Alterac Valley feedback

[Pershing-argent-dawn]

I’m very fond of Alterac Valley. It’s one of my favourite battlegrounds. Though, given it’s current state, the reinforcement battle is very dominant. In other words, both teams sit in their respective safe spaces/choke points of the map, waiting for the other team to run into them. This makes the match play out rather slow and not very exciting for at least the first 20-30 minutes untill one team grows too impatient and eventually tries to push. So, how do we solve this?

1. Fix the summonable units.

Currently, you’re able to summon troop of ground units, cavalry, airborne units and the crown jewel - the faction boss.

1.1. Ground Units
If you were to spawn the ground units, you’d need to collect 280 supplies from your faction’s respective mine or 70 from the enemy’s. You can only collect, carry and deliver supplies in units of 10 per turn in, which means you’d have to run back and forth 28 times between your base and mine, or 7 times between your base and the enemy mine. This is so time consuming you’d probably not be able to do it in a game. Even with a dedicated squad of 5 people, it would take over 30 minutes if you’d do it from your own mine and chances are, you’d never get the oppertunity to take supplies from the enemy mine.

Suggestions for fix:

• Reduce amount of supplies required to spawn ground units from 280 to 100 in order to make it somewhat a difficult effort alone, but easily done as a joint effort.

• Make it possible to collect and carry more than 10 units at a time.

• Remove the option to collect and carry supplies from the enemy mine.

• Make ground units slow walking(20% less of the normal running speed) when out of combat, as if marching as a unit.

• Make them powerful elites with a few abilities, though quite easily dealt with, provided you have a couple of tanks.

• Provide them with a pathing all the way down to the gates of the enemy team(Stormpike/Frostwolf Graveyard) or potentially to the very entrance of the keep which the enemy commander resides.

1.2. Cavalry
In order to summon your faction’s cavalry, you need to tame 25 of your faction’s mounts and obtain 25 hides from the enemy mounts. Killing them is no challange, but being able to get so deep into hostile territory in order to kill them, is difficult early in the game. Given where they are currently located, they’re almost as difficult to obtain as the enemy mine supplies. And much like the situation with the ground units, by the time you’ve pushed so deep into enemy territory, you probably don’t need these units.

Suggestions for fix

• Remove the requirement to obtain hides from enemy mounts.

• Increase the mounts needed to tame to 35

• Make cavalry the ultimate choke point destroyers; provide them with randomized charge abilities which knocks people between the cavalrist and the target away and/or other abilities which splits up a tightly knitted raid.

• Give them the same pathing as the ground units(see above).

1.3. Aerial units
The way these works are somewhat complicated to the extent where it’s just unnecessary. First you need to free the respective wing commander. Ensure he arrives safe and sound to their base. Provide them with enough medals/flesh(90, 60 or 30 based on each commander/item) in order to recive a beacon and send them out on a bombing mission. The beacon takes some time setting up, though once set up provides with aerial support. I personally believe this function requires a total overhaul, but not removed as the idea of it rather cool.

Suggestions for fix

• Relocate the wing commanders closer to the front. One in close proximity to the enemy faction’s captain. One in Stonehearth Bunker/Iceblood tower and one in Icewing Bunker/Tower Point.

• Reduce the amount of turn-in tokens to 45, 30 and 15.

• Change the beacon to a flaregun usage item, which allows to mark a large area(Ring of Frost-sized) for molotov bombing, rendering the area undesireable to be in for 30 seconds. 3 charges, 5 minutes cooldown.

• Parachute drops? Providing enough tokens allows the wing commander to send a limited amount of players on a airborne mission behind enemy lines(In the wilderness between Stormpike Graveyard and Icewing Bunker for Horde and Frostwolf Graveyard and Tower Point for Alliance)

• Flight paths? Providing enough tokens allows the wing commander to set up a flight path between the base and the Field of Strife. This flight path can be terminated by the enemy team if they kill the Flight Master at the Field of Strife, but can be set up again if enough tokens are once again provided.

1.4 Faction Bosses
To clarify, I’m NOT talking about Drek’thar or Vanndar, but about Ivus the Forest Lord and Lokholar the Ice Lord. These are monstrosities that each faction can summon after obtaining and delivering 200 Storm Crystals or Stormpike Soldier’s Blood. They are the faction’s ultimate weapon and should for most of the time, almost always ensure victory. I believe the way they work now is fine for the most part. Obtaining that many tokens is a joint effort done by the entire team and killing off the enemy druids/shamans before reaching their location also kills the oppertunity to summon the boss.

Suggestions for fix

• Reduce the amount of time they spend in the Field of Strife before moving from 10 minutes to 5.

• Fix bugs. Currently, the summoning process tend to bug out. And if they’re first summoned, they very often evade enemy attacks, making it even more difficult to kill them.

2. Terraforming the map
Recently there was a change to the Stonehearth Graveyard. Both elevating it and providing it one additional path, making it easier to reach Stoneheath Bunker quickly. Doing these kind of minor changes are fine with me, as they’re first and foremost out to balance the map. As such, providing additional roads and paths throughout the map, would loosen up the early game, as factions now multiple choices as to where to defend and attack. I would still say though, that final choke points as the infamous Dun Baldr bridge and the Frostwolf Keep gatehouse should still be the only paths into the inner base.

3. Sidenotes

• Unit upgrades need 500 armor scraps for each upgrade, upgradable 3 times. This should be lowered to 300 per upgrade.

• Unit upgrades should increase the strength and amount of soldiers spawned as ground units or cavalry.

• Ground and cavalry unit spawning time should have a 20 minute cooldown, dispite fulfilling the gathering requirements.

4. A grain of salt
These are but mere suggestions to improve the early bits of the match as well as make old functions viable once again. All in all, I’d say Alterac Valley is in need of a revamp, but these are some suggestions to improve it somewhat untill that day comes. That guy who just dinged 120 won’t contribute much in a fight on the front lines, but behind the lines, gathering mine supplies or taming mounts, he and a few others could tip a battle into their favor. These are changes I would like to see. What would you like to see changed if anything? Is there anything you agree or disagree with? I’m interested in hearing people’s thoughts.

TL;DR
Make Alterac Valley Great Again
And maybe a graphical update after you’re finished with Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin?