run most of a faction as fast as possible to the enemy base and then some of the team will use their recall to go on the defense team and slow the progress of the enemy. This provides enough time to let one side win while the other is held up by the defense.

Wild Creatures

Troggs (Found in Irondeep Mine.)
Wildpaw Gnolls (Found inside Wildpaw Cavern.)
Snowblind Harpy (Found inside Icewing Cavern.)
Kobolds (Found in the Coldtooth Mine.)
Rams (Found north of the Field of Strife.)
Wolves (Found south of the Field of Strife.)

Click for a larger view

Simple guide

If you've just visited Alterac Valley (AV) a few times, and quickly want to know what's going on, here's a short and simple overview.

Goal

The goal in AV is to reduce the opposing faction's reinforcement count to 0. The most direct way to do this is to kill the enemy general, which will immediately drain all reinforcement points from the enemy and end the round. Other activities which reduce reinforcement points include killing enemy players, capturing towers/bunkers, and killing the enemy captain.

Reinforcements can be regained by capturing mines. The two generals are raid-level bosses that can be found in their fortresses at the two ends of the map — Vanndar Stormpike ("Vann") for the Alliance north, Drek'Thar ("Drek") for the Horde south. About 15 players need to work together in order to bring one of the generals down. A rather elaborate system of NPCs, fortifications and graveyards fills the map between the generals.

Both sides can do quests to improve themselves and their NPCs, and spend quite some time capturing many positions, but usually that's not done. It is far more efficient (considering reputation and honor gain) to just rush the enemy general, and kill him ASAP.

Offensive Game

In offensive games, a strong emphasis is put on offense. Usually at least 30 people will take part in the attack, and at most 10 will try to delay the enemy. The defense needs to be aware that they do fight a losing battle, nevertheless it's usually the quality of the defense which decides the final outcome of the battle.

Defensive Game

In defensive games, a strong emphasis is put on defense. The typical Horde strategy is to send 15-20 defenders to Iceblood Tower and the small one-way chokepoint that provides access to Iceblood Graveyard which prevents any Alliance players from racing to the Frostwolf Relief Hut. The Alliance, similarly, can defend Stonehearth Graveyard, Captain Balinda Stonehearth, Stonehearth Bunker, and Icewing Bunker. Snowfall Graveyard is a strong, tactical advantage because it allows your team to keep pounding on the enemies' defense.

Horde

Three graveyards are usually taken — Stonehearth, Stormpike and the Aid Station. Stonehearth GY is usually skipped by the players that rush to Dun Baldar, as Stormpike is important for those that want to stay on the offense.

Although it seems there's a narrow passage through which all Horde forces must pass to reach Stormpike, advanced players will know that there are several approaches to the graveyard flag. Horde can go up the mountain to the right when approaching the choke then circle around near the mine or come down the cliffs above the graveyard. Horde can also come under the Dun Baldar bridge. The Alliance defense usually focuses on Stormpike, and it is not an unknown occurrence that Horde completely fails to take it. If Stormpike GY has been taken, the Ally forces will defend the bridge next, which is a chokepoint that supposedly cannot be bypassed. However, there are reports that some horde have discovered a way to climb the cliffs to the south of Dun Baldar and enter the base that way.

The main choke point for defense is the opening in the fence between the Frostwolf towers. A secondary choke point happens at the fence area between Iceblood and Tower Point. When Alliance tries to defend Iceblood GY, they'll position themselves between the flag and the fence. If Tower Point is destroyed or the Relief Hut has been captured, it is clearly a "turtle game" if the Horde continues to choke at this secondary point. Those on defense that want the extra PVP honor will fallback to the main choke point and avoid turtle games. Advanced defensive players will first position themselves in Iceblood Garrison and will fallback to the main choke point once Galvangar is down.

