RBG strategies: Arathi

As we don't have fixed roster, we must always make our strategy on the fly. People expressed their need to have a longer discussion over strategies. Since we can't make 8 people wait for an hour until 2 will argue over strategies in chat, I here provide a series of RBG strategy discussion pages. While anyone can obviously use it, it's mainly for the guild, so "optimal roster" or "get a voice chat" comments will be deleted. The post will be rewritten based on comments and incorporated comments wiped to make space for more discussion.

I start with the easiest: Arathi Basin. We have 90%+ winrate on this BG, usually with 4-1, with several 5-0 wins. The reason for it is obvious, the voice chat that practically every enemy uses is just a disturbance here, and helps form mindless zergs that hold one and only one base.


Our current strategy implies using as many tanks as possible. One will guard Stables (ST). The other will fake Blacksmith (BS). Faking means attacking alone. If no one or just 1 comes, he will take it. If more, he hold them up. 2 groups move to Gold mine (GM) and Lumber mill (LM). I send the stronger to LM as the enemy use to like it. 1-1 pre-selected defender, who has enough survival capabilities and brain to not lose the base while alive will stay there and call incs. The rest push farm. Soon they have nothing but BS where they mindlessly send out zergs what we can easily counter. Here the defender spawns pretty close to the defended GY and - contrary to popular belief - the distance of neighboring bases is closer than any from BS, due to the terrain.

Tips:

• Open the scoreboard and check for highest damage done. Focus on that guy, he is PvE geared.
• If you are winning at a defended or captured base, don't stay there until the last bubbled paladin is down. Disengage and go somewhere else. 
• If you are dead on a graveyard, count down. Of course don't spam, but give a number first if no one else gave yet and then every full 5 secs like 20, 15, 10. It helps people to know when it worth using survival CDs and when is it better to stop healing and die to respawn with full mana in 5 secs. This can make holy priests better than discs. They die, turn into angel, keep healing, click off the angel buff 2 secs before GY pulse and here they come again!
• BG Defender addon makes calling incs easier.

List of basic fails that should be avoided and result in replacement if you do them.

• Leaving a captured base as last guy.No exceptions. If you leave a base totally empty, you are a capital case idiot. "No one came here for 10 mins" is a very bad excuse.
• Losing a base while alive. Unless 3+ enemies (or sub rogue + 1) comes, you must be able to stop capture while alive even if you are a lone guardian. You must also call "inc" before the base is attacked, preferably with the number of enemies arriving. The following info should be kept in mind:
  • Don't stand on the flag. A rogue saps you and captures it if you have high lag or reaction time. If you trinket sap, he blinds and does the same. Stand away, so he must run after sap, while you can instantly charge or use ranged spell.
  • If you are hunter, put a freezing trap to the flag.
  • If you are shaman, keep magma totem up and do stand on the flag. The enemy can't sap and break totem at the same time.
  • Warlock keep circle on the flag and use succubus.
  • If you have stealth (rogue, druid, night elf, hunter), use it. Let him open with going to the flag.
  • Keep watching all the time, all incoming roads. At GM and BS watch the cliff too, they can levitate. Call incs when you see him coming. Even if just one. The other can be in stealth.
• Losing a base while alive. Did I mention this? It's important. Not only single defender can lose it. The largest possible fail is losing a base when several people defending, all busy nuking someone while someone caps. Always watch the flag. If enemy is near it, use AoEs.
• Capping as DD in battle. You should be killing the enemy. Healers or tanks cap. You only cap if only DDs are around (bad) and in ninja situations. You shall try to wipe them, not wasting time capturing. Healers can safely capture. If they are busy healing, than the enemy is strong and capture is impossible anyway.
• Not ninjaing when possible. The ninja situation is - situational. Happens when the enemy sucks. It means that they did the No1 fail: losing base while alive. In this case the fighters pull back from the flag and the enemy follows them. If you arrive later and don't cap but join the fight, you are doing it wrong. Especially if you are a stealther who arrived with a decoy exactly for that. If you are interrupted even once, don't try again, the enemy just proved to be not idiots. Also, if there is a combat going on, you must do something. Do the ninja-cap, or if impossible, join the fight. Don't stand there!
• Assisting a faker. Faker is a tank or other high survival character (frost mage, affliction warlock, paladin, cat druid, any healer), who attacks a base only to keep 2+ enemy there or make them yell inc on voice chat. The faker is meant to die and the base is not meant to be captured (although we still remember when a faker blood DK killed 3 guys and capped BS creating 5-0). If you go there, you are as good as AFK.
• Being unwanted second (third ...) defender. We captured the base. The dedicated defender is there. No enemies are around. Why are you AFKing there? Do something!
• Healer stacking. I don't care how big an "inc lm" is. If the other healers there, or moving there and ahead of you, you don't go there. If they can't handle it, the enemy is zerging and you should attack another base with DDs. Saving LM doesn't worth losing all other.