Lurker Warsong Gulch Group

[Sheep]

I am currently hooked on WSG, but find it very frustrating to play with pick up groups. I kid myself into thinking I'm some kind of tactician, and I drool at the idea of a highly organized group following a plan to perfection and completely stomping the opposition.

Would it be feasible to start a core group of Lurkers who enjoy Warsong Gulch, who could be complimented by other Lurkers who happen to be online, or, at worst, pubbies? This group would be smaller than ten, because it would be difficult to get into an instance with the queuing mechanism in place at the moment. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

I would suggest Horde on most servers, because due to the Alliance outnumbering us, we could play more often. Also, if a number of the opposition quit because we constantly win, there is a bigger pool of Alliance to draw from. :P

I'd also like to see how high we can rank while being in the lowest level division, 10-19.

What server should we play on? Should we twink our characters? Any ideas? Any volunteers?

[Alram]

It has not been unusual for us to have 2-4 Lurkers in the same WSG game. We play Horde on Terenas. The Alliance loses most of the time there.

WSG obsession on Terenas

[Concillian]

It has not been unusual for us to have 2-4 Lurkers in the same WSG game. We play Horde on Terenas.  The Alliance loses most of the time there.

WSG obsession on Terenas
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Indeed, I've been in a WSG with as many as 4 other Lurkers and some of them on Teamspeak. However, at level 60, WSG is virtually non-existant save for holidays. The 60s live in AB (I frequently see 2-4 AB games active on Terenas), and WSG gets pretty ignored by 60s.

[Sheep]

Lurkersheep is now a level 5 Tauren warrior on Terenas. I believe I will level him until he reaches 18 or 19, at which point he will build a house right outside the entrance to Warsong Gulch.

I truly am intrigued by the concept of low leveled, high ranked characters. Anyone else want to make an alt to live with me in my house?

Note to self: look into purchasing a microphone. :)

[VoiceMan]

I too think it should not be hard to field 3 to 5 lurkers in WSG on many evenings with Horde on Terenas. I would suggest though that you do not wait til level 18 or 19 to begin your quest to reach high honor. Each match you win provides you with 1500 exp, (when you win, which we always do when there are several lurkers in attendance). Granted, if you don't turn in your WSG Marks of Honor, then you don't get the experience, but 1500 exp a pop at level 18 or so will cause you to level at some point, likely much earlier than you would like if you're reaching for General or something before hitting 20. I think if I were rolling a WSG alt, I would put him in the matches starting right at level 10. But, that's just me. :P
To provide more specific answer to your question.....I LOVE playing WSG with my druid, as druids make some good flag carriers. I'm not sure how much time i can devote to strictly WSG, as I have several other grouping committments, but I think your idea is pretty darn good, and I'll be glad to help out when possible. :) I may be easy to convice to roll another druid for WSG purposes. :P

[Sheep]

I think that in the low level bracket, the druid should be pretty close to unstoppable. There are very few things that can stop a druid, as one can simply shapeshift and regain regular movement.

The true bane of the flag carrying druid is a well played rogue. Stun, sap, disorient and blind are all rolled up into this nasty critter who could be lying in wait, unseen, or sprinting hot on your tail. Quite unfriendly.

The other druid-stoppers are seduce, hibernate and fear. It's really a shame that the undead cannot be druids!

Before 1.8, my level 30 druid was parked in WSG, and his average was two flags a game. The combination of stealthing in, pre-HoT, war stomping the guards, cat form sprinting and then travel form is intense. However, I'm now trying to level him to 39 because of the bracket shift... :angry:

Edit: Forgot to mention that druids are also very good on defense, mainly because of their spammable entangling roots, preventing the flag carrier from escaping. (Except for other druids, in which case hibernate is your friend)

[VoiceMan]

Yes, I must admit I hate those blasted rogues. :P And the lower bracket matches as a druid are harder as you don't have travel form yet, which has made the biggest difference in my enjoyment. That, and being less detectable in stealth mode helps too, which comes with higher levels. I was rather rude in the matches my druid played at 29. I too averaged two flags a match. :D Now that I've moved into the +30 bracket, it's dropped to one flag per match, as a result of hunters and rogues spotting me and causing me copious deaths at the foot of their flag.
:lol: But, having said all that....I don't know if Terenas could produce a large contingent of Horde WSG'ers.....but the small group we have is very effective. I always know if I see more than one <Lurkers> tag above my raid members, we will win. :D

