Burning Crusade Anniversary PvP TL;DR
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PvP focus fully shifts to Arena, which becomes the main competitive mode. Battlegrounds are unranked and used mainly for Honor and starter PvP gear.
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Eye of the Storm is added and becomes a popular Honor farming battleground.
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World PvP expands with the addition of the Halaa capture point in Nagrand, offering gold, gear, and mounts rewards.
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Several Anniversary PvP QOL changes were introduced.
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Valuable title, mount, and gear rewards are added as arena-ranked rewards.
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How Does TBC Anniversary PvP Works
The PvP system as a whole received a significant shake-up ahead of TBC. If you’re a WoW Classic player, there are several changes defining TBC Anniversary PvP:
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Emphasis has completely shifted to Arena - it has become the definitive competitive PvP mode in TBC Anniversary.
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Battlegrounds still exist, but they are unranked, yielding no mount and ranked gear rewards. Yet they remain an outstanding source of Honor, drawing many players to play it. Battleground is where you probably will begin your TBC PvP journey and earn your first Resilience-statted gear.
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The Eye of the Storm BG map is added. It became infamous for its Honor farming strategies involving players actively trying to throw a game for higher currency gain.
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World PvP received an exciting addition in the form of Nagrand’s area Halaa capture point. By controlling this point, you’ll get gold and Halaa Battle Tokens, used for buying gear and mounts.
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Highly sought-after Gladiator Titles and Mounts were added, adding extra rewards players could chase.
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Elite gear sets were added, rewarded for reaching Rating thresholds. For more info on gearing, check out our gear up guide.
The sum of these changes shaped WoW’s PvP into something players chased for decades in later expansions. The addition of mounts and titles made players want to sink thousands of hours mastering PvP.
TBC Anniversary PvP Changes
Anniversary PvP system put an emphasis on competitive depth and accessibility. Here are all of TBC Anniversary PvP changes:
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Arena ratings are going from being team-based to personal
Unlike the old TBC system, where your rating was tied to an Arena team, in TBC Anniversary, your character gets its own rating for 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5. Each bracket has its own rating on your character, and you can climb independently in each one. This change lets you play with different partners without losing progress. You no longer need fixed rosters to grow your rating, and high-ranking players can no longer teamup with newbies and demolish noobs in low ranks.
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Ratings now start at 1500
Every player now begins each Arena bracket at 1500 rating instead of zero. This makes progression feel faster and fairer from the start and avoids long climbs from rock bottom. The change makes lots of sense since the expansion’s timeline is going to be accelerated. Note that you can still fall below 1500 based on wins and losses.
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Weekly rating reset becomes available
If your rating dips below 1500, you can reset it back to 1500 once per week by paying gold. Once again, another QOL accessibility feature, leveling Burning Crusade Anniversary PvP for casual and hardcore players.
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Gear costs and rating requirements eased
TBC Anniversary also lowers some barriers to entry when it comes to gearing. Most PvP gear no longer requires specific ratings. Only shoulders and weapons have rating requirements: shoulders require 2000 active rating; weapons require 1700. Another change aimed to reduce the grind time and allow a broader audience to reach the highest ranks.
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Heal Dampening added
To keep matches from dragging on too long, TBC Anniversary introduces healing dampening in Arena. Over time, healing becomes less effective, meaning fights don’t stretch indefinitely, and teams are forced to adhere to more aggressive strategies. For best TBC classes for your comps refer to our PvP classes tier list.
WoW Burning Crusade Anniversary PvP Rewards
Let’s be honest - you can play PvP for fun for so long, and what really keeps us going is that carrot on the stick. Here’s a full list of WoW Burning Crusade Anniversary PvP rewards:
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Reward Category |
Reward Name or Type |
How It’s Earned |
What Makes It Special |
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Arena Mount |
Merciless Nether Drake |
Reaching Gladiator tier S1 |
First seasonal Nether Drake signals early top-tier Arena performance |
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Arena Mount |
Vengeful Nether Drake |
Reaching Gladiator tier S2 |
Darker visual variant |
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Arena Mount |
Brutal Nether Drake |
Reaching Gladiator tier S3 |
Iconic purple Nether Drake |
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Title |
Challenger |
End-of-season ladder finish in the Challenger band: top 10% to 35% of the bracket ladder |
Entry-level competitive title that marks Arena participation |
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Title |
Rival |
Top 3% to 10% of the bracket ladder |
Indicates consistent Arena success above average players |
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Title |
Duelist |
top 0.5% to 3% of the bracket ladder |
Signals strong competitive skill across the season |
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Title |
Gladiator |
top 0.5% of the bracket ladder |
Prestigious title tied to the top percentage of the Arena ladder |
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Elite PvP Armor |
Season 1 Elite Sets |
High Arena rating during Season 1 |
Unique visuals with the same stats as standard PvP gear |
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Elite PvP Armor |
Season 2 Elite Sets |
High Arena rating during Season 2 |
Updated seasonal visuals that show continued Arena dominance |
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Honor Gear |
Battleground PvP Gear |
Earned with Honor Points from Battlegrounds |
Provides Resilience and forms the foundation for Arena play |
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Honor Gear |
PvP Off-Pieces |
Purchased with Honor Points |
Fills gear gaps and improves survivability before Arena push |
The TBC gladiator mount is among some of the most prestigious PvP mounts in WoW’s history. Nether Drakes are iconic among WoW players, and riding one really makes you stand out.
Eye of the Storm Map in TBC Classic Anniversary PvP
Eye of the Storm is a 15v15 battleground set in Netherstorm. What distinguishes Eye of the Storm map in TBC Classic Anniversary PvP from other BG maps is that it combines both tower control and flag capture objectives. The goal is to reach 2000 points before the enemy team.
On the map, there are four marked towers: Mage Tower, Draenei Ruins, Blood Elf Tower, and Fel Reaver Ruins. Alliance spawn is closer to Mage Tower and Draenei Ruins, while Horde spawn is next to Blood Elf Tower and Fel Reaver Ruins.
To capture a tower, players must stand in the capture area near the flag. The capture bar moves toward the faction with more players inside the zone. Stealthed players cannot capture towers, and fighting outside the capture area does not help your team contest it.
Tower control generates a passive score every 2 seconds, scaling heavily with the number of towers held:
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1 tower: 1 point per 2 seconds (0.5 points per second)
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2 towers: 2 points per 2 seconds (1 point per second)
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3 towers: 5 points per 2 seconds (2.5 points per second)
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4 towers: 10 points per 2 seconds (5 points per second)
Teams usually employ a 2-2 strategy, holding two points while contesting the flag. Sometimes, when one team dominates, a 3-1 strategy focused on gaining a passive score can be employed.
A neutral flag spawns in the center of the map. Picking it up requires a 10-second channel, which interrupts on damage. Once captured, the flag must be delivered to one of your controlled towers to score points. Capturing with more towers yields higher rewards:
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1 base (75 pts)
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2 bases (85 pts)
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3 bases (100 pts)
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4 bases (500 pts)
You cannot mount or stealth while carrying the flag, but movement abilities like Sprint, Travel Form, and Blink are allowed.
