World of Warcraft Patch 2.0 Honor System Changes
Patch 2.0 introduced changes to the honor system. The following selection of questions address those changes:

What is the new player-versus-player (PvP) honor system?
Like the current PvP honor system, the new honor system provides a way for players to participate in PvP combat and obtain rewards by defeating their opponents. The key difference in the new honor system is how the rewards are obtained. With the new honor system, you will obtain honor points that can be accumulated and spent like currency on rewards such as items, weapons, and armor.

Do I need to keep playing to keep my honor points intact?
No, the honor points will accumulate like currency, similar to the gold and silver you can obtain through killing monsters or completing quests, and will not degrade or be lost over time. This allows you to participate in PvP at your own pace, working toward the honor rewards, which you can purchase as soon as you have enough honor points to do so. There is no longer any ranking associated with the honor system, so you no longer have to worry about maintaining a rank or standing under the honor system. Players still interested in measuring their PvP ability against fellow players will be able to participate in the Arena System, which is a separate, new form of competitive PvP in The Burning Crusade.

Is there a limit to how many honor points I can accumulate?
Yes, there is a limit to how many honor points a character can accumulate, but it is currently set to be approximately twice as much as the most expensive reward. If you max out your honor points, you'll need to spend some before you can earn additional honor points.

The limit of course, is subject to change depending on what works best for long-term game balance.

Are honor points the only thing needed to purchase the rewards?
The battleground marks of honor currently awarded for participating in Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley will also factor in to the cost for many of the rewards. The amount of honor points and marks of honor required will vary for each reward. However, for most items the honor cost is the most significant part of the item's cost.

How are honor points earned?
Honor points are earned in a very similar manner to the honor rewarded in the current honor system. The game tracks your participation in world PvP as well as PvP within battlegrounds. As you kill enemies and assist your allies against the enemy, you'll earn honor. You will be able to track a rough estimate of your approximate amount of honor points received, and the points will then be calculated and awarded each night.

 

Marks of Honor Power Grinding

“Gain Marks of Honor for the Specific Battle Ground of your choice while Ranking up your PvP Honor Points.”

Alterac Valley - Arathi Basin - Warsong Gulch

 

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Will the honor and battleground reputation rewards available in the current system still be available?
All of the same rewards are available in the new honor system, costing both honor points and marks of honor from the appropriate battleground.

What will happen to my current battleground reputations, honor, and rank?
A new title system will display your highest rank achieved under the old honor system, but ranks will no longer play a part in the new honor system. The battleground reputations will carry over to the new system, and still be visible and increase through participation in the various battlegrounds, but the current rewards are now only available through the new honor system. However, you will be able to obtain a special title if you obtain exalted reputation with each battleground faction. This title may be displayed through the new title display system.

How will dishonorable kills factor in to the new honor system?
Although this is subject to change, we are not currently planning to have dishonorable kills play any role in the honor system. The NPCs around the world will no longer be set as civilians, so killing them will not impact your ability to obtain honor points.

Gaining Honor

What is the Honor System?
The Honor System allows players to gain Honor Points based on PvP kills and battles that can be used to spend on special rewards. Players earn Honor Points mainly through Battlegrounds and World Outdoor PvP. For more competative battles, participate in the Arena System.

Can I earn honor if I am in a group?
Yes. When grouped with other players, honor are divided equally amongst the members of the party. Just like in groups for killing monsters, players can gain bonus experience for killing players while in a group. If the character levels of some group members are significantly higher than others, the amount of honor gained by the lower level members will be reduced, just like it is with monster experience.

What if I do less damage than the rest of my group, say through healing, damage over time, or area-of-effect spells? Do I still get the same amount of honor as my group?
Yes. Players who are grouped in a party equally split the honor they earn. The Priest who heals will receive an equal share of points as the Warrior who is swinging away at the target.

What happens if we take out a faction leader in a raid group? Who gets the honor?
Members of the raid group that taps the creature will share the honor points equally. The points will be distributed the same way as experience points. It should be noted, however, that strategic targets are there to promote conflict and role-play between the Alliance and Horde, so players will find that killing enemy leaders will not be a disproportionately large source of honor.

If I am a raid leader, will I receive more honor than other non-leader raid group members?
No. Honor is divided equally among all raid-party members.

If I am on the other end of the battlefield as my party or raid group, will I still get honor for any kills they make?
No. Earning honor falls within the normal rules of experience gain. Players must be in the general area to receive the honor.

Will I get credit for killing guards?
Based on player feedback we have decided to no longer award honorable kills for killing NPCs that are not racial leaders. This will prevent players from feeling as though they need to "grind" NPC kills for honor. This change will also help the honorable kill totals mean more than they otherwise would.

