Blizzard have always stressed that they take Wintrading seriously and there will be consequences for any players/teams who have been involved in said activities. Once upon a time, Blizzard stuck to their word and would aggressively ban players who exploited the system. I’m referring to the initial seasons of season one to season six. Wintrading was always seen as a last resort to getting Gladiator, because other players would find out and would almost definitely send in a report. Blizzard generally eliminates the wintrading teams in the one week transition between seasons but recently, more and more teams are getting away with Wintrading.

No longer is Wintrading a last resort. When a team agrees to engage in the act of trading wins, the consequences of doing such is hardly ever factored into their decision. The main thing you have to lose by wintrading is your online reputation – something which a simple namechange and server transfer can resolve. Players which aren’t exceptionally well known can afford to wintrade to Gladiator and then move servers with their wintrading friends and be completely unaffected. Obviously, it’s unwise for high-profile players to engage in said activities as their online gamename is considered a symbol in the community. But then again, high-profile players have no reason to wintrade; we’re talking about the mediocre players who have always struggled to hit high ratings.

Why fixing Wintrading should be Blizzard’s number one PvP priority.

Wintrading negatively impacts the arena ladder in a variety of ways. It’s amazing that people are still unaware that wintrading actually affects the whole battlegroup ladder and has a huge impact on player’s who are genuinly pushing for titles and mounts.

• Only the top 0.5% teams are awarded with Gladiator. This is possibly the most negative affect of wintrading. If a team wintrades their team up to Gladiator rating, they are effectively pushing another team off their deserved title.
• ‘Push Down’ battlegroup effect. If a team wintrades their way up to Gladiator rating, they are also pushing down teams who are due to be picking up other titles; such as Duelist. This may not sound important, but for some players, achieving titles and being rewarded for their success in arena is the pinnacle of their gaming life. We all like to be rewarded with titles and some players are genuinely happy with achieving their titles.
• Less motivation to achieve high ratings. Let’s face it, if Blizzard is outright allowing Wintrading, we are less motivated to try for Gladiator or Rank One titles. Why should we invest hours upon hours of our time into legitimately reaching higher ratings when others are abusing the system.
• The ‘Sheep’ effect. If we’re aware that teams are wintrading and nothing is happening as a result, we are tempted to do the same ourselves. There is nothing stopping us wintrading our way to the top along with the other cheaters. As mentioned above, why invest time and effort into something that can be achieved with minimal effort.

In order to create an e-sports game, it’s important to identify the existing problems and come up with a long-term solution that actually fixes said problem. Blizzard were really a force not to be reckoned with in TBC. Every PvP forum had a sticky stating the consequences for wintrading and they actively promoted the use of ingame reporting to report cheating players. We could all see that Blizzard was taking action as teams would disappear off the ladder and players gear would be removed. We had a reason to report these players, because we effectively had the power to give them the punishment they deserved. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a Wintrading player have all of their arena gear removed; causing them to start again from fresh while we still had our legitimately earned gear.

Blizzard has stated that Mists of Pandaria will be more PvP oriented and should bring back the competitive nature to the game. Furthermore, they have stated that they want World of Warcraft back in the e-sports scene by 2012 and are working with organisations such as ESL and MLG to make it happen. I cannot fault Blizzard for wanting to do this as hopefully WoW will be reignited with the spark of life it’s so dearly needing. But, we cannot ignore the underlying problems that exist in the arena system. These need to be identified and solutions need to put in place to ensure that World of Warcraft can be both competitive and fair.

Solutions to fix Wintrading:

• Lock teams to meeting each other once per XX minutes. One of the major problems with the current system is that you can meet the same team multiple times in a short period; especially at higher ratings. The system should check if other teams around the same MMR are queueing and force queueing teams to wait until a similiar MMR team is queued up. If for example, only two 2700 MMR teams are playing and the third-highest team queueing is 2500MMR, then allowing the two 2700MMR teams to meet for a series of game would be viable.
• Re-implement arena statistics into the armory. Most wintrading teams barely engage in any form of damage or healing in the game. It is simply a matter of queueing up, getting each other and then leaving the arena game. We once had access to view all teams arena statistics for the games they played and could view information such as damage done, healing done and soforth. This feature helped players to identify wintrading teams and report them.
• Assign a team of staff to deal with wintrading teams on the last week of season. Putting aside 1-3 staff members to scour the armory for cheating players would not negatively impact the day-to-day running of Blizzard. Blizzard need to prove to their customers that they still care. Doing so may involve forking out small amounts of cash but the result will most probably return subscribers anyway.
• Consult high-profile community players to aid in the detection of teams. High-Profile players would more than willingly assist in the job of finding teams that are cheating. Perhaps these players would have private access to arena statistics and would be able to submit cheating teams into a database for Blizzard to go through and verify. Making this a paid position or not wouldn’t make a difference. Blizzard need to give power to the players and this would be a great feature for high-profile players to aim towards.
• Explicitly state the consequences for cheating. As mentioned earlier, there used to be information everywhere stating that cheaters would be banned and have all gear removed. The players knew what would happen if they attempted to wintrade and this put them off. Make it clear that cheaters will be found out and punished.

Ofcourse, these solutions will still not fix the underlying issue of Wintrading. Players will always find ways around whatever Blizzard chooses to implement – it’s the same for everything in life. Antiviruses and Firewalls are constantly chasing Hackers who find new ways to exploit computer systems; this is life. You cannot give up and abandon the fundamental issues that exist in the game. Game Developers have to be persistant and aim to provide a positive experience for players or those players will quickly disappear into thin air.

Are you a player who thinks you belong at higher ratings but struggle to find appropriate team-mates? If so, read on.

All of us started somewhere with World of Warcraft and generally we sat in the lower brackets until we improved and found better partners. Me personally, I hovered around 1900rating in Season one playing Feral/Rogue. I was not doing arena competitively and I had no chance at all of playing with the best players, because I was unknown. Season two passed and I was nothing exceptional, just an average player. As Season three came I changed my class and found that I was able to play at a much higher skill-cap because the class suited by gameplay perfectly. I did 2v2 with several partners climbing the ladders of all three brackets. As I climbed in rating, word was getting out on my server that I was a good player. My reputation upheld and I found myself playing with a Warrior who I considered to be at my skill-level. We promptly hit rank one and the whole battlegroup knew of me as a player. Season four I transferred to Cyclone, hit rank one again and pretty much every PvP’er in Europe and USA knew the name Icematikx.

