User:Googen/Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley is an old battleground with lots of great lore. However, it has neither been updated lorewise or mechanicwise for a long period, and in my opinion, the battleground is outdated. This article is about how I wish this battleground got updated.


 * Sorry for any misspelling or grammatical errors. English is my secondary language. :)
 * The article isn't finished yet.

The official lore
This is the latest lore as of Cataclysm. For the entire Alterac Valley background story, see Alterac Valley.

Drek'Thar
(''Shortened, see the full version: Drek'Thar)

After the defeat of the Lich King, all hostilities in Alterac Valley had ceased as part of a treaty between the Alliance and the Horde. Shortly before the emergence of Deathwing, Drek'Thar, now senile and cared for by a young orc shaman named Palkar, started having visions. These included visions of the world breaking apart and various attacks on locations around Azeroth. Runners were sent and warnings were issued. However the vision seemed to be untrue and Palkar, believing this to be part of Drek'Thar's senility, dismissed the visions.

A short time later, all of his visions seemed to be true after all. Palkar realized that despite his senility, Drek'Thar was right, and resolved to send a message to Thrall of Drek'Thar's visions of the world breaking apart.

Vanndar Stormpike
Following the Shattering and the threats on Gilneas, Vanndar Stormpike has formed an alliance with Ivar Bloodfang's pack the Bloodfang worgens and has set up base on Purgation Isle.

The titan relic
During the treaty between the Alliance and the Horde, the Stormpike Expedition continued their search for ancient titan relics. One day, a large relic was discovered in the Field of Strife. The relics' size was so large, that the expedition had to call in reinforcements from Stormwind in order to completely uncover it. It was soon discovered that this relic contained power that would give the Alliance a great advantage in the war against the Horde.

However, a pack of Frostwolf scouts managed to get hold of this information and reported back to Drek'Thar. Drek'Thar being old and in bad shape, ordered Palkar to take care of the situation. Palkar ordered an attack on the expedition and sendt message to Garrosh Hellscream about their discoveries. The attack went as planned, and the uncovering came to an halt.

Reinforcements
As soon as Garrosh got the message, he sent reinfocements and ordered the Frostwolf Clan to uncover the relic themselves and bring it to Orgrimmar. The Alliance, unwilling to let the Horde get hold of the relic, decided to send a large amount of reinforcements as well. As result of these immense reinforcements and the power of the relic, the battle of Alterac Valley is now more tense than ever!

Visual

 * In the Field of Strife, one can see a large titan relic about to be uncovered. Burnt down tents and digging tools surround the area.
 * The Frostwolf Village and the towers around the battleground have been rebuilt and reinforced, using the same metal architecture as Orgrimmar. It now also has a gate to prevent Alliance players to simply run into the village.
 * Dun Baldar have also been rebuilt and now also has a wall and a gate at the end of the bridge leading into the settlement.
 * Captain Galvangar and Captain Balinda Stonehearth's buildings have been replaced with siege warshops that is controlled by its faction during the entire game, and cannot be captured.
 * Small dungeons have been added near the new siege warshops.
 * In the one near the Alliance warshop, one can find Balinda and Noreg Stormpike discussing battle tactics. Deeper inside, one can find the Horde wing commanders (Guse, Jeztor and Mulverick) being held captive.
 * In the one near the Horde warshop, one can find Galvangar and Primalist Thurloga trying to find a way to summon an ice elemental similar to Lokholar the Ice Lord. Deeper inside, one can find the Alliance wing commanders (Slidore, Vipore and Ichman) being held captive.
 * Airports have been added to Frostwolf Village and Dun Baldar.
 * The roads around the battleground are now wider to make driving siege vehicles easier.
 * Icewing Cavern and Wildpaw Cavern have been closed off.
 * The Irondeep Mine and Coldtooth Mine are now shorter and easier to navigate in. They still serve the same purpose as they do today.
 * The Horde and Alliance starting locations have also been shortened, and now serve as a backup graveyard only (if the team does not control any other graveyards). The Horde and Alliance players now start off at their bases.

Other

 * Players and NPCs now only drops money, like in all other battlegrounds. The NPCs that were used to turn in items looted from players, no longer offer any turn-in quests.
 * All the quests in the battleground have been removed.

Objectives

 * You win the battleground by reducing the enemy team's reinforcements to 0 (same as of today). Reinforcements diminish as each tower or bunker falls and replenished over time if the team controls Irondeep Mine and/or Coldtooth Mine. In order to instantly reduce the enemy team's reinforcements to 0, Horde players will have to defeat Vanndar Stormpike and Alliance players will have to defeat Palkar.
 * The towers and bunkers must be destroyed by using siege tanks and airplanes.
 * Player controlled turrets have been placed at each tower and bunker. These can be used to attack siege tanks and airplanes.
 * In order to access the enemy keep, players will have to destroy all of the enemy team's towers or bunkers. Once this is accomplished, the gate will open.
 * Siege vehicles can be rented at the siege warshops. They spawn on timers that can not be affected by the enemy players. Destroying a vehicle while still at the shop is actually useful here.
 * Once Balinda or Galvangar has been slain, the three wing commanders will become available for rescue. While on their way (mounted) back to the team's keep, enemy players may kill them. Once they have reached Frostwolf Village or Dun Baldar, they will stand near the new airports and offer airplanes, one for each of the rescued wing commanders.
 * The airplanes are controlled by the wing commanders, but the cannons are player controlled. The cannons can be used to destroy the enemy towers or bunkers, but cannot attack players or vehicles.
 * The airplanes are light units and doesn't require many hits until it's destroyed. Once destroyed, the player and the wing commander will fall down with parachutes and the wing commander will run back to the main base. Once back, the commander will start building a new airplane, and as soon as it is finished, players may fly again.

More coming soon.