PvP
Queue for a battleground, build a rated arena team, defend Wintergrasp, or fight for the Hellfire towers.
Status: LIVE — battlegrounds, rated arenas, Wintergrasp, and Hellfire world PvP are active. Limited: Strand of the Ancients and Isle of Conquest have no NPCBot fill; the Arena Commendation has no vendor; there is no confirmed NPCBot support for Wintergrasp. Disabled: battleground item and mark rewards, the per-kill PvP token, skirmish item rewards, Ring of Valor, and deserter tracking.
At a glance
- Battlegrounds: Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, Strand of the Ancients, and Isle of Conquest.
- Brackets: AV
51–80, WSG10–80, AB20–80, EOTS61–80, SA and IC71–80. - NPCBots in BGs: AV, WSG, AB, and EOTS can fill with wandering bots. SA and IC are not bot-filled.
- Rated arenas: 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 from level 10 upward. Teams can be created from level 7. Owned NPCBots count as roster members.
- Arena opponents: if no real team is found after about 10 seconds, the queue can generate an NPCBot opponent team at your bracket and rating.
- End-of-match PvP rewards: honor and arena points, not battleground marks. Rated arenas also pay Badges of Justice and Arena Commendations.
- Wintergrasp: level 75+, up to 120 per team, 30-minute battles, then 150 minutes of peacetime.
- Hellfire world PvP: the three Hellfire towers spawn hostile packs and award separate Hellfire marks.
- No deserter: leaving a battleground or arena does not apply Deserter. AFK reports still work.
- No PvP XP: battleground honorable kills grant no experience.
How to use
Battlegrounds
- Open the PvP frame with the crossed-swords icon, or press
Hby default. - Choose Random Battleground for the daily bonus, or choose a specific battleground.
- You can also queue at a capital-city battlemaster. The usual battlemasters are still the concrete entry point for specific maps.
- If you want bots, hire them and put them in your party before you queue. A solo player can start a bot-filled AV, WSG, AB, or EOTS.
- Fight the normal objectives. AV uses boss kills only; WSG ends at 3 flag captures, AB at 2000 resources, and EOTS at 1600 resources.
- Leave through the PvP frame or the battleground icon after the match. There is no penalty for leaving, but AFK reports can still remove you.
Bot-filled battlegrounds. Wandering bots are temporary battleground participants, not your hired party. They fill both sides toward the target below. AV bots use tower, captain, defense, frontline, and scout roles, so they play the map rather than only chasing kills.
| Battleground | Level range | Bot fill target per team |
|---|---|---|
| Alterac Valley | 51–80 | 30 |
| Warsong Gulch | 10–80 | 8 |
| Arathi Basin | 20–80 | 12 |
| Eye of the Storm | 61–80 | 12 |
| Strand of the Ancients | 71–80 | None |
| Isle of Conquest | 71–80 | None |
- SA and IC are player-dependent. Do not queue expecting bots to arrive.
- No strict faction balance. The queue is set to invite quickly rather than enforce even teams.
- Real premades: a player-only premade can wait up to 30 minutes for another premade. A group containing NPCBots is treated as a normal pickup group instead.
- Short matches: if one side is too empty, the match can end early after 5 minutes.
Rated arenas
- Create an arena team through the PvP frame’s Arena Teams section, or speak to an Arena Organizer in the Dalaran Underbelly.
- Team creation is instant. There are no signatures to collect. The charter costs 80g for 2v2, 120g for 3v3, and 200g for 5v5.
- A new team starts at 1500 rating. The lowest arena bracket starts at level 10.
- Put your roster together. Hired NPCBots count as roster members, so a 2v2 team can be you plus one bot.
- The party leader queues the team at an Arena Battlemaster. Alt bots are rejected from battleground and arena groups with an explicit message.
- If no real opponent is found after about 10 seconds, the queue can create a generated NPCBot team. Generated opponents use the leader’s bracket and a rating randomized within ±1500 of your matchmaking rating, clamped to
0–3000. - Play the match. Arena kills grant no honor. The rewards are paid at the end, and only for rated matches.
Generated opponent gear. At level 70, generated opponent gear scales from roughly item level 90–115 at low rating to 154–164 at 2400+. At level 80 it scales from 150–187 to 239–251. The generated bots have no damage-dealt or damage-taken handicap.
