Wintergrasp is a large PvP zone in Northrend (even on Normal servers) that sits between Dragonblight and Sholazar BasinThe zone's central feature in Wintergrasp Fortress, which can be under either Alliance of Horde controlA battle takes place roughly every few hours where the faction that currently controls the Keep tries to defend it against the opposing factionAt this time there is no limit to the number of players on a server that can jump into these sieges, so they are the largest (and subsequently, laggiest) PvP encounters in the game

Wintergrasp was introduced to the game as part of the Wrath of the Lich King ExpansionLet's take a look at how it works

Getting to Wintergrasp
As of patch 3.0.8 only characters of level 50 or higher can enter WintergraspIf you have the cold weather flying skill for Northrend, you can fly to WintergraspNote that it is a no-fly zone, so once you are above it you get dismounted and parachute to the groundThe other way to get in is to use the portal that opens near the Battlemasters in DalaranIt's not always available, but it does appear at the beginning of each battle

Battles start 2.5 hours from when the last one ended, and can last up to 35 minutes

The faction in control of Wintergrasp has access to a portal back to DalaranThe other faction can use a flight point to leave the zone, or they can run to the perimeter and fly out

Objectives
Wintergrasp is an attack/defense scenarioOne side tries to capture Wintergrasp Keep by busting through the walls and clicking on the artifact before time runs out, while the defending team tries to stop them

When a match begins, defenders hold the 4 Towers at the corners of Wintergrasp Fortress, and attackers hold 3 Towers to south of the mapThese Towers are defended with player-manned turrets, and attackers can earn bonus honor for destroying the Fortress Towers before capturing the KeepDefenders can destroy the Towers to the south with vehiclesNot only does this transfer a special zone-wide buff from the attackers to the defenders, if all 3 Towers are destroyed, it also reduces the match time by 10 minutes

As well as a Northrend-wide buff that lets you collect Stonekeeper Shards from PvE instances, the faction that controls Wintergrasp has access to the Vault of Archavon raid

Quests
There are numerous daily PvP quests in Wintergrasp that reward honor points, gold, and Wintergrasp Marks of HonorThe quest-givers are in the Fortress for defenders, and near the starting graveyard for attackersMarks of Honor can be exchanged for items at a vendor just east of the Keep door

Tenacity
If one side in Wintergrasp is sufficiently outnumbered, they receive a buff called Tenacity, which increases health and damage outputThis buff can stack several times depending on how bad the numerical imbalance between the two factions isSubsequently, there is a possibility of encountering players in Wintergrasp that are invincible in 1-on-1 battles, and must be confronted by a group

Workshops
Both attackers and defenders have access to vehicles in WintergraspThey are the only practical way to destroy walls and towers, so they are of the utmost importanceThere are six Goblin Workshops where vehicles can be acquired: 2 inside the Fortress for defenders, 2 at the south end of the map that belong to the attackers, 1 in the east that is neutral, and one in the west that is neutralThe neutral Workshops are captured by having enough players of your faction near the flag, like the towers in the Eye of the Storm BattlegroundThe more Workshops your team has, the more vehicles they can bring on the field

A lot of the battle in Wintergrasp revolves around the east and west WorkshopsIf the attackers have both Workshops and are pressing on the Fortress with a full compliment of vehicles, it's very difficult to stop themThe defense really needs to take one or both of these Workshops to have a shot at winning

Vehicles
As well as weapons and cannons, there are currently 3 types of vehicles available to players in WintergraspTo gain access to them, you need to earn rank by killing enemy players and guards

Catapults - These are relatively small one-man vehicles which move at about the same speed as an epic land mountThey have a medium range Plague Barrel which damages structures and creates a toxic cloud that damages enemy playersCatapults also have a very short range Flame Breath for burning anyone who gets in their wayThey don't have as many hit points as other vehicles, so they go down quite quickly when they come under fire

Demolishers - The Demolisher holds one pilot and two passengers, who are able to cast certain spells from their seatsIt throws boulders a long range and has a battering ram, both of which are good for smashing walls and buildingsDemolishers are slower than Catapults but they have more hit points

Siege Engines - The heaviest vehicle players can build in Wintergrasp is the Siege Engine, which accommodates a driver, a gunner, and two passengersTheir main attack is a ram that does good damage against structures, as well as knocking players backSiege Engines also have a long-range cannon manned by a player in the gunner positionPassengers on the Siege Engine aren't able to cast, but they can't be targetted either, so it's a fairly safe place to take cover when you're in trouble

Although there were some flying vehicles in the beta test for the expansion, they were removed before release

Weapons
Rocket Propelled Goblin Grenade Launchers (RP-GGs) can be picked up near a friendly Goblin WorkshopThese hand-held devices have a decent range and are well-suited for taking out enemy vehiclesYou can carry 5 rounds, and can also use them while riding a Demolisher, which actually extends their rangeThe RP-GGs take a long time to fire, so hitting things with them takes a little practice

Defence can man cannons on the walls and towers of Wintergrasp Fortress to bombard the attackers as they approachThe towers to the south of the map also have cannons on them