During our recent preview of the new Warcraft-themed Battleground Alterac Pass, we kind of forgot that Warcraft had yet to receive its own epic lore-heavy arena. Well, that's about to change with the introduction of Alterac Pass. Fans of WoW will know the name well as it served as the backdrop for epic Horde versus Alliance battles.



Coming as part of the new Echoes of Alterac event, in addition to the new Battleground there's also a new hero - the Draenei paladin Yrel - several new cosmetic items, and cool new quests and rewards.

New Map – Alterac Pass: A snow-covered, three-lane Battleground that is the first to bring a piece of the World of Warcraft’s Alterac Valley to the Nexus. Raze keeps, gather forces, and defeat your opponent’s legendary General: Drek’Thar for the Horde, and Vanndar Stormpike for the Alliance.

New Map Mechanic – Cavalry: Your Cavalry units have been captured by the enemy! Your goal is to break them out of Cages on the map while preventing the enemy team from doing so. Channel on the enemy Cage to gain control of it, then maintain control until your prisoner is freed. After a short delay, the winning team will spawn a Cavalry unit in each lane, boosting the movement speed and
damage of nearby allies.

Lay Siege to your Opponents: Standard cores have been replaced by Generals who will fight back when attacked! Generals can be attacked after one keep is destroyed, but they gain 20 armour from each keep that’s still intact—destroy all three enemy keeps to diminish their defenses.

Destroy Keeps to Spawn Reavers: When a keep is destroyed, the enemy team will begin to spawn melee Reaver minions instead of catapults. Reavers lead your other minions into combat, and serve to tank the brunt of the enemy General’s attacks.

New Hero – Yrel: This Draenei paladin is a deliberate melee warrior with heavyweight abilities and a unique gameplay style that rewards premeditation and commitment.

New Event – Echoes of Alterac: It’s time to pick a side! Declare your allegiance to the Horde or the Alliance, then complete the following questline and unlock your faction’s Warcraft themed rewards, including a portrait, banner, and mount.

Raid the Nexus for Epic Loot: Get your hands on new Warcraft-themed skins, mounts, sprays, and more via Echoes of Alterac loot chests and three event-exclusive bundles, or craft them with Shards!

One of the quest rewards is a Warcraft Reinforcements Chest that in addition to the standard four random items also includes a guaranteed Warcraft Hero from a pool of 28. Alterac Pass is currently playable in the Heroes of the Storm PTR.