What happens if I am fighting a player and that player runs away, then another player or group finds the player and kills him or her? Do I get any honor having damaged the player first?
No. If a player does not take damage for 1 minute since the last time they were attacked in PvP, any damage done by the first player is null and void. The next player or group who finds and kills the target gets the credit.

Will there be additional honor gained for rapid-fire killing? For instance, three honorable kills in thirty seconds.
There are no current plans to reward players for going on killing sprees, other than the normal honor they earn.

Will there be a survival bonus? For instance, each kill beyond the first without dying equates to more honor.
This will not be a feature upon initial implementation of the Honor System, but is a possible candidate for continued refinement.

WOW Honor Rewards

What incentives do I have to gain Honor Points in the Honor System?
By killing other players and racking up honor, players will gain access to new equipment and weapons. Some of these weapons also require Battleground tokens.

Can I earn Honor Points in Arena Matches?
No. This is a seperate system where players earn Arena Points that can be used on special Arena weapons and equipment.

Honor Decay

Once I gain Honor Points, do I keep it indefinitely, or do I have to keep earning it?
There is a limit to how many honor points a character can accumulate, but it is currently set to be approximately twice as much as the most expensive reward. If you max out your honor points, you'll need to spend some before you can earn additional honor points.

Warcraft Battlegrounds

How does the Honor System fit in with the Battlegrounds?
In the Battlegrounds players will be fighting primarily against other players which will net honor points. There will also be other methods of earning honor in the Battlegrounds besides player-vs-player battles. Battlegrounds are instances geared towards promoting player-vs-player combat, so players who complete objectives in Battlegrounds will receive honor.

Will killing players in the Battlegrounds automatically result in me getting more honor than if I kill someone on the other parts of the realm?
No. However players participating in Battlegrounds can earn honor in other ways besides killing players.

Misc.

Will one class have an advantage over the others? Some classes seem to be better equipped for gaining honor than others; was that taken into consideration?
During our testing we did not come across any one class that had a distinct advantage over the others. Each class has an equal chance of gaining Honor Points depending on how it is played.

It seems that some realms have way more Alliance than Horde members. How will this affect the Honor System ?
Contrary to popular belief, the numbers of Horde and Alliance are very similar on player-vs-player realms.

How am I supposed to play the game when every where I go someone is waiting to gank me? The graveyard is nice, but I want to see the rest of the world too!
Players who chose to create characters on a PvP realm are supposed to feel a sense of danger where ever they go, that is why we offer player-vs-player realms!

What happened to the old ranks?
Ranks from the previous sytem are now purely cosmetic. They no longer affect anything beyond the name above a character that has previously earned them.

 

HOW TO Gain World of Warcraft PVP Honor
 

What is the Honor System?
The Honor System allows players to gain rankings based on their PvP performance, with lucrative rewards for those who distinguish themselves on the field of battle! Read more about the PvP Honor System.

How do I gain rank in the Honor System?
Players advance in rank by helping to defeat players of the opposite faction (Horde/Alliance), or by vanquishing special target NPC's in the game, which ultimately confers honor.

The amount of damage a player deals to their target determines the amount of honor they earn. Contributing more damage yields more points, and less damage yields fewer points. Causing slight damage to multiple targets may not net as many points as causing severe damage to a single target. Also, the target must die and the kill must be honorable in order for honor points to be awarded.
 

What is an honorable kill?
An honorable kill occurs when a player takes part in the killing of an appropriate player or NPC in the player's level range. The color system for players works the same as it does for monsters. Grey level players will not yield an honorable kill.

Also, only specific NPC's will yield honorable kills. These are special target NPC's that are extremely difficult for players to attack, as they are some of the main leaders of each player faction. Defeating these NPC's will require a large force of players.

What is a 'Dishonorable kill'?
Any NPC that is marked with the green word 'Civilian' in its tooltip is considered a 'dishonorable kill'. The 'Civilian' marking will be applied to general NPC's such as vendors and quest NPCs as the level of the player begins to exceed the level of the NPC. This means that players of the appropriate level are allowed to kill general NPC's that are considered to present a fair fight.

Can I earn honor if I am in a group?
Yes. When grouped with other players, honor are divided equally amongst the members of the party. Just like in groups for killing monsters, players can gain bonus experience for killing players while in a group. If the character levels of some group members are significantly higher than others, the amount of honor gained by the lower level members will be reduced, just like it is with monster experience.

What if I do less damage than the rest of my group, say through healing, damage over time, or area-of-effect spells? Do I still get the same amount of honor as my group?
Yes. Players who are grouped in a party equally split the honor they earn. The Priest who heals will receive an equal share of points as the Warrior who is swinging away at the target.

