WvW Basics

To note, WvW is a numbers game and Ferg's Crossing is a bottom tier server. Most of the time we will be outnumbered, sometimes even in our own borderlands. WvW is not meant to be fair or just, it is meant to be played!

WvW is a PvP scenario with PvE mixed in. For a detailed review of WvW, see the wiki: WvW Wiki.

For the official WvW Forums, see the following: WvW Official Forums

You can most likely find a lot of information from these two places.

I like WvW, I spend a lot of time there because I like some form of PvP. If you need help in WvW, I can help you and I am sure others can also. The main rewards in WvW are lots and lots of karma and experience, and honor badges. If you are in a “ZERG” (a group of 20 or more players), you can take a lot of objectives in a short amount of time. Each time you take an objective, you receive experience, karma, and money. Badges of honor are acquired by killing other players and specific NPCs.

The drop rate for honor badges seems to be directly related to how much damage you do to a target and your actual level. For an example of drop rate percentage, I have almost 4,000 WvW kills and have earned approximately 1,500 badges, which equates to about a 37% drop rate per kill.

Here are some rules for WvW (in no particular order):

Rule #1 - Ask questions - there is never a dumb question.
Rule #2 - Stay with a group - If you are an up-scaled player (level 1 synced to level 80 per se), stay with a big group. You will be less likely to be targeted as a “free kill” by a level 80 decked out in full exotics. There is a limited amount of safety in numbers.
Rule #3 - You will die in WvW - It sucks, it happens – may as well get use to it. At present, Gages has about 1,585 deaths – not all in WvW (don’t get spooked!).
Rule #4 - Siege is your friend - Siege are catapults, flame rams, ballistas, trebuchets, etc. that are operated by players to kill other players, defend locations, or take objectives. They can be purchased with money or honor badges. You can also receive 2 pieces of siege per jumping puzzle completion per day.
Rule #5 - Commanders – You will notice players with a blue icon over their heads - they are commanders. Follow their directions at your discretion – some of them know what they are doing, others do not. Fortunately, we do have some good ones.
Rule #6 - Be vigilant! – Don’t get caught napping! Other players will love an unsuspecting target for a chance at a free honor badge.
Rule #7 - (THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF ALL) – ALWAYS CARRY SUPPLY - You cannot build siege or repair gates/walls without supply. If you run out of supply, go get more! There are a number of supply camps, not all of them will be targeted at the same time so you should be able to find a safe one.

Some Warnings:

Warning #1 – If you are a pure damage build in WvW, you are "squishy" and will die fast and furious on a lot of occasions (particularly against a burst built thief). On Gages, I run a precision/toughness/condition damage build, and I take a lot of hits before I die. Not that you have to run a similar build for any profession, I just want everyone to think about how they want to play WvW.

Warning #2 - Don't believe everything you read on the official WvW forums. A lot of it is complaining. There are some legitimate issues, but there is a big update planned for WvW in February 2013 that will address some of these issues. (Hopefully).

I will add more as needed.