Tol Barad Strategy Guide

[Varbaro]

Under Construction

• Introduction

• Joining to the battle

• Battle

• Quests

• Achievements

• History

Introduction

Tol Barad, the newest outdoor PvP zone in Cataclysm like Wintergrasp in Northrend, also it provides to the winning side an awesome daily quest hub and access to a Vault of Archavon-style encounter, the Baradin Hold raid.

Mechanics
Maximum 80 players per faction able to enter the zone during combat. Unlike Wintergrasp, Tol Barad will not have Tenacity buffs. Instead, the queue system will attempt to match each side at a 1 to 1 ratio.

"If there are only 50 Alliance players, the system will find only 50 Horde players -- even if there are 200 Horde players queued."

There are minimum cap also.

"With the minimum cap is 25, if 25 Horde que and 150 alliance que, the battle will be 25 vs 25. And if 25 Horde que, and 10 alliance que, it will then 25 v 10."

*confirmed by Zarhym

Unlike Wintergrasp there are 3 buildings that the controlling faction starts with. The victory condition for the opposite faction is capturing all three buildings at the same time. As the time limit over the defenders win.
Whoever has more players near the flag gains control of the area, much like Eye of the Storm or Wintergrasp workshops. Only difference; if a player dies while defending a tower, that will directly affect the slider bar, moving it in favor of the opposing faction.
The battles last for 15 minutes with a 2 hours 30 minutes cooldown period. Also there are three towers around, destroying each tower extend the battle by 5 minutes.

Map with the notable points.

click:

Joining to the battle

• The zone stands west from Eastern Kingdooms, but players can reach it by portls from Orgrimmar or Stormwind only from lvl 85. Or mages can make teleport or portals from lvl 85 as well.
  But you can join the que 15 minutes before the battle starts anywhere in the game at the PVP panel(press „H”).

• At few realm the faction ratio is not balanced, so Horde or Alliance players there can’t join to the battle when it starts (because less people joining from the oppositing faction or more than 80 players waiting in the queue already). For them it is safe tip; try to be in Tol Barad before the signing starts (if your faction not control the zone, be on the bridge), then the row will automatic instant pop-up and your chance to get into the battle will be higher.

Pro TIP:

• Even if you didn't get invitation to the battle, you should just stay near to bridge between Tol Barad Peninsula and Tol Barad. (If you want enter the pvp zone without invitation the game will teleport you out after few seconds). But once the battle is close to finish (around 10 sec to finish), you should run into the zone ( through the bridge) then you'll get the honor and mark rewards - depending if your faction is lost or won the battle - even if you didn't get any invitation.

Battle

Currently the Tol Barad battle map favor the Defenders, and the rules too.
The defenders start in the middle and they have all three bases. The attackers must control all three in the same time to win the battle, but the defenders just need to control one base to prevent the attackers. The attackers only have 15 minutes time, they can get more by destroying towers (5 for each).

The attackers spawn near the brigdge only at start, later when they are killed, they respawn right next to the closest buildings. So the buildings what they want to capture, this is good for them. But meanwhile the defenders just respawn in the middle, same distance from all three point, perfectly give them a chance to recapture the lost points.

Defensing

• Best tactic usually zerg one base and wait there. The attackers will move around in circle and cap 1 base. As soon as another point captured (or before this) the defenders just need to zerg the first capped base, and because of the way the cap mechanics work ->more people = faster cap, switches the cap point almost instantly. Then this process repeat every time, and the defending team win Tol Barad easily in 15 ( or max. 30) minutes.

• Defending Tower is not necessary to win. With this "turtle in one base" tactic doing, the attacker team's will not have better chances by destroying towers.

Victory rewards for defending are 180 honor points and 3 Tol Barad marks.

Attacking

1. Destroying towers can help you a bit, finish them fast at the start of the battle. Head to one of the Abandoned Siege and lead it to a tower, once you are close enough the Deploying option will be available, and u can leave your Siege, it will shoot automaticly.
Always 2 siege spawn near at each underground quest hub / D-block, Cursed Depths and The Hole/ so overall 6 vehicles.