The Relief Hut is bit easier for the Alliance to capture than for the Horde to capture the Aid Station. The position of the Relief Hut makes it easier for the Alliance to avoid aggro on other Horde NPCs besides the flag guards. The Aid Station is more open and closer to nearby NPCs, which makes them within pull/train/pet range. It is better for the horde to fallback to the main choke early and defend the Relief Hut rather than the open area of Frostwolf Graveyard & flag.

Before the Horde entrance was moved south, it was common for the Horde to rush an offensive game with little to no defense and often win, the race. The movement of the entrance gave the Alliance an extra 10-20 seconds to maneuver uninterrupted on the field. so now the Horde barely gets in the door of Iceblood Garrison at the same time the Alliance shows up right outside it. At the same time, the offensive Horde players that went straight to Balinda have barely entered the field of strife and have another 10 seconds till they reach Stonehearth Outpost. Obviously, Horde will lose their Captain's buff faster than the Alliance if there is no defense at Iceblood. Offensive players that go straight to the Aid station are also at a disadvantage compared to Alliance that go straight to the Relief Hut. The Horde players have to traverse the narrow road with higher chance of being interrupted by the Alliance than the Alliance do while they run through the open area of Frostwolf fields. The Alliance can travel much straighter and more efficient route from the Frostwolf field to the Relief Hut, while the Horde has to run to Stormpike Graveyard, on one side of the map, and then across the map again to get to the Aid Station.

It is not uncommon to see players encourage no defense at all on the Horde side, which will make it quick for the Alliance to gain bonus honor. Those that encourage this say it is to avoid turtle games, but a turtle game can be easily avoided when the defense falls back early to the main choke where all Horde players on defense can easily pick up honor kills. Others that encourage no defense also claim that it is good game if all tower have been destroyed at least for honor despite a lose to the offensive race, but you will often notice people that claim that have rushed the Aid Station and wait there while all towers get destroyed. That is also a sure way to lose, as with no defense in the Horde base is a guarantees the Frostwolf towers to be quickly lost, which means a quicker win for Alliance. One can easily suspect that the people that encourage the no defense on Horde plays are their to help the Alliance win. If you see players encourage no defense, ask them "if the raid will run into no Alliance defenses when raid crosses the Dun Baldar Bridge." To compensate for the extra 10 second head-start the Alliance has on Galvangar, some may merely encourage no defense get extra people Balinda to get her down fast. If you do an all-out offensive start like this, be sure to have the extras immediately recall to base to defend main choke once Balinda is down.

Alliance

The four important graveyards are Snowfall, Iceblood, Frostwolf and the Relief Hut. The Alliance often does not defend Stonehearth and so the Alliance caps Snowfall at about the same time as the Horde caps Stonehearth. A danger of this strategy is that if the Horde assault Snowfall before the Alliance has capped it, the Alliance have only Stormpike to resurrect in. When the Horde assault Snowfall while they also hold Stonehearth the Alliance is often forced into a turtle at Stormpike.

About half of the Alliance raid will ride to Galvangar (Iceblood Garrison) while the remaining half of the group will break off and ride directly to the Relief Hut and capture the Relief Hut graveyard and then work on the Relief Hut towers. After Galvangar is killed, the raid continues and captures Iceblood Tower, Iceblood Graveyard and Tower Point. If the Horde are defending the choke point just before Iceblood Graveyard, the Alliance will stay mounted and ride past them to either Frostwolf Graveyard or the Relief Hut. The danger of fighting at the choke point is that the Alliance do not yet control a forward Graveyard, so if you die you will end up back at Stormpike Graveyard. A common mistake that groups will make is fighting the Horde defense at each successive Graveyard. If they are defending Iceblood and you fight them and capture the Graveyard, then the Horde defense is at Frostwolf Graveyard and you'll have to fight them again. It is important to capture the Relief Hut first to avoid having to fight a moving wave of Horde defense.

