How the war works

Every night the Horde and the Alliance race for influence in three zones. After launch, each race ends in a guild war for its zone, and the winning guild holds it.

Now: influence races

Races are running now. Three a night, at 7:00, 7:50 and 8:40 PM US Eastern, 45 minutes each. The zones are picked the evening before, from where people have been fighting. Tonight's races

An example race in Hillsbrad Foothills: three points, Hillsbrad Fields, the crossroads marked +20%, and Nethander Stead — An example race in Hillsbrad Foothills. The flags are its three points; the crossroads, in the middle, counts +20%. Tap or click to open it full size.

Who. A race is open to everyone in the zone, Horde against Alliance. You don't need a guild.
Points. Each zone has three points, named after places in it. The middle one counts 20% more.
Kills. A kill on the other side in the zone is worth 10 influence once someone other than the killer's people saw it.
Holding. Each point earns its side 4 influence a minute while your side holds it. People standing on a point count one per computer.
Nothing is captured. A race only counts influence. No zone changes hands in a race.
The result is final 15 minutes after the race ends, once the last uploads are in.
What you need. The addon and the desktop app. The app sends what you do to the site; without it, nothing you do counts.

All the race zones and their points

After launch: guild wars

Guild wars start after launch. Every race ends with a chance to declare a war on its zone.

Declaring. Within 15 minutes of a race's end, a guild on the side that doesn't hold the zone may declare. It needs:

a war officer to declare: the guild master, and by default every rank that can invite (the guild master can change this);
at least 10% of its side's influence in that race;
at least 5 members running the addon and the app;
a stake from the guild's War Marks: 150, 300 or 500 by the zone's level, up to twice that.

If several guilds declare, a draw picks one, weighted by influence and stake. The others get their stake back.

When. The defending guild picks the time: one half hour, starting on the hour or the half hour, between 6 PM and midnight US Eastern, over the next two evenings. If it doesn't pick within 12 hours, the war is at 8 PM the next evening. The attackers accept, or withdraw and get their stake back, until preparation starts 15 minutes before the war. If they don't answer, the war is on. A guild can attack and defend on the same day if the two wars are at least an hour apart.

Who fights. Up to 40 a side, one raid, picked by the guild's war officers. The war starts at its time with whoever turns up: there is no minimum and no forfeit. Friends and anyone else in the zone can fight, but only the two rosters capture and hold points. Each player fights at most one attacking and one defending war a day, and only 72 hours after joining their guild.

The battle. 15 minutes to get ready, then 30 minutes of fighting. On the example map below, the Horde guild attacks from Hammerfall and the Alliance guild defends Refuge Pointe.

An example guild war in the Arathi Highlands: the Horde attacks from its rally at Hammerfall down three lanes to the Alliance keep at Refuge Pointe; each lane has an Alliance tower and inhibitor, and Mid's tower has fallen to the Horde — An example guild war in the Arathi Highlands: the Horde attacks Refuge Pointe, and Mid's tower has fallen. Tap or click to open it full size.

Lanes. Three lanes, Top, Mid and Bot, run from the attackers' rally to the defenders' keep. A lane turns the attackers' colour as far as they have pushed.
Tower. Each lane has one of the defenders' towers. A tower stays taken once it falls, as Mid's has here.
Inhibitor. Behind each tower is one of the defenders' inhibitors. Taking any one inhibitor opens the keep.
Keep. The defenders' keep. The attackers win by taking it; the defenders win by holding it for the 30 minutes.
Rally. The attackers' rally point, where they gather during the 15 minutes before the battle.

Each map has a base at both ends, because either side can be the defender. In a war, only the defenders' towers, inhibitors and keep are in play.

Hillsbrad Foothills with both sides' pieces: three lanes between Tarren Mill and Southshore — Hillsbrad Foothills

Arathi Highlands with both sides' pieces: three lanes between Hammerfall and Refuge Pointe — Arathi Highlands

Ashenvale with both sides' pieces: three lanes between Splintertree Post and Astranaar — Ashenvale

Winning. If the attackers win, their guild holds the zone and its crest goes on the map. If the defenders win, nothing changes. Either way the zone can't be declared on for 3 days. A failed attack loses its stake to the defenders.

War Marks

War Marks are earned only from play the site has checked: races, wars, bounties and the weekly boards. You can earn up to 150 a day. They buy cosmetics only, such as titles, calling card parts and crest frames, and are never sold for real money. They carry over from season to season.

Each guild has a treasury. Its leaders set a tax, a share of what members earn that goes to the treasury. Guilds also earn Marks for holding zones and winning wars. Stakes come out of the treasury.

Map key

A race point, held by the Horde, held by the Alliance, or being taken
The attackers' rally point
A lane, red where the Horde holds it and blue where the Alliance does
A lane's tower, in the colour of the side holding it
A lane's inhibitor, standing and taken
The keep: closed, open, and taken

See also how the boards work, which explains how kills are checked.