Guard tower

Guard towers are armed scout and watch towers, dedicated to defending settlements instead of just detecting approaching armies. Humans, dwarves, high elves and orcs are known to build guard towers and they all look very different from each other.

Alliance guard towers
Guard towers were scout towers outfitted with deadly bolts that could pierce targets on land, sea and air.

Horde guard towers
Guard towers were watch towers upgraded to loose deadly projectiles upon any approaching enemies.

Alliance guard towers
These brick towers provide the first line of defense against enemy invasion. The arrows that fly from these bastions are renowned for their deadly accuracy.

During the Invasion of Durotar, Admiral Proudmoore had a unique Castle built in Tidefury Cove, surrounded by five Castle Guard Towers.

High elven guard towers
These magical towers are used by various enemy factions in the Path of the Damned campaign, specifically the high elves of Quel'Thalas and the mages of Dalaran.

World of Warcraft


While human scout towers are plentiful, no true guard towers existed until Wrath of the Lich King. Sometimes guard towers were home-made by putting ballistae on top of normal towers, like in the Alliance Base of the Battle for Mount Hyjal raid.

Modern human guard towers can be seen in the following places:
 * Carrion Fields - Dragonblight
 * Fordragon Hold - Dragonblight
 * Highbank - Twilight Highlands
 * Victor's Point - Twilight Highlands
 * Wellson Shipyard - Tol Barad

Dwarven outposts such as North Gate Outpost, South Gate Outpost, Algaz Station and the Valley of Kings are also sometimes identified as guard towers. Finally, almost any orcish tower will be a watch tower, but the Razor Hill Watchtower is also sometimes specifically identified as a guard tower despite having no armaments.