Arena points. Rated teams earn arena points once per week. The team must play at least 10 games. Distribution is every 7 days. 5v5 pays the full bracket value, 3v3 pays 88%, and 2v2 pays 76%. The arena point cap is 25,000.
Arena maps. Nagrand Arena, Blade’s Edge Arena, Ruins of Lordaeron, and Dalaran Sewers are available. Ring of Valor is disabled; if it would be selected, the match uses Nagrand Arena instead. This is deliberate because the Ring’s elevators and objects break NPCBot pathing.
Arena teams with bots. Owned bots in the party count as rated roster members when the queue checks the bracket. A group with bots is not treated as a premade. Bring only as many bots as the bracket allows; a 5v5 roster with too many combatants will not fit.
Wintergrasp and Vault of Archavon
- Reach level 75. Wintergrasp will not accept lower-level characters.
- Queue at a Wintergrasp Battle-Mage, or use the Wintergrasp entry in the PvP frame. In Dalaran, the battle-mages are Arcanist Braedin
32169and Magister Surdiel32170. - Fight for the keep and its workshops. The battle lasts up to 30 minutes, with up to 120 players per team. There is no minimum team size, so a small battle can start.
- After the battle, the controlling faction receives Essence of Wintergrasp and access to the Vault of Archavon. Only the controlling faction receives the peacetime buff on this realm.
- Watch the Vault timer. Vault of Archavon closes during the 10-minute warmup and the battle. Players inside are warned and teleported to their homebind, and new entries are blocked.
- Treat Wintergrasp as a player and vehicle battle. No dedicated NPCBot Wintergrasp support was found.
Wintergrasp is enabled and automated, but the core still labels its implementation experimental. Expect vehicle, keep, and tower behavior to be less polished than a battleground. The usual Wintergrasp quartermasters are not confirmed on this realm: the templates for Knight Dameron 32294 and Stone Guard Mukar 32296 exist, but no static or scripted spawn was found. Do not plan a Wintergrasp vendor shopping trip without staff confirmation.
Hellfire world PvP
- Enter Hellfire Peninsula and flag for PvP with
/pvpif you are not already flagged. - Fight around Broken Hill, Overlook, and Stadium. Hostile tower packs spawn at those points every 30 seconds while at least one player is within 120 yards.
- Expect packs of 1–3 aggressive mobs. They have an 80-yard aggro radius and despawn after 5 minutes.
- Kill players or NPCBots in Hellfire. Nearby group members receive one Hellfire mark per qualifying kill.
- Kill the tower-pack mobs too. The pack mobs drop one Hellfire mark to the loot recipient.
- Complete the old Hellfire Fortifications quest for a larger payout: 10106 for Alliance and 10110 for Horde. Capture the three points and return to Warrant Officer Tracy Proudwell
18266or Battlecryer Blackeye18267. The quest awards 3 marks.
The marks. Alliance receives Mark of Honor Hold 24579; Horde receives Mark of Thrallmar 24581. These are separate from battleground marks. The disabled battleground reward module does not pay WSG, AB, AV, EOTS, SA, or IC marks, but the Hellfire marks still drop.
Commands & UI
| Action | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Open the PvP frame | H by default, or the crossed-swords micro-menu button |
| Toggle your PvP flag | /pvp |
| Queue random battleground | PvP frame → Random Battleground, or any battlemaster |
| Queue a specific battleground | A capital-city battlemaster |
| Create or manage an arena team | PvP frame → Arena Teams, or an Arena Organizer |
| Queue a rated arena | Party leader queues at an Arena Battlemaster |
| Queue Wintergrasp | A Wintergrasp Battle-Mage, or the PvP frame |
| Ready check | /readycheck |
| Report a player AFK | Right-click the player’s portrait → Report AFK |
| Leave a battleground | Right-click the battleground icon, or use the PvP frame |
| Manage NPCBots | .npcbot commands; see 15 — NPCBots |
- There is no
.bg,.wg,.queue, or.pvpdot command./pvpis the normal slash command that toggles your flag. .arenais staff-only. It controls arena season and queue state; it is not a player queue command.- No addon is required. The stock PvP frame, battleground scoreboard, and arena team UI are enough.
- AFK reporting: reports open after 4 minutes; 3 reports remove an AFK player.
- Preparation: battleground preparation is 60 seconds, except Strand of the Ancients at 120 seconds. Arena preparation is 45 seconds. Player respawn is 30 seconds.