[Sheep]

Granted, if you don't turn in your WSG Marks of Honor, then you don't get the experience, but 1500 exp a pop at level 18 or so will cause you to level at some point, likely much earlier than you would like if you're reaching for General or something before hitting 20.&nbsp; I think if I were rolling a WSG alt, I would put him in the matches starting right at level 10.
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I'll be stockpilling large amounts (I hope) of Marks of Honor in the bank. Between matches will be my time for a run to Ratchet, or a simple jaunt in the city if I use a Battlemaster.

I want to compete in Warsong Gulch at level 19 for three reasons: being the biggest bully on the block, level 18 skills and having a crack at Rage Fire Chasm and Wailing Caverns for some gear.

P.S. Lurkersheep is now level ten and has a victory and a loss in WSG under his Warrior's Reinforced Belt.

[Alram]

I'll be stockpilling large amounts (I hope) of Marks of Honor in the bank. Between matches will be my time for a run to Ratchet, or a simple jaunt in the city if I use a Battlemaster.

You can't have more than 20 at a time. Turn them in and don't stockpile them.

[Sheep]

You can't have more than 20 at a time.&nbsp; Turn them in and don't stockpile them.
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Uh oh.

If I don't turn them in, am I missing out on any honor that would help me rank up? Or are the Marks just for rep and exp? If I have twenty already, do I just stop getting them at the end of the match, or are there more consequences?

If I do start to play WSG exclusively starting at level 10 (Which I am at now), I would probably have to make an alt to supply gear, and gold for repairs. As it is, LurkerSheep only has one green, pants from Mazzaranache.

[TheLuminaire]

You'll hit a dead end relatively quick if you're just trying to rank up, simply because you're going to be killing tons of unranked, and rank 1-2 people. Unless you run into others that are trying to do the same thing you do, you're not going to get much honor after a certain point, save from winning.

[Alram]

Uh oh.

If I don't turn them in, am I missing out on any honor that would help me rank up? Or are the Marks just for rep and exp? If I have twenty already, do I just stop getting them at the end of the match, or are there more consequences?

If I do start to play WSG exclusively starting at level 10 (Which I am at now), I would probably have to make an alt to supply gear, and gold for repairs. As it is, LurkerSheep only has one green, pants from Mazzaranache.
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You get xp and rep when you turn them in. You will lose out if you don't turn them in.

[Sheep]

I now have 20 WSG Marks of Honor. Is there a person in Thunder Bluff to whom I can turn them in? I've heard that there is such a person in Orgrimmar, but I haven't seen one in TB.

[Alram]

Orgrimmar or outside the WSG entrance in the North Barrens. There is no way to turn them in at Thunder Bluff or the Undercity.

[Sheep]

You'll hit a dead end relatively quick if you're just trying to rank up, simply because you're going to be killing tons of unranked, and rank 1-2 people.&nbsp; Unless you run into others that are trying to do the same thing you do, you're not going to get much honor after a certain point, save from winning.
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I'm not sure I understand how the ranking system works. Would you give me a quick rundown, please?

[Watto44]

Basically, the honor system works like this (note that standing and rank are different things, as are rating points and honor points):

At the end of everyweek each faction is given a certain amount of rating points based on how much that faction has PvPed that week. These points are then divided amongst the players based on each player's standing for the week. Your standing is determined by how many honor points you got in that week relative to everyone else in your faction. Rating points and rank are, by and large, like experience points and levels: once you get a certain amount of rating points, you will gain a new rank.

The rating point/rank table looks pretty much like this:
RP
60k - rank 14
55k - rank 13
50k - rank 12
45k - rank 11
40k - rank 10
35k - rank 9
30k - rank 8
25k - rank 7
20k - rank 6
15k - rank 5
10k - rank 4
05k - rank 3
2.5k- rank 2
00k - rank 1*
*Rank 1 (Private for Alliance and scout for horde) doesn't have a rating point requirement. All you need to do to get rank one is get 25 for more honorable kills in one week.

