PvP in WoW Forever: a beginner's guide
Updated · ForeverDB
How player-versus-player works in WoW Forever: the battlegrounds and their levels, PvP on each ruleset, Honor and Rank Points, every rank's rewards, the blue and epic PvP gear and Emboldened Seals, seasons and weekly tasks, and where to queue. From Blizzard's posts and the launch client.
Written on launch day (4 November 2026). The rules and rewards here come from Blizzard's posts and the launch client; there are no real matches yet, so nothing here is from players' experience of Forever's battlegrounds.
Where PvP happens
You fight other players in three ways:
- Battlegrounds: matches of 10, 15 or 40 players a side with an objective to win. You queue for them and they're open to every ruleset (except Hardcore).
- Out in the world: on the PvP and Roleplay-PvP rulesets the other faction can attack you almost anywhere. On Normal and Roleplaying you choose when to fight. See World PvP.
- Duels: a friendly fight with anyone of your faction, any time. /duel challenges your target, and /yield gives up.
These are the battlegrounds in the launch client, with the levels it lets in:
| Battleground | Players a side | Levels | To win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warsong Gulch | 10 | 10–60 | Capture the enemy flag 3 times (Classic's rules) |
| Arathi Basin | 15 | 20–60 | First to 2000 resources (Classic's rules) |
| Darkspear Islands (new) | 15 | 30–60 | First to 2000 points (Blizzard) |
| Alterac Valley | 40 | 51–60 | Kill the enemy general (Classic's rules) |
Players and levels: the Forever client. Darkspear Islands' rules: Blizzard's post. The other three: Classic's, as Blizzard hasn't said they changed.
Speculation: The client also has a Battle for Gilneas (10 a side), a Battle for Blackrock (15 a side, levels 50–60) and a five-player Mak'gora Arena. Blizzard hasn't announced any of them, so expect them later, if at all. Their battleground pages say what the client has.
Honor and Rank Points
Blizzard has simplified the original Honor System into two parts:
- Honor is a currency. You earn it by defeating other players, completing battlegrounds and finishing PvP quests, and you spend it on PvP gear. Blizzard has evened out Honor between battlegrounds, so Alterac Valley is no longer the only efficient choice.
- Rank Points take you up the PvP ranks of original WoW, to Grand Marshal for the Alliance and High Warlord for the Horde. They come from battlegrounds and PvP quests. Ranks have a weekly cap, so steady play over the season gets you there, not one long weekend.
- Holiday weeks give more of both: a highlighted battleground earns extra Honor and extra Rank Points during its week. The client calls them Call to Arms weeks: Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Darkspear Islands and Alterac Valley.
Tip: Your rank, your Rank Points and the rewards you can buy are on the Player vs. Player tab of your character pane (press C).
Speculation: Blizzard hasn't said how much Honor a kill, a win or a loss gives, how big the weekly rank cap is, or whether killing a much lower-level player still gives nothing, as it did in Classic. We'll add the numbers once players have them.
The ranks and what they unlock
Each rank unlocks more to buy with Honor. Blizzard's list of the rewards, with each rank's title from the client:
| Rank | Alliance title | Horde title | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Private | Scout | Tabard |
| 2 | Corporal | Grunt | PvP trinket |
| 3 | Sergeant | Sergeant | Cloaks |
| 4 | Master Sergeant | Senior Sergeant | Necklace |
| 5 | Sergeant Major | First Sergeant | Combat potions |
| 6 | Knight | Stone Guard | Tabard |
| 7 | Knight-Lieutenant | Blood Guard | Battle Standard |
| 8 | Knight-Captain | Legionnaire | Epic bracers and belt upgrade tokens |
| 9 | Knight-Champion | Centurion | Epic boots upgrade token |
| 10 | Lieutenant Commander | Champion | Epic gloves upgrade token |
| 11 | Commander | Lieutenant General | Mounts |
| 12 | Marshal | General | Epic legs and shoulders upgrade tokens |
| 13 | Field Marshal | Warlord | Epic chest and helm upgrade tokens |
| 14 | Grand Marshal | High Warlord | Epic weapons |
Rewards: Blizzard's post on PvP progression. Titles: the Forever client, in Classic's order; see every title on the titles page.
Some of those rewards by name in the client: the PvP trinket (Insignia of the Horde and Insignia of the Alliance, one version per class), the combat potions (Combat Healing Potion from level 35 and Combat Mana Potion from level 41) and the Battle Standards (Alliance Battle Standard and Horde Battle Standard).
PvP gear
Honor buys two sets of PvP gear, a blue (rare) set and an epic set. You don't buy the epic pieces outright: you upgrade the blue piece with an Emboldened Seal, and each seal needs a rank before you can buy it. The client has one for each armour slot:
- Premier Emboldened Wrist Seal and Premier Emboldened Belt Seal (rank 8)
- Premier Emboldened Feet Seal (rank 9)
- Premier Emboldened Hands Seal (rank 10)
- Premier Emboldened Legs Seal and Premier Emboldened Shoulder Seal (rank 12)
- Premier Emboldened Chest Seal and Premier Emboldened Head Seal (rank 13)
Blizzard has also added and reworked items for specs that had no PvP gear: Shaman, for example, now have healer, melee and caster sets. Every PvP set is on the sets page, and best in slot has each spec's picks.
Seasons and weekly tasks
PvP runs in seasons. During a season you earn Honor and climb the ranks, and a seasonal journey gives you weekly tasks that pay Honor and Rank Points. Three of the tasks each season also give a Legacy Point. They belong to the Legacy System, so you can still do them in later seasons if you miss one.
Getting into a battleground
- Talk to a battlemaster. Every capital city has them, and they queue you for any battleground your level allows.
- Darkspear Islands has its own way in. In the Barrens, the Darkspear Raiders' base on the Merchant Coast (Horde) and the Theramore Expeditionary Force at Northwatch (Alliance) have a portal into the battle, the battleground's quests and its reputation vendors.
- Marks of Honor. Battlegrounds give their own mark, such as Darkspear Islands Mark of Honor, Warsong Gulch Mark of Honor, Arathi Basin Mark of Honor and Alterac Valley Mark of Honor. You hand them in on reputation quests, and the battleground's faction sells gear and consumables as your reputation rises. At Exalted with the Darkspear Raiders or the Theramore Expeditionary Force, a short questline gives that faction's tabard.
- Expect strangers. Battlegrounds mix rulesets (except Hardcore), so your team can include players from other rulesets.
Your class in PvP
Every class page has PvP builds for each spec at levels 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60, with why each talent is there: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock and Druid.
Help from ForeverDB
- The PvP pages have the leaderboards, where world PvP happens most and every battleground's rules and objectives.
- The ForeverDB addon has a battleground helper and world battle alerts, and logs your battlegrounds for the replay.
- The battleground strategies guide covers how to win each one.
Checked against WoW Forever build 1.60.1.70862.