The Darkspear Islands lie off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh. The Horde’s Darkspear Raiders and the Alliance’s Theramore Expeditionary Force fight over them in a new 15-versus-15 battleground for characters level 30 to 60.
How to win
The first team to 2,000 points wins. There are two ways to score:
- Hold capture points. Four capture points are spread across the islands. The more your team holds, the faster you earn points.
- Run the flag. A flag sits in the middle of the map. Carry it to any base your team controls to score.
So the flag is only worth something if your team already holds at least one point. Defending your points matters as much as taking new ones.
How to queue
- Talk to a battlemaster in any major capital city, or in the Barrens.
- Or go to your faction’s base, which has a portal into the battle:
- Horde: Merchant Coast
- Alliance: Northwatch
Both bases also have the battleground’s quests.
Battleground queues can mix players from the Normal, PvP and Role-Play rulesets. Hardcore players only meet other Hardcore players.
Rewards
- Each side has its own reputation. Win games and turn in Marks of Honor through reputation quests to raise it.
- Higher reputation unlocks a vendor with trinkets, rings, cloaks, weapons, armor and consumables.
- At Exalted, a short questline rewards your faction’s exclusive tabard.
Blizzard hasn’t published the exact reputation levels, prices or item stats yet. We’ll add them once they’re confirmed in the live game.