Darkspear Islands in WoW Forever — WoW Event Guide

Darkspear Islands is a battleground for two teams of 15 players. Teams must hold bases and deliver the flag. The first side to reach 2,000 points wins. Characters from level 30 to 60 can join.

You can queue for Darkspear Islands starting at level 30. Speak to your faction's battlemaster or use the portal at its camp in The Barrens. You do not need to travel to the camp to queue from a capital city.

Alliance: Stormwind

James Battlewing is in Stormwind Keep. Speak with him and choose the battleground queue.

Horde: Orgrimmar

Gruga Bloodblade is in The Valley of Honor, inside the battlemasters' building on the eastern side of the district. Speak with her to join the queue.

Battlemasters in other capital cities

Alliance — Ironforge, Sean Guardoff.

Alliance — Darnassus, Ferry Listi.

Horde — Undercity, Ragbul Firstblade.

Horde — Thunder Bluff, Boruk Stormbreaker.

Alliance: Dalaran

Bimble Sparkfingers accepts queue requests in the lower level of Dalaran, near the other battlemasters. The coordinates below are on the Alterac Mountains map.

Portals in The Barrens

Each faction has a camp in The Barrens with a portal to queue for the battleground. The reward vendors and quests are there too.

Horde: the camp is on the coast near Ratchet. Look for the quartermaster, Krig Bomeat.

Alliance: the camp is by Northwatch Hold. Use the quartermaster's position on the coast as a landmark.

The camp coordinates point to the quartermasters, who are near the portals. On the map, the upper green marker shows the Horde camp landmark and the lower one shows the Alliance landmark. Use the portal to queue; the vendors are for buying rewards.

There are four capture points on the battleground. Controlled bases earn points for your team, so capturing a base is only worthwhile if you can defend it. An empty base that the enemy takes back right away is far less useful than a position you can hold.

A flag appears in the center. Pick it up and deliver it to a base controlled by your team. Delivering the flag awards bonus points and can speed up your victory, but your team needs to control a base first.

Your team's main objective is to combine base control with flag deliveries. If everyone rushes to the center, the enemy can take your bases and score points while you fight over a single flag.

1. Capture the nearest base. Leave a defender there to watch for approaching enemies and call out an attack.
2. Choose your next target. The main group should attack one point together instead of splitting into several small groups.
3. Check the flag's position. Go for it once your team controls a base where the carrier can deliver it and can provide an escort.
4. Keep defenders within reach. Do not send everyone to the far side of the map to chase a single enemy.

This is a starting plan, and you should adapt it to the match. If the enemy leaves a base undefended, capturing it may be more valuable than continuing a fight in the center.

The flag carrier should take a route to your base that your team can defend. Chasing retreating enemies usually only delays the capture.

The escort keeps pursuers busy, helps the carrier survive crowd control effects, and prevents enemies from cutting off the route. Healing and removing harmful effects are often more valuable here than dealing extra damage.

Base defenders make sure the point is still controlled by your team when the flag arrives. If you lose that base, the carrier will need another controlled point where they can deliver the flag.

Before leaving the center, it helps to briefly call out where the flag is headed. That lets allies meet the carrier instead of searching for them on the other side of the islands.

When defending, early warnings give your reinforcements time to arrive. Call out the number of attackers and which point is under attack right away, before you are killed.

Do not chase a lone enemy far from the base. That can leave the point open to another attacker. If you are outnumbered, try to delay the capture and wait for help.

After a successful defense, part of the group should move on to the next objective. Keeping the whole team on a safe base while the enemy captures the others is also a poor trade.

The battleground has faction rewards that require reputation. These include armor, weapons, rings, cloaks, accessories, and consumables. The available selection depends on your reputation level.

Complete battleground quests and turn in the marks you earn by participating to build reputation. At Exalted, a short quest chain becomes available and rewards a special tabard.

Battleground reputation is tracked separately from your PvP rank. Buying items from faction vendors and progressing through the overall rank system serve different purposes.

• Play for bases and the flag, not just your personal kill count.
• Before heading to the camp, check which quests you can turn in at the same time.
• Compare rewards with your current gear: an item with useful stats is better than a random purchase just because it is rare.
• After a loss, identify what your team lost most often: bases, flag carriers, or time spent traveling. It is easier to improve the next match by making one specific tactical adjustment.