On the final assault on Frostwolf Keep, the Alliance captures the Frostwolf Relief Hut and 2 more towers. They normally wait until the Relief Hut is fully captured and the 4 towers are burned before attacking Drek'Thar. Note: Drek is worth 83 honor and each tower is worth 62 honor. But, always keep an eye on the Batttleground map and look at your Defense back up at Dun Baldar. If your defense is gone along with your towers and graveyards you can bet that the Horde are already attacking Vanndar. Waiting for towers to cap while not keeping an eye on what is going on up North will cost you a win and give you less honor.

If any mob near Drek is pulled, all mobs and Drek come along. All of the mobs in Drek's room are linked, which means if any of them are kited or feared outside then Drek will reset to 100% health. Then, Drek'Thar is finally attacked. Due to the proximity of the AV entrance cave for Horde, Iceblood graveyard and Frostwolf graveyard are both often recaptured.

An effective strategy is to send one or more Alliance directly to the Frostwolf camp, bypassing all other objectives. This advance team prepares the way for the main offensive by capturing the East and West Frostwolf Towers and the Frostwolf Relief Hut. Speed is an essential quality to a winning strategy. It takes 4 minutes to capture a Graveyard or burn a Tower, so it is best to do as many of these things in parallel as possible, but it is important to balance this with defending each of the Towers.

The Alliance can also use priests to defend the Dun Baldar Bridge, by Mind Controlling any Horde that attack and running them off the bridge.

When the Horde are playing a defensive game, it is common for Alliance players to try to rush south, but doing this often gets them killed. Instead, Alliance players should defend Stonehearth or push Iceblood Graveyard, kill the Horde healers, and try to ninja the Iceblood Graveyard flag while the Horde are fighting at the chokepoint.

Frostwolf Towers and Dun Baldar Bunkers

For horde, a typical base defense strategy is for hunters to place freezing traps on the ramp by the Frostwolf towers to slow the Alliance and while the NPC archers and horde AOE and ranged attacks cut them down as they come up the steep ramp. Horde also often kite Alliance pets or players into Drek's keep to aggro warmasters and Drek's wolves into the battle. Horde can also try to aggro the wing commanders into the battle as they stand nearby. Horde often run into Drek's keep for cover and to heal.

For alliance, the strategy is similar in that hunter freezing traps and AOE and ranged attacks on the Dun Baldar bridge are effective. The NPC archers in the bunkers aid greatly in the fight. However, the horde often send a stealthed rogue or druid into the bunkers to kill or despawn the archers ahead of the main horde offense. Due to a bug, the archers often despawn when the bunker is assaulted. To protect the archers, a hunter can keep freezing traps and flares on the bridge to prevent stealthers from getting in the base ahead of the horde offense. Kiting horde pets or players back to the druids up the path by the North bunker may draw the druids into the battle. Fleeing to the druids may also serve as a sanctuary for Alliance players to heal. The several NPCs in Dun Baldar help to slow the horde advance.

Personal Quests

There are a number of quests that can be completed in Alterac Valley for reputation and rewards. They are broadly identical for Horde and Alliance, so they will be described in general terms here. These quests provide permanent rewards to a character, unlike the "Battle Quests" described below. For specific faction details, see Alterac Valley Alliance Quests and Alterac Valley Horde Quests.

Alterac Valley Trinket quest: A quest-giver outside the instance gives a quest to retrieve a banner from a cave. The caves are located in the far north and south ends of the valley. The reward for this quest is a trinket that provides a small amount of frost resistance and the ability to portal back to your faction's fortress from anywhere in the Valley. The trinket is upgraded for free at the original quest-giver as you gain reputation with your Alterac Valley faction, ultimately reaching epic status and carrying additional effects such as health regeneration and chance to dodge attacks. "Trinketing back to base" or 'recalling' is a standard last-ditch defensive strategy, and you will be expected to have completed this quest and be carrying your trinket. In addition to this the trinket is also useful to quickly return to your faction's fortress in order to turn in armor scraps and various other turns in. The rewards are Stormpike Insignia / Frostwolf Insignia.

