Guild Wars 2

As per the title, this post is designed to be an introduction to the basics of fighting in the WvWvW borderlands. Information covered will include basic navigation, information about supplies and siege equipment, and a few general tips on good playing.

WvW and Where it is Played
The object of WvW is to gain points by holding structures scattered across four maps. Each server in the three-way WvWvW matches have their own borderland map, in which they spawn at an advantageous location in relation to the other two servers. All three borderland maps are the exact same, except for location names and which server spawns where. For example, on the Borlis Pass borderland map, a Borlis player will start near the center of the map while the other two servers will start in one of the bottom corners. All spawn locations have at least three exits and cannot be breached by the enemy servers. Spawn locations also offer all services you would find in a major city, including merchants, bank access, a Black Lion trader, and repairs. The Eternal Battleground map features all the same concepts, except that no server starts at an advantageous spot. The map is basically divided into three sections with the massive Stonemist Castle at the center. In an ideal match, each server will control most of their own borderland map, have a few locations on the other two borderlands, and control their third of the Eternal Battleground map.

Structures
Now, in order to control a map, you must control the structures on it. These fall into four categories.
1. Castles. Well, castle. Stonemist is the only one and is worth more points than any other structure in the game. It is also the best tactical position in the EB map; from Stonemist a sever can quickly strike anywhere else on the map. It can take an entire server hours to successfully siege and take this castle. Stonemist is worth 35 points.
2. Keeps. There are three of these massive structures on each map, and they make for incredible defensive positions. Each keep requires invaders to breach at least two gates to take control of and have two sets of walls surrounding them. Keeps have multiple gates on both the inner and outer walls and give the server that holds it a strong position from which to take surrounding structures. Keeps usually require at least 20 coordinated players to take, and are worth 25 points each.
3. Towers. These structures are single walled, and have only one gate. On borderland maps there are four towers, on the EB map there are twelve. While not as defensible as keeps, towers can still be very hard to take if defended properly. Towers are worth 10 points each, and usually require at least ten players to take.
4. Supply camps. Arguably the most important structures in the game, there are six on each map. Supply camps have no walls and if not defended can be taken by as few as two players. They are also worth only 5 points each, but their worth comes from being the one and only source of supply in the game.

Supply
Supply is the lifeblood of WvW. Gates and walls of your structures can be broken by siege equipment. Supply is how you repair it. Supply is what you use to build siege equipment of your own. Supply can also be used to upgrade various aspects of your structures, such as reinforced walls and gates.
Supply comes from camps by way of dolyaks (aka yaks) that walk the roads between supply camps and the surrounding keeps and towers. These yaks can be killed en route and should be protected when possible, but on the other side of the coin you should kill enemy supply yaks whenever you see them.
Each player can carry up to 10 units of supply on them for building siege equipment or repairing structures and you should stay supplied as often as is possible. It is important to note that while towers and keeps have supply stockpiles inside them, NPC ‘workers’ use it for upgrades such as reinforcing walls, and as such should be used by players as a last resort. The stockpiles at supply camps refresh quickly on their own and don’t need a yak to deliver. Resupply yourself at supply camps whenever it is possible.

Siege Equipment
Starting with the primarily offensive equipment, we have
1. Flame rams. Rams as the cheapest siege in the game at 6s, and their whole purpose is destroying gates. They take 30 supply to build and cannot be moved once the build site is set down. They must be set within melee range of a gate in order to hit it. It is usually a good idea to keep several in your inventory at any given time, as most often several rams are used to break a single gate quickly.
2. Catapults. Cats cost twice as much as a ram at 12s, but can destroy walls or gates from a much greater distance. If setting a cat up for offensive purposes, be sure to take advantage of it’s range and set it further back than your opponents arrow carts (covered below) can reach. If using defensively, the most common placement is about 15 feet behind the gate you’re defending. Roughly half of the catapults AoE splash (like all AoE splash) travels through the door, making short work of rams and invaders on the other side.
3. Trebuchets. These are the ultimate wall killers, and nothing else in the game comes anywhere near it’s range. A trebuchet will set you back 24s and 100 supply, but the ability to destroy walls from complete safety is well worth it. The way keeps and towers are set up on the maps are such that a treb in a tower can usually hit a wall or gate of an adjacent keep, and vice versa. When setting a treb, it’s usually a good idea to ask an experienced player where to put it, as often the safest place to set it will be at the very edge of its range. The biggest advantage of these long-range beasts is that their use forces defenders to leave the safety of their own walls to come assault yours.
4. Siege Golems. The siege golem costs 1g to buy and 100 supply to build. That hefty investment buys one very useful feature: mobility. The golem is the one and only moveable (albeit pretty kitten slow) piece of siege in the game. They are also capable of breaking gates much faster than a ram. My experience has usually been using golems in pairs, which works very quickly even on reinforced gates. Never be shy about throwing down a ram or two to speed things along, as golems are always (ALWAYS) the first target of the defending force.
As to defensive siege,
1. Arrow carts. Cheap (6s each) and effective are two very true words about the humble cart. In well defended structures it’s not uncommon to see dozens of arrow carts sitting around waiting to rain death on invaders. It’s function is an AoE barrage of arrows that can be chained very nearly continuously at a moderate range. Getting 5 or more carts shooting at the same location will slaughter players in very short order. Carts are best placed on top of walls near gates.
2. Ballista. The ballista costs 10s and is very effective at a counter-siege role. It has the same range as a catapult and deals massive damage to other siege items (and players). The tradeoff is a slower fire rate and unlike the arrow cart AoE field, the ballista must have a clear line of fire to it’s target.