From season four onwards, I gained contacts and began building relationships with high profile players that would allow me to always have good arena partners in the future. I now have the option of playing with a wide variety of different players/classes because I put myself out there and got recognised. I would hate to be in the position of not knowing anybody because it’s a hard uphill struggle to become a somebody. Not only would I need to be social and try and engage with players who I don’t know, but I would have to showcase my skill and build a reputation for myself as a good player. My story relates to over 5years ago and in the present time it’s much easier to get recognised as a good player. There’s so many different tools, techniques and services that you can utilise to build a positive reputation for yourself. As you build a reputation, you will gain friends who will be willing to play arena with you; and before you know it, you’ll always be sitting on high ratings.

Methods of promoting yourself as a player:

• Youtube. The best way to get your name across to a wide variety of different players. WoW interested players will find your video and if they like it, they will share it. More and more people will begin recognising you as a player and your name will become known.
• Streaming. Some high-profile players choose to stream their arena games through services such as OWN3D or XFire. Online streaming platforms are great for showcasing your moves because they allow your viewers to see actual live footage as opposed to edited footage.
• Join a community. DNAW.eu is one of the many communities you can join and interact with. Being a regular forum poster and blog commenter can raise your profile exponentially. Share your words of wisdom, write indepth topics and replies and make sure that people know that you know your stuff.
• Cross-Promotion. A simple concept that works exceptionally well. An example would be the Youtube movement, ‘Together To The Top’. You promote a person and they return the favor and promote you. You both grow in popularity as a result. This can apply to anything and everything you do; really, it can.
• Get commentated. DNAW offers a commentating service where we commentate over your arena footage and publicise you, all free of charge. You submit your arena footage to us, we edit it, add over commentary and promote you through our media network. You will gain all the fame and recognition you could ever need and want.
• Blog for DNAW. Another way to share your knowledge with the world. We receieve tens of thousands of unique views to our site on a monthly basis and blogging for us is a great way to become a recognised name. If you share a passion for World of Warcraft arena and can write unique and exciting content you should definitely consider this.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be providing indepth guides to making yourself known as a great player. Whatever your goals are; whether it’s joining a high-profile PvP guild, getting better arena partners or simply becoming a high-profile player yourself, I will provide you with the knowledge to help you out. Never settle for second best. Be the best that you can be and believe in yourself and in time, you will reap the benefits of being a recognised high-rated arena player.

File Corruption

Some of your files may have become corrupt as a result of playing or an update which has gone wrong. If you have managed to play the game previously but are now getting error 132, then file corruption is the most likely cause. Follow the instructions below to fix all file corruption errors:

• Reset your UI files. Navigate to your World of Warcraft installation and delete the Cache, WTF and Interface folders.
• Run the repair tool. The repair tool can be found in your WoW installation folder (example: C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Repair.exe, and C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\Repair.exe for some users). Allow the repair tool to finish completely.

Update Graphics Card Drivers

Outdated graphics card drivers can also cause error 132. Depending on your graphics card (Nvidia or ATI), you should visit your graphics card manufacturers website and download the latest graphics card drivers. If you are using an onboard graphics card, you should refer to the website of the manufacturer who produces your motherboard.

Memory Faults and Diagnostics

Your RAM may have developed a fault which can be responsible for the World of Warcraft #132 error. The best way to identify if any memory issues are present is to run a memory scan utility. Memory scan utilities can be found through google or any popular software download site. Windows Vista and Windows 7 includes its own memory diagnostic tool and can be found in the system tools/utilities.

Background Applications

Background applications can interfere with World of Warcraft. Try running WoW with only required applications open; close any unnecessary software.

Overheating

If your computer is running at a high temperature then your graphics card, CPU, motherboard or hard-drive may be failing due to high temperatures. Error 132 can often be caused by graphics cards overheating due to poor ventilation or lack of computer fans. You can lower the temperature of your computer by cleaning the inside of the case, removing any dirt and dust. Additionally, you may wish to try placing your computer in a better ventilated spot so that more air can reach the computer system.

If you are still experiencing error 132 with World of Warcraft then a full re-install may be required. Uninstall World of Warcraft through the provided uninstallation file (or via Windows remove software) and then proceed to reinstall the software. If this does not rectify the problem, then you should contact Blizzard Entertainment directly for technical support as you have tried all of the standard procedures for fixing the error.

Disclaimer: If you are inexperienced or wary of tampering with your computers software or hardware, then do not try any of the methods explained in this post. Please consult a computer specialist to help you with the problem as any damage caused to your computer system may be permanent.

The causes of error 134 are similiar to the other World of Warcraft errors; game file corruption, invalid WoW settings, damaged hardware and overheating are just a few. It’s important that you explore all avenues one step at a time so that you can correctly identify where the error is stemming from.

Solutions to World of Warcraft Error 134

• The first and foremost thing you should do is delete the WTF, Interface and Cache folders from your World of Warcraft directory. These folders will be created again once you launch the game client so don’t worry about screwing up your installation. Corrupt files are often responsible for WoW errors so this may well fix it.
• The second option you have is to run the Blizzard Repair tool. This tool will attempt to find and fix any corrupt data that exists. You must allow the repair tool to run the full course of the scan before closing it.
• Another cause can be out-dated graphics card drivers. Navigate to your graphics card manufacturers website (often Nvidia or AMD) and download the latest drivers for your card. Out-dated graphics card drivers are often responsible for game errors.

If the above solutions do not work, you should consult Blizzard’s technical support. You can also try posting on the official WoW forums and hope for a response from a Blizzard representitive. The final option you should consider is uninstallation of World of Warcraft followed by a re-install. A re-install more often than not fixes any game errors unless it is caused by your computer’s hardware.

Disclaimer: If you are unexperienced or wary of tampering with your computers software or hardware, then do not try any of the methods explained in this post. Please consult a computer specialist to help you with the problem as any damage caused to your computer system may be permanent.