What happens if we take out a faction leader in a raid group? Who gets the honor?
Members of the raid group that taps the creature will share the honor points equally. The points will be distributed the same way as experience points. It should be noted, however, that strategic targets are there to promote conflict and role-play between the Alliance and Horde, so players will find that killing enemy leaders will not be a disproportionately large source of honor.

If I am a raid leader, will I receive more honor than other non-leader raid group members?
No. Honor is divided equally among all raid-party members.

If I am on the other end of the battlefield as my party or raid group, will I still get honor for any kills they make?
No. Earning honor falls within the normal rules of experience gain. Players must be in the general area to receive the honor.

 

How many points do I need to get my next rank?
This is one area where the PvP and normal experience system differ. There is no set amount of honor needed to reach a certain level. The PvP ranking system is based on the number of players engaging in PvP combat, and how good each player is in relation to other players.

Think of the PvP rankings as a curve, where the highest ranks will encompass the top percentage of players. While there are a finite amount of players who can be in the top ranks, the actual number will depend on how many other characters on the server are involved in PvP. The more players competing, the more players will be able to reach the top ranks.
 

How many WOW Ratings needed for PVP Rank

 

60000 <= 14 Rank < 65000
55000 <= 13 Rank < 60000
50000 <= 12 Rank < 55000
45000 <= 11 Rank < 50000
40000 <= 10 Rank < 45000
35000 <= 9 Rank < 40000
30000 <= 8 Rank < 35000
25000 <= 7 Rank < 30000
20000 <= 6 Rank < 25000
15000 <= 5 Rank < 20000
10000 <= 4 Rank < 15000
 5000 <=  3 Rank < 10000
      0 <=    Rank < 5000

 

How does my PvP Rank update?
PvP ranks are compiled once a week, and will coincide with the weekly server maintenance. There is a minimum number of honorable kills per week required for eligibility; this number is flexible and depends on the average number of honorable kills for your realm that week.

Based on the number of honor received per week and the amount of people involved in PvP combat, a rating value is assessed for each player. This value is used to determine progression through the PvP ranks.

Will I get credit for killing guards?
Based on player feedback we have decided to no longer award honorable kills for killing NPCs that are not racial leaders. This will prevent players from feeling as though they need to "grind" NPC kills for honor. This change will also help the honorable kill totals mean more than they otherwise would.

What happens if I am fighting a player and that player runs away, then another player or group finds the player and kills him or her? Do I get any honor having damaged the player first?
No. If a player does not take damage for 1 minute since the last time they were attacked in PvP, any damage done by the first player is null and void. The next player or group who finds and kills the target gets the credit.

Will there be additional honor gained for rapid-fire killing? For instance, three honorable kills in thirty seconds.
There are no current plans to reward players for going on killing sprees, other than the normal honor they earn.

Will there be a survival bonus? For instance, each kill beyond the first without dying equates to more honor.
This will not be a feature upon initial implementation of the Honor System, but is a possible candidate for continued refinement.

So far it seems like the Honor System is designed for players who can devote large amounts of time to the game. What if I am a casual player who cannot devote so much time?
Since the majority of players in WoW are casual gamers, the majority of player will be competing against players of a similar skill level and playtime. We expect many players to be surprised at how viable they will be in the Honor System.
 

Rewards

What incentives do I have to gain high ranks in the Honor System?
By killing other players and racking up honor, players will gain access to the Officer's barracks in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Each new rank players gain will open up new items, weapons, and armor for them to use. Along with the new items players will also have their current Honor Rank displayed for all to see. Here is a list of the ranks and rewards given per rank:

 

Rank Icon Alliance Title Horde Title Reward 14 Grand Marshal High Warlord Epic-quality weapon and shield 13 Field Marshal Warlord Epic-quality helm, shoulder armor, and gloves 12 Marshal General Epic-quality gloves, leggings, and boots 11 Commander Lieutenant  General Commander's epic mount 10 Lieutenant  Commander Champion Superior-quality helm and shoulder armor 9 Knight-Champion Centurion Battle standard   8 Knight-Captain Legionnare Superior-quality chest armor and leggings 7 Knight-Lieutenant Blood Guard Superior-quality boots and gloves 6 Knight Stone Guard Access to officer's barracks, officer's tabard, and potions 5 Sergeant Major First Sergeant Superior-quality bracers 4 Master Sergeant Senior  Sergeant Superior-quality necklace 3 Sergeant Sergeant Superior-quality cloak, 10% discount on all goods and repairs from your faction's NPCs 2 Corporal Grunt Team insignia trinket 1 Private Scout Tabard

 

 

Will the rewards ever include new spells or talents for characters of higher ranks?
No. Currently we do not have any plans to reward players with new talents or spells.

