In short: in WoW Forever, open-world PvP depends on the ruleset you pick when you create a character. On the PvP ruleset every trip into contested territory is dangerous by design, and you can only have characters of one faction. The Honor Blizzard has confirmed comes from battlegrounds and PvP content; whether killing players in the open world gives Honor has not been said yet. Below: contested zones by level, what you will see on screen, what to do when you get ganked and the addons that help.
The PvP ruleset
Forever has no realms: you pick a ruleset (Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Hardcore). Blizzard describes PvP as the one for players who want every trip into contested territory to carry more danger, excitement and open-world conflict. What it has confirmed:
| What | PvP ruleset | Normal and Roleplaying |
|---|---|---|
| PvP in contested territory | Always | Only if you flag yourself |
| Factions per account | One only: create an Alliance character and you cannot create a Horde one, and vice versa | Both |
| Faction balance | Systems like Season of Discovery's, which could temporarily limit character creation on the busier side | — |
| Grouping with the other faction | No | No |
| Battlegrounds | Shared with Normal and Roleplaying (Hardcore stays separate) | Same |
To switch rulesets you have to create a new character. The full breakdown is in no realms.
What you will see on screen
These are the official beta client strings:
| In-game text | What it means |
|---|---|
| (Contested Territory) | No man's land: on the PvP ruleset you can be attacked |
| (Alliance Territory) / (Horde Territory) | One faction's zone: you are the attacker if you enter the other side's |
| (Sanctuary) | No player combat |
| (PvP Area) | Free for all |
| "You are now flagged for PvP combat and will remain so until toggled off." | You flagged yourself (Normal and Roleplaying) |
| "You will be unflagged for PvP combat after five minutes of non-PvP action in friendly territory." | How the flag wears off |
On Normal and Roleplaying you can flag yourself with /pvp or from your portrait, as in Classic. Careful: attacking a flagged player flags you too.
How Honor is earned
What Blizzard has said (Kotaku interview, via Wowhead):
- Each patch cycle has a 14-rank Honor track that resets. No rated PvP.
- Honor comes from taking part in battlegrounds and completing PvP content, and buys rewards, cosmetics and PvP armor with stats.
- Since the October 1 build, the Honor cap is 25,000 and PvP gear costs about 50% more.
What it has not said: whether player kills in the open world give Honor. The client keeps Classic's messages ("Honorable Kill", "dishonorable kill", "You gain N Honor"), but that only proves the text exists, not that the server awards Honor for world kills. Until Blizzard says so, do not plan on ranking up by ganking. The 14 ranks and their rewards are on PvP.
Contested zones by level
These are the two-faction zones on the client map, with their levels. They see the most world PvP; on the PvP ruleset, one-faction zones see it too when the enemy walks in.
| Levels | Contested zones |
|---|---|
| 15-25 | Redridge Mountains, Stonetalon Mountains |
| 19-31 | Duskwood, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Hillsbrad Foothills |
| 24-40 | Thousand Needles, Alterac Mountains, Desolace, Arathi Highlands, Stranglethorn Vale |
| 35-45 | Riverglades, Dustwallow Marsh, Swamp of Sorrows, Badlands |
| 40-60 | Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Feralas, Azshara, Searing Gorge, the Plaguelands, Blasted Lands, Felwood, Un'Goro Crater, Burning Steppes, Silithus, Winterspring |
With the beta capped at level 30, world PvP centers on the 19-31 row. Hillsbrad Foothills is the classic: one town per faction, five minutes apart on a mount.
Every zone, with its towns and flight points, is on the interactive map.
When you get ganked
This is not Blizzard data, just what works in a game with Classic rules:
- Resurrect elsewhere. If they wait by your corpse, the Spirit Healer brings you back at the graveyard with Resurrection Sickness, but out of their reach.
- Wait out of sight. The camper gets bored before you do; use the time to switch quests or zones.
- Ask for help. The zone channel or your guild is often enough to turn it around.
- Use towns with guards. Booty Bay, Gadgetzan, Ratchet and Everlook are neutral and their guards attack whoever starts the fight (that is how Classic worked; Blizzard has not said it changes).
- Fly out. A flight point gets you out of the zone in seconds.
- If someone harasses you repeatedly or with insults, that is no longer PvP: report it in game.
Addons that help
HeadHunter is built for exactly this: it records who killed you, shares it with players of your faction who use it and marks anyone who kills five players in 20 minutes as WANTED, so a group can go after them. Its optional app sends your data to its website. It is on addons, under World PvP, with its caveats.
What we do not know yet
- Whether open-world player kills give Honor in Forever, and whether there are dishonorable kills for civilians.
- What exact limits the PvP ruleset's faction balance will apply.
- Whether there will be world PvP objectives (towers, capture points). The client has a "Display World PVP Objectives" option, but it comes from the modern game and Blizzard has announced none.
- PvP crits deal less damage in the beta: Blizzard says it is a bug and will fix it.
We will update this guide as Blizzard shares more. For organized duels, see the duel tournament.
Can I have Alliance and Horde characters on the PvP ruleset?
No. On the PvP ruleset you can only create characters of one faction. On Normal, Roleplaying and Hardcore, both.
Does killing players in the open world give Honor in WoW Forever?
Blizzard has not said. What is confirmed is that Honor comes from battlegrounds and PvP content.
Is there world PvP on the Normal ruleset?
Only if you flag yourself, with /pvp or from your portrait, as in Classic. Attacking a flagged player flags you too.
Which zones have the most world PvP with the beta at level 30?
The level 19-31 contested zones: Duskwood, Ashenvale, Wetlands and above all Hillsbrad Foothills, with Southshore and Tarren Mill.
What should I do if I am being ganked?
Resurrect at the Spirit Healer, wait out of sight or change zones, ask for help in the channel or your guild, and use neutral towns with guards. If it is harassment, report it in game.