NPCs and vendors
| NPC | Entry | Where | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minzi the Minx | 32330 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Battlemaster |
| Ramik Slamwrench | 32332 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Battlemaster |
| ”Dapper” Danik Blackshaft | 32333 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Battlemaster |
| Schembari “Uncle Sal” Shearbolt | 29533 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Battlemaster |
| Kanika Goldwell | 32329 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Organizer |
| ”Baroness” Llana | 29534 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Organizer |
| Nargle Lashcord | 31863 | Dalaran Underbelly | Veteran Arena Vendor |
| Xazi Smolderpipe | 31864 | Dalaran Underbelly | Arena Vendor |
| Zom Bocom | 31865 | Dalaran Underbelly | Apprentice Arena Vendor |
| Trapjaw Rix | 34087 | Dalaran Underbelly | Exceptional Arena Weaponry |
| Arcanist Braedin | 32169 | Dalaran | Wintergrasp Battle-Mage |
| Magister Surdiel | 32170 | Dalaran | Wintergrasp Battle-Mage |
| Warrant Officer Tracy Proudwell | 18266 | Hellfire Peninsula | Hellfire Fortifications, Alliance |
| Battlecryer Blackeye | 18267 | Hellfire Peninsula | Hellfire Fortifications, Horde |
- Arena points: spend them at Nargle Lashcord, Xazi Smolderpipe, Zom Bocom, or Trapjaw Rix in the Dalaran Underbelly.
- Honor points: spend them at the normal capital-city honor vendors. There is no custom player honor vendor on the staff island.
- Badges of Justice: rated arenas are an additional source. Spend them at the normal Badge of Justice vendors.
- Arena Commendation: there is no vendor or scripted consumer for item
844115. Treat it as a record of participation, not a currency. - Wintergrasp vendors: the usual quartermasters are not confirmed as spawned. See the Wintergrasp section.
Rewards
Battleground rewards
End-of-match bonus honor is paid only for random battlegrounds and Call to Arms weekend battlegrounds. A specific battleground outside its weekend pays no end bonus.
| Result | Honor | Arena points |
|---|---|---|
| First bonus win of the day | 30 honor-kill equivalents | 25 at level 71+ |
| Later bonus win | 15 honor-kill equivalents | 0 |
| Bonus loss | 5 honor-kill equivalents | 0 |
- Reset: the first-win flag resets at 06:00 server time.
- Level 70: the daily random-battleground arena points are not paid at 70. Rated arenas still use their own arena-point distribution.
- No marks: the battleground reward module is disabled, so WSG, AB, AV, EOTS, SA, and IC marks are not paid. There are also no module item rewards.
- No per-kill token: the PvP token switch is off. You do not receive Badges of Justice for ordinary player or NPCBot kills.
- No XP: battleground kills do not grant experience.
- No deserter: leaving does not apply Deserter, and battleground deserter tracking is off.
- No stored stats or queue announcer: the scoreboard works during the match, but battleground statistics are not persisted and queue announcements are off.
Rated arena rewards
These are paid only for rated matches. Skirmishes pay no module items.
| Bracket | Win | Loss |
|---|---|---|
| 2v2 | 2 Badge of Justice + 1 Arena Commendation | 1 Badge of Justice |
| 3v3 | 2 Badge of Justice + 2 Arena Commendations | 1 Badge of Justice |
| 5v5 | 2 Badge of Justice + 2 Arena Commendations | 1 Badge of Justice + 1 Arena Commendation |
- Badge of Justice is item
29434. - Arena Commendation is item
844115. - Arena kills grant no honor. The item rewards above are separate from honor and arena points.
- Arena points are distributed weekly to teams that played at least 10 games.
- Arena point cap: 25,000. Honor cap: 125,000. Spend before you cap.
Hellfire rewards
| Source | Reward |
|---|---|
| Player or NPCBot kill in Hellfire | 1 Mark of Honor Hold / Mark of Thrallmar to nearby group |
| Tower-pack mob killed | 1 mark to the loot recipient |
Hellfire Fortifications quest 10106 / 10110 | 3 marks |
- Alliance mark: Mark of Honor Hold
24579. - Horde mark: Mark of Thrallmar
24581. - Not battleground marks: these are separate Hellfire items and are not affected by the disabled battleground reward module.
- Group range matters: stay near the fight if you want kill marks. The tower-pack drop goes to the loot recipient rather than the whole group.
Tips
- Use the daily bonus at 71+. A first bonus win at 71 or higher pays 25 arena points. At 70 it pays none.