Resilience Scaling:

Resilience scales extremely well and it roughly equates to 1% damage reduction per 100 resilience. Resilience is a pvp only stat and grants you damage reduction against all damage done by players and their pets/minions. Resilience actually goes hand in hand with your health pool and can be viewed as extra health. Imagine you have 100k health and 40% resilience. Your resilience is giving you 40% damage reduction which could be viewed as an extra 40,000 health. Resilience is also a stat that increases in potency the more you have. To describe this think about it in these terms; if you go from 0% damage reduction to 1% damage reduction you will take 1% less damage from incoming attacks, but if you go from 50% damage reduction to 51% you will reduce incoming damage by 2%. This may seem like sophistry but when you get enough resilience you begin to become a target that’s hard to take down.

Surviving through heavy burst:

Season 10 is a season where classes have huge burst and not so much sustained damage. Since we can assume that Resilience effectively increases your health, we can also assume that by wearing Resilience you will survive longer through heavy nukes. Good teams will setup co-ordinated bursts while crowd controlling your healer which in turn leaves you to survive on your own. If you have no cooldowns available, you better hope that your Resilience will save your ass. Think of the all the times in an arena game where you’ve survived on 1-5% health and been healed up. You can put these moments down to luck; or you can understand that Resilience performed its role; it saved you. These close oppurtunities will commonly occur in arena games and Resilience will always give you a helping hard with surviving.

Predicted Resilience changes:

Resilience in Season 11 will continue to be the best stat for all PvP’rs alike. Resilience will scale even better in S11 and it won’t be uncommon for players to have 5,000 resilience. At that level of resilience, we can assume that roughly 50% of all incoming damage will be reduced; which is a huge amount. Obviously, damage will be higher because of the new gear and weapons, but Resilience will provide more damage reduction than ever before. The graph below shows the predicted resilience changes for Season 11.

Using PvE gear in a responsible manner:

PvE gear, especially the high-end gear provides the biggest DPS/healing stats ingame. Some players choose to play arena using a mixture of PvE and PvP gear whereas others choose to use a full PvP gear setup. It’s entirely up to you which route you decide to take. If you do decide to use PvE gear then obviously you should use the gear which benefits your main stat the most. As a Feral Druid, our main stat is Mastery and I would only use PvE gear which boasts high mastery rating and the PvP item for that slot has low mastery rating. An example would be the Ruthless boots which contain Haste Rating; one of our worst stats. I would go with PvE boots which boast high mastery rating and possibly throw a Resilience gem in the socket just to be on the safe side.

Understanding Resilience and other important attributes is simple and it’s all about being responsible in your gear choices. Make sure you have enough resilience to survive but do enough damage to create both sustained and burst pressure.

Your reaction speed in arena is paramount and addons allow us to improve our reactions; simply because we have everything setup in a comfortable layout. The problem with the Blizzard UI is that it’s mundane. It isn’t a pretty sight and it definitely doesn’t provide us with the information we need in arena. So let’s begin looking at the different addons you can incorporate into your UI.

Shadowed Unit Frames

SUF is quite possibly one of the easiest unit frames to setup and use. It uses a simple layout and provides all the information you need. You can configure multiple sets of unit frames at the same time and create an anchor; allowing you to align everything perfectly. SUF is extremely similiar looking to the now discontinued AGUF (AG Unit Frames). Set up the unit frames in your desired position(s) and you’re ready to go. 

Link: Shadowed Unit Frames

Gladius

Blizzard recently introduced their own arena frames but in my opinion they do not fulfill the purpose they are supposed to do. The default arena frames are severely lacking in terms of available information and functionality. Gladius is the most popular addon of choice to all arena players. It provides you with tons of useful information ranging from what spells the enemies are casting to their PVP trinket cooldown. You can configure the layout, the information you want to see and the positioning. A must have addon for all aspiring Gladiators.

Link: Gladius

Mik Scrolling Battle Text

MSBT is an extremely lightweight addon which displays all incoming and outgoing damage in a easily viewable format. MSBT displays everything you need to know and is a must have for all classes. You set what triggers you want to be seen (heals, damage, cooldowns, ability names) and then setup how you want to see the information displayed. Once again, Blizzard has their own default combat text but it simply does not display enough information so an addon to replicate the same effect is needed and MSBT more than fulfills the role.

Link: Mik Scrolling Battle Text

Az Cast Bar

AZCB is a lightweight addon which replaces Blizzard’s default casting bar. This addon lets you see your cast times on all of your abilities (Spells, Heals and even Feign Death) in a much more viewable format. You can also view the spell’s cast in realtime and boasts a ‘safe zone’ feature. The ‘safe zone’ syncs with your latency and you’re able to cancel your cast while still having the spell fired off. This lets you maximise your movement and casting synchronisation – which is a great thing, right?

Link: Az Cast Bar

Omni CC

OmniCC is an addon which simply displays exact timers for your cooldowns over their tooltips. Instead of looking at a rotating clock you’ll see the cooldown in minutes/seconds.

Link: OmniCC

‘All in one’ User Interfaces

Finally, I’m going to look at the possibility of using an ‘all in one’ addon pack. These addon packs come pre-configured with a ready to go user interface and all the relevant addons you’d ever need. These addon packs can be found all over the internet and it’s sometimes hard to distinguish the good from the bad. I’ve linked some suitable UI’s below so feel free to check them out.

Tukui - One of the most popular UI’s in World of Warcraft at the moment. Tukui is suitable for all World of Warcraft players including PVE’rs and you can switch between PVP and PVE layouts accordingly. Check it out here.

SpartanUI – Spartan was a discontinued UI pack but has recently been resurrected by a fan. Spartan is a PVP and PVE UI and is designed around a nice graphics design. Some may find this UI a bit too much as it isn’t as clean as Tukui. Download it here.

That’s the end of Part 3 folks! I’m extremely interested to hear which addons you use in arena and how they help you. Feel free to comment with your suggestions and I’ll check them out!

Keybindings have always been one of the most common barriers seperating the top players from the mediocre players and are potentially the biggest way to improve you overall game. Each player has their own individual style and that is understandable, but sometimes changing the way you do certain things can benefit you immensely. Let’s go over a few key points:

• Clickers will always tell you they perform as well as players who keybind. Often these players are in self-denial and refuse to change the way they play their game.
• Keybinders will always look down upon clickers, for the simple fact that bindings allow you a quicker reaction time.
• Keybinding every key is not essential. Some uncommon abilities can be left alone such as creating a healthstone.
• To go alongside using keybindings, as a rule of thumb, you should never keyboard turn. Use mouse turning and keybindings and you’ll be a winning player.
• It does not matter how much experience you have with bindings or how fat your fingers are. You will get used to it in time and appreciate your higher ratings.

