By Meredith Watson, OnRPG Azeroth Reporter
Another week has passed and we are still waiting on 5.3 so today I am bringing you a quick look at the new scenario and battleground on the public test realm. Prepare to be underwhelmed.
Battle on the High Seas is the new scenario coming in 5.3. It has a normal and heroic mode. Battle on the High Seas, as the name suggests, is a naval battle. This scenario does rely quite heavily on gimmicks such as swinging on ropes, and being shot out of cannons. It is important to note that swimming between ships is not advised. There is a shark in the water that can easily one shot a player. In addition to the transport methods, there are several interactive items on the ships such as barrels of Vitamin C which can be used to regain health.
The first stage of the scenario consists of defending the ship against the faction enemy. There is an end of phase mini-boss and when he is dealt with you can move on to phase two. As with most Blizzard fights, you will want to be aware of what is on the ground (in this case heavy cannon fire). Stage two requires the finding of explosives from the three mini bosses in the next ship. For the third phase, you will plant and ignite the explosives from phase two. Here is where you really need to hustle. You must get off the ship by clicking on the rope before the explosives detonate. You will blow up with the ship if you fail to do this. Trust me. I know.
In the final phase of Battle on the High Seas, you will need to defeat either Admiral Hagman or Admiral Hodgson depending on your faction. To start the fight you will want to click on the sword rack which holds a rapier near the Admiral. You will gain a buff from picking up the rapier called Rapier Parry which lets you parry the next attack within a certain amount of time. If you can parry the Admirals Vertical Slash ability you will gain a buff for 100% damage which is significant as the Admiral has a lot of health. There are three achievements to be had, two of which are for completing the scenario on normal and heroic and the other, Keep Those Bombs Away, requires no member of the party to be hit by cannon fire. All in all this is a quick scenario which is rather gimmicky but still enjoyable.
After a very long queue time I was finally able to get into the new battleground Deepwind Gorge which is for level 90, 15 v 15 and set in the Valley of Four Winds. Essentially this battleground is about capturing the three mines and building up to 1600 in resources. It feels very much like Arathi Basin but there is a twist. At each factions base there are mine carts that can be captured much like a flag. Instead of carrying the cart, which would be rather awkward, the player tows the cart to their own base. There isn’t too much to say. It is yet another battleground with similar mechanics to all the others. This particular battleground is a mix of resource gathering and capture the flag. Truth be told, I was a bit bored by it. As with all the WoW battlegrounds, the best part about them is the killing of other players.
I would love to see a battleground that is nothing more than a big free for all except when you die you stay dead until the end. The last person standing wins the battleground for their team. No fancy mechanics or additional things to do. Or bring back the heady days of Tarren Mill/Southshore when PvP was about killing for the sake of killing. There wasn’t any reward and yet the battles were beyond epic.
Overall, Deepwind Gorge isn’t reinventing the wheel and is much the same as what we currently have in the game for battleground options.