2. Capturing bases. Same mechanic as the WG workshop capture, the more players you have there, the faster the flag turns. (In an older blue post they said, killing enemies will affect the progress bar as well * not confirmed).
Attacking one means not defending another.

• 1, This means, at start split to 2 groups capture 2 base fast ( meanwhile the defenders usually turtle only one base and waiting for the attackers for the first steps).

• 2, After capturing 2 base almost in same time, the team must regroup and zerg the one where the allaince defenders waiting.

• 3, This time the defenders will be confused, because they don't know to which base they should marsh - both captured same time - so they will pick 1 randomly - moving clockwise or counter-clockwise.

First victory chance point : If the Defenders decide slow, and the attackers move fast enough they have advantage to win this battle now. If not, then

• 4, As soon as the defenders left the last base, only few players from the attacker team's needed to stay to capture it. All other must follow and zerg ( slow/cc/stop) the defenders, preventing them to recapture one of the point or slow down/switch the progress bar.

Fun strategy:

• 1. Change your faction to defender' one

• 2. ?

• 3. Profit

At the moment this is the best option via the balance is not optimized.

Victory rewards for attacking are 180* 1800 honor points and 3 Tol barad Marks. * from the dec. 27 patch

Quests

Whoever wins gains access to a hub of 12 quests in the center of the zone. Some notes on these:
Of the 12 quests, there are 3 that can be completed at any time within the zone (but not during the battle):

• The Leftovers is a quest asking you to kill 12 NPCs that are hanging around the buildings you fight for control of during the PVP event.

• Swamp Bait is asking you to collect 8 hides from Crocolisks in the swamp next to the center area. Hides are a 100% drop.

• A Huge Problem is a group quest tasking you with killing an 85 elite that patrols around the zone named Problim. He's huge and hard to miss. He carries a tree, and has a buff that says so.

Beyond those 3 quests, there are 3 cell blocks with 3 quests each.
The zone rotates through which cell block is open at a given time. So, in essence, you can only do 3 quests (beyond the 3 listed above) until the block that's open rotates.
The quests for each of the cell blocks are more or less the same, just in a different area with different mob types.
One quest will ask you to kill a certain number of the mobs you'll find in that block.
Another will ask you to collect items from within that cell block. These are clickable items found on the ground within the block you're in.
The last one will ask you to kill a named mob within that block. For all three, you have to loot the mob in question to complete it. The mobs in the way of the named all hit pretty hard and are pretty densely packed together. You don't want to have to run back through because you forgot to loot the quest item.

• D-Block: This cell block is occupied by demons. It's northwest of the central hub. The named you have to kill is a core hound named Svarnos. He can be found by following the right path in the block. There are quite a few shackles (the item you need for this block) in the room behind him too, so be sure to look around in there for those once he's dead.

• Cursed Depths: This cell block is occupied by undead. It's directly east of the central hub. The named you have to kill is a skeleton mage named Archmage Galus. He can be found by following the left path in the block.

• The Hole: This cell block is occupied by human prisoners. It's southwest of the central hub. The named you have to kill is Warden Silva. He can be found by following the right path in the block.

Each of these quests rewards about 17 gold and a Tol Barad Commendation.

Achievements

Tol Barad Veteran Win 100 battles for Tol Barad.
Tower Plower Destroy a tower in Tol Barad.

• Currently this achievement text is not correct, your vehicles must land the killing blow to get it!* (not confirmed)

Tol Barad Saboteur Destroy 20 deployed Siege Engines.

• Abandoned Siege Engines does not counts, once they commanded and deployed they get a "buff" and they count. You can do it over more battles, the count does not reset.

Pit Lord Argaloth Defeat the Pit Lord Argaloth.

• Your faction need to control the zone to enter the Baradin Hold raid.

For Whom The Barad Tols Attack Tol Barad and succeed in 10 minutes or less.

• Currently this achievement bugging like hell, even if you are attacker or defender just win it, and at your first win you get it even if it lasts more than 20 minutes.

