WOW Zone:Strand of the Ancients  

The Strand of the Ancients is a battleground located off the southern coast of Dragonblight. This battleground was introduced in Wrath of the Lich King and consists of 3 walls which have to be destroyed to continue, capture points and a graveyard after each wall. The overall goal is to be the faster team to break through the last wall and capture the relic inside.

Map of the Strand

Objective

The Strand of the Ancients is played in two rounds, with each lasting up to 10 minutes. In Round 1, the Alliance attacks, while in Round 2, it is the Horde's turn to mount the offensive. During each round, the attackers prepare for battle by splitting into two boats and approaching the northern end of the strand. Meanwhile, the defending team will spawn at the southernmost graveyard and moves towards their defensive positions.

This battleground is similar to the invasion of Normandy (called "D-Day") in World War II, where the attacking team lands on the island at the start of the campaign and must use siege weapons to break through the island's defenses (walls), while capturing their graveyards along the way. Once the first team captures the relic or 10 minutes have elapsed, the factions are switched so the attacking team will become the defending team and vice versa.

Playing

To enter this battleground, players must be level 71 or higher, and there are two different battleground level ranges ("brackets") available to players, the 71 through 79 brackets and the level 80 bracket. To enter, players must speak to a battlemaster in order to join. These Battlemasters can be found in all capital cities as well as Shattrath in Outlands and Dalaran in Northrend.

The Basics

• The attacking team starts off-shore on two boats, splitting the attacking team, and moves south toward the relic.
• The defending team starts at South Graveyard and moves to defensive positions on the beach or on the turrets next to the walls.
• There are a total of 6 walls. There are 2 sets of 2 on each side, and then 2 in the middle line to block the way to the end.
• There are Siege weapons which will help you destroy the walls, buildings and enemy players.
• As you capture graveyards on both sides, more siege engines will spawn at the depots behind the first gates. This will allow faster attacks on the remaining 2 gates.
• Graveyards can not be re-captured by the defending team once they have been capped.
• Defenders can make use of the turrets on the walls to destroy siege vehicles and kill enemy players.
• The faction who reaches the relic in the quickest amount of time wins. The second round attackers have as much time to capture the relic as the opposing team took to attain it, making it (at max) a 20 minute game. So, for example, if the initial attacking team took just 6 minutes to gain the victory, the opposing team will have that long when it's their turn.
• If neither team captures the relic, the game is considered a draw and each side is given a single mark of honor.

Siege Weapons

There are a variety of weapons available to players to aid in either the siege or defense, from turrets to seaforium charges. Each has specific uses for different areas of the game, although they can all be used to kill, harass or hinder the enemy.

The Demolisher

• The Demolisher has a short range attack and a long range attack.
• It is designed to destroy walls up close with the ram attack, since it is slow to turn. the long range attack is not as effective because of this and is therefore less effective against enemy players.
• It can carry up to 3 players however, these players can be targeted individually and are exposed to attacks from enemy players. To counter this, these players can still cast while the vehicle is moving.
• It has around 80K HP, is very slow and has a fixed turning speed. It moves about as fast as a player runs.

Turret

• This weapon shoots an explosive projectile into the targeted area for uo to 6,000 damage on demolishers and about 4,000 on players.
• The Turret has 60K HP, a 2 second CD on firing and is vulnerable to ranged attacks.

Seaforium Charges

• Offensive players can pick these up either at the docks or the vehicle emporiums.
• When placed, they detonate in 10 seconds, causing roughly 25% of the walls' HP in damage.
• Defending players can defuse them.
• If a player holding one is killed, a barrel will spawn that allows another player to grab it.
• Players are allowed to use ground mounts while holding a charge.

Tactics

Some common tactics include rushing walls with charges, leaving so many charges at the wall makes it hard to defuse them before they all go off, Vehicle assault with melee defending the demolishers, or a combination of the two.

Defenders should make use of the turrets and pick off rushers as they run in. Paladins on a mount with crusader aura make this very difficult, but noticing the rush can save the wall. Also, try to take out demolishers unless a rusher gets your attention; most of the time, you will be in a lot more trouble against demolishers than a single mage targeting your turret.

Grave Yards

On offense, you want to cap the east and west Grave Yards ASAP. Do NOT capture the South Grave yard until the relic door has been destroyed. Capping the south before the walls are down slows down your teams ability to get new tanks back into the fight.

On Defense, defend your east and west GY's with a furor. The turrets on the Red and Purple walls can shoot players that are trying to capture them making it very easy for 1 person to defend a GY. Let the Offense cap the south GY if the walls are still up, it will slow them down.

Turrets

Use Turrets to destroy tanks and defend East and West GYs. A tag team of turret operators at a gate can kill a tank before it reaches the wall. The closer the target is to where the rocket lands the more damage it will take. Up to 6000 dmg against a tank and 3000 against a player.

The turrets cannot hit targets beneath them, so a tank that is left or right justified on the wall can only be hit by 1 of the turrets.

Tanks

Tanks are the best means of winning this fight. As such your team should endeavor to always be in control of 4+ tanks while on offense and should target tanks with max DPS while on Defense. Always capture the East and West GYs to increase tank supply and reduce travel time. Tanks should operate in groups, never go in one at a time. You will get 1) Owned 2) Yelled At 3) Laughed at by opposing team.

Honor

The Strand of the Ancients items are available by spending honor like other battlegrounds, where accrued honor and, in this case, Strand of the Ancients Marks of Honor are used. A victory in this battleground will award three marks, while a loss will give one mark. If, during the course of the battle, neither side breaches the final gate, the game is declared a draw and all participants receive a single mark. In addition, bonus honor is determined and awarded as follows:

Attacking Team

• 62 +19 honor for each gate destroyed.^[1]
• 62 +19 honor for capturing the relic.

Defending Team

• 62 +19 honor for each gate not destroyed.^[2]
• 62 +19 honor if the relic is not captured.

End of Game

• 124 +124 honor at the completion of the game for losing.
• 248 +124 honor at the completion of the game for winning.

Achievements

	Strand of the Ancients Veteran - Complete 100 victories in Strand of the Ancients.
	Strand of the Ancients Victory - Win Strand of the Ancients
	Steady Hands - Disarm 5 seaforium charges in a single battle
	Explosives Expert - Plant 5 Seaforium charges which successfully damage a wall in a single battle.
	Artillery Veteran - Destroy 100 vehicles using a turret.
	Drop it! - Kill 100 players carrying seaforium.
	Drop it now! - Kill 5 players carrying seaforium in a single battle.
	Ancient Protector - Kill 10 players in the Courtyard of the Ancients in a single battle.

Meta Achievement

	Master of Strand of the Ancients - Complete the Strand of the Ancients achievements listed above.

Notes

1. ^ Gates that are in pairs, such as blue/green or red/purple, only award honor for the destruction of one of these gates.
2. ^ Gates that are in pairs (blue/green or red/purple) only award honor if both gates are intact.

Allakhazam credits this article at WoWWiki for some of the info in this article. Licensed under the GFDL.