Season 12 has launched for Mists of Pandaria Classic, bringing the expansion's first competitive PvP season to WoW Classic players. The update adds two new arenas, two new battlegrounds, and several changes to how PvP ranking works.
Blizzard has also tweaked the Resilience system and added ratings to 2v2 and 5v5 arena brackets. Originally, only 3v3 teams could rank in Mists of Pandaria.
Fresh Arena Maps Hit Uldum and Kun-Lai Summit
Tol'viron and Tiger's Peak are now live, giving players two new arena locations to master. Both support 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 matches for level 90 characters.
These arenas feature a voting system for Dampening timing. Teams can have two members channel a Bloodbath Orb for 2 seconds to influence when this healing reduction kicks in. If both teams vote, Dampening starts immediately. One team voting means a 3-minute delay. Neither team voting pushes it to 5 minutes.
Dampening starts at 0% and ramps up 6% per minute once active. This stacks with Battle Fatigue's existing 40% healing reduction. Matches cap out at 20 minutes.
Conquest Points Now Scale Weekly
The Conquest system lets players catch up if they miss weekly caps. Missing a week means the cap carries over, so a character hitting level 90 four weeks into the season gets four times the normal weekly limit.
PvE gear above item level 473 gets scaled down in all PvP content. PvP items like Conquest Weapons at item level 483 keep their full power.
Gladiator Titles Expand to All Brackets
Gladiator and Rank One titles are now available in 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 brackets. The system uses flat cutoffs instead of percentages to determine who gets titles.
Multiple characters at Gladiator rank only count as one slot toward cutoffs, but all qualifying characters still get rewards. This applies within brackets and across different bracket types.
Resilience Gets Level-Based Scaling
Base Resilience now reduces damage from other players based on character level. It starts at 35% damage reduction and scales up: 40% at level 40, 45% at level 60, 50% at level 70, 55% at level 80, and 63% at level 90.
Battle Fatigue still cuts healing and shields by 40% during PvP combat.
Temple of Kotmogu: Four Orbs, One Winner
This 10v10 battleground in Vale of Eternal Blossoms centers on controlling four mogu orbs. Green, blue, purple, and orange orbs spawn in the temple's corners. First team to 1600 Victory Points wins.
Holding orbs generates points but comes with penalties. Orb carriers deal and take more damage, receive less healing, can't mount, and grow larger to become obvious targets. These effects get worse over time.
Point generation depends on position. The temple center gives maximum points, the surrounding plaza gives moderate points, and holding orbs outside the temple gives minimal points. Killing enemies awards big point chunks regardless of location.
Players can only hold one orb at a time. Die while carrying one and it returns to its spawn point. Teams can control multiple orbs through different players.
A Berserking Buff randomly spawns in the courtyard, boosting damage dealt and taken.
Silvershard Mines: Diamond Cart Escort
Teams escort diamond-filled mine carts to depot drop-offs in this Stranglethorn Vale battleground. Three carts run simultaneously on separate tracks, with new ones spawning after deliveries.
Cart control works through proximity. More team members near a cart means your team controls it. Controlled carts generate resources continuously and give bonus points when delivered.
Track switches let players redirect carts mid-journey. These take a few seconds to activate and work regardless of who controls the cart. Smart switch usage can steal enemy carts or protect your own.
Victory needs 1600 resource points from cart control and deliveries. Restoration Buffs (health/mana recovery) and Berserking Buffs (damage boost) spawn randomly along tracks.
Achievement Hunters Get New Targets
Temple of Kotmogu offers 10 achievements, from basic wins to complex challenges like holding all four orbs simultaneously or maintaining center control for 90 seconds straight.
Silvershard Mines adds 11 achievements focused on cart control and strategic objectives. These include capturing carts on all five track configurations in a single match.
Both battlegrounds feature Master achievements requiring completion of all location-specific objectives.
2v2 and 5v5 Arenas Get Rating Systems
The biggest change for arena veterans is the addition of ratings to 2v2 and 5v5 brackets. The original Mists of Pandaria only offered ranked play in 3v3, but Classic expands this to all formats.
Season 12 establishes the competitive foundation for Mists of Pandaria Classic's PvP scene. The mix of new content and system changes gives players multiple paths to climb the rankings.