[60] The Battle for Alterac / [60] The Battle of Alterac: A quest-giver outside the instance gives a quest that is completed by winning a match. You must have the quest and be inside the instance when the enemy General is killed to complete the quest. The rewards for this quest are quite desirable blues, including the [Ice Barbed Spear], [Cold Forged Hammer], [Wand of Biting Cold] and [Bloodseeker].

Capture a Mine quest: A quest-giver outside the instance gives a quest to capture a mine. This quest is intended largely to teach you where the mine is, since you may be repeating the Mine Supplies quest many times.

Capture a Tower quest: A quest-giver outside the instance gives a quest to capture a tower. You do not have to be the one who personally clicked the flag, nor does the tower have to burn for the quest to be completed. You simply have to be in the vicinity of the tower when someone in the raid captures the flag in the tower.

Capture a Graveyard quest: A quest-giver outside the instance gives a quest to capture a graveyard. You do not have to be the one who personally clicked the flag, nor does the graveyard have to be successfully captured for the quest to be completed. Like capturing a tower, you simply have to be in the vicinity of the graveyard when someone in the raid captures it.

Battle Quests

In addition to the personal quests, there are a number of objectives that can be completed during a battle to provide a bonus to a faction. Many of these quests provide reputation points and all are worth doing whenever your side can complete them.

Unit Upgrades: You can complete a collection quest to upgrade some of your stationary troops. Players, officers, and roaming, mine and tower units are exempt from this bonus. Upgrading troops through armor scrap turn-ins will also result in your team's General enabling a periodic buff to your melee and spell damage. This buff scales from 10% at the Seasoned unit level, 20% at the Veteran unit level, and 30% at the Champion unit level. Both Alliance and Horde players gather armor scraps from the corpses of enemy players and guards. As armor is gathered, boxes of supplies visibly build up next to the forge. Once enough supplies are gathered, a person with high reputation can instruct the smith to upgrade units to the next level (such as Champion). The friendly troops will now be much more powerful.

Ground Assault: There is a mine located near each of the fortresses. The mine is initially under the control of hostile NPCs but can easily be captured by a single player. The mobs within are low-level (~52/62) and have unusually low health (though they do hit hard). A non-elite mob resides deep inside each mine; when he is killed, the mine comes under the control of your faction and is quickly filled with friendly NPCs. Once the mine is under your faction's control, the Quartermaster inside your fortress will start to collect supplies. When enough supplies have been gathered, a player with Honored or higher reputation can direct the Quartermaster to launch a ground assault which will spawn a group of elite NPCs that will move forward through the zone attacking enemy players and NPCs. This requires 6 turn-ins from opposite faction mine to get the NPCs. Around 12 from the Mine closer to your base.

Cavalry: You can create and command cavalry provided you complete the requisite quests found in your base's stables. Initially, players must capture rams or wolves by taming them using the tools they are given by the Stable Master. After the stables are full, a message will be broadcasted across the valley. Players must also collect pelts from the opposing side's wild mounts: Horde must slay rams and the Alliance must hunt the wolves. After all the necessary components have been gathered, a player with high reputation (Honored or higher) must give the command for the calvary to ride. Additional commands must be given (by clicking on them, provided your reputation is high enough) to send them further in to attack. After the attack is over, there is a period of waiting before you can order another charge.

