The new battleground being added in Wrath of the Lich King looks to be something completely new and unique. Instead of a battleground where you have to adapt between attack and defense, this one puts you on one side and then the other. That's right, you play a game as the attacker, and then the teams switch sides and you play it again! Whoever does better in a combined score, wins.

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Map of the Northrend Battleground

The battleground will be located somewhere along the coast of the Dragonblight zone, either on the shore or an island just off shore. It will apparently tie in Titan lore and titan architecture.

The arena layout reminds me much of a Dieppe type beach assault (for all you American readers, think Normandy). The attacking force lands on the beach coming out of assault boats and has to fight their way up the beach towards the objective at the top of the ridge. There are several wall sections that need to be destroyed, and flags and graveyards to capture so that you can continue to advance.

Since the walls and buildings need to be destroyed, there will be siege vehicles as well! Blizzard talked about how siege vehicles started out as only going to be in Wintergrasp, but since they had so much fun with them, they found their way into the battleground and even quests in the rest of Northrend.

As the attackers advance it will be harder and harder for the defenders to hold ground. Blizzard hopes to have it feel like a desperate struggle once the attacker starts to gain ground.

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Size compared to other battlegrounds

As you can see on the map it appears that the attackers will start with 2 siege weapons in their boats and a rez point (graveyard). Behind the first set of walls appears to be another graveyard and 3 flags to capture. Then another wall with 2 more flags, then the last wall, behind which are the defenders, their GY and siege weapons. The map and battleground is still being tested though so could change.

Once the attacker either wins their way to the top, or runs out of time, the game restarts with the teams switching sides. You then repeat the game and compare the results. While it was not said exactly how the winner would be determined a good guess is that if both attacking forces win it will go by time, if only one makes it they would win, and if neither makes it then whomever captured the most flags would win. It could be anything though.

Blizzard has started tuning the battleground, but has not decided on the number of players yet. It will likely be either a 10 or 15 player battleground. Also no mention of time limits yet, however with the physical size being close to WSG, AB, and WSG I would guess between 15 and 20 minutes per side to try to attack.

Overall the new battleground looks insanely fun. That could be because of my love of war gaming and World War II history though. Regardless, if Blizzard pulls this off it will be hands down the most unique battleground available. The only question will be, will players play it if the time is too long or the honor granted is too low.

 

 


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Byron has been playing and writing about World of Warcraft for the past ten years. He also plays pretty much ever other Blizzard game, currently focusing on Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone, while still finding time to jump into Diablo III with his son.

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