Will my title be visible to those around me?
Yes. Players will be able to see other player titles as part of their names. In addition, players may view others' honor tabs through the inspect feature.

The previews on the website showed a few weapons and armor. Is that all we will be able to obtain?
No. The preview displayed just a few of the rewards. More rewards will be available in game.
 

Honor Decay

Once I gain Honor, do I keep it indefinitely, or do I have to keep earning it?
The Honor System is created so that players have to continue killing the enemy in order to keep their ranks. If a player does not fight or does not earn as many points from week to week, his or her standing will fluctuate. Over time Honor points will "decay". If a player goes down in ranks, any titles he has earned will be taken away until the rank is earned back.
What do you mean my Honor points will decay?
There is only a percentage correction between the current honor rating and the new rating. This is because honor points behave more like a rating system than a leveling system.

Does it always correct at the same rate, or do the player's rank/duration away affect it?
Rank changes as a percentage of the difference between a player's current honor rating and his or her current week's honor rating. However, in order to give players a cushion for "off weeks", the correction is substantially faster when a player is increasing their honor rating than it is going down.

Does it decay to zero, or is there some nominal rank it stops at?
Players would typically have to be inactive in PvP for a very long time (months) before they lose all rank.

 

Penalties

What sort of penalties are there for dishonorable behavior?
We have recently implemented the first steps toward a Dishonor system. Trivial civilian NPCs such as quest givers and vendors give Dishonorable Kills to players who kill them, or who are part of a party that kills them.
Are there any places where we can fight that will cause a negative honor gain if you kill the opposing faction? An example would be an Argent Dawn camp?
Not at this time. However, there will be times at which players will be worth no honor. For example, when a player loads into the world by crossing an instance line or logging in, or immediately after landing from a flight, that player will be worth no honor for a short time.

Are there any safe guards in place to prevent players from killing each other to climb up the ranks? For example, "you let me kill you and I will let you kill me" over and over again? That seems like it would be the fastest way to reach the top ranks of the Honor System.
Killing the same player repeatedly will have diminishing returns, so it will not be worthwhile for either player. In addition to that, any players caught participating in behavior described above will be guilty of exploiting the game and will be dealt with accordingly. The system we have in place can track unusual patterns to help expose this behavior.

What if guilds coordinate with each other to "trade" players to kill so they are not always fighting the same player?
Any guilds caught participating in this activity will also be considered exploiting the game and will be penalized accordingly.

If I gain the 5th rank, and I purchase the Bracers as listed in the chart above, what happens if I drop down to the 4th rank. Will I still be able to wear the bracers?
Characters are able to equip gear obtained from honor rewards based on the highest rank that the character has attained in their lifetime.

 

WOW Battlegrounds

How does the Honor System fit in with the Battlegrounds?
In the Battlegrounds players will be fighting primarily against other players which will net honor. There will also be other methods of earning honor in the Battlegrounds besides player-vs-player battles. Battlegrounds are instances geared towards promoting player-vs-player combat, so players who complete objectives in Battlegrounds will receive honor.
How does the PvP system that is being implemented affect the world outside Battlegrounds. In other words, in contested zones will I be able to control graveyards and other key points?
While we are looking to have player-vs-player combat affect the outside world in ways that are interesting and most of all fun to players, this will not be a feature that is included in the initial Honor System or Battleground patches.

Will killing players in the Battlegrounds automatically result in me getting more honor than if I kill someone on the other parts of the realm?
No. However players participating in Battlegrounds can earn honor in other ways besides killing players.

Misc.

Will one class have an advantage over the others? Some classes seem to be better equipped for gaining honor than others; was that taken into consideration?
During our testing we did not come across any one class that had a distinct advantage over the others. Each class has an equal chance of rising through the ranks depending on how it is played. Keep in mind that the number of honorable kills that a player makes does not determine the rate at which ranks are gained, only that a fair kill was made. That should help alleviate some of the fears about certain classes being better than others. The more a player participates in player-vs-player battles, the higher the rank will be.

It seems that some realms have way more Alliance than Horde members. How will this affect the Honor System ?
Contrary to popular belief, the numbers of Horde and Alliance are very similar on player-vs-player realms.

How am I supposed to play the game when every where I go someone is waiting to gank me? The graveyard is nice, but I want to see the rest of the world too!
Players who chose to create characters on a PvP realm are supposed to feel a sense of danger where ever they go, that is why we offer player-vs-player realms!