Ultimate Unit: Arch Druid Renferal and Primalist Thurloga, located inside the faction fortresses, will accept Storm Crystals or Stormpike Soldier's Blood, which are dropped by fallen characters of the opposite faction. When enough of these items are turned in, the Druid or Primalist will move through the valley, accompanied by a group of elite guards, until they reach the Field of Strife. Primalist will go to the area south of Snowfall and north of Iceblood Garrison, and Archdruid Renferal will go to the area west of Stonehearth Bunker and east of Stonehearth Outpost. They will then start a summoning ritual, which requires ten players to click on their summoning circle. When this summoning is complete, Ivus the Forest Lord or Lokholar the Ice Lord will be summoned. These are tough raid-level bosses. They will spend some time on the Field of Strife killing whatever they see, and will then start to move towards the enemy base. These bosses are, unfortunately, plagued by evade bugs and are fairly simple to train into areas where they can easily be killed. The standard Horde strategy is to train Ivus to the entry tunnel and to kill him there. But if they are guarded carefully, they can easily turn the battle and end the match.

Aerial Assault: Through rescuing lost Wing Commanders and completing a series of quests, you can gain the ability to summon aerial units that patrol from your base to the center of the valley. Alliance and Horde players gather three different items. Each item can be turned into a specific Wing Commander once they have been rescued. After you have brought the requisite number of the particular items needed, players of Revered or higher faction reputation can receive a beacon to place on the map. The beacon, once placed, orders an air strike that lasts for a time. If the wing commanders are not rescued, you will be unable to turn in the items needed. These particular items will disappear if you leave the battleground.

Once you have rescued the appropriate Wing Commanders and turned in the required number of medals or amount of meat, you have two options for each flight (assuming you have the required Stormpike Guard or Frostwolf Clan reputation level.)

Placing a beacon: You can request a beacon from any of the Wing Commanders that must then be planted on the battleground. (All beacons share a 30 minute cooldown before you can deploy another. If you want to have multiple beacons deployed, other players must deploy them.) The beacon takes 60 seconds to arm, during which it can be disabled by the opposing faction. When the beacon arms, it will summon an Aerie Gryphon (Alliance) or War Rider (Horde) to patrol the Field of Strife and alert nearby ground troops there when they spot the enemy. Slidore and Guse's beacons must be deployed at the east crater on the Field of Strife; Vipore and Jeztor's beacons must be placed at the west crater; Ichman and Mulverick's beacons must be placed at the north crater.

Ordering a strike: This will launch the Wing Commander by air to assault the enemy's base. Each Wing Commander will patrol a specific area of the enemy base, and support ground troops there. Slidore and Guse will assault the graveyard immediately outside the base (Stormpike and Frostwolf); Vipore and Jeztor will assault the outer section of the base (the Dun Baldar tower area and the lower part of Frostwolf Village); Ichman and Mulverick will assault the inner base (immediately outside the Generals' fortresses.)

Amounts of needed items for events

Icelord / Ivus - 200 Blood/Crystals are needed for the Primalists/Druids to start going to their summoning points.

Wing commanders:
- Slidore / Guse - 120 Frostwolf Soldier's Medal / Stormpike Soldier's Flesh
- Vipore / Jeztor - 60 Frostwolf Lieutenant's Medal / Stormpike Lieutenant's Flesh
- Ichman / Mulverick - 30 Frostwolf Commander's Medal / Stormpike Commander's Flesh

Ram riders (A) / Wolf Riders (H) - 25 Frostwolf Hide (A) / Alterac Ram Hide (H) and 25 tamed Alterac Ram (A) / Frostwolf (H)
Unit Upgrades:
- Murgot Deepforge (A) / Smith Regzar (H) - 500 Armor Scraps (total 1500 for 61/71 lvl Guards)
Ground Assault - 280 supplies (28 turn-ins) from the near mine and 70 (7 turn-ins) from the other mine.

Note: Once you order a strike, you will not be able to pick up that wingman's beacon. Thus, it's best to pick up the beacon 1st.

Reputation

As you fight in Alterac Valley, you earn reputation with either the Frostwolf Clan for Horde or the Stormpike Guard for Alliance. There are two vendors for each faction; one inside Alterac Valley and one outside in Alterac Mountains. For the Alliance, the NPC within the battleground that sells vendor rewards is in the Dun Baldar South Bunker.

