In the online game World of Warcraft (WoW), most of the character combat is performed with weapons, skills, or spells. The game expansion Wrath of the Lich King introduced some mounted combat in the form of flying mounts and vehicles.
The WoW content patch 3.1 Secrets of Ulduar included the addition of a new area within the Icecrown zone: the Argent Tournament Grounds. In this area, players can perform quests to gain favor with their faction cities and the Argent Crusade.
Each of the factions offer reputation gains and unique rewards. This patch also introduced a new form of mounted combat: jousting. Just like medieval knights, players can equip lances and challenge opponents to duels. There are several standard and repeatable quests that require players to joust with non-player characters (NPCs) and mobs in Icecrown.
Jousting Mounts
In order to mount a steed to joust, the player must have a lance equipped in his main hand. Lances are available in many locations within the Argent Tournament Grounds, and are also provided automatically to players when they accept a jousting quest.
Each race has its own jousting mounts, and the player can only use mounts for races of which he is either a valiant or a champion. When the player had a lance equipped and mouses over an eligible mount, the tool tip will change to indicate a green curved arrow. By clicking on the mount, the player enters the mounted control interface.
The Jousting Interface
The jousting interface has six options:
- Thrust - Close combat move that does light damage. This attack requires the player to be in melee range of the NPC.
- Shield Breaker - A medium ranged attack with moderate damage that will reduce the NPC's Defend charges by one.
- Charge - A medium ranged attack that will charge the NPC with heavy damage and reducing the NPC's Defend charges by one.
- Defend - A defensive buff that reduces damage to the player by 30%. Can stack up to three times.
- Refresh Mount - This option can only be cast outside of combat, and refills the health of the mount.
- Challenge Opponent - This option can only be cast outside of combat, and is used to challenge another player to a jousting duel.
The introductory jousting quests will instruct the player on the first four commands in this list, and give the player the chance to test them out against combat dummies.
How to Joust Against NPCs in World of Warcraft
Jousting against NPCs requires only a simple order of operations:
- Build up three charges of Defend on the character, then challenge the NPC to joust.
- After accepting the challenge, the NPC will march off to gain distance.
- As soon as the NPC is far enough away, click Charge. The player mount will charge forward towards the NPC and then past him.
- Immediately after passing the NPC, jump up and rotate 180 degrees while in the air, then click Shield Breaker. When the character hits the ground, the end of the charge action will direct the character forward towards the NPC.
- Move to melee range with the NPC, and refresh Defend if necessary. Click Thrust to continue damaging the NPC.
- The NPC will remain within melee range for a few strikes, then move to create distance again. Repeat steps 3 through 6 above until the NPC has been defeated.
This strategy is designed to defeat NPCs, which have predictable actions in the jousting ring. Actual players are far more unpredictable, and this strategy will likely be less effective against players.
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