The principles of keybinding:

• Start slowly. This point is pretty self-explanatory but I must stress that when starting to keybinding, always start slowly. Bind a few keys to start with and over the course of your playing add a few more. You will soon get used to 5 keybindings but when it comes to getting used to 30 keybindings you’ll find it impossible. Nobody logged onto an MMORPG for the first time, added 50 keybindings and played at a professional level. It takes TIME!
• The speed in which you can press your bindings matter. Abilities which are more important to use should have easily accessible bindings (interupts etc). Bindings which are less important (such as cooldowns) can have harder to reach keybindings, because these aren’t used often and only at certain times. You should ensure your bindings for abilities are relevant to their importance.
• Keybinding the spells which matter. When you’re starting out, avoid binding less important abilities such as Innervate or pet summons. You should always start with binding the most important abilities in your toolbox. Warlocks keybind your dots, Shamans keybind your shocks/heals, Mages keybind novas/cs – you get the point. Your main damaging and defensive abilities should be prioritised at first (because getting used to the first few bindings is the hardest).

What you should keybind:

• Interupts. All of your classes interupts should be keybound to an easily accessible binding. Abilities such as Pummel and Counterspell should be considered as your first binding and should reside on keypresses which are easy to reach with your hand. These abilities are crucial to your success in arena and should be treated so appropriately.
• Snares. The different snares that classes have varies widely but should also be prioritised when choosing your first keybindings. It may take a clicker anywhere up to three seconds to click Frost Nova. But imagine that the player used an easily accessible binding – the ability would be used instantly and would give the Mage extra time to pump out damage.
• Immunities. Some classes rely on specific immunity abilities, such as Paladins. Get these keybound and save yourself needlessly dieing because you took too long to click the ability.
• Important Instants. These consist of instant abilities which are important. Abilities include Nature’s Swiftness, Death Coil and Howl of Terror. It is imperative that these abilities are bound.
• Trinkets. The most important trinket you should keybind is obviously your PvP insignia. Being able to instantly trinket a fear or sheep is paramount to succeed in arena. Your other on use trinkets are less important to keybind and can often be placed in a macro with cooldowns (such as Berserk or Icy Veins) to save keybindings.

What keybindings you should consider using:

It is entirely up to you what bindings you choose to use. You should also consider purchasing a specialist gaming mouse, such as the Razer series. These mouses come with additional buttons that you can use to add more keybindings. They are easily useable and further allow you create more focus and targetting macros.

Does keybinding make me a top Arena player?

From a realistic point of view, no. It is not as simple as keybinding your abilities, jumping into arena and hitting 2.2k. Everybody and anyone can keybind but it takes a real player to utilise their spells effectively. The most important thing to consider is that you should be prepared to use your key bindings while moving. The majority of classes in World of Warcraft have important instant spells such as Ice Lance and you should be ready to spam your binding while moving around.

Once you have got your keybindings in place, practice practice and practice even more. Spam some battlegrounds before you go into arena to ensure you are familiar with your bindings. The well-known saying couldn’t be any truer, practice makes perfect. 

First of all, I’m going to go all the way back to TBC (Burning Crusade) and provide an insight into arena back then. Arena at this point was a new concept, most WoW players enjoyed the idea of battling other foes in a colosseum. All classes were viable in one setup or another and the skill-cap was high enough to seperate the good from the mediocre, all was good. We then move onto Wrath of the Lich King. The PvP aspect of the game was argueably made easier to meet the demands of a more relaxed casual arena system. The majority of the top players hugely disagreed with this change; but Blizzard catered for the majority as any company would do. Some classes were made easier to play, and some classes picked up more utility raising their skill-cap. It was during WOTLK that top players started to cancel their subscriptions – this is an important factor in what I’m about to next explain. In Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard still had an increase in sales across all continents, your average player was not cancelling his/her subscription. Your casual player enjoyed arena, they enjoyed PvE and the game in general. Blizzard noticed this and obviously continued on with the trend of updating the game in a casual sense and DING; we have Cataclysm arena.

So we now have an arena that is aimed at a casual player base – where all of the classes share pretty much the same utility and abilities in one sense or another. But, you can still enjoy arena if you know how to and I’m going to try and identify the importance of enjoying arena; and more importantly, how to enjoy arena.

Think of World of Warcraft arena as any of your other hobbies or interests – you do it because you enjoy it, right? Having fun is the most important factor when it comes to playing arena. If you have a positive mindset and have a smile on your face, you will always perform better than being angry and annoyed. Far too many people think of arena as a job and it’s completely the wrong way to look at it. Jumping into the arena should be a fun and worthwhile thing to do and I cannot stress the importance this has on your ability to play at a competitive high level. The best players in the world perform so well because they enjoy the game (in whatever state it may be). There are many factors which can affect your arena experience though, and simply identifying these and making changes accordingly will make you a better player overall.

• The people you play with. Your partners are definitely the number one factor in improving your game. You should find partners that are equal/above your skill-level, but also share a similiar personality to yourself; people who you actually enjoy socialising with.
• The class you play. Some classes perform better than others, this will always be the case with arena. There are two things you should consider when picking your class; the viability of that class and whether or not you enjoy playing it.
• The spec you play. For some classes such as Mages this is a no-brainer. But for hybrid classes this can be a hard decision. Once again, you need to decide between spec viability and how much you enjoy playing it. The best players always choose viability.
• Communication. The way you communicate with your arena partners is as equally important as the other mentioned points. You must be able to effectively communicate with your team-mates using VOIP (Such as Skype or Ventrilo). Additionally, you should ensure that language is not a barrier in your communication; pick partners who understand and speak your primary language!
• Time. The amount of time you choose to dedicate towards playing arena will ultimately decide how much you improve. Pretty self-explanatory but all I can say is practice, practice and more practice. Don’t play too much though, you’ll quickly get bored of arena.

As a final point, I’ve decided to mention the possibility of using an alter-ego or split-personality while doing arena. One of the best things about online gaming is the ability to be whoever you want to be and have a unique personality without embarrassing yourself or feeling uncomfortable. Although this is quite a deep subject on the whole it should be considered as a tool to help you be happier with your arena games.