Note that in Alterac Valley all reputation with the Frostwolf Clan and the Stormpike is shared amongst all combatants, whether or not they are partied with you. However some turn-ins will give reputation with one of the four main primary factions. This faction reputation is not shared.

Stormpike/Frostwolf reputation is gained in the following ways:

Killing Enemy General (389 Rep)
Killing Enemy Captain (125 rep)
Killing an Enemy Air Master (5 rep)
Killing any Enemy Guard (5 rep) *NOTE: This is capped through honored and does not give rep in revered*
Killing an Enemy Player(+1 Rep+HK+CP).
Killing Ivus the Forest Lord or Lokholar the Ice Lord (125 rep)
Destroying an Enemy Tower (64 rep)
1-time quests (first turn in of each repeatable, capture a tower/mine/graveyard, etc) (~100 rep each, varies) —

Repeatable reputation quests

Ram Hide/Frostwolf Hide (2 rep each)
Bringing a Frostwolf/Ram to your stable (1 - 3 rep each)
Armor Scraps (1 rep for 20 plus 10 Orgrimmar/Ironforge plus 5 rep of the other factions(for every 2 turn ins)for the character)
Storm Crystals/Stormpike Soldier's Blood (1 rep for 1 plus 10 Orgrimmar/Ironforge plus 5 rep of the other factions(for every 2 turn ins); 5 rep for 5 plus 50 Orgrimmar/Ironforge for the character)
Wing Commanders
- Slidore/Guse (1 rep)
- Vipore/Jeztor (2 rep)
- Ichman/Mulverick (5 rep)

At the end of the game, extra rep is gained for each of the following conditions:

Enemy Captain Killed (36 rep)
Allied Captain Still Alive (125 rep)
Enemy Towers Destroyed (24 rep each)
Controlled Intact Tower (12 rep each)
Controlled Graveyards (12 rep each)
Controlled Mines (12 rep each)

Bonus Honor in AV

Official Blizzard values of bonus honor :

Killing Enemy General (4 kills)
Killing Enemy Captain (3 kills)
Destroying an Enemy Tower (3 kills per tower)
Live Captain (2 kills)
Surviving towers (2 kills per tower) - Note: Must be "Controlled", not "In Conflict."
Completing AV during it's holiday weekend (4 kills)
Having a Wing Commander safely return to his or her home base (1 kill)

Each kill yields ~20.9 honor in the 61-70 bracket and ~14.1 honor in the 51-60 bracket.

Events that do not award bonus honor

Killing Enemy Air Masters (Running back or Inflight)
Killing Marshals/Warmasters
Killing Vendors/Quest Givers
All quests
Capturing a resource (mines)
Taming a wolf or ram
Capturing a Graveyard
Killing any Guard not including the ones listed above
Killing Ivus the Forest Lord or Lokholar the Ice Lord

New Faction Reward System

Alterac Valley items are now available by spending honor accumulated and a varying amount of Alterac Valley Mark of Honor. Though some of the Frostwolf and Stormpike factions items have different names and artwork, their bonuses and equip effects are identical. Unlike those from Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley rewards are not available for upgrades. Most rewards require level 55 or 60.

