Lake Wintergrasp

General Information
Gameplay
Vault of Archavon
Beta Screenshots
Images
Map
Media

Summary

Lake Wintergrasp is a large lake located in between Sholazar Basin, the Borean Tundra, The Dragonblight, and Icecrown Glacier. It is the largest body of water, albeit frozen, on the continent of Northrend.

Lake Wintergrasp is a zone fully dedicated to World PvP, even on PvE servers. It focuses on siege weapon warfare.

Lake Wintergrasp is WoW's first non-battleground zone solely devoted to PvP action.
According to a fixed, rolling schedule, one faction defends the keep, and the other faction assaults it. Both sides fight over siege workshops scattered around the zone. Each waiting period is two hours and thirty minutes. Each match lasts thirty minutes, or up to ten minutes shorter if the southern towers are destroyed
If the attacking force succeeds in capturing the keep, that faction defends it during the next rotation. If that attacking force fails to capture the final objective before the next rotation, they will be assaulting the keep for the next match as well.
Lake Wintergrasp features a variety of new daily quests. These quests include (but are not limited to): killing the opposite faction; destroying enemy siege vehicles; destroying a southern tower; and winning a battle.

Lore

From WoWWiki:

The lake sits midway up and just west of the Dragonblight proper. It's unknown if the lake has always been frozen, but probably has, since Icecrown Glacier is right above it. “Frozen lake” is a misnomer, of course. The surface is frozen solid, and one can walk across it and even drag a small cart if it’s not too full. Yet beneath that sheet of ice the water flows, so cold it’ll suck the heat from a person in minutes (if he's lucky) and so blue it rivals a clear evening sky. The taunka (a lost race of tauren) cut holes in the ice and spear the fish swimming beneath. It’s bitterly cold near the water, and the wind can slice right through a person.

In this zone there is a valuable mine. This mine is contested by both the Horde and Alliance, who both seek to reap its riches.

As of Beta Build 8770, Lake Wintergrasp is live and available for play on Beta servers. It is, however, still a bit buggy. This page contains a summary of known gameplay mechanics.

Overview

Wintergrasp world PvP battles happen on a set schedule and last a set amount of time. Two hours and thirty minutes after the last battle ended, another will begin. Battles last for a maximum of thirty minutes, and can be cut up to ten minutes short by destroying all of the southern towers.

Each faction battles for control of the main keep in the northern part of the zone. Which faction control the Keep at the start of the battle is determined by the previous battle. The controlling faction receives the buff "Essence of Wintergrasp", increasing experience gained by 5%, and allowing Stone Keeper's Shards to be collected.

Players make use of Siege Vehicles and other weaponry to destroy the Keep and other structures in the zone. In order to obtain these weapons, players must control their various spawn points, which appear as Goblin workshops throughout the zone.

Rank Buffs

One of the main features of Wintergrasp gameplay is a system of buffs gained by players when they participate in the zone. There are currently three ranks, each of which allows players differing amounts of access to the various Siege Vehicles in the zone. These ranks are tracked as buffs.

Available Ranks:

Recruit (Rank 1): "Fighting in Wintergrasp has enlisted you into the fight."
Corporal (Rank 2): Buff that allows you to operate catapults. "Defeating 10 combatant in the battle for Wintergrasp has promoted you to the rank of Corporal."
First Lieutenant (Rank 3): Buff that allows you to operate siege and ground vehicles. "Defeating 10 combatant in the battle for Wintergrasp has promoted you to the rank of First Lieutenant."

Siege Vehicles

There are a variety of Siege Vehicles available in the Wintergrasp zone which players can control in order to help fight the opposite faction.

When a Vehicle becomes available (and the player has the required Rank), the player can click on the vehicle and board it. Currently there are six types of Vehicles available:

Forsaken Catapult- Requires Corporal
The Demolisher- Requires First Lieutenant
Siege Engine- Required First Lieutenant
Goblin Shredder- Required First Lieutenant (Never made it live)
Flying Machine- Required First Lieutenant (Never made it live)
Flying Machine (Bomber)- Requires First Lieutenant (Never made it live)

Each vehicle has special abilities that allow it to attack enemy players as well as structures in the zone. See the individual Vehicle pages listed above for more details.

Siege Vehicles can travel anywhere in the zone, except through water. If a Vehicle is driven into water, it gains the "Wintergrasp Water" debuff and is disabled until it leaves the water.