The best way I like to refer to macros is that they allow you to automate a portion of your gameplay, allowing you to focus on the most important parts of the game. For example, you can create macros that target your enemies in the battlegrounds specifically, saving you the time and hassle of manually targeting them, and then switching back targets.

So, I’m going to be explaining how using WoW Macros in PvP will help to benefit your gameplay.

If you find yourself queueing up for battlegrounds quite a lot, you’ll need to invest in macros for a wide variety of reasons. Here are just some of them:

1. You’ll be able to switch between the enemy players extremely quickly, if you create macros to specifically target them when required.
2. You’ll be able to set a focus target, and then cast abilities on that target efficiently. For example, you could set your focus as the opposing team’s Holy Paladin, and then create a Macro that would crowd control (sheep, fear etc) the healer whenever you needed it.
3. Take control of the battleground through pure domination. Chances are, you’re a better player than your opponents. The majority of WoW players are actually young and don’t completely understand the game mechanics. Use this to your advantage and dominate them through macros.

These are just some examples of how you can use WoW Macros in Battlegrounds.

If you’re looking to achieve high ratings in the WoW Arena then you’ll most definitely need to invest in a set of macros to automate your gameplay. Now, I’m a very high-rated player and I typically play between 2500 and 3000 rating as of Cataclysm 4.3. I will personally tell you that you need macros in order to succeed in high rated arena combat. Here’s a macro example that could win you your next arena match:

/target %f
/cast Polymorph
/targetlasttarget

What this macro will do is firstly target your focus target. Secondly, it will cast Polymorph, and then lastly return to your previous target. Since WoW’s User Interface is extremely quick, you won’t even see the change in target on your UI. So, just by using this macro, you’ll save yourself the time and hassle of targeting the healer, casting Polymorph, and then switching back to your previous target.

As you should start to see by now, World of Warcraft Macros play a huge role in competitive arena gameplay!

• Death Siphon now heals for 150% of the damage dealt, up from 100%.
• Conversion now costs 5 Runic Power plus 5 per second thereafter, down from 10 Runic Power plus 10 per second.
• The Bloodworms summoned by Blood Parasite now have 200% more health and heal for triple the amount.
• Strangulate’s cooldown has been reduced to 60 seconds (was 2 minutes).
• Asphyxiate’s cooldown has been reduced to 30 seconds (was 1 minute).

Unholy

• Reaping now also applies to Icy Touch.
• Summon Gargoyle no longer costs Runic Power.
• Gargoyle Strike now also deals Shadow damage, in addition to Nature damage.
• Ebon Plaguebringer now causes Plague Strike to inflict Frost Fever, in addition to its other effects.
• The Frost and Unholy tier-14 2-piece set bonus has been reduced to 4% increased damage on Frost Strike, Obliterate, and Scourge Strike, down from 10%.

Druid

• Cyclone’s range has been increased to 25 yards, up from 20, and it now has a 20-second cooldown for Feral Druids. In addition, it will now share diminishing returns with Banish, Seduction, Bind Elemental, Hex, Freezing Trap, Wyvern Sting, Gouge, Sap, Hibernate, Paralysis, Polymorph, Ring of Frost, Repentance, and Quaking Palm.
• Symbiosis: Shattering Blow now has a 1.5-second cast time to align correctly with the Warrior version of this ability.
• Displacer Beast has been redesigned. It now triggers Cat Form and grants 50% increased movement speed for 4 seconds after teleporting, and no longer activates Prowl.
• Cenarion Ward now grants 100% increased healing.
• Frenzied Regeneration now scales 10% more efficiently with attack power.
• Tooth and Claw now scales 10% more efficiently with attack power.
• Mastery: Nature’s Guardian now provides 20% more armor per Mastery rating.
• Rejuvenation now costs approximately 9% less mana.
• Revive and Mark of the Wild now cost 55% less mana.
• Faerie Swarm can now snare more than one target at a time.
• Mass Entanglement now has a 30-second cooldown, down from 2 minutes.
• Typhoon now has a 30-second cooldown, up from 20.
• The Treants summoned by Force of Nature now deal more damage and healing, and the Force of Nature tooltip will report the capabilities of these summoned pets.
• Soul of the Forest
• Balance: Now generates 40 Lunar or Solar energy upon leaving Eclipse.
• Feral: Unchanged.
• Guardian: Generates 3 additional Rage per Mangle.
• Restoration: Now grants 70% Haste on the next spell cast after the Druid casts Swiftmend.
• Nature’s Vigil now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 3 minutes, and now increases damage and healing done by 10%, down from 20%.

Balance

• Starfall will no longer strike targets that are affected by crowd control effects.
• Guardian
• Thick Hide now reduces critical strike chance from all types of attacks made against the Guardian Druid, instead of just melee.

Restoration

• Naturalist: This new passive learned at level 10 by Restoration Druids increases all healing done by the Druid by 10%.
• Wild Mushrooms will now gain 75% of the overhealing performed by the Druid’s Rejuvenation effects, up to a maximum of 100% of the Druid’s health in bonus healing, and growing larger as they do so. When Wild Mushroom: Bloom is cast, this bonus healing will be divided evenly amongst targets in the area of effect.
• Balance/Restoration Druid PvP gloves bonus now increases Cyclone duration by 2 seconds (previously increased Cyclone range by 5 yards).

Feral

• Feral Druid PvP Gloves now also increases the duration of Bear Hug by 1 second.
• Feral Druid PvP 2-piece bonus, in addition to the Savage Roar effect, Thick Hide reduces the wearer’s chance to receive critical strikes by 20%.
• Feral Druid PvP 4-piece bonus also causes successful interrupts with Skull Bash to reset the cooldown of Enrage.

Hunter

• Aimed Shot cast time has been been reduced to 2.5 seconds, down from 2.9 seconds.
• Bestial Wrath may now be activated when there is no line of sight to the Hunter’s pet.
• Silencing Shot now has a 24-second cooldown, up from 20 seconds.
• Binding Shot no longer has a Focus cost.
• Wyvern Sting no longer has a Focus cost, and its cooldown is now 45 seconds, down from 60 seconds.
• Glyph of Marked for Death has been removed and its effects are now baseline.
• New Glyph: Glyph of Liberation. This glyph now causes Disengage to heal the Hunter for 5% of maximum health when used.

