PvP: Halaa Part II

Since my last post regarding Halaa, something has become painfully obvious: The drop rate on Oshu’gun Powder Samples is between 6-10%, which is quite low. Unfortunately, I am enamored by the Dark War Talbuk and Talbuks in-general. It is one of my few game-goals to own one of these bad boys.

Along with Battle Tokens obtained from kills in Halaa, one must also obtain Haala Research Tokens by collecting the aforementioned powder. Herein lies the problem. The highest drop rate is about 10% from readily accessible mobs in Nagrand. Twenty powder/Research token. I currently have 5 tokens. That makes 300 more powder required. Assuming 10% drop, that is 3000 more mobs to kill….. This rate of acquisition could only be described as expeditious by a limited few. Kurenai rep may be a better way to get a Talbuk, as the drop rate on Warbeads is about 30%, which is about 1200 kills…..not very casual friends.

If you do choose to play Halaa, which I recommend as a great intro to PvP without all the twinks, here are some tips.

General:

1) World PvP offers a very unique aspect to non-PvP servers, which is the chance to attack the folks whom you share a realm with. This can lead to healthy rivalries and lots of fun on the realm forums. While PvP may pit you against players from the realm, most opponents will come from the larger battlegroup pool.

2) Jumping off the bluffs in Halaa is a great way to get away from attacking enemies, if you are a Druid with Flight Form or a Mage with Slow Fall. If you don’t have one of these abilities or a Sha’tari Skyguard Cape, don’t chase people off the bluff. You will die.

3) Fights in Halaa can last for hours. I likely have not seen a fight that progressed to completion of less than 1 hour in duration.

Defense:

1) Stay indoors when in town. The firebombs dropping take off a percentage of your health. Loss of health is easy to avoid by staying inside when necessary.

2) Watch for the opposing players hiding on nearby floating islands, within Halaa buildings and on top of the center flag (this may have been fixed by now).

3) Wait for opposing players to take off from the Wyvern Perches, destroy the perch, then get out of the landing area. Returning players should be bombing the area where they land to uncover stealthed players and cause damage to those waiting for them to return.

4) If many Wyvern posts are being nearly simultaneously activated, you have a challenge on your hands, as this is a good offensive strategy that is difficult to defend against. Even a small amount of players can scatter a larger defending force and attack the defenders piecemeal to great success.

5) Lure attackers into aggro range of the guards. The guards are very difficult to kill and are impressively tenacious in pursuing attackers when aggroed.

6) Bridges offer a great place for hunters’ traps, while the edges of the bluffs make great places for a warlock’s Fear. If you can concentrate a group of attackers on a bridge, mages will enjoy some nice AoE.

7) Try not to pursue enemies into the ravines, as this leaves your posts undefended (a flying mount helps mitigate this effect of course).

Attacking:

1) Keep the Wyvern Posts active, even if you don’t plan to launch an attack. Active posts demand attention from the defenders and can be used to keep their force running (read divided).

2) Drop a firebomb on the area where you plan to land (see above).

3) Don’t let defenders draw you into the guards (see above).

4) Operate from 1-2 posts (unless you have overwhelming numbers). When the defenders rush your base of operations, scatter and regroup at a designated site. This of course requires formation of a Raid group to keep everyone communicating.

5) To orchestrate the final rush to the center when all of the guards are burned, make sure that it is an orchestrated rush to the center.

a. Healers First!!!

b. Then keep a close eye on doorways for hiding defenders and upon corpses. The graveyard is close to the center and the defenders will need to rez and heal quickly to avoid a total takeover.