Tol Barad All-Star Get 10 honorable kills at the ironclad garrison, warden’s vigil and slagworks.

• Apparently each part of the achievement resets upon dieing, but finishing 1 line saving it, so you can get 10 at 1 location, die then moving to another.

Towers of Plower Destroy 3 deployed siege engines in a single Tol Barad battle.
Breaking out of Tol Barad Complete 100 daily quests in Tol Barad.

• Important: Tol Barad Peninsula daily quests currently doesn’t show up in the progress bar, but they still count.

Explore Tol Barad Explore Tol Barad, revealing the covered areas of the world map.

"Peninsula

• Hellscream's Camp - 55,77 (Hellscream's Grasp on the map) - Horde Quest Hub

• Baradin Base Camp - 75,58 - Alliance Quest Hub

Tol Barad

• The Hole - 43,69

• D-Block - 42,38

• Cursed Depths - 60,49

The last 3 are not discoverable on the map, will need to be fixed in a later patch. Out of the battle, one of the 3 is open for the relevant daily quest for the underground areas - the other 2 are locked at all times."

History from Wowpedia

During the Second War, it was an island citadel of Stromgarde. The island was also the site of a fierce battle between the Horde and Alliance. The Horde, having already conquered most of the dwarven lands, were preparing to strike out into the northern kingdom of Lordaeron. At the time, the island was being used as a staging point to strike back at orc raiders. In response, Orgrim Doomhammer launched an invasion of the island. Overwhelmed early in the war by the orcs, no life more complex than a few hardy weeds and insects survived the Horde's bloody victory. An aura of death seemed to radiate from the island, and the original fortress was razed to the ground. Tol Barad became a frightening symbol of the Horde's merciless tenacity and barbarity.
Years later, after the Second War, the island nation of Kul Tiras claimed the former stronghold and established a prison over the ruins of the old fortress. The site of many historic battles in the Second War, Tol Barad is now home to a magic prison. Wizards from both Dalaran and Stormwind oversee the complex, and prisoners include enemy mages, lesser and greater demons, warlocks, and undead war criminals. The wizards do not allow anyone near the island and keep the prison's existence secret.

gief mottled drake !

[Varbaro]

rawr ((

[Deleted]

nice guide

[Deleted]

nice work mate- only problem is actlyy gettin into the bloody thing lol

[PyroGhozt]

Your guide is good, what is it doing in the uncommon section? It should be in the rare section. I mean your guide actually has substance information and screenshots. Where as some of the guides in rare section are just a few typed paragraphs with little research and effort. (Looks at the Volatile farming guides with disgust)

[Jiraiyah]

When I clicked your guide, especially in the uncommon section, I assumed all I would see in large, bolt print was:


ZEEEERRRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!!

[Stockli]

Just need a guide on a guaranteed way to get in

[temprea]

I spoke with some folks on Bleeding Hollow and the Alliance there seems to take Tol Barad back at will.

The strategy they generally use on attacking is:

1. Take Ironclad Garrison (IG) on the way in - leave 5 to defend
2. The raid members then go attack Slagworks (Slag) or Warden's Vigil (WV) as the capping of IG is being completed by the defenders
3. Leave 5 to defend and the remainder of the group goes to the final spot on the map - once that has started to cap - 1/2 of the raid (or 1/2 of all the characters in the battle) run to the middle and take on the horde as they ressurect
4. The remainder go back to IG or whatever place is under attack

I have not been able to coordinate this on Llane - still trying, but it seems to work if all are on the same page.

While attacking, it is best to not fight in the road, except for the central group attacking the resurrecting players during that phase of the fight.

The siege engines seem to be of dubious value. If you are coordinated, you do not need the extra time; if uncoordinated then the extra time does you little good except to get more honorable kills.

[Kliff]

The trick is to get 39 other people in the raid, and 40 other people in the other raid to follow the strat.

[Deleted]

40 other people !!!

[Deleted]

yeah, read the CHAT!!!!!

[Rhynarion]

People actually read the raid chat? Im pretty sure they are too busy tunnelling.