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Ganking and Camping in World of Warcraft

Written by Ithiladan

Tuesday, 06 November 2007

Some rules that any gankers should know...

Such an article will drive mad anyone who doesn’t love PVP, but anyway, some people might enjoy it because GANKING IS FUN!

Ok, so what does ganking mean?

Definition:

Ganking means attacking another player from the opposing faction while he/she is in a disadvantaged position.

Usually a disadvantaged position means low hit points for the defending player, which will lead him/her to certain death. However, in other cases, disadvantaged position can be while he/she fights a mob, is under the effect of a negative buff, is carrying an escort mission or he’s/she’s just too low level to threat the attacking player.

Another term that I will use throughout this article is Camping.

Definition:

Camping means guarding an enemy’s player body after you killed him with the purpose of killing him again upon resurrection, taking benefit from he’s/she’s low hit points.

Camping is done in the following cases:

Piss off an enemy player (sometimes until he/she gives up and logs out of the game);

Punish an enemy player (usually done by ganker hunters);

Force an enemy player to relocate so he/she doesn’t interfere to the questing that needs to be done in that zone.

Ganking and Camping are fun because they usually lead to either the frustration of the enemy player, which leads to ganker’s satisfaction, or because it can produce mass battles by having both the ganker and the victim calling their friends for help.

So next I will try to give you some basic rules for successful ganking:

1. Don’t gank alone

It is more fun to gank with your friends. This will allow you to kill multiple enemies that are questing in the same area, which is much more fun. A party is always better from a performance point of view and it also gives a feeling of adventure that can’t be beaten in solo playing. However, there are some exceptions to this rule:

Occasional ganking, when you are encountering an enemy on your journey who is in a disadvantaged position so you just kill him/her and go on your way;

You are rogue, and rogues sometime prefer to get into places that are not accessible with a full party after him, unless they are all rogues, like infiltrating certain enemy outposts or so.

2. Surprise your enemy

If you show up on an enemy and make moves in which he/she can see you are preparing to gank him will allow smart victims to put escape. Even if the enemy is lower level, he/she can still put you out of the game for a while with snare/stun effects that will allow him to leave and laugh of your lack of skill.

3. Be sure you can kill your victim before attacking

There is nothing more pathetic than a ganker who gets killed by his wannabe victim while the victim is almost dead and fighting a mob. Watch he’s level and hit points percent, and be sure you can kill him fast and easy. In the case it’s fighting a mob, a good trick is to watch it’s target’s hit points and not attack if they are too low. In certain cases you may lose your advantage if the target of your victim dies and your enemy is no longer attacked from two directions.

4. Attack from behind

This is very useful from two points of view:

If your victim tries to use abilities that would hit both you and he’s target mob, that won’t be possible because he cannot face both you and the mob;

Being hit by the mob or by you in its back, the victim has a good chance of being dazed, which is in your advantage.

5. Last hit is a mob hit

Let your victim die by a mob hit if possible. That will damage it’s equipment more than a death by your hand.

6. Be on the move all the time

The deeper you are in enemy territory, the more you must stop camping and move all the time. Defying your enemy by ganking several times the same poor victim will usually ask for a ganker hunters party over your head, and I can assure you it is not a pleasant thing to be camped twenty times in a row by that kind of avengers who don’t have anything better to do than sitting next to your body and killing you each time you try to get away. So move a lot, make circuits, it doesn’t matter the pattern just move and kill. Some guys will eventually start hunting you, but if you continue moving and strike here and there to confuse them you are pretty safe. If at some point they spot you, abandon any on your current plans and start running like hell, because otherwise you are asking to be camped. Also killing more people it’s funnier than just killing the same weak guy over and over.

7. Stay close to the roads, but not on them

One of the nicest ganking techniques is to ambush your victims while they are traveling on roads, unaware of your presence. However, don’t walk in the middle of the road, that will make them to either run or kill you if they can.

8. Honor problems?

Many players are asking if there is any honor in killing disadvantaged enemy players. Well, that is not a proper state of mind for ganking. There is no honor in war and most of your victims would have done the same if found in your position.

9. Transport hijacking

A very nice ganking technique is to take over a traveling vehicle (zeppelin for horde and ship for alliance) and hide inside. Then whenever the ships starts moving attack the enemies on it, but only if you are in an advantaged position. This is best done with a party along your side and is very fun.

10. Scout surroundings

Many gankers fail because they haven’t noticed another enemy not visible at the time of the attack which helps their victim to defend and eventually kill the aggressor. Don’t rush, you have the advantage of surprise so that gives you the time to study the surroundings and check for possible things that will stop you accomplish your ganking.

11. Trapping

Another cool technique of ganking is trapping (nothing to do with hunters here). This comes from the knowledge you have about the environment around the victim. The idea is to scare the victim and run away in a direction chosen by you that will led him/her into a group of mobs that will kill her, with or without your help. Many inexperienced players will panic when they will see you approaching and they won’t watch what they are running into, they won’t care about anything else than getting away from you (Warning: this is VERY FUN to watch).

12. Be cool with your victims

Well, don’t make it look like a murder or something, be fun about it. Here is a fun example from my experience: I was playing a night elf rogue and I was level 52, at the entrance of the furbolg’s tunnel in Felwood. A level 60 warrior passed by and I was caught between the mobs and him. Knowing that vanishing won’t work, I tried the single thing you can do in this case, I bowed to him and waved (this makes them leave you alone from time to time). He bowed to me too and I thought everything is ok, but then he just pulled his hammer out and killed me in two blows. Then he waved me again and left on his way. I must say I wasn’t so mad about it as I am usually when I get ganked. So as a ganker, try to be fun and creative, it makes people remember of you.

13. Get a name in ganking

If you want to get serious about this and be known to all the enemy faction you must gank a lot. The lower is the level of you victims, the better. They will never forget you. It is not nice to do quite such things but if you really want it, is a must.

These being said, there is nothing left to say than Happy Ganking!

(please feel free to make any comments on this article and help me improve it).