- Queue AV, WSG, AB, or EOTS when you want a fast bot-filled match. SA and IC need real players.
- Bring a balanced bot party. A tank, healer, and damage bots are more useful than five damage bots, especially in AV.
- Do not bring alt bots. They are rejected from the PvP queue. Some Oaths also block normal bots entirely.
- Expect less honor per kill with a large bot party. Nearby bots count toward the group honor split; a full bot party can reduce each kill’s honor to roughly one-fifth. The battleground win bonus is separate.
- NPCBots count as honorable kills. Killing them can advance HK achievements just like killing players.
- Rated arena is a Badge source. Even a loss pays one Badge of Justice, and 5v5 losses also pay an Arena Commendation.
- Use 5v5 for arena points. 5v5 pays 100%, 3v3 pays 88%, and 2v2 pays 76%.
- Watch the Wintergrasp timer before entering the Vault. A battle start will remove you from Vault of Archavon.
- Group up in Hellfire. Marks from player and NPCBot kills go to nearby group members; solo players only get their own.
- Do not AFK in a battleground. There is no deserter penalty, but three reports after the four-minute window will remove you.
- Spend caps. Honor caps at 125,000 and arena points at 25,000; excess is wasted.
Limits and disabled systems
- Disabled: battleground item and mark rewards. The WSG/AB/AV/EOTS/SA/IC marks listed in the module configuration are not paid because the module is off.
- Disabled: per-kill PvP token. Ordinary kills do not award Badges of Justice.
- Disabled: skirmish item rewards. Only rated arenas pay the arena item table.
- Disabled: Ring of Valor. The map is removed from arena selection and falls back to Nagrand Arena.
- Disabled: deserter tracking. Leaving does not apply Deserter, and
TrackDesertersis off. - Disabled: battleground statistics storage and queue announcers. The match scoreboard exists, but results are not saved to the PvP statistics tables and queue broadcasts are off.
- Disabled: battleground XP for kills. You cannot level through battleground honorable kills.
- Limited: SA and IC bot fill. Both are level 71–80 and player-dependent.
- Limited: Arena Commendation. It is awarded but has no vendor or scripted use.
- Limited: no confirmed NPCBot Wintergrasp support. Do not expect bots to queue, crew vehicles, or defend keeps.
- Limited: Wintergrasp vendor spawns. The usual quartermaster templates have no confirmed live spawns.
- No cross-faction battlegrounds. Teams remain Alliance versus Horde.
- No player PvP commands. There is no
.bg,.wg,.queue, or.pvpdot command..arenais staff-only. - No rated arena rewards at level 70 from the daily random battleground. The daily RBG arena-point minimum is 71.
- No team-size flexibility. Arena brackets are fixed at 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5; battlegrounds use their normal maximums.
Related systems
- Overview and index for the catalog and status legend.
- 10 — Oaths for challenge rules that can block NPCBots and alt bots.
- 15 — NPCBots for hiring, commanding, and gearing bots.
- 16 — Pocket Pals for the separate pet-battle PvP system.
- 19 — Dungeons and grouping for group mechanics and instance limits.
- 23 — Loot and rewards for Badges of Justice, bonus rolls, and loot rules.
- 25 — Commands, NPCs, and addons reference for the full command and NPC list.
- 26 — Admin and config appendix for every switch referenced here.
Admin note
Battlegrounds. Battleground.Reward.Enable=0 in modules/BGReward_multi.conf, so no WSG/AB/AV/EOTS/SA/IC mark or module item rewards are paid. The core end reward still runs from Battleground.RewardWinnerHonorFirst=30, Battleground.RewardWinnerArenaFirst=25, Battleground.RewardWinnerHonorLast=15, Battleground.RewardWinnerArenaLast=0, Battleground.RewardLoserHonorFirst=5, and Battleground.RewardLoserHonorLast=5. The end bonus is gated to IsRandom() or IsBGWeekend(). PvPToken.Enable=0; Battleground.GiveXPForKills=0; Battleground.CastDeserter=0; Battleground.TrackDeserters.Enable=0; Battleground.StoreStatistics.Enable=0; Battleground.QueueAnnouncer.Enable=0; Battleground.PrepTime=60 (SA 120); Battleground.PlayerRespawn=30; Battleground.ReportAFK.Timer=4; Battleground.ReportAFK=3; Battleground.InvitationType=0; Battleground.PrematureFinishTimer=300000; Battleground.PremadeGroupWaitForMatch=1800000; Battleground.Random.ResetHour=6; DailyRBGArenaPoints.MinLevel=71; MaxHonorPoints=125000. AV reinforcements are 0 (Battleground.Alterac.Reinforcements=0); WSG flags 3; AB capture points 2000; EOTS capture points 1600. Rate.Honor=1.0.
