How to Win the Battle for the Darkspear Islands in WoW: Forever

To win Battle for the Darkspear Islands, hold capture points so your score keeps rising and bring the center flag to a base your team controls for extra points. The first team to 2,000 points wins. It's a 15v15 battleground for players from level 30 through 60. A successful flag run depends on having a friendly base left to deliver it to.

1. Queue from a city or your faction's staging base

1. Reach level 30 and visit a battlemaster in a major capital.
2. Select Darkspear Islands and join the queue.
3. If you want the battleground quests or reputation vendors before you play, visit your faction's staging base instead. Horde uses the Darkspear Raiders at the Merchant Coast. Alliance uses the Theramore Expeditionary Force at Northwatch. Both are in the Barrens.
4. Use the portal at your faction's base if you're joining from there.

A city is convenient when you only want to enter a match. The staging base is more useful when you want to inspect rewards or turn in Marks of Honor between matches. You don't need to swim to the islands from Dustwallow Marsh. Use the queue or the faction portal.

2. Keep bases scoring while someone contests the flag

There are four capture points. The more your team controls, the faster it gains points. At the start, split enough players across objectives to claim ground. Avoid sending everyone to the center. Even if you win the opening fight there, you'll still need a friendly base to deliver a flag.

Once your side has captured a point, leave someone watching it. The defender's job is to buy time and call for help early. A short message naming the base and how many opponents are approaching tells your team whether to send one player or several. If you're the only defender, call before enemies reach the capture point. The players fighting elsewhere need time to turn around.

If your team is already gaining points faster, use the scoreboard to decide whether you need to take a risk. Keeping the bases you own can be enough. If the other team controls more points and the gap is growing, organize a push on a base before committing everyone to the center. A flag capture can help close a gap, but control of the map determines how quickly the gap grows back.

3. Give the carrier a destination and an escort

1. Check which bases your team currently controls before you pick up the center flag.
2. Tell your team where you plan to take it. Choose a controlled base you can reach with help.
3. Send enough players to escort the carrier without leaving the destination open to capture.
4. If the intended base falls, change course to another friendly base. If none remain, ask your team to recover one before pushing into a crowded enemy position.

The shortest route may go through the busiest fight. If your team has another controlled base with fewer opponents on the approach, use it. An escort can slow opponents while the carrier keeps moving. A defender at the destination should watch the capture point rather than running too far out to meet the carrier. If both jobs are covered, the flag is more likely to reach a base your side still owns.

4. Follow up on rewards between matches

The Darkspear Raiders and Theramore Expeditionary Force have separate faction reputation tracks. Check your side's vendor as you gain standing. The reward list includes gear and consumables at different thresholds. The staging base also has quests that let you turn in Marks of Honor for reputation. At Exalted, look for the short quest chain for your faction's tabard.

In your next match, pick a job based on what the team lacks. If everyone is chasing the flag, protect a base. If the bases are covered but nobody is moving the flag, help take it to a friendly point. A quick look at base control and the current score tells you where your next minute is most useful.

After a failed run, check why the flag stopped moving. Losing the carrier and losing the destination call for different responses. Add an escort for the first problem and leave a defender for the second.