Alterac Valley
Alterac Valley
There are a bunch of Achievements for Alterac Valley that can be awarded retroactively, such as possession of the Alterac Valley mounts or an Exalted reputation with the respective faction. A majority of Achievements, however, are focused on the game itself, and can only be obtained by continuous, obective-focused gameplay. Most of it, anyway. Take, for example, the awesomely fun The Sickly Gazelle which requires a player to kill an enemy before they dismount. In the all-too-common Alterac Valley races, not dismounting in the hopes of getting to the end of the map without combat has been the move du jour.
The Sickly Gazelle is less of an Achievement than it is a deterrent for evasive behavior. I mean, who wants to be anyone’s Sickly Gazelle? Then there are Rambo-style Achievements like Alterac Valley All-Star, which require a player to do virtually everything in the Battleground. In current race-oriented matches, this is relatively easy to do. With the Achievement in place, however, more players will be trying to capture and defend Graveyards and Towers, making it that much more difficult to achieve everything all in one game. But the good thing is that the Achievement keeps everyone focused towards the right goals.
Then there are Achievements that require the coordination of the entire raid, likely only viable with a pre-made. The Alterac Blitz requires winning the map in just 6 minutes — I didn’t think it was even possible to beat Alterac Valley in six minutes! There’s also Stormpike / Frostwolf Perfection, which requires winning while keeping your faction’s Captain alive and towers intact and burning down all of the opponents’ towers. That’s hard enough to do in the current scenario, even with a 40-man premade.
Then there are Achievements that are pursued over time, such as Alterac Grave Robber or Tower Defense, which requires capturing 50 Graveyards or defending 50 Towers respectively. Alterac Valley Veteran is unlocked with 100 victories on the Battleground. Many of these Achievements will take some focus to unlock, and pursuing them actively during a match should create interesting scenarios. Other than The Alterac Blitz, most Achievements look tailored for slightly longer but more sensible games with engaging PvP.
Filed under: World of Warcraft