World of Warcraft is full of enjoyable activities, and player-versus-player combat is certainly one of them! Unfortunately, sometimes players can be confused and irritated by the changes in tactics and play-styles that PvP combat requires. With the latest Cataclysm expansion came a brand new, regularly-occurring, server-wide battle at Tol Barad, one that leads to a lot of folks getting frustrated. Here's the low-down on how to win at this fight!
What is World of Warcraft's Tol Barad?
Tol Barad occurs approximately every two hours, and you can queue up for it from the PvP page. Depending on whether or not your faction (Alliance or Horde) holds the fortress, you will either be attacking or defending. Attackers must simultaneously control three fortifications in order to win. These fortresses are the Ironclad Garrison in the north, the Warden's Vigil in the south-west, and the Slagworks in the south-east. Defenders simply need to hold on to any one of the three fortresses until the battle's timer runs out. Regardless of your side, victory revolves around two major aspects of combat.
The first major component of the Tol Barad battle is healer control. Regardless of whether you are attacking or defending, healers can make or break a Tol Barad battle. Good healer control means quickly identifying a healer and killing him quickly; or, at least, using interrupts and stuns to keep them from being effective. There are add-ons, such as Healers Must Die, to help with this if you can't do it on your own. Sometimes this isn't exactly possible - four or more healers can form a very difficult-to-kill pack. Such a group can almost single-handedly hold a position simply because they can heal damage faster than it comes in.
Even more importantly than that, however, is movement. 90% of the time (statistics made up off the top of my head), a battle at Tol Barad becomes either a clockwise or counter-clockwise race. The attackers will rush ("zerg") a position, killing the defenders. The defenders will then re-spawn and counter-rush a position the attackers hold. Whichever side is able to stall better and rush faster is going to win.
Attacker Strategies for Tol Barad
Attackers will begin at a bridge just north of the Ironclad Garrison, and have a respawn point just outside of every objective. Most times, you'll find that you conquer Ironclad Garrison right off the bat - that's fine! Sometimes a raid might decide to hit Warden's Vigil or even Slagworks first; they might be further away, but it means the defender is less likely to concentrate forces there.
The battle has a timer, typically about 15 minutes. This time may be extended by using the Abandoned Siege Engines littered around the map to destroy three watch-towers. Remember, once time runs out you're finished, but if everyone runs for the siege engines then nobody will be taking control points, wasting the time you plan to gain from them.
The biggest mistake made by an attacking force is to fight outside of the walls of a fortress; in order to capture one, you absolutely have to be inside of it! There's a flag in the middle of each base. If you're close enough to it, a small graphic will emerge showing which side controls it. More people on the flag means faster movement to one side or another. When the attacker holds two fortresses, their rate-of-capture increases, allowing them to capture the third one even if the entire enemy team defends it.
How to Defend at Tol Barad
Defending is very much the same thing as attacking, once a battle gets going. Defenders can opt to destroy the attacking siege engines, but that deprives them of precious manpower for defending. Typically, you're just going to have to suck it up and wait the battle out. It might take half an hour, but you'll be certain to get a lot of honor points in the process!
As far as actual defensive strategies go, the best one is simple - controlling any two fortresses at all times. The attacker typically has to rush one at a time, and will usually control any one. When the defenders at a besieged fortress are defeated, they will respawn in a central location called Baradin Hold. They can then move toward an enemy-held fortress.
For example, if the attacker takes Ironclad Garrison (ICG), it might then move toward Warden's Vigil (WV). The defenders at Warden's Vigil have little chance of stopping that large of an attack - but can respawn at Baradin Hold and immediately head north, recapturing ICG. This is typically called out by someone in the raid-chat, who will say something like "rezzers ICG." Next up, the attackers at Warden's Vigil will go to Slagworks (SW). The defenders at SW die and see a "rezzers WV" request.
Repeat ad-nauseam, and the faster team always wins! Healers can keep the defending forces at a base alive longer, which is why they are a major factor in a Tol Barad battle. On the other hand, healers are only one factor in the greater issue of mobility - the faster team, again, will win the fight. Tol Barad is only a question of time; can the defenders hold out long enough, or are the attackers quick enough to win? Hop into the World of Warcraft to find out!
Jesse Pohlman - Jesse Pohlman is an avid writer and a researcher of pretty much anything. His latest novel, Physics Incarnate, is available for Kindle.
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