New Orgrimmar Arena - Video Preview

One word…amazing. Simply amazing. Blizzard has really out done themselves with this one. Let’s face it arenas currently are pretty boring, at least the map designs. The new orgrimmar arena is just stacked with really cool stuff.

• 2 pillar sets, 2 pillars per set. Only 2 of the pillars are up at a given time.
• Ability to stand on pillar and ride it to the top.
• 2 Fire walls that come up periodically and span the middle of the map.
• 2 Shadow sights (as expected)

This is the type of dynamic arena I’ve been waiting for. There’s so much going on in the arena, it adds a whole new level of difficulty to the map. I really hope we see changes like this retrofitted to the old areas as well as additional dynamic and exciting arena maps.

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Nagrand Arena Position and Line of Sight Breakdown

When I think about Nagrand arena position strategies one word comes to mind…pillars. If you’ve played arena for any stretch of time then you are probably more than familiar with this mechanic.

That said, learning to effectively use line sight in combination with proper positioning is no easy task. It requires a lot of practice and a bit of know how, which we’re going to discuss below.

Mastering The Pillar Kite

The first and most important factor in Nagrand Arena is going to be mastering the pillar kite. As you can see on the map to the right there are 4 pillars in Nagrand arena. Which we’re going to use both as LoS positions and kiting locations (aka “pillar humping”).

If you’re a healer this is where you live in arena. Sticking near the pillar allows you to quickly move in and out of line of sight and run circles around the pillar to avoid damage. The green squares represent your prime locations for maintaining healing LoS on the arena floor.

You will need to continually change your position around these pillars so that you can…

1. Adjust your position so you can maintain healing / dispel LoS on your partners
2. Kite opposing DPS in a circular manner around the pillar. If things are really bad you could have your team mates help you by snaring / crowd controlling the DPS that’s chasing you. Giving you additional time to catch up heals.

DPS Positioning

Most of the time people associate kiting and line of sight purely with healing, but even DPS, both ranged and melee can do their part to take advantage of line of sight positions. First off we need to consider the effect that these positions are going to have on our healer’s position.

• Your healer will always want to be LoS’ing around / behind a pillar.
• Knowing this we want to position so we can still do damage, but also allow the healer to avoid taking damage / being crowd controlled.

Secondly, let’s talk about the defensive role of using the pillars as a DPS. Just like your healer uses the pillars to dodge cc and damage you should be doing the same. Granted, you aren’t going to be pillar humping as excessively as your healer may be it is still important to take advantage of this strategy. This will save your healer mana and buy you one very important thing…time. Time to drink, time cast, and time to catch up on heals. Sometimes even just a few short seconds is enough for your team to gain a mana edge and ultimately come away with the win.

General Nagrand Position Strategy

Of all the arena maps Nagrand is certainly the most simplistic. What ever way you look at it you’re going to be using pillars in your position strategy. As a healer most of your role with LoS is centered around using them to avoid damage and CC, while also turreting up to well positioned heals in the locations I’ve listed above.

As a DPS class you need to focus on always understanding where your healer is, thus allowing them an easier time to heal you. Additionally, using the pillars to LoS behind to prevent damage and / or kite melee classes will allow your healer additional time they may need during high burst damage periods.

For more position strategies check out the full guide on Line of Sight Strategy and Positioning!

Druid / Warrior vs. Mage / Rogue 2v2 Arena Spec

Another double DPS fight. This is one of the hardest fights. A well played team will CC the warrior, which is very easy and kill the druid. The warrior should be entirely focused on killing the rogue in this situation. If you begin to DPS him, he will try to either CC you or get away from you. If he attempts to vanish then immediately cast piercing howl or demoralizing shout to get him out of stealth. Allowing a reopen on the druid can make or break a match. Also it is imperative to keep both targets hamstringed, it will help win your matches and the druid will thank you because LoSing will be very easy.

Before the rogue is out of stealth you and the mage will be 1v1ing try to get off a charge, it will allow you to do more damage and take less damage. Either your druid will pop out to heal you or the rogue will find him, this is the worst case scenario. You should be out of LoS of the mage during the start of the fight. If the rogue pops you while you are out of line of sight, it’s not as bad, you can get some HoTs off before the mage starts hammering you (after sheeping the warrior of course). Now a good rogue will call out the he sees you but will not initiate the fight. Now the mage sheeps the warrior and comes over to where you are, then the rogue pops you, and the mage is right there ready to nuke you.

If you see the mage sheeping the warrior and running your way, it’s usually a sure sign that the rogue sees you, so hot yourself up as best you can while trying to LoS the mage before that rogue pops you. Stick to the pillar to avoid mage damage and go back into running while the warrior does his best to be on the rogue. When the rogue finds you first without HoTs is the reason many of you are saying that the druid can’t handle the damage burn, which is why it is very important that you stay out of los of the mage and hope the rogue does not see you or pops the warrior first.

Like any double DPS team, the longer you survive the better your odds or, so don’t get angry or discouraged if during the first 30 seconds of the fight it looks hopeless, survive as best as you can the fight will turn to your side after a minute or so.

Looking for more strategies? Check out the complete druid / warrior 2v2 arena guide!

Strategy courtesy of Neurotik