PvP newb looking for some help getting started

[Treed00d]

So,

I've been raiding the past few years as a Resto Dr00d and I still love it, but now, being all geared and what not, I find myself only really playing on raid nights and doing nothing else. I decided to roll a Warrior to get a nice new alt to futz around with. But now, as level 85 inches ever closer (I'm currently at 83 so not too much time left) I find myself wondering about the process of getting involved in the PvP side of WoW.

Being a long time raider, I've devoted a large portion of my WoW time to the PvE aspect of the game and now want to explore PvP, which I haven't ever really touched. I've leveled a few toons to play in lvl 70-74 BGs, but obviously it's not the same as the big leagues, so to speak. So my question is simple.

How does one get into PvP?

Although it might seem rather vague I just want to know the steps I should take to get into RBGs and have a successful pvp career. I never was a fan of arena (Bad memories still haunt me from the BC era) so RBGs would be more of my cup o tea. I've been around the internet looking into different priority/talent/gear suggestions but I feel like theres so much to choose from, and I'm just getting confused over it.

I'd love to hear other players opinions on what to do first as soon as I hit 85 and what people's favorite spec is for Warriors, but any and all help regarding getting involved in PvP will be appreciated.

Just let a newb Warrior know all about what to do once I hit that magical 85 and any other Warrior PvP advice yall can offer including sites I should be checking and addons I may want to use. Cuz as of right now I'm pretty lost lol Thanks

[jayhawk92555]

When you hit 85 ( if you haven started already ) just do random BG's and/or the weekend CTA to grind honor. You'll need a full set of gear before you even think of setting foot in RBG's. honor comes fast, especially if you get a few firends or people on your server to que together and you sting wins togehter. Warrior is pretty good in just pwning face and they make great flag carriers so decide what you want to do and go with it.

[Chopstix22]

Yeah, I'd second what Jayhawk said. I think the #1 most important thing about PvP is realizing that your going to die A LOT. It may sound simple but you'd be be surprised how people are used to clearing PvE content and not dieing. PvP is such a change going from 1 shoting bosses, not standing in the fire, and watching out for a fight mechanic. Its not like your wiping a raid when you die, you just get a 15 sec timeout while you wait to spawn again. Use this time to learn. Why did you die? What did the most damage? Could you have done anything to prevent that damage? I find the "deaths" tab on recount really helpful for this.

#2 I'd say find some good friends to go into BG's with. From my experience, it seems to increase your chances of winning a lot if you simply have 2-3-4 buddies to go into a BG together to work as a team. Not only will it help your chances of winning, but its fun just to sit on vent talking talking about blowing people up in BG's or even how to play a class better if someone else has experience in that class. You can get a lot of ideas from friends who have previous BG experiences. Such as "Dude, this one time this warrior did 'this', 'this', and 'this'...and I was just screwed. There was nothing I could do to survive.". Just from those 2 sentences you now have some new technique ideas to try on your warrior.

TL;DR: You're gona die a lot, learn from it, and don't let it discourage you. Play with friends, you seem to win a lot more and its a lot more fun.

[Treed00d]

Thanks for replies so far. And goddamn were you right about dying a lot lol. Honor is coming at a rather steady pace and I'm finding myself supporting other players atm right now with slows/stuns/what have you. I've gathered a few friends who also have a bunch of PvE experience but not much for PvP. We are starting to really get into it even though we seem to die a ridiculous amount.

I just have one more question, I'm at a loss for gear. I leveled this toon as Prot and switched to Arms as soon as I hit 85. I went out and bought all the vicious pyrium gear but as it has a lot of haste on it for mysterious reasons It seems really sucky for warriors. Should I run dungeons as prot, get some gear for Arms, then run DS for a weapon? Or would it make more sense to just PvP with the steady stream of honor to get the full 390 ilvl gear and eventually a weapon from that?

Thanks again for the advice so far its been helpful

[Rawt]

PVP for honor gear. Don't bring PVE gear into PVP when you're green to it, especially with how easily kited warriors are nowadays.

[Borfl]

Geez, sorry you rolled a warrior in this state. As a fresh 85 you're going to do fuck all since your damage is going to stay crap and you're going to get shat on very hard since warriors don't have reliable defense.

Honestly I'd start getting PvE trinkets and Gurthulak then start crushing people.

You're also going to need a shit ton of macros. I mean a shit ton of macros to play well, look around for a list.
For addons I like "TellMeWhen" it's very user-friendly and allows you to track durations/CD's on specific abilities and place the frame anywhere on the screen.

Also if you want to get into RBGs, play Prot. All you're going to do is run flag caps and play as the stun-bot.

[wynterlyn]

I think the best place to start is to get the 4000 Honor cap before you hit 85 and save it. As soon as you ding 85 you can easily pick up a couple of pieces. I normally go for the Chest and Leggings/Hand. Invest in the 377 Plate PVP gear. It will cost you a bit but should at least give you a fighting chance at the beginning. I also recommend you hit your weekly Valor Cap and convert it to Conquest Points. Should take you around 2-3 weeks to get your Head Piece. By this time you can start getting into RBGs and Arenas.

I think Prot Warriors and Arms are doing decently right now, especially prot. They mitigate a ton of damage and are pretty good with a pocket healer. However, warriors ain't what they once were at the start of the expansion where everyone rerolled to play a Warrior. I think the new FoTM are rogues.

So yeah that would be my advice. Check out Elitist Jerks or Arena Junkies for more advice.

[Ramaloce]

Ah, I remember being new to the PvP part of WoW.

There has already been some guides that's been mentioned so I wont bother with that. The best advice I can give you is, bring friends and support your team mates as much as you can, Go into LFR and get the str version of the damage proc trinket (I don't know the name), and finally if the PvP gets too frustrating you can always run the 5 mans and convert the Valour and Justice to Conquest and Honor