The Art of War(craft): Assembling your dream team
Zach wanted to time this article with the NBA Finals, but alas, shoddy internet had other plans.
Well, so much for PvP guilds, huh? That's good news for everyone, I think. That means I no longer have to put up a separate battleground-specific guild and break away from my more pacifistic friends who prefer dungeons and raids. Scrapping guild talent trees and currency just might turn out for the better and it's good that Blizzard decided to drop the bomb sooner rather than later. Perhaps if they'd told us that about the dance studio back before Wrath was released, we wouldn't still be whining about it. At least this way, we can set our expectations accordingly. Blizzard didn't reveal much about the Path of the Titans, so it doesn't feel like such a big loss. It was a cool, curious concept, but now we can keep our focus back on the basics.
Today, we'll discuss how to form our battleground dream team. Unlike battleground PUGs where we're beggars taking scraps -- figuratively, of course -- we can actually choose whom to bring in our battleground premades. For a guild to earn achievements or XP, roughly 75% of the team has to belong to the same guild. It's still unclear as to whether rated battlegrounds will function identically to arenas, where teams have set rosters at any given time ... although in that scenario, guild recruitment seems like an easier way to assemble teams.
Healers
Healers are the backbone of any team. Much like in arenas, raids and dungeons, healers are a team's glue. While one might say that healers in PvP -- battleground PvP, at that -- aren't as critical as they would be in a raid setting, make no mistake that a team without healers will simply get trounced on the battlefield. Full DPS teams in arenas -- much less successful ones -- are extremely rare. In an environment where deaths are almost routine and everyone gets a chance to return to play thanks to the Spirit Healer, it's tempting to think that teams can get by without a healer ... But there are few things more dismaying than zoning into a battleground and finding that your PUG doesn't have a single one.
There are a few essential differences between battleground healing and other scenarios such as raids or even arenas. For one thing, single-target healing is situational depending on the battleground, being far more useful in, say, Alterac Valley, where your team needs a tank, or in Warsong Gulch, where the flag carrier might need some focused heals. Blizzard is working to homogenize healing in Cataclysm somewhat, so any healer is essentially capable of filling any type of healing role with a few tweaks and tricks here and there. In battlegrounds, it's all about the role, or part in the team.
The pocket healer Pocket healers are probably the most common type of premade healer (only technically a premade, since the most common ones join as a pair) in that many players queue up in the battlegrounds with a pocket healer to rack up some obscene killing blow numbers. Usually paired with a powerful DPS class, even the most mediocre players become truly formidable with a healer in their proverbial pocket. Things will change somewhat for the pocket healer in Cataclysm when rated battlegrounds come in, as they settle into bigger roles beyond propping up killing machines. Instead, teams will look to pocket healers for specialized roles as mentioned, but especially for flag carriers in Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks.
Paladins and discipline priests typically make excellent pocket healers, but the more important thing is attitude and focus. A battleground pocket healer has an assignment and sticks to it, much like those assigned to tanks. In PUGs, healers often rendezvous with the flag carrier at the base, after they've made it across the battlefield. In premades, a healer or two will be focused on and keeping up with and keeping up the flag carrier from start to finish.
Flag carrier healers are natural targets for assaulting forces, so defensive skill is important. All healing classes have their own defenses -- the paladin's Divine Shield skill and Aura Mastery talent, for example, are obvious -- but what matters is the ability to heal under duress. Staying cool and anticipating opponent movement is important, so constant communication with the flag carrier is key, making sure to move together as a unit. Make sure to get the most skilled player for this role, because in Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks, the pocket healer just might be the most important cog in the machine.
Until we see the complete and final list of abilities in the expansion, it appears that priests edge out paladins as the best class for this role come Cataclysm thanks to Leap of Faith, otherwise known as Life Grip. The ability to remove the flag carrier from harm's way is simply too good to ignore.
The group healer Maps such as Arathi Basin or Isle of Conquest are the perfect scenarios for group healers to shine. Shamans tossing Chain Heals into the fray or a druid using a well-timed Tranquility can mean the difference between capturing the node or losing it. The mantra for these types of battlegrounds is to fight on the flag, which usually results in a fun, chaotic pileup at the heart of the node with both teams jockeying to tag the flag. Group healing abilities or spells such as the priest's Prayer of Mending allows your team to outlast your opponent, all things being equal.
Group healing won't be as stressful as healing the flag carrier. After all, the task is essentially to make the team last longer than the other. Casualties are expected here, whereas the death of a flag carrier usually translates to the opposing team scoring a point. Furthermore, group healers aren't usually targeted in a battleground -- at least not in PUGs, where healers can get away with a lot by just hanging back and tossing group heals. In smaller groups such as 10-man teams for Warsong Gulch, group heals might be a luxury; in bigger battlegrounds, however, good group heals can give teams the edge in skirmishes.
It might be good to note that rated battlegrounds will change how teams treat enemy healers as well as focus targets. PUG battlegrounds are mostly uncoordinated brawls, but it's probable that premades will call out focus targets and crowd control, so healers of any sort should be prepared.
Shamans have always been ideal for this role, and they'll only get better at it in Cataclysm with the AoE healing spell Healing Rain and Spiritwalker's Grace, which allows them to cast even while moving. Paladins are also getting tools to make them competitive in this area such as Guardian of the Ancient Kings (holy version) and Healing Hands, both AoE-type heals. We'll see how those measure up against the shaman's group utility.