Mage

• The PvP 2 piece reduction in Counterspell now only works when you succesfully interrupt a cast.
• Glyph of Deep Freeze now also lowers the duration of the stun by 1 second in addition to taking it off GCD.
• Ring of Frost – Presence of Mind will make it instant but it won’t arm instantly.
• Invocation now removes Evocation’s cooldown, and reduces its channeling time and duration by 50%. A completed Evocation now grants 15% increased damage for 1 minute after an Evocation is completed, instead of 25% increased damage for 40 seconds. Passive mana regeneration is reduced by 50% only while Invoker’s Energy is active.
• Greater invisibility now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 2.5 minutes.
• Frostbolt cast by Mirror Images now deals 50% more damage.
• Improved Counterspell has been removed.
• Glyph of Fire Blast has been replaced with Glyph of Inferno Blast. Glyph of Inferno Blast causes damage-over-time effects spread by Inferno Blast to spread to 1 additional target.
• Glyph of Blink will now increase the movement speed bonus provided by Blazing Speed’s by an additional 50%.
• Blazing Speed can now be triggered at will, provides root/stun immunity, and has a 10-second cooldown, down from 25 seconds. This ability replaces Blink.
• Cold Snap now heals the Mage for 15% of maximum health when used, down from 30%.
• Ice Floes now has a 45-second cooldown, down from 1 minute and its duration have been increased to 15-seconds (was 10-seconds).
• Scorch now costs 3.5% of base mana, up from 0.1%. Scorch cast by Arcane Mages now deals 40% less damage but can now be affected by Arcane Charges.
• Temporal Ripples from Temporal Shield can no longer be dispelled.

Arcane

• Arcane Blast’s mana cost has been increased to 1.66667% of base mana, up from 1.5%.
• Arcane Charges now stacks up to 4 times (was 6), increases damage by 50% (was 25%), and increases mana cost by 150% (was 75%).

Frost

• Fingers of Frost now has a 15% (up from 12%) chance to activate from Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt and Frozen Orb, a 5% (up from 4%) chance to activate from Blizzard, and a 10% (up from 9%) chance to activate from Scorch.
• Glyph of Ice Lance now causes Ice Lance to deal 50% damage to 1 additional target, up from 40%.
• Frostbolt now deals 24% more damage, but its debuff no longer increases subsequent Frostbolt damage.
• Water Elemental: Freeze no longer does damage and only provides Fingers of Frost on a successful freeze.

Monk

• New Level-60 Talent: Ring of Peace: Ring of Peace has been adjusted. It now forms a sanctuary around the friendly target, causing enemies within 8 yards to be disarmed and causes enemies who cast a harmful spell to be silenced for 3 sec. Moving out of the ring does not remove the silence, but it won’t trigger again. The duration of Ring of Peace is 8 sec.
• New Windwalker and Brewmaster ability added at level 30: Nimble Brew: Nimble Brew removes all stun, fear, and root effects, and reduces the duration of those effects if they are reapplied by 60% for 6 seconds. It has a 2-minute cooldown.
• Chi Wave now does 100% more damage and healing, and no longer costs Chi, but now has a 15-second cooldown.
• Zen Sphere now has a limit of 2 (up from 1), detonates when either the recipient reaches 35% health or the Zen Sphere is dispelled, and no longer costs Chi.
• Chi Burst now does 100% more damage and healing, no longer costs Chi, and has a 30-second cooldown.
• Path of Blossoms has been removed.
• Deadly Reach has been removed.
• Paralysis is now a physical, non-magical effect, and can no longer be dispelled, grounded or reflected, and its base range has been increased to 20 yards.
• Paralysis duration is now 4 seconds / 6 seconds from the back. (down from 4 /
• Tiger’s Lust and Touch of Karma no longer have a Chi cost.
• Tiger’s Lust can no longer be used on targets that have other temporary speed increases active.
• Charging Ox Wave now has a 30-second cooldown, down from 60 seconds.
• Dampen Harm can now be used while stunned, and its cooldown will now begin when used, not when the effect ends.
• Healing Elixirs now heals the Monk for 15% of maximum health, up from 10%.
• Chi Torpedo now deals 15% more damage.
• Healing Spheres now have a duration of 1 minute. Healing Spheres generated by Mastery: Gift of the Serpent now have a duration of 30 seconds.

Mistweaver

• Life Cocoon can no longer be dispelled.
• Zen Focus, the 4-piece Mistweaver set bonus, is now more responsive.
• It is no longer possible to use Thunder Focus Tea while silenced.
• Healing Spheres will now heal for 50% of their original value if they expire without being picked up. This healing will factor in relevant Mastery.
• Xuen will now fixate on the Monk’s original target.
• Eminence now heals for 25% of the damage done (was 50%).
• Serpent’s Zeal heals for 12.5% per stack of damage done (was 25%).
• Teachings of the Monastery now provides additional benefits.
• Tiger Palm damage increased by 100% and restores 1% of max mana.
• Crackling Jade Lightning damage increased by 100%.
• Blackout Kick now hits 4 additional nearby targets for 50% damage.
• Muscle Memory: A new Mistweaver passive activated by a successful Jab or damaging at least 3 enemies with Spinning Crane Kick. Upon gaining Muscle Memory, the Monk’s next Tiger Palm or Blackout Kick deals 200% more damage.

Windwalker

• New Level-75 Ability: Storm, Earth and Fire: The Windwalker can summon up to 2 elemental duplicates that mirror damaging abilities that the Monk uses while they are active. For each spirit summoned, the Monk’s damage is reduced: 1 spirit causes the Monk and the spirit to deal 60% of the Monk’s normal damage, while 2 spirits will cause the Monk and both active spirits to deal 40% of the Monk’s normal damage. Each spirit lasts until the ability is canceled, that spirit’s target dies or otherwise becomes unavailable, or they’re killed (they can be targeted and have 10% of the Monk’s health).
• When using Fist of Fury, the stun effect will only apply from the Monk (not the spirits).
• Spinning Fire Blossoms’ damage has been adjusted to scale from weapon damage rather than attack power.
• Combo Breaker is now a passive ability granted at level 15 that grants a 12% chance to make the Monk’s next Blackout Kick or Tiger Palm cost no Chi.
• New Mastery: Bottled Fury: Bottled Fury increases the damage bonus provided by Tigereye Brew by .2% per Mastery per stack.
• Tigereye Brew now increases damage by 1% per stack, up from 2%, but is now improved by Bottled Fury.
• Tigereye Brew now gains 1 charge after spending 3 2 Chi, down from 4 Chi.
• Tigereye Brew will now stack to 20, but only 10 charges can be consumed per activation.
• A user interface alert now displays upon reaching 10 stacks of Tigereye Brew.