Item (Alliance/Horde)	Type	Level	Cost	Restrictions	Description
[Frostwolf Battle Tabard] [Stormpike Battle Tabard]	Tabard	*	60	Unrestricted	Alterac Valley Tabard
[Stormpike Soldier's Cloak] [Frostwolf Legionnaire's Cloak]	Back	55	1530 10	Unrestricted	Stamina and Frost Resistance bonus Adds 24 attack power while equipped
[Stormpike Sage's Cloak] [Frostwolf Advisor's Cloak]	Back	55	1530 10	Unrestricted	Stamina and Frost Resistance bonus Adds 14 spell damage when equipped
[Stormpike Soldier's Pendant] [Frostwolf Legionnaire's Pendant]	Neck	55	1530 20	Unrestricted	Stamina bonus Adds 18 attack power while equipped
[Stormpike Sage's Pendant] [Frostwolf Advisor's Pendant]	Neck	55	1530 20	Unrestricted	Stamina and Intellect bonus Restores 4 mana per 5 sec when equipped
[Stormpike Plate Girdle] [Frostwolf Plate Belt]	Waist	55	2805 20	Unrestricted	Strength, agility, stamina, and frost resistance bonuses
[Stormpike Mail Girdle] [Frostwolf Mail Belt]	Waist	55	2805 20	Unrestricted	Agility, stamina, intellect, and frost resistance bonuses
[Stormpike Leather Girdle] [Frostwolf Leather Belt]	Waist	55	2805 20	Unrestricted	Strength, agility, stamina, and frost resistance bonuses
[Stormpike Cloth Girdle] [Frostwolf Cloth Belt]	Waist	55	2805 20	Unrestricted	Stamina, intellect, and frost resistance bonuses
[Stormpike Battle Standard] [Frostwolf Battle Standard]	Battle Standard	*	30	Unrestricted	Increases damage caused by party members by 10% for 2 minutes
[Electrified Dagger]	Dagger	60	2380 10	Alliance	Agility bonus Chance on hit nature proc
[Glacial Blade]	Dagger	60	2380 10	Horde	Agility bonus Chance on hit frost proc
[Crackling Staff]	Staff	60	2720 15	Alliance	Stamina and intellect bonuses Adds 15 spell damage when equipped
[Whiteout Staff]	Staff	60	2720 15	Horde	Stamina and intellect bonuses Adds 15 spell damage when equipped
[Stormstrike Hammer]	One-Hand Mace	60	2320 10	Alliance	Strength bonus
[Frostbite]	One-Hand Axe	60	2380 10	Horde	Strength bonus
[Gnoll Skin Bandolier]	16 Slot Ammo Pouch	55	1530 10	Unrestricted	Increases ranged attack speed by 15% when equipped
[Harpy Hide Quiver]	16 Slot Quiver	55	1530 10	Unrestricted	Increases ranged attack speed by 15% when equipped
[Stormpike Battle Charger]	Epic Land Mount	60	50	Alliance	Summons epic mount when used
[Horn of the Frostwolf Howler]	Epic Land Mount	60	50	Horde	Summons epic mount when used
[Lei of the Lifegiver]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Increases healing by 53 and restores 3 mana per 5 sec when equipped
[Therazane's Touch]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Increases spell damage by 33 when equipped
[Tome of Arcane Domination]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Increases arcane spell damage by 34 and restores 3 mana per 5 sec when equipped
[Tome of Fiery Arcana]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Increases fire spell damage by 40 when equipped
[Tome of Shadow Force]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Stamina bonus Increases shadow spell damage by 34 when equipped
[Tome of the Ice Lord]	Held in Off-Hand	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Increases ice spell damage by 34 when equipped
[The Unstoppable Force]	Two-Hand Mace	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Strength and stamina bonuses Increases critical strike rating by 28 1 sec stun proc
[The Immovable Object]	Shield	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Stamina bonus Increases shield block value by 27 when equipped
[The Lobotomizer]	Dagger	60	4760 25	Unrestricted	Proc wounds for 200–300 and lowers intellect by 25 for 30 sec
[Don Julio's Band]	Finger	60	4590 25	Unrestricted	Stamina bonus Increases critical strike rating by 14, hit rating by 10, and attack power by 16 when equipped
[Don Rodrigo's Band]	Finger	60	4590 25	Priest, Mage, Warlock	Stamina bonus Increases spell critical strike rating by 14 and decreases spell target resistances by 20 when equipped

Quotes

Captain Balinda Stonehearth:

Begone, uncouth scum! The Alliance shall prevail in Alterac Valley! - Captain Balinda Stonehearth (Balinda is attacked)
Filthy Frostwolf cowards! If you want a fight, you'll have to come to me! - Captain Balinda Stonehearth (Balinda resets)

