src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/96291" />

The Arena is a location for
battle between even numbered and “even skilled”
players. To put it simply, the literal definition of an arena is pretty
much what WoW’s Arena PvP System is. Teams...

The Arena is a location for
battle between even numbered and “even skilled”
players. To put it simply, the literal definition of an arena is pretty
much what WoW’s Arena PvP System is. Teams fight one another
in a closed instanced environment to determine a winner. Winners
receive either nothing (for practice mode) or Arena Points and Team
Rating for team matches (at level cap).

This guide, while still under
construction, will serve as your one stop shop for everything WoW Arena
related. The basics, strategy guides, and more will be included to
ensure that you can stay ahead in the game. Be sure to check back often
for updates.

Arena Guides

Guide Description

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=800"> class="pn-content-page-body">Basic Arena Strategies
and Tactics

Basic strats, tactics,
and tips that will help you in Arena.

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=801">Warlock
Strategies

Information just for
Warlocks!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=806">Paladin
Strategies

Information for Paladins!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=807">Warrior
Strategies

Information for Warriors!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=844">Hunter
Strategies

Information for Hunters!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=815">Mage
Strategies

Information for Mages!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=821">Shaman
Strategies

Information for Shamans!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=832">Druid
Strategies

Information for Druids!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=812">Rogue
Strategies

Information for Rogues!

href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=852">Arena
Gear and Advanced Tactics

Information every serious
Arena Contender should know by heart!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/understanding-resilience">Understanding Resilience

The most important stat in PvP!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/state-of-pvp-feb24">Dominant Arena Team Compositions

Build your team to succeed!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/rogue/diminishing_returns">Understanding Diminishing Returns

Control your opponents!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/pvp-crowd-control">Advanced Crowd Control

CC for the win.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/features/editorials/season-9-adjustments">Cataclysm Arena Points

Calculate your point cap.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/state-of-pvp-jan26">4.0.6 Balance Analysis

What's overpowered and what's not.

How the Arena Works

The arena has deathmatch-style
PvP matches against even numbers of teams (2v2, 3v3, and 5v5). There
are two modes, team battle which are ranked and award special arena
points that can be used to purchase various rewards and practice
battles which award nothing but allow you to enjoy risk free PvP.

There is no objective in arena
matches outside of eliminating the other team. The simple yet majestic
beauty of combat wins the day in the arena. There is nothing more here
then sword vs. sword, magic vs. magic, and any combination of tactical
offense and defense to create a swirling vortex of insanity and
bloodlust.

Poetic words out of the way,
the arena works like this. You open up the Conquest tab in the PvP menu, select Arena and click Join Battle. If you meet all the conditions necessary you'll be queued up and ready to rock. You’ll come
to a holding area once a match becomes available and you zone in. All
buffs are removed (debuffs are left on), pets are dismissed, and you
are given a buff that removes casting cost of all abilities
(things like Mana and Soul Shards). During this time you can prepare
for battle.

Once you in zone, abilities
that have more then a 15 minute cooldown and any consumable other then
Bandages and Water can not be used. This is to make
fights no rely on hour long cooldown spells and make matches fairer.

Once the preparation time is
finished, you will be able to battle it out against the other team. The
winner is decided when one side no longer has any players alive. When a
player dies they can release into a ghost like spectator mode.

After the battle, if it was a
wargame you’re taken back to where you signed in (after
seeing the stats screen). If you were doing a Rated Match then rating is awarded at this time.

That’s about it! Not
much to it is there? Well, with simplicity comes complexity. The actual
fighting itself is the most difficult part of the rules since, well,
you have to defeat other teams!

Wargames

In Wargame mode you can challenge another group of players to an 'arena duel' to fight it out for practice in either 2v2, 3v3, or
5v5 or in a battleground. At lower levels it’s an excellent way to practice PvP
skills or just waste time. There is nothing special in this mode, no
prizes or awards. Just good ‘ol fashion fighting.

Rated Match

In a rated match you will first
need to be in an official Arena Team. To form an Arena Team
you’ll need to have either 2, 3, or 5 people
available to join your team. You open the PvP menu and click on the Arena Teams tab then you select the banners for either 2v2 3v3 or 5v5. When you do this you'll be prompted to enter a team name and design a banner. When you're finished click create and your team will be finished. To invite players to your team just click the banner, click 'Add Member', then type in the name of the person you're trying to invite. If they accept then they will be a member of your arena team.

You can join multiple teams and
form multiple teams. You will receive Arena Points for the highest rated team you have regardless of the bracket, but you can only be on one team in each
bracket. 

As an official Arena Team you
can join Rated Matches. In these matches you will play other Arena
Team’s for rating and Arena Points. Rating is awarded after a
battle (and is based on your current rating vs. your enemies) while
Arena Points are awarded every Tuesday morning.

Team Rating determines your
position and approximatley  every 3 months is an end of a
season. If your team is in the top 35% you’ll get a nifty
title. If it’s in the top 0.5% you’ll be
potentially eligible for additional rewards such as titles and
exclusive mounts. 

Arena Points

Arena Points are used to obtain
special rewards from the Arena. Similar to Honor Points, they are very
useful for obtaining PvP-tuned gear without having to go through the
massive trouble of PvE. They also have a somewhat simple way of handing
out points.

Penalties:

If you want points you'll need to do games. When you do arenas each week in any bracket you will earn 20% of your total possible points for the week each time you win a game. This means you are going to need to get 5 wins in order to max out.

Keep in mind that if you want to reap the maximum rewards for your arena team then your 'personal rating' will have to be within 100 of the team rating. Your personal rating is shown along with the PR of each team member in a list when you click on the banner for your team. If you aren't within 100 points of the team then you will be awarded with points based on your personal rating rather than the team's.

The other restriction is that if you want to have a 'point cap' based on the rating of a certain team then you are going to have to play at least one game, win or loss, on that team in the previous week. This means that if you have a team at 2200 rating and want to be able to earn the full 2700ish points each week you will have to play one game per week on this team. After that one game you can still earn the points from a team in a different bracket at a different rating, you just need to keep the team active so that that high point cap is available.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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