Arenas and Solo Shuffle

Arenas are instanced fights where teams try to wipe each other out. Unlike Battlegrounds there are no flags or bases: the only goal is to defeat the other team, which makes arenas the most focused form of PvP. Two teams of the same faction can meet. Matches are 2 versus 2 or 3 versus 3, played either rated or as unrated skirmishes, and you queue for them in the PvP window.

• Matchmaking rating (MMR) is a hidden number used to match you with players of about the same skill. It goes up and down with each win or loss, weighted by the other team's MMR, and the game pairs teams by the average MMR of their members. You can only see it on the scoreboard at the end of a match.
• Personal rating is the number you see. Each character has one for 2v2, one for 3v3 and one for rated battlegrounds, and only your own results change it.
• A personal rating of 2000 or more opens the elite gear of the current season. Season titles include Challenger, Rival, Duelist and Gladiator.
• Arenas started as War Games never change any rating.

• Preparation: you start in a staging area with health and mana refilled, buffs removed and pets dismissed. For 60 seconds abilities cost nothing, you can see the enemy classes and specializations, and you can change Talents for free; the changes revert when you leave.
• Start: buffs with less than 30 seconds left are removed, and rage and runic power drop to 0.
• The fight lasts until one team is dead or has left, or until 25 minutes pass, which ends in a draw. Dead players can watch the rest as a ghost.
• Dampening: after 5 minutes every player gets a stack every 10 seconds, each cutting healing received and absorbs by 1%. In 2v2, if both sides have a healer, it starts right away.
• Shadow Sight orbs around the map give 15 seconds of much better stealth detection, but you take 5% more damage and cannot stealth.

Solo Shuffle is the solo queue for 3v3 arena. It finds two healers and four damage dealers and plays 6 rounds; after each round the teams are shuffled, so you end up fighting beside each of the others. It became popular enough to get its own esports tournament, the Solo Shuffle Showdown.

• Rated Solo Shuffle (since patch 10.0.0) keeps a separate rating for each of your character's specializations.
• Like other rated PvP it gives seasonal rewards and achievements, progress toward vicious mounts, weekly Great Vault progress and Conquest. It is cross-faction.
• Each season has a Legend title and pennant toy, plus a feat of strength for the top 0.1%. In Midnight these are Galactic Legend (Season 1) and Venomous Legend (Season 2).
• Leaving a match before it ends gives the No-Show debuff.

Skirmishes are casual 2v2 and 3v3 matches that never touch your rating, made for trying new partners, specs or team setups, or for learning arena without pressure. They open at level 15 with brackets of about 10 levels; below max level your power is raised to the top of the bracket, and max-level characters only meet other max-level characters. You can queue alone or with friends, and the game fills empty spots, trying to pair damage dealers with healers. Winners earn Honor, and at max level also a Strongbox that may hold gold, more Honor or PvP gear. An Arena Skirmish Bonus Event raises Honor from skirmishes by 50%.