War Mode World PvP System

By perculia Updated: 2019/01/17

Patch 8.1 Changes

The reward bonuses from War Mode can now scale above 10% when a faction was outnumbered over the course of the preceding week, up to a maximum of 30% additional quest rewards and experience.

In War Mode, an outnumbered faction now has access to a weekly quest to slay 25 level 120 players of the opposing faction, rewarding a piece of item level 370 Arathi Warfront gear and 1000 Artifact Power.

War Mode can now be disabled in any rested area. It can still only be enabled in Stormwind or Orgrimmar.

What is War Mode?

Blizzard

We hope to have War Mode up very soon for everyone to try out. Until then, I’ll outline a few details:

Honor Talents enabled
As mentioned by Ion and others, Honor Talents are on permanently while War Mode is enabled in the outdoor world. This was the case in Legion as well, but they would only enable when you got into “PvP combat” causing them to enable and disable while playing which ended up feeling a bit “janky.” Players may also find some added benefit with Honor Talents against normal PvE creatures as well, which is designed to be part of a “package of bonuses” to offset the inherit lost efficiency of World PvP.

Gear scaling
In order to create a fair fights and good gameplay, our goal is to limit the extremes in power between players in War Mode that come from gear and level. We want you to have an advantage if your gear is better, but within reason. The experience should be something similar to Unrated Battlegrounds in Legion (but without the stat templates). Keep in mind this is scaling only in PvP combat, so your power against creatures in the world will remain the same as it would be with War Mode disabled.

Conquest and World PvP
In Battle for Azeroth you’ll earn conquest for doing PvP activities similar to how it was gained in the past: Rated Arena and Rated Battlegrounds as well as some light conquest from Unrated Battlegrounds. But what’s new is earning conquest from doing World PvP activities. This gives you an additional source when filling up that “conquest bar” for your weekly conquest item.

Bounty Hunting
How do you earn conquest in World PvP? One source is from killing other players, of course. But the more of the opposing faction you slay, the higher chance they will put a bounty on your head. When a bounty is put on you, it will be announced to all opposing players in the zone and you will appear on the main map for a reward. Good luck!

And more...
While we have one or two other content features in War Mode we’ll share later on, one of our goals is to keep it minimal. As you point out Ion saying, we want to create a foundation first which we can hopefully build upon (with your feedback!) in the future.

What are the Bonuses of War Mode?

Access to all PvP talents in the outdoor world, regardless of being engaged in PvP combat or not.

+10% experience boost while leveling.

+10% World Quest reward bonuses at max level.

Ability to earn Conquest Points, which count towards a weekly progress bar for special gear rewards.

Completion of PvP achievements.

Dismounting Enemy PlayersNet-o-Matic 5000Faction Imbalance BuffEnlistedFaction Assaultsin this linked articleHow do I Earn Honor Through War Mode?Soldier of the HordeSoldier of the Alliance

Killing regular players of the enemy faction grants 6 bonus Honor.

Killing Assassin-level players (those that have killed 10 players without dying) grants 30 bonus Honor.

Horde AssassinAlliance AssassinWhat are PvP Talents?Gladiator's MedallionAdaptationRelentlessLegion Honor talents

Havoc Demon Hunter PvP

Arcane Mage PvP

Assassination Rogue PvP

Unholy Death Knight PvP

Frost Mage PvP

Subtlety Rogue PvP

Frost Death Knight PvP

Mistweaver Monk PvP

Enhancement Shaman PvP

Affliction Warlock PvP

Protection Paladin PvP

Resto Druid PvP

Demonology Warlock PvP

Retribution Paladin PvP

Holy Priest PvP

Fury Warrior PvP

Beast Mastery Hunter PvP

Discipline Priest PvP

Arms Warrior PvP

Survival Hunter PvP

Shadow Priest PvP

Protection Warrior PvP

Fire Mage PvP

How do I Enable PvP Talents?Tome of the Quiet MindWhat about other Rewards for War Mode?Conqueror of AzerothConqueror of AzerothConqueror's ScythemawWhat are the War Mode Achievements?Conqueror of AzerothConqueror of Azeroth

Tour of Duty: Drustvar Earn 1000 honor in Drustvar while in War Mode.