Brewmaster

• Black Ox Statue: The damage requirement to activate Sanctuary of the Ox has been increased by 100%. The spell tooltip has been updated to reflect the change.
• Mastery: Elusive Brawler now provides 25% more Stagger per Mastery rating.
• Windwalker Monk PvP 2-piece bonus now also increases the range of Keg Smash.

Paladin

• Hand of Purity now reduces all incoming damage by 10% in addition to its other effects.
• Eternal Flame’s periodic heal now provides 100% more healing when self-cast.
• Judgment now costs 5% of base mana.
• Repentance now has a cast time of 1.7 seconds, up from 1.5 seconds.
• Sacred Shield’s absorb effect can now be dispelled.
• Selfless Healer now boosts Flash of Light by 20/40/60%, down from 33/66/100%, and can be activated by Holy Shock, in addition to Judgment.

Holy

• Blinding Light now has a 1.8-second cast time for Holy Paladins. It remains instant cast for Retribution and Protection.
• The 4-piece PvP set bonus now grants Holy Power when casting Flash of Light, instead of Word of Glory.
• Protection
• The base damage of Consecration has been increased by 789%, and it now scales less efficiently with attack power by approximately 11%.

Retribution

• Sword of Light now increases Flash of Light by 100%, up from 30%.
• Hand of Sacrifice dispels all harmful magic effects on the target. (Retribution only)

Priest

• Halo will no longer hit enemies that are in stealth.
• Phantasm no longer makes you target-able.
• Dispersion now belongs to the shadow pool, meaning it can get locked out.
• Angelic Bulwark’s Spirit Shell can no longer be dispelled.
• Devouring Plague now deals its damage evenly through its duration.
• Dominate Mind now has a 1.8-second cast time, down from 2.5 seconds.
• Angelic Feather now has a 6-second duration, up from 4 seconds.
• Body and Soul now has a 3-second duration, down from 4 seconds.
• Focused Will is now a passive for Holy Priests, as well as Discipline Priests.
• Power Word: Solace has been replaced with a new talent: Solace & Insanity
• For Holy and Discipline, Power Word: Solace replaces Holy Fire. It deals the same damage, and interacts with other spells and abilities in the same manner, but is instant, costs no mana, and restores 1% of maximum mana on each cast.
• For Shadow, this ability causes Mind Flay to gain the Insanity effect when it’s cast on a target with 3 Shadow damage-over-time spells on it. Insanity increases the damage of Mind Flay by 33% per Shadow Orb consumed.
• Glyph of Mind Spike only works from Mind Spikes that aren’t instant casts from Surge of Darkness.
• Glyph of Desperation has been replaced with Glyph of Binding Heal. Pain Suppression and Guardian Spirit can now always be cast while stunned.
• New Glyph: Glyph of Binding Heal applies Binding Heal a third nearby friendly target, but costs 35% more mana.
• Glyph of Inner Focus has been replaced with Glyph of Weakened Soul. Casting Inner Focus now always grants 5 seconds of immunity to silences, interrupts, and dispels.
• New Glyph: Glyph of Weakened Soul reduces the duration of Weakened Soul by 2 seconds.
• Glyph of Holy Fire has been redesigned. It now increases the range of Holy Fire, Smite, and Power Word: Solace by 10 yards.

Discipline

• Focused Will now reduces damage taken by 15% per stack, with a limit of 2 stacks.
• Spirit Shell no longer benefits from Mastery, and now properly includes the benefits of Divine Aegis and critical effect chance.
• Penance damage and healing has been increased by 20%.
• Rapture now reduces the cost of Power Word: Shield by 25% 50% and provides mana equal to 150% 250% (up from 200%) of the Priest’s Spirit, but no longer benefits from Spirit provided by short-duration bonuses.
• Divine Aegis is no longer guaranteed when Prayer of Healing is cast. The effect now activates when the spell crits.

Shadow

• Flash Heal and Binding Heal will heal for 30% less when cast by Shadow Priests.
• The 2-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus is now the previous Holy Spark 4-piece bonus, instead of Diamond Soul.
• The 4-piece Holy/Discipline PvP set bonus has been redesigned. It now reduces the cooldown of Chakra by 25 seconds. When Spirit Shell is active the mana cost of Flash Heal is reduced by 50%.

Rogue

• Preparation is now a baseline ability learned at level 68.
• Preparation no longer resets the cooldown of Cloak of Shadows.
• Cloak of Shadows cooldown has been reduced to 1 minute. (Was 2 minutes)
• Blind cooldown has been increased to 2 minutes. (Was 1.5 minute)
• Versatility has been removed.
• New Level-90 Talent: Marked for Death
• Marks a target and instantly generates 5 combo points. When that target dies, Marked for Death’s cooldown is reset. This talent has a 1-minute cooldown.
• New Level-60 Talent: Cloak and Dagger
• Ambush, Garrote, and Cheap Shot now have a 30-yard range, and will cause the Rogue to teleport behind the target.
• Burst of Speed now costs 30 Energy (down from 50 Energy), can be used in Stealth, and always grants increased movement speed in addition to breaking snare effects, but no longer breaks root effects.
• Shuriken Toss now causes the Rogue to throw ranged shurikens coated in Lethal Poison and auto-attack at 75% damage (was 80%) for up to 10 seconds if the enemy is farther than 10 yards away.
• Deadly Throw can now interrupt spellcasting when used at 3, 4 and 5 combo points, and upon interrupt prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4, 5 and 6 seconds respectively, instead of 5 combo points and 6 seconds.
• Smoke Bomb now reduces damage taken by allies in the area of effect by 20%, in addition to current effects.
• Nerve Strike now reduces the effectiveness of healing provided by the target by 10%, down from 25%.
• Shadow Focus now reduces ability energy costs by 75% while stealthed, down from 100%.
• PvP set bonuses have been changed:
• Vigor is now the 4-piece set bonus and increases maximum energy by 30, up from 10.
• Deadly Brew is now the 2-piece set bonus and its effects remain unchanged.