Vanndar Stormpike:

Soldiers of Stormpike, your General is under attack! I require aid! Come! Come! Slay these mangy Frostwolf dogs. (Vanndar is attacked)
You'll never get me out of me bunker, heathens! - General Vanndar Stormpike (Vanndar Stormpike resets)

Drek'Thar:

Stormpike filth!? In my keep! Destroy them all! - General Drek'Thar (Drek'Thar is attacked)
You seek to draw the General of the Frostwolf legion out from his fortress? PREPOSTEROUS! - General Drek'Thar (Drek'Thar resets)

Galvangar:

Die! Your kind has no place in Alterac Valley! - Captain Galvangar (Galvangar is attacked)
I'll never fall for that, fool! If you want a battle, it will be on my terms and in my lair. - Captain Galvangar (Galvangar resets)

Wing Commanders:

I'm coming, Frostwolf! And this time you're gonna feel the flames! - Wing Commander Slidore (A) (Slidore flies to attack)
Guse is entering the battle! Time to take out the Stormpike filth! - Wing Commander Guse (H) (Guse flies to attack)
Senior Wing Commander Vipore launching. Pray for a swift death, Frostwolf. - Wing Commander Vipore (A) (Vipore flies to attack)
Jeztor's coming for you, Stormpike! - Wing Commander Jeztor (H) (Jeztor flies to attack)
Drek'Thar, I'm coming for you! - Wing Commander Ichman (A) (Ichman flies to attack)
Incoming air support to Dun Baldar! Stormpike bow down! - Wing Commander Mulverick (H) (Mulverick flies to attack)

Miscellaneous:

Wicked, wicked, mortals! The forest weeps. The elements recoil at the destruction. Ivus must purge you from this world! - Ivus the Forest Lord (Ivus kills an enemy Horde player)
Soldiers of Stormpike, aid and protect us! The Forest Lord has granted us his protection. The portal must now be opened! - Arch Druid Renferal (Arch Druid and the other Druids head to the summoning place)

Soldiers of Frostwolf, aid and protect us! The Ice Lord has granted us his protection. The portal must now be opened! - Primalist Thurloga (Primalist and the other Shamans head to the summoning place)
WHO DARES SUMMON LOKHOLAR? The blood of a thousand Stormpike soldiers shall I spill... none may stand against the Ice Lord! - Lok'holar the Ice Lord (Lok'holar is summoned)
It is done! The Ice Lord has arrived! Bow to the might of the Horde, fools! - Primalist Thurloga (Lok'holar the Ice Lord is summoned, Primalist reacts)
I drink in your suffering, mortal. Let your essence congeal with Lok'holar! - Lok'holar the Ice Lord (Lok'holar the Ice Lord has killed an Alliance player)

Patch 2.4 Changes

In Patch 2.4, Alterac Valley has seen more major changes. As of current, these changes include:

Captain Balinda Stonehearth has been buffed significantly. Her spell damage has increased greatly and she has now learned new spells. She can no longer be slowed or locked out of a school with interrupts (although she can still be interrupted).
Reversing the previous hotfix, Vanndar Stormpike's and Captain Balinda Stonehearth's health totals have been decreased, to match the totals of Drek'Thar and Captain Galvangar.
Major buffs have been applied to Warmasters and Marshalls; Warmasters and Marshalls now increase each other's maximum health and maximum damage by 25%. This is a stacking buff.
The Horde cave has been moved significantly south, so Horde players start very near to the Frostwolf Keep.
Join as Party returns to Alterac Valley. (NOTE: "Join as Party" does NOT mean "Join as Group". Only 5 players can queue at the same time.)
The time required for the first capture of Snowfall graveyard has been reduced from five minutes to four.

Source: Alterac Valley Improvements in 2.4

Source: Patch 2.4 Patch Notes

External links