Isle of Conquest Battleground

The Strategy from an Alliance Perspective

This is another one of WoW's huge battlegrounds with a PvE element thrown in. There are 40 players per team and the idea is to control the map and break into the opposition's base and kill the Boss. Like all the battlegrounds there is very little strategy discussion, which of course is pretty silly. If there is any suggestion it is usually "all to docks" with no explanation as to why.

The Alliance loves the docks because the glaive throwers brake the Horde west gate very quickly, but there is one huge problem with them. They are easily destroyed by hidden rogues and druids. This would not be so much of a problem if hunters used their skills to locate the hidden players, but it does not happen and the glaives are normally smashed in a few moments. This then hands the momentum immediately to the Horde who should, if they know what they are doing, win.

It is for this reason I favour taking the Workshop, rather than the docks. It also gives the Alliance an advantage in accessing the Hangar and the Quarry early game. The Quarry will provide reinforcements (what that really means is that you do not lose points while it is held) and a siege attack buff. The Hangar gives quick access to the Horde fortress by parachuting in and using the Seaforium bombs, conveniently left behind by the Horde, on the Horde gate.

The Workshop, once held, quickly supplies demolishers and bombs. These should be taken to the Horde west gate immediately, killing any Horde in the way on the journey. Of course the siege needs to be protected but it isn't as squishy as the glaive throwers. It is also vitally important to keep out of range of the Horde's fortress cannons. This is achieved by positioning the demos under the Horde cannons and attacking the West Gate from there. Do not go directly in front of the gate because you will be constantly bombarded by cannon fire. Eventually you will be joined by a siege engine that makes quick work of the gate.

So the priority at the start of the game is for:

• the majority of the team to take the Workshop.
• 1 person to take the Quarry
• 4-6 take the Hangar and kill Horde fortress cannons
• 2 stay and use the fortress cannons
• 4 druids/rogues hide near the docks and destroy the glaive throwers

From then on the tactics should be to defend the Workshop, harass the Docks and to try to keep control of the Hangar, Quarry and Refinery (this gives the same benefits as the Quarry and the siege buff is increased when both are held). Whilst focusing on the main objectives, which are to get into the Horde fortress and prevent the Horde getting into the Alliance fortress. It is amazing how many times you will find either the Docks or the Workshop inadequately protected. Loosing both means no production of siege which equals a lost battle. So the moral of the story is defend and harass them.

Of course, the problem with trying to defend all the strategic points is the lack of numbers. Forty might sound a lot but when the siege needs protection, as does the Alliance fortress (players will resurrect there when they die) and the Workshop, you begin to see the problem. It is evident then that the Hangar, Quarry and Refinery become secondary objectives and should only be attacked/defended with small numbers.

As soon as the fortress gate is down most of the team should make its way to the fortress to secure it and then attack the Boss. The rest should be destroying glaive throwers and stopping the Horde from breaking into the Alliance fortress. Twenty five should be sufficient to kill the Horde Boss.

That is the basics of this battleground. If you are a Horde player, all you have to do is adapt the strategy. Right that's the tactics now go and win the battle!

#Isle of Conquest Battleground Guide