Alterac Valley

• Alliance (Stormpike Guard) starts in the north, at Dun Baldar, around General Vanndar Stormpike.
• Horde (Frostwolf Clan) starts in the south, at Frostwolf Keep, around Drek'Thar.
• Two ways to win:
  1. Kill the enemy general. The match ends at once.
  2. Drain the enemy reinforcements to zero.

Each side starts with a pool of reinforcements. It drops when:

The starting number changed between versions of the game, so we don't give it here: we note the Forever value at launch.

Each side has four:

• Alliance bunkers: Dun Baldar North Bunker, Dun Baldar South Bunker, Icewing Bunker, Stonehearth Bunker.
• Horde towers: Iceblood Tower, Tower Point, East Frostwolf Tower, West Frostwolf Tower.

How they work:

1. Fight your way up, kill the defenders, click the banner at the top.
2. Hold it while the capture timer runs.
3. When the timer ends, the tower burns for good: the enemy loses 75 reinforcements.
4. Each tower is linked to one bodyguard of the enemy general (Marshals for Vanndar, Warmasters for Drek'Thar). The guard dies with the tower. Every guard still standing makes the general harder to kill, so burning towers first makes the final fight much easier.

Where you come back to life after dying. The closer to the front, the better.

• Alliance side: Stormpike Graveyard, Stonehearth Graveyard.
• Middle: Snowfall Graveyard (neutral at the start).
• Horde side: Iceblood Graveyard, Frostwolf Graveyard.
• Last refuges: Stormpike Aid Station (Alliance) and Frostwolf Relief Hut (Horde), right next to each base. They can't be captured.

You take a graveyard like a tower: click the banner and hold it while the timer runs. Unlike a tower, it doesn't burn: it changes sides.

Two mines, full of NPCs to clear:

• Irondeep Mine (north): troggs at the start.
• Coldtooth Mine (south): kobolds at the start.

To take a mine, kill its boss. The mine then belongs to your side:

• it slowly gives your side reinforcements back;
• your players can carry supplies from it to your quartermaster in base;
• holding it at the end of the match gives some extra reputation.

Each side has a captain in the middle of the valley:

• Captain Balinda Stonehearth (Alliance), at Stonehearth Outpost.
• Captain Galvangar (Horde), at Iceblood Garrison.

While alive, a captain regularly buffs their side's players (more health). Killing the enemy captain removes 100 reinforcements and gives bonus honor.

• Vanndar Stormpike (Alliance) and Drek'Thar (Horde) wait in their fortress with their bodyguards.
• If you pull a general out of their room, they go back and heal to full: fight them where they stand.
• The usual plan: burn the towers on the way (fewer bodyguards), then go in together.

Each side can call a giant elite to the Field of Strife, in the middle of the valley:

• Alliance: collect Storm Crystals (dropped by Horde players and soldiers) and hand them to Arch Druid Renferal. With 200 crystals, the Arch Druid summons Ivus the Forest Lord.
• Horde: collect Soldier's Blood (dropped by Alliance players and soldiers) and hand it to Primalist Thurloga, who summons Lokholar the Ice Lord.

The elite walks into the enemy half and attacks players. Buff it and escort it: it's much stronger with your whole team around it. The item count for Lokholar, and whether Forever keeps these summons, will be checked at launch.

• Wing commanders: each side has three commanders held prisoner in enemy territory. Free them and send them home for bonus honor and reputation.
• Rams and wolves: bring Alterac rams (north of the Field of Strife) or Frostwolves (south of it) back to your stables for a little reputation.
• Repeatable turn-ins (Armor Scraps, Storm Crystals, Soldier's Blood) give reputation with your Alterac Valley faction.

• Marks of Honor: 3 per win, 1 per loss, up to 30 held (changed on 2026-10-15 in the Forever beta notes).
• Reputation: Stormpike Guard (Alliance) or Frostwolf Clan (Horde), with their own vendors. In Classic, reputation earned in the battle is shared by your whole side, grouped or not.
• Honor: Blizzard has rebalanced honor in Forever so that Alterac Valley is no longer the only efficient battleground. Amounts are not known yet.

• Don't rush past towers if the general is your goal: every standing tower means one more bodyguard in the final fight.
• Pick up Storm Crystals or Soldier's Blood as you go: your side needs them for its elite summon.

Rewritten from the facts on the Warcraft Wiki — Alterac Valley, Ivus the Forest Lord and Irondeep Mine pages (Classic version). Place names from the WoW Forever game files (1.60.1.70245). Marks: Blizzard's Forever beta development notes of 2026-10-15.