Change seems to be a popular theme these days. The highly anticipated release of Wrath of the Lich King is upon us and the World of Warcraft is evolving once again. With the introduction of Wrath, you will encounter countless new features: rebalanced classes, Death Knights, Dalaran and Orgrimmar arena, Strand of the Ancients and Wintergrasp. As it’s been said, “It’s time for change” and PvP is following suit.

Everyone who participated in the 3.0 patch was introduced to the one-two punch of both retribution paladins and arcane mages. The state of the game at 70 is easily understood by attempting to battleground or arena, only to instantly die to one of the classes whose DPS seems to have gone through the roof. The first thing you’ll notice once you reach level 80 is that health pools, once again, have increased dramatically. Blizzard also recently increased the effectiveness of resilience by roughly ten percent as well; changes are being made to bring burst more in line.

Preparation time is almost over and December 16th will be time to go live in season five. Almost every class has received something to broaden their palette in arenas. There have been many changes to the game but it’s best to save a full description for an epic novel into the world of theory craft.

Let's take a look at some of the highlighted PvP changes to each of the classes in World of Warcraft's new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Death Knight GET OVER HERE! Death grip is arguably the best ability brought to light in the expansion. It can be used as peel for a teammate, canceling an opponents cast or the new, improved way to quick swap targets in arena - bring them to you.


Druid Feral druids bite and scratch like no other, moonkins have transitioned into boomkings, and restoration druids now tank melee in tree form. The class looks solid still but other healers will be challenging druids for a healing slot in arena teams, finally.


Hunter This class received kill shot, ranged execute, and a revamp of the aspect system. Pets now have an intervene and damage absorption ability. With the additional ten talent points, hunters will also have access to an interesting talent build having both beastial wrath and readiness. I expect skilled hunters to do amazing things with the class and to make a big appearance in the arena scene.


Mage Receiving two of the best 51 point talents in the game, mages are set once again to reign supreme at the release of an expansion. Arcane barrage allows a mage to be mobile and DPS while sacrificing survivability. Deep freeze gives a mage the chance to land a shatter without assistance, but frost still has issues with damage on the move.


Paladin The new changes and talents for holy shock give paladins a chance to step away from the “turret” healer role. Retribution paladins were basically gods among scrubs for a little while and were quickly toned down. Even with the changes, they gained a lot of utility to bring them closer to the general role of a hybrid we’ve seen in other MMO’s.


Priest Dispersion and the fade change are nice additions to shadow priest, but they seem to still have survivability issues. Penance not only looks great but is also a very efficient heal for discipline. With the changes to spell damage and new additions to the holy arsenal, will smite priests make a come back?


Rogue Dismantle and deadly brew make World of Warcraft characters around the world cower.


Shaman Hex, riptide and thunderstorm are all amazing. Shamans are looking stronger then ever and are looking to be the dominant healer in PvP.


Warlock Pet survivability is still non-existent and for a class that relies on their pet to fulfill their role in PvP, things are just no bueno.


Warrior Blade storm with recklessness and shield wall being usable in arena has increased a warrior’s skill cap slightly. It will be interesting to see if warriors break the stereotype of mortal strike bot and are able to use a fury or protection build in arena.

On the next page, Trahan takes a look at two new arenas in WotLK