That's pretty much it. There are a couple of other things, like rating point decay and diminishing returns on kills, but that's the basics. If you're really curious about it, some cleaver duck worked out how it all works. I posted a link to it here: http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...topic=6966 if you're really curious.

But the main reason you're going to hit a rank wall farming the lower level BGs is simple. You get less honor - a LOT less - at low levels than you do at higher levels. :)

One other thing. Because WSG is a pretty rare beast at higher levels, it's worth your while saving a bunch of tokens when you decide to leave the lower level bracket behind. Why? Because of the "For Great Honor" quest. :D It gives MUCH better reputation than the regular hand in quests, but you need 3 tokens from each battleground to complete it. :D

Hope that helps.

[Sheep]

But the main reason you're going to hit a rank wall farming the lower level BGs is simple. You get less honor - a LOT less - at low levels than you do at higher levels. :)
Hope that helps.
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Hmm, pretty discouraging. However, I'm enjoying myself too much in the low level bracket, and I'm going to run with it.

On a different note altogether, I recently saw my future self, another warrior by the name of ButterMonkey. He was level 19 and was also trying to rank up. He was decked out in very good gear for his level, which got me to thinking about how I would acquire my own equipment.

I checked out Thottbot and Allakazam (Sp?) to see what kind of items I could get from questing at my level, and it appears I have 4 excellent items that I can obtain from easy quests: Bounty Hunter's Ring, Barkeeper's Cloak, Settler's Leggings and Cinched Belt.

At that level, one-handers peak at around 10 DPS, and shields at around 400 def and 7 block, whereas two-handers hit around 15 DPS, maximum. Because of this, I'm leaning more towards using a shield for extra survival while carrying the flag and smashing things.

In conclusion, I still need to figure out where I'm going to get the rest of my stuff...

P.S. If anybody feels like babysitting me in Wailing Caverns, I would love to get this.

[Watto44]

Hmm, pretty discouraging.

Nah, don't get discouraged, because there's good news too. :D The good news is that you get the same reputation rewards no matter what your level. :)

[vor_lord]

At that level, one-handers peak at around 10 DPS, and shields at around 400 def and 7 block, whereas two-handers hit around 15 DPS, maximum. Because of this, I'm leaning more towards using a shield for extra survival while carrying the flag and smashing things.

In conclusion, I still need to figure out where I'm going to get the rest of my stuff...

P.S. If anybody feels like babysitting me in Wailing Caverns, I would love to get this.
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I don't see a level requirement on The Wingblade, which is a WC quest reward. If you're going to get escorted in WC, may as well try to get that. 15 DPS one-hander and easily obtainable with some help.

Risk would be if you were already 19 and went in...

[Concillian]

I don't see a level requirement on The Wingblade, which is a WC quest reward.&nbsp; If you're going to get escorted in WC, may as well try to get that.&nbsp; 15 DPS one-hander and easily obtainable with some help.

Risk would be if you were already 19 and went in...
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For that matter, the staff reward is a pretty good weapon for a 2hander, and this can drop from Pythas (Pretty close to Wingblade):
http://thottbot.com/?i=5092
Or if you want what the alliance twinks might have:
http://thottbot.com/?i=5664

It may be better to choose the 2H reward, since there are other options on the 1H that you can get from drops. This makes you flexible, allowing you to use 2H for offense or 1H + shield for a more defensive position.

XP risk could be minimized by going in with a couple 60s in the group. You could even just join the group for the bosses to totally minimize XP gain.

Then again, if you're twinking, why set your sights on WC?

BFD and SFK have a couple good options:
http://thottbot.com/?i=5606 (from quest available at 18)
Unfortunately, Outlaw Sabre requires level 21
http://thottbot.com/?i=3003 (quest available at 18)

Kinda cheesy though, you'll be like the level 60 bracket where the PUGs will come across a group full of MC/Ony/BWL gear. I played some WSG this weekend as it was a holiday, and I didn't enjoy it that much. So many very coordinated opposing groups, and some of the horde people are so caught up in the PvP ladder that they would AFK out of any match where a cap didn't happen in the first few minutes or they decided the opponent would be too tough and the match would last too long.