Orbs
At some point in your playing you will undoubtedly notice people talking about either taking or defending an orb. There are three ‘orbs of power’ in the game, one residing on each of the borderland maps. These orbs can be placed on special alters that are in the inner rooms of each of the three keeps on the map, and once set in an alter cannot be moved unless an enemy server attacks the alter and breaks it. There is a fourth alter on each map, located at the northernmost supply camp. This is where the orb respawns when it removed from an alter and not placed at another for over 15 minutes. This fourth alter is usually used only as a last resort, as the absence of walls at the camp make defense very difficult. The advantage of possessing an orb is massive; for each orb your server has, each player in WvW receives +5% hp and 50 points to all stats. Due to these bonuses, orbs are most often defended at all costs and the ultimate goal of each server.

Now that we’ve gone through the basics, we need to learn how to group up and apply them.

Knowing Where to Go
Part 1: Commanders
If when you enter a battleground you happen to see a blue arrow on your map, there’s a commander in the same map as you. Commanders have paid 100g for a book that essentially gives them nothing but that blue arrow that can be seen by anyone from their server on that map. Anyone with the gold can get this book, and the price is high to encourage several players to ‘elect’ one person to lead. The blue arrow is no guarantee of quality, just as many players without the arrow are very capable leaders. The advantage of having commanders on the field is that the always-visible arrow makes forming into a group very easy. It is up to each player to determine for themselves who they will or will not follow.
Part 2: Knowing where the battle is
Easiest way to know where to go? ASK! The size of the structures you can tackle is determined largely by group size of the group, so players are always happy to let you know where to join up with them. Additionally, when opposing players engage each other or structure defenders, an orange ‘crossed swords’ marker will appear on the map at the site of the attack. If you see this marker in front of a structure your server owns, don’t keep it to yourself! Let your team know, and if your not doing anything else scouting enemy numbers and gate/wall condition is always appreciated.
Part 3: Small group raiding
As discussed above, supply is the key to WvW. And, as we know, supply camps are the only source. Very often while a large 30+ player group is laying siege to keeps and towers and the like, there are a couple of smaller 3-6 player groups running the map keeping enemy supply disrupted. Killing yaks, taking camps, generally just being a pain and making the enemy take time out of their own plans to deal with you. This style of play is common among guilds, as the higher level of coordination helps with staying focused and regrouping once a larger enemy force finally catches up with you.
Part 4: Large group raiding
But, as important as supply camps are, it’s ultimately points that win matches and keeps and towers are how most of those are obtained. Large groups (commonly called zergs) are prone to form around the respected leaders of the server, commanders especially. Usually when a large group is forming a rally point will be listed in chat, as well how much longer before the group will be leaving. When in a large group, focus is everything. Unless the leader specifies otherwise, work on the gate the rest of the group is working on, and pay attention to your chat window.

The Most Important Part of Your Effectiveness
You can do more by simply knowing your class than you can just by being level 80 with the best gear in the game. Don’t be scared to try out support skills that you never used in PvE. The goal of WvW isn’t to be a one-man death machine, it’s to keep yourself and your team alive, with a side of killing your enemies.

The goal of this guide has been simply to lessen the learning curve on this very, very fun game mode, and if one new player doesn’t have to spend a day or two just wandering around saying to himself, “What the kitten am I supposed to do in here?” I will consider it a success. I will be glad to answer any additional questions, and any additions would be greatly appreciated!

This is ridiculously helpful. Thank you very much, good sir. May fate smile on you and your chances of finding Dusk increase exponentially.

Wonderful thread. I’d also like to add that people shouldn’t be afraid to go into WvW at a low level. Even at level 1 you can join and participate. Low levels can man siege equipment, repair structures, run supply and participate in zerg runs.

Rpgtabbycat.5869:

I’d also like to add that people shouldn’t be afraid to go into WvW at a low level. Even at level 1 you can join and participate.

I completely forgot to mention that! It’s also worth noting that with a good, active group, you can level very fast in WvW. As in 4 or 5 levels in a couple of hours fast.

Sticky! Sticky!

Looks alot like the one I put together.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/WvW-Basics/first#post492223