Arena. Arena.Reward.Enable=1 and is gated to bg->isArena() && bg->isRated(). Live item lists are 2v2 29434:2;844115:1 / 29434:1; 3v3 29434:2;844115:2 / 29434:1; 5v5 29434:2;844115:2 / 29434:1;844115:1. ArenaTeam.InstantCreate=1; ArenaTeam.MinCreateLevel=7; charter costs are 800000/1200000/2000000 copper. Arena.LegacyArenaStartRating=1500; Arena.GamesRequired=10; Arena.AutoDistributePoints=1; Arena.AutoDistributeInterval=7; MaxArenaPoints=25000; Arena.DisableRingOfValor=1; Arena.ForceNagrandArena=0; Arena.PrepTime=45; Arena.QueueAnnouncer.Enable=0. Arena season labels come from IndividualProgression.TBC.ArenaSeason=1 and IndividualProgression.WotLK.ArenaSeason=5. .arena is GM-only. Item 844115 is a quest-quality Arena Commendation with no vendor row and no script consumer; do not advertise it as spendable until a real sink exists.
NPCBots in PvP. NpcBot.RatedArena.Enabled=1, NpcBot.RatedArena.OwnedBots.Enabled=1, NpcBot.RatedArena.OpponentBots.Enabled=1, FallbackMs=10000, MinRating=0, MaxRating=3000, RatingSpread=1500, GearScale.Enabled=1, DamageDoneMultiplier=1.0, DamageTakenMultiplier=1.0. NpcBot.RatedArena.Debug=1 is currently enabled in the live file; it is diagnostic and should be 0 outside investigation. NpcBot.Premade.Enable=0. Wandering BG targets are AV=30, WS=8, AB=12, EY=12, SA=0, IC=0. NpcBot.HK.Enable=1, NpcBot.HK.Message.Enable=1, NpcBot.HK.Achievements.Enable=1, NpcBot.HK.Rate.Honor=1.0. NpcBot.HonorReduction.Enable=1 and GroupOnly=1; the KillRewarder adds nearby owned bots to the honor split. Alt bots are rejected by RejectAltBotPvPQueue() before the queue is joined.
Wintergrasp. Wintergrasp.Enable=1, Wintergrasp.PlayerMax=120, Wintergrasp.PlayerMin=0, Wintergrasp.PlayerMinLvl=75, Wintergrasp.BattleTimer=30, Wintergrasp.NoBattleTimer=150, Wintergrasp.KickVoAPlayers=1, Wintergrasp.EssenceBothFactions=0, and Wintergrasp.CrashRestartTimer=10. The core still describes the implementation as experimental in the stock config. No dedicated NPCBot Wintergrasp integration was found. The Wintergrasp quartermaster templates 32294 Knight Dameron, 32296 Stone Guard Mukar, 39172 Marshal Magruder, and 39173 Champion Ros’slai have no rows in the static creature table and no scripted spawn path was found; the standard WG vendor loop is therefore absent unless staff spawns it separately. Recheck before advertising WG purchases.
Hellfire world PvP. HPTAP.Enable=1, HPTAP.SpawnIntervalMs=30000, HPTAP.DespawnMs=300000, HPTAP.SpawnRadius=18, HPTAP.PlayerCheckRadius=120, HPTAP.MinPlayersNear=1, HPTAP.PackSizeMin=1, HPTAP.PackSizeMax=3, HPTAP.ForceFactionId=14, HPTAP.ReactAggressive=1, HPTAP.AggroOnSpawn=1, HPTAP.AggroRadius=80, HPTAP.Reward.Enable=1, HPTAP.Reward.Count=1; Hellfire.Mark.Enable=1 and Hellfire.Mark.Count=1. The packs use entries 16867,16870,19411 at Broken Hill, Overlook, and Stadium. Marks are 24579 and 24581; the repeatable quest route is 10106 / 10110 for 3 marks. These marks are not battleground marks and are not handled by the disabled BG reward module. If HPTAP, Hellfire.Mark, or the quest reward changes, update this document and Overview.