Combat

• Vitality now increases attack power by 30%, up from 25%.
• Blade Flurry has been changed. It now strikes up to 4 additional nearby targets for 40% of normal damage.

Subtlety

• Sanguinary Vein now increases the damage the target takes by 20%, up from 16%.

Shaman

• Nature’s Guardian now preserves the shaman’s health when it expires.
• Chain Lightning will now deal the same damage to subsequent targets as it does to the first.
• Totemic Restoration now behaves as though any replaced or destroyed was active for 1 second.
• Stone Bulwark Totem now has 10% of the Shaman’s health.
• Lava Beam’s damage now increases with jumps. Each jump increases the damage by 10%.
• Elemental Mastery now has a 90-second cooldown, down from 2 minutes.
• Shamanistic Rage is now available to Elemental Shaman as well as Enhancement Shaman.
• Conductivity no longer requires that the target be within the area of effect of Healing Rain.
• Ancestral Swiftness now increases spell haste by 5% and melee haste by 10%, instead of 5% each.
• Glyph of Purge now adds a 6-second cooldown to Purge.
• Stone Bulwark Totem now absorbs 25% more damage.
• Unleashed Fury Flametongue now increases Lightning Bolt damage by 20%, down from 30%, and Lava Burst damage by 10%, up from 0.
• Primal Earth Elemental and Primal Fire Elemental now deal 20% more damage.
• Elemental Blast now has a chance to increase the caster’s Agility for Enhancement Shaman.
• Glyph of Flame has been redesigned. This glyph now causes the Shaman to heal for 50% of the damage dealt by Flame Shock.
• Flame Shock’s duration has been increased by 25%.

Enhancement

• Mental Quickness now lowers the cost of shocks by 90% (still lowers the cost of other “beneficial, instant, damaging and totem spells” by 75%).

Warlock

• Fel Armor now reduces damage taken by 10%, instead of increasing the Warlock’s armor.
• The Felhunter ability Spell Lock is now an interrupt, and no longer applies a 3-second blanket silence.
• Blood Fear is now Blood Horror. This ability is now cast on the Warlock, and causes melee attacks that strike within the next 60 seconds to horrify the attacker for 4 seconds. When cast, the ability has 1 charge, costs 5% health to activate, and has a 30-second cooldown.
• Blood Horror has a new visual and sound effect, and has a visual and sound effect when the horror effect is activated.
• Burning Rush now also prevents movement-impairing effects from reducing the Warlock’s movement speed below 100% of normal, in addition to its other effects.
• The Imp ability Blood Pact has been removed.
• Dark Intent now increases Stamina in addition to Spell Power.
• Soul Leech now provides an absorption shield instead of healing.
• Sacrificial Pact now requires the pet to sacrifice 25% of its health to activate, down from 50%.
• Kil’jaeden’s Cunning is now a passive talent, and its activated ability has been removed.
• The passive damage from Archimonde’s Vengeance no longer has a visual effect.
• Grimoire of Sacrifice now increases the damage of abilities by 20% for Destruction Warlocks and 45% for Affliction Warlocks, down from 25% and 50%. In addition, it now provides the spell Whiplash instead of Seduction when a Succubus is sacrificed.
• Glyph of Burning Embers has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Destruction Warlocks.
• Glyph of Soul Shards has been removed and its effects are now baseline for Affliction Warlocks.
• New Glyph: Glyph of Ember Tap. This glyph increases the healing gained from Ember Tap by 33%, but the health is restored over 10 seconds.
• New Glyph: Glyph of Drain Life. This glyph increases the healing gained from Drain Life by 30%.
• Glyph of Unstable Affliction has been redesigned. This glyph now reduces the cast time of Unstable Affliction by 25%.

Affliction

• Unstable Affliction’s backlash effect is now always a critical hit and deals approximately 15% more damage.

Demonology

• Chaos Wave now have a new visual.

Warrior

• The benefit of Haste from items and consumables has been increased by 100% for all Warriors.
• Bladestorm now provides immunity to disarm while active.
• Defensive Stance now reduces damage by 15%, down from 25%.
• Unwavering Sentinel now improves the damage reduction of Defensive Stance by 10% for Protection Warriors.
• Shockwave now has a 40-second cooldown, up from 20 seconds, and striking 3 or more targets will reduce its cooldown by 20 seconds.
• Second Wind now generates 15 rage (was 20) over 10-seconds and the health regeneration effect will pause while the Warrior is stunned.
• Warbringer now reduces the target’s movement by 50% for 15 seconds (8 seconds in PvP), in addition to its other effects. The 3-second stun/knockdown is now in the diminishing returns category for stuns (same as Shockwave and Storm Bolt), and not the proc stun diminishing returns category.
• Shield Barrier now scales approximately 10% less efficiently with attack power.
• Storm Bolt now deals 125% weapon damage, up from 100%.
• Enraged Regeneration now costs 30 Rage, down from 60.
• Deadly Calm has been removed from the game.
• Glyph of Incite no longer activates from Deadly Calm, and now activates from Demoralizing Shout instead.
• Glyph of Overpower now increases the duration of Die by the Sword by 1-second each time Overpower is used.
• Glyph of Death from Above no longer increases the damage dealt by Heroic Leap.
• Impending Victory will now heal the Warrior for 15% of maximum health when they have not slain an enemy, up from 10%.

Arms

• Taste for Blood has been redesigned. It now causes the Warrior to gain 2 stacks of Overpower (maximum of 5 stacks) when Mortal Strike deals damage, 1 stack when the target dodges, and no longer interacts with Heroic Strike. It now requires level 20, down from level 50.
• Slam now deals 220% weapon damage (was 190%) and now costs 20 rage (was 30).
• Overpower now costs 10 rage.
• Sudden Death now has a 25% chance to activate from Overpower instead of a 20% chance from auto attacks. In addition, using Execute makes Overpower free for 10-seconds.

Fury

• Bloodsurge now reduces the Rage cost of Wild Strike by 30, up from 20, and its duration has been increased to 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
• Protection
• The base damage of Shield Slam and Revenge has been increased by 150%, but these abilities now scale approximately 10% less efficiently with attack power.