Tour of Duty: Nazmir Earn 1000 honor in Nazmir while in War Mode.

Tour of Duty: Stormsong Valley Earn 1000 honor in Stormsong Valley while in War Mode.

Tour of Duty: Tiragarde Sound Earn 1000 honor in Tiragarde Sound while in War Mode.

Tour of Duty: Vol'dun Earn 1000 honor in Vol'dun while in War Mode.

Tour of Duty: Zuldazar Earn 1000 honor in Zuldazar while in War Mode.

War Supplied Open a War Supply Crate from an air supply drop while within War Mode.

Bounty Hunting Loot 10 bounties from slain players while within War Mode.

Band of Brothers While within a 2-5 player party, complete PvP objectives.

Supplied and Ready: Loot the Secret Supply Chests in Kul Tiras and Zandalar during an active Assault while in War Mode.

Frontline Veteran: Complete all six Alliance / Horde Assaults in War Mode.

Frontline Slayer: Kill 50 Alliance / Horde players during an Assault on Kul Tiras or Zandalar.

Azerfighter: Kill 5 players of the opposite faction while you are under the effects of an Unstable Azerite Flare.

Boxing Match: Slay a Burly Deckhand without losing your Extra Buff Peon during the Zuldazar Assault world quest "Crate n' Barrel" in War Mode.

What are the War Mode Bounties?Bounty Hunted

Bounty Hunting: Loot 10 bounties from slain players while within War Mode.

Alliance: , The Horde Slayer

Horde: , The Alliance Slayer

What are the Air Drops?

Blizzard

From time to time, a flying machine will make its way across the sky. The rumble of its engine is a clear indicator that something is afoot. You’ll want to keep an eagle eye on the sky and watch for a War Supply Crate to drop somewhere in the zone. Similar to the chest in Gurubashi Arena, players can fight over the crate and claim it for their faction. Once a faction has gained control of the crate, anyone of that faction who is within the area will have a short period to open it and collect a piece of personal loot.

Aspirant

Sinister Aspirant Tints (Season 2)

Dueler's GuildAchievements

NEW Participate in a duel in the Dueler's Guild.

NEW Win a duel in the Dueler's Guild.

NEW Win 25 duels in the Dueler's Guild.

NEW Win 50 duels in the Dueler's Guild.
Reward: Dueler's Tabard

NEW Win 3 consecutive duels without leaving the Dueler's Guild.

NEW Defeat each class in duels in the Dueler's Guild.

NEW Complete the following Dueler's Guild achievements listed below.
Reward: Character title: Contender

RewardsDueling MasterMaster of DuelsDueler's Tabard

Comments

Comment by vlaka

What exactly is the point though? Players choose PVP or PVE servers if they want world pvp...and even those on PVE servers can toggle pvp on or off. Not seeing why this is a thing

Comment by ElizLewis773

15% bonus to exp? Really? Because your pvp servers are all doing so well(sarcasm). When will you get that prioritizing pvp is a BAD idea? Progressives will be boycotting your office with signs accusing you of corrupting the youth with violence. I'm not a progressive btw so it won't be me but constantly pushing pvp is just not a good idea. There is a niche for it there always has been but not all of us are into esports. Not to mention in this day and age Us vs Them has gotten to insane levels. I miss the comradery of the old game and helpful people and you can't find it on either side anymore. I get enough real world violence, mayhem and just plain ugliness everyday on tradechat, FB and Twitter. I deliberately did not go for the falcosaur mounts because of the pvp aspect which I've done in the past but I'm just plain tired of it now.

Comment by LiriusMagi

At least make it able to toggle from a rested area, like Dalaran or the class halls/inns. Having to go all the way to SW just because I want to turn it on/off? A bit of a pain. Also, I am phased from people not in war mode. So I can't quest or something with non-war mode friends or help each other with anything PVE unless I go, again, all the way to SW just to turn it off.

Comment by RoxyWolf

Does completing world pvp quests without war mode on give honor? (currently testing)

Edit: Yes. Yes you do.

