Thank you all for the responses to my Level 70 & PvP thread...it was quite informative.

Being on a PvE server, I have just recently discoverd the PvP world, and I'm surprised to find that I quite love it! One minute (at level 69) I'm taking down a Level 70 Troll Shaman (with a Tauren Druid healing him in the background), and the next minute, I am being slapped silly by an Undead Mage 6 levels below me! Wheeee! What fun! It's so unpredictable, and in my books, thats excitement.

So, I've decided to experiment with my Druid abilities in AV (for example, I have yet to charge into a mob) and then, once I am big, strong, and all growed up, I want to try an arena.

Unfortunately, none of my WoW buddies are interested in PvP, and I don't really know anyone who wants to be on an arena team. I hate to ask such a morbid question, but is there such a thing as a PuT (pick up team)? Ugh, I know....but it is possible to find yourself a good PuG.....and strangers do become friends....

Anyway, let's say I clear this hurdle, and actually find some people to team up with, what do I do then? How do I get started?

And, FINALLY, can anyone tell me how I got my ass handed to me on a platter by a 63 Mage????

Fire mages are the bane of my druids existence. They hurt. Frost mages we can pretty much shut down with shifting out of Frost Nova and stunning with feral charge. We have no mitigation of spell dmg like we do physical dmg in bear form, so you'll take the brunt of their attacks.

The fact you didn't resist most of his spells is interesting, he must have had a good bit of +spell hit.

Yes, there are non-guild teams in Arena. Arena is VERY focus fire intensive. You want your group to be very coordinated. Find people in your guild or people on your friends list that may just want to try out a group and see how it works. The charter to start a group does cost some gold though, so do your daily quests ;)

The addition of voice chat makes the "PuT" concept much more feasible. Having Ventrillo or TeamSpeak to coordinate crowd control and focus fire makes a HUGE difference.

The arena rewards are awesome enough that I would really push some of my friends to get a team together. Get them to see it as a time to goof around, because in the beginning YOU WILL get your butts handed to you very often. If you go in with an attitude that you can't have fun if you don't win, you'll quit after the first week.

But bear in mind, your team only has to complete 10 games a week to get points. You don't have to win, but winning gives you more points. It took me six weeks of getting slapped around 10 times a week to get http://thottbot.com/i31971, but now that my team is getting some experience and gear we're actually starting to win more than we lose. The gear is just awesome and it doesn't take long to play 10 games a week.

So, I've decided to experiment with my Druid abilities in AV (for example, I have yet to charge into a mob) and then, once I am big, strong, and all growed up, I want to try an arena.

When you are all big and grown up durid, with lots of uber pvp gear, find yourself a nice healer to follow you around in any battleground healing you. Just charge around in bear form, it's hilarious hitting rogues for 2k maul and 2.5k mangle while their puny daggers hit you for 100, 120, 92... :p
Invincible bare mode is awesome.


As for getting start with arenas.
There are practice arenas you can try, just go to the arena battlemaster (he stands with the other battlemasters for warsong gulch, AV, etc). Speak to him and ask to join a practice battle in 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5. Be warned though, these matches tend to be a lot easier than a "rated" match.

Rated matches are when you get a specific team together, and go up against other teams. To join with your rated team, you need to be group only with the people you want to play that arena with (they must be in your arena team as well, obviously).

To create an arena team, you need to obtain a charter from the friendly goblins in Nagrand. They stand outside of the arena in the middle-east of the zone, just south of the horde town. I believe the cost is 90g for a charter for a 2v2 team. You then need someone to sign the charter with you. Once this is done, return the charter to the same goblins and your team is created.
It's recommended to play 10 games per week. You can play more if you like, but there is no intrinsic benefit to have more games played.


-Annikk