Mr.WoW Gold - WoW Arena Guides - Arathi Basin Battleground Guide
Arathi Basin Battleground Guide
Arathi Basin hosts a 15 vs. 15 player battle over resources which either side desperately needs to fuel the warfront.
Arathi Basin - Basics
Each team begins with zero resources and work towards gaining 1,600 (prior to Patch 3.2 2,000 resources were needed) before the other team to win. To gain these resources your team will need to capture the resource nodes located in Arathi Basin. There are five resource nodes (Lumber Mill, Stables, Mine, Blacksmith, and Farm), and when captured these nodes each provide resources every few seconds. The more nodes you control, the faster your team will gain resources, leading to quicker wins. To capture these nodes, simply activate the flag located at one of the above five locations. The flags have activation times of eight seconds (down from 10 seconds as of Patch 3.2), but beware as any damage done to the person activating the flag will interrupt the cast, and you will have to click the flag again and start the timer over. Any player standing at a node that they control will gain the Honorable Defender buff, which will grant them +50% honor from each kill.
Resource Nodes
The Farm
The Farm is located in the south-east part of the map, right outside of the Defilers Den which is the Horde spawning point. The Farm, being so close to the location of the Horde’s entrance, is generally captured first by the Horde and is typically well defended. Inside of the small house near the farm’s flag players will be able to find a buff that will spawn from time to time that anyone can take advantage of. The graveyard is located on the west side of the Farm and can be a long walk if someone is assaulting the flag. If you wish to attack the Farm, it's best to come up from the Mine. While you have to cover more distance to reach the flag, you will be able to hide your assault due to the buildings which help break line of sight and will have plenty of space to flee if required.
Winning in Arathi Basin
There is no definite way to win Arathi Basin, and each team will need to make use of it’s individual strengths and weaknesses, however there are some simple suggestions and common strategies that may help you obtain that victory:
Defend Your Nodes - Having everyone on offense is a very bad idea, be sure to defend the nodes you have already won. If you don’t defend the nodes you capture, you may discover that nodes that were once yours are now in the hands of the other team. Leave at least one player at each node to defend the flag and at the very least notify everyone when an assault is incoming.
Kill the Healers - While a DPS classes may seem like the better choice of a target, be sure to take out the healers first, trust me leaving healers alive is never a good idea. That healer is inevitably going to be keeping up the very DPS you are trying to kill, and if they have a healer behind them, you are probably going to lose.
To Zerg or not to Zerg - If a large group of enemy players assault the node you are defending, or rush past, make the best of it by realizing that those players have probably left another node undefended. On the other hand if you notice that more than half of your team is in a single place, it would be wise to leave, and find a node that is undefended or could use your help against an incoming assault.
Battle on the Flag - Anyone who has done any number of Arathi Basins has probably seen this statement shouted in chat. A common mistake people make is to engage the enemy anyplace they find them, or running out to meet them as they make an assault on a node. This is a bad choice, instead continue on your way until you find a node you are needed at, or if you are defending a node be sure to keep close to the flag, otherwise you may find an enemy has capped it while you were out sating your bloodlust.
Cap That Flag - In the frenzy of battle it’s sometimes easy to forget what your goal is, and as such epic battles can be waged, and no flag ever gets capped. Never wait for someone else to do it for you, click on that flag and try to cap it!
Hit Everything - There is a good chance that more than one person will try to cap a flag. So attempt to use abilities that damage more than one enemy at once to prevent the cap from happening.
Three Cap
As the name implies this strategy basically requires your team to hold and defend three separate resource nodes. The easiest nodes to complete this with are the Stables, or Farm, Blacksmith, and the Lumber Mill. Your team will need to split into three separate teams of five. Once the match begins the teams will rush to these nodes and attempt to claim them as their own. Once all three are captured, the only time players will move is when another node comes under attack. In this situation reinforcements from the closest node should intercept, leaving at least two players behind to defend.
Example of team positioning for a three cap:
Team A (Home Defense) (Farm/Stables) - This team should defend the Farm or Stables and should be prepared to assist any other node that comes under assault.
Team B (Blacksmith) - This is the most important node to keep captured and as such the team’s best players should be placed here. This team should expect to see the most action.
Team C ( Lumber Mill) - This team should defend the Lumber Mill (or Mine, however the Lumber Mill is probably a better choice due to it’s tactical advantages as described above) and assist the Blacksmith if it comes under attack.
Four Cap
More experienced teams can attempt to assault and defend four different resource nodes at the same time. The most common way to accomplish this is to split your group up into three teams of five, and a team of just a single person. The three teams of five will head out to assault the Lumber Mill, Blacksmith, and the Mine, while the single team member will remain behind to cap and defend the Stables or Farm. The teams need to be vigilant for any attacks aimed at the Stables or Farm, if no action to aid the Stables or Farm is taken it will be easily overrun and lost.
Five Cap
Holding five nodes is difficult, and does not happen often. Holding five nodes at a time causes the timer to move extremely fast, which can easily make the game last only a few minutes. Holding all five nodes will require excellent timing, strategy and communication throughout the battle. In order to make this tactic work your team will need to keep the enemy team spawning at their starting area. To do this assign one person to cap the Stables or Farm, while two others head off to the Lumber Mill and Mine. The bulk of your force should rush to the Stables or Farm and quickly cap the flag there. Keep the enemy bottled up in their starting zone, and watch the resources flow in. Five capping is very difficult to achieve, but is very rewarding.
Defense Tactics
While defending a node it is your job to be sure that the flag at that node is never capped. In order to do this defending players must always be on the look out for enemy players attempting to cap the flag. Defending players must be sure to damage these players before they reach the end of the eight second channel. To make this job easier, defenders should always do battle on or near the flag. If you happen to die while defending a node, be hasty in your return, and don’t hesitate to jump back into the battle.
As a defender you also have the responsibility of making the rest of your team aware of impending attacks, and calling for support when needed. A simple shout out in chat such as “Inc at LM” will do to give you team the heads up that an enemy attack is pending, however also including the number of attackers can prove very useful.
Offense Tactics
While on offense players are required to not only go out and assault nodes, but also to be ready to give support to any nodes that are being attacked. This means that players need to keep a constant eye on the map and chat to be aware of what nodes are controlled by their team, where their team members are, and what nodes might be vulnerable to attack.
If a team member calls out for support at a node the offensive team members should rush to it’s defense. If not defending a node offensive players should be looking for ways to cap additional nodes. Here are some common ways that nodes are capped:
Zerging - This method requires a large number of your team’s players to attack the same node and essentially overrun the defense by sheer numbers. This tactic can be very effective, but you run the risk of leaving nodes undefended.
Ninja - To accomplish this method you must become one with the ninja and sneak cap a node while no enemy players are watching. This is more easily accomplished by players who can stealth.
Keep Away - With this tactic you will attempt to pull the enemy team away from a node by a false initial assault. You will then fall back, and if all goes well the other team will give chase. This allows another assault team, or even a single player to come in from behind and capture the flag.
