Our PvP survival tactics include pointers from WoW.com's Robin Torres, who shared some fabulous tips for leveling on a PvP realm in this week's WoW, Casually. Check it out; it's an informative read. We've included some of her most useful tactics in our own rookie-centric list here.
Prepare to die. Yes, you're going to die. Suck it up. It's almost always nothing personal -- this is, after all, the point of PvP. Run back to your corpse and get back to business.
Stay healthy. Enemies pick on vulnerable targets. Running your health and mana bars into the ground invites attention from opportunists.
Use the buddy system. The enemy is looking for easy pickings; reinforcements take you out of that category.
Monitor the defense channels. Local and World Defense chat are your distant early warning system, telling you where not to go. Before you head out to your quest area or dash back into town, make sure the defense channels aren't scrolling kill messages faster than Twitter in a slaughterhouse.
Announce ganking and camping to the zone. If you're being "ganked" (most classically defined as being killed when you're at a significant disadvantage, such as being killed by a group of players or being killed by a much higher level player) or "camped" (being killed repeatedly), announce it to the local chat channels. Friendly players of all levels are often happy to come lend a hand.
Being in a town does not make you automatically safe. Guards in lowbie and mid-range towns are nothing but troublesome gnats to high-level players. If enemies know you're there, they can and will get you.
Stay off the roads. You'll attract the least attention if you stay off heavily traveled paths.
Don't go AFK during flights. Gankers love to strike players as they land.
When in doubt, hide. Yes, your nameplate may stick out -- but it may not. Bushes, trees, buildings, vines, rocks ... Use the environment to conceal your presence.
Keep your back to the wall. Don't expose your back to Backstabbing Rogues, and keep an eye out for approaching enemies.
Don't give up or run at the mere sight of a high-level player. Many high-level players are simply passing through. They'll ignore you as long as you ignore them. Even if they attack, many will move on after a single kill.
Make nice. If you're questing near players from the opposite faction, you can try to elicit peace. Cooperate with enemies by helping them finish off the occasional kill; make a friendly emote (/smile, /wave, greet/, etc.; enemies can't read your speech or custom emotes, but they can read the text of your set emotes); or simply ignore enemy players altogether. Just remember: no matter how long an enemy seems to be cooperating with you, he may turn on you at any moment.
Creature corpses on the ground mean player activity. Approach with caution.
If a high-level player attacks, crowd control and flee. Your spells and skills will be resisted by players who are higher level than you. Put your efforts into crowd controlling or slowing them, then escape.
Don't waste consumables. Most of the time, that health or mana pot won't turn the tide -- and the expense can add up quickly.
More hot World of Wacraft Tips: