Get Ready for the Battleground Blitz Brawl

October 25th by Blizzard Entertainment

The Guardians of the Dream content brings with it a variety of new content including a new mode of play allowing players to engage in PvP via a new solo queue for an 8v8 player battleground experience.

Like the introduction of Solo Shuffle, the introduction of the Battleground Blitz Brawl could start down the path toward introducing it as a rated mode

Get Into the Blitz

Players will be able to queue either solo or as a duo (if one player is a healer) for epic 8v8 PvP action in fast and furious action on one of eight initially available maps: Warsong Gulch, Twin Peaks, Temple of Kotmogu, Eye of the Storm, Silvershard Mines, Battle for Gilneas, Arathi Basin, and Deepwind Gorge. The Battleground Blitz will be active as an available brawl every week from the time of its release the week of November 7.

Team Composition

Each team will be comprised of 2 healers, 5-6 damage dealers, and 0 to 1 tank.
Opposing teams will always have the same number of tanks (0 or 1)
Matches that do not include a tank will not take place on any Capture the Flag maps such as Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks.
Matches that have a tank as a part of the team will occur on any available map.

Map Mechanics

We’ve made some changes to how players will interact with the battlegrounds, leading to a slightly faster pace and new mechanics to utilize as you put yourself—and your team— to the test against your opponents.

On maps where you must cast to take an objective, the cast time has been reduced from 6 seconds down to 4 seconds.
On domination maps, control points are captured in 30 seconds after being contested (reduced from 1 minute).
On all maps, players will gain a new buff, Swift Pursuit which grants 150% increased mount speed.
On several maps, there are new power up runes.
- Shield of Protection: Provides a shield equal to 50% of your maximum health for 45 seconds.
- Into the Shadows: Provides a player with stealth and 100% increased movement speed for 30 seconds.
- Rune of Frequency: Increases cooldown rate by 50% for 30 seconds.
- Shadow Sight: Provides Stealth and Invisibility detection for 12 seconds.

To account for a leaner match up of teams in the 8v8 format, we’ve made some additional modifications to maps, with Eye of the Storm, Arathi Basin, and Deepwind Gorge accounting for the most significant changes.

Eye of the Storm

Only 2 of the 4 nodes are capturable at a time (1 per side), which award points, with the middle flag being available to capture.
- Mage Tower or Draenei Ruins and Fel Reaver Ruins or Blood Elf Tower.
- When the middle flag is captured, previous nodes move to neutral and reset.
- 2 nodes (1 per side) re-activate, alternating.
Points for capturing a flag are significantly increased.
When a flag is captured, the existing available nodes will become uncapturable. After 15 seconds, the other set of nodes will become available.

Arathi Basin and Deepwind Gorge

5 capturable nodes.
Increased resource acquisition.
After you capture a node entirely, you control it for 45 seconds. It then deactivates and can be captured again 5 seconds later.
To fully capture a node, you have to complete the 4-second cast, then hold the point for 30 seconds without the enemy team recapturing the node. There are added timers located under “Objectives” in the UI.
During the time a node is fully captured and your team controls it for 45 seconds, the enemy team cannot recapture the base until it deactivates and resets. A node that cannot be captured will have a shield visual on it.

Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks

The flag carrier debuff, Brutal Assault, stacks 100% faster (each stack every 15 seconds, up from 30 seconds).
The Maximum game length is now set to 12 minutes.

Battle for Gilneas

Increased resource acquisition rate.

Temple of Kotmogu

Increased resource acquisition in the middle areas of the map.

Due to the fast-paced nature of Silvershard Mines, there are no changes initially planned for these battlegrounds.

Cross Faction Queuing

To prioritize quality matches and shorter queues for the brawl, players will be able to queue and join the brawl more quickly no matter which faction they belong to.

Item Scaling

For Battleground Blitz, the item level for equipped gear above 312 item level will scale to 472 (4 item levels below Dragonflight season 3 Honor gear), similar to how gear scaling currently works for other unranked modes. The scaling is limited to 312 and above to avoid potential issues with over-scaling stats on items from previous expansions.

Players will also need to be at a minimum item level of 330 to queue for the brawl.

To the Victor (and Loser) Go the Spoils

Players will be able to expect rewards whether they’ve won or lost while taking part in a Battleground Blitz Brawl as follows:

In comparison to what brawls normally reward, Conquest has been increased for wins and will be awarded on losses where matches are close.
- The first win of the day awards 100 Conquest.
- Additional wins in the same day award 50 Conquest.
- Losing by a narrow margin results in an award of 25 Conquest

In addition to the weekly “Something Different” brawl quest, two additional weekly quests have been added for Battleground Blitz. You will be able to speak with Malicia in Valdrakken to undertake these quests, with the second quest requiring the completion of the first quest.

New Achievements

You’ll be able to earn several new achievements— for fun and bragging rights!

Battleground Blitz Novice: Win 10 Battleground Blitz Matches.
Battleground Blitz Apprentice: Win 25 Battleground Blitz Matches.
Battleground Blitz Veteran: Win 50 Battleground Blitz Matches.
Learning the Ropes: Complete 25 Battleground Blitz Matches.
Brawlroom Blitzer: Complete 50 Battleground Blitz Matches.
Battle-Scarred Battler: Complete 100 Battleground Blitz Matches.

The Fine Print

It’s important to note that the deserter penalty that is applied after leaving a Solo Shuffle match will also now apply for Battleground Blitz. In addition, items, spells, and toys that currently cannot be used in Rated Battlegrounds will not be able to be used in Battleground Blitz.

You’ll need to coordinate with your team to garner a win. Don’t forget to use the tools around you, including the new Ping System feature, to make sure you keep your communication on point.

Arriving with the Guardians of the Dream content update, the Battleground Blitz Brawl will push your skills in fast and furious PvP battle. Are you ready to dance?