Manual

Chapter 11
Horde Versus Alliance
The war between the Horde and Alliance has been at the core of the
Warcraft mythos for years. Recently, a ceasefire was agreed upon by the
Horde chief Thrall and the Alliance leader Jaina Proudmoore, but the fact
remains that animosity is still high between the two factions. In some
places, this undercurrent of hostility has erupted into open warfare.
In World of Warcraft, the tension between the factions is reflected in the
player versus player game system. Players from different factions can attack
each other and continue the race war between Horde and Alliance through
their in-game skirmishes.
Player Versus Player Combat
Under certain conditions, you can fight players of the opposing faction. You
cannot fight players in your own faction, except through duels. Duels are
explained later in this chapter.
Player versus player (PvP) combat is similar to normal combat against
monsters. However, there are some key differences.
You cannot attack other players at will. Certain conditions must be met first
before you can begin PvP combat. These conditions are easier to meet on
realms designated as PvP realms, and harder to meet on PvE realms.
Level differences are less important. Although your damage per second,
health, mana, and available abilities are better if you are higher level, all
other combat factors are equal when playing other players. For example,
your chance to dodge, block, or resist spells is the same whether you fight
a level-one player or a level-sixty player. This makes the playing field fairer
for players of differing level, while still maintaining a sizeable advantage for
players with a great level advantage.
Spells are limited against other players. Against monsters, your crowd
control spells – those spells that incapacitate or control the target - operate
normally. However, against other players, your spells are subject to
diminished returns. On your first casting, these spells have 100 percent of
their effect, but on subsequent castings against the same target, these
spells have 75 percent effect, then 50 percent effect, and finally zero effect.
Spells subject to this rule include those that control or limit other players,
such as polymorph, fear, and stun.
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