Comment by Cambrius13

So, we can only turn War Mode off in Stormwind, but we're already seeing groups camping the teleports in Argus. A pile of Hordies gank you, but you can't resurrect without getting ganked again, and you can't even hearth to Stormwind to turn it off.

A bit frustrating. It seems that the old camp-and-grief tactic is going to be a thing again.

Comment by Ossz

PROS: Everything except one thing.
CONS: 110's can destroy little folks whom are trying to level.

LOVE IT! Esp. the bonuses :).
BFA HERE WE COME!

Comment by Zanokk

2 boosts should not be there:

+10% experience boost while leveling.
+10% World Quest reward bonuses at max level.

It's a carrot on the stick to goad people into pvp. So if you want to get to a goal of raiding, leveling, etc.. as quick as possible, you're forced to pvp. People don't like being forced to do things. Sure it's at least more interactive to say the mission tables. I've played on pvp and pve servers. My uninterrupted play time has greatly diminished and thus only goal is to level to cap and do normal raids or LFR (it's a face roll but there doesn't tend to be enough time for me to look for a group, considering there's no time i can stick to for a scheduled raid... I know.. it's my problem, why change the game for me.

Its' my opinion that pvp is lazy, from the development side of things. Not saying it's easy to implement or anything like that. I'm saying it's easier than being creative (more quests, more content).. and to force it upon people that liked the equation WoW followed since creation with boosts seems entirely unfair. Sure if I don't like it I wont do it, right... that'll work (never works). Blizzard already has pvp games. Stop pushing it on WoW as a whole.

I'd like to see those 2 bonuses vanish OR keep them in... as a 3-5hr reward for getting a bounty on your head.. that way you can go back to <main city> and turn it off, if you want. It should be a reward, not a feature for adding more people into the pvp pool. Lets see the numbers pvp'ing with those 2 boosts off, if numbers don't change drastically after 2 weeks.. (ratios not numbers) add it back in.

Comment by Brokenkneez

For anyone else trying to get Exalted with Legion Allied races, after a quick test, it looks like Warmode does not increase rep rewards/gains from Legion World Quests.

Comment by Novikmet

Is warmode xp boost aplicable to the xp you get in low lvl dungeons. For expample, say im leveling a new character and i'd like to do dungeons to make the experience go faster, will the xp boost from warmode being turned on affect those dungeons?

Comment by Stompinwin

As Horde I am turning off war mode until we get the same rewards as alliance....

Comment by Jaredius

To Toggle/Enable "War Mode" go in to Specialization & Talents, click PvP Talents arrow in the upper right, then click on War Mode at the lower right. You will hear a hit and "For the Alliance".

Comment by Ohpwnies

You have to be level 20 to turn on warmode. I could not find this anywhere!

Comment by Coldaria

Do you know if the titles and mounts are account wide (if you get Horde Slayer, will it appear as Alliance Slayer on an Alliance toon) character bound or faction bound?

Comment by Facerockker

A little late, but I wanted to throw this out there nonetheless -- War Mode DOES increase XP gained from gathering herbs/ore. I have to imagine it affects XP gained from chests as well.

Comment by Facerockker

A little late, but I wanted to throw this out there nonetheless -- War Mode DOES increase XP gained from gathering herbs/ore. I have to imagine it affects XP gained from chests as well.

Comment by Mahar

Tried turning on War mode whilst in Stormwind to do fishing & cooking dailies. The enlisted buff is saying +25% but I get no boost. Wondered whether it was capping out because of heirloom bonuses but removing this gear reduced xp by 50%. Still no bonus from enlisted :(.

Can see no comments to say it does not apply to these types of quest.

Comment by Mahar

Not sure about this balancing thing. One of my alts (lvl 52) got bounced by two players - one lvl 41 and one unknown high lvl. I died instantly! The lvl 41 then flew off on the back of the high lvl. Sneaky stuff!

Comment by erpbridge

Note: If you're on the quest "The Price of Victory", following Saurfang's Mak'gora challenge, you are not able to turn off War Mode as Orgrimmar is in an instanced non-rested area.

War Mode World PvP System

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