Cooking allows you to make food that will quickly restore your health over a few seconds (as well as other buffs). For PVP, (and really for any situation where you need a little more power) some food that you cook (or buy in the AH) will also give you a buff. These buffs stack with potion buffs.
Cooking is a secondary profession. That means everyone can level it without it costing a primary profession slot. So have your PVP character (or an alt) gain a high-level skill in cooking.
Let's take a look at some of the food that gives you buffs.
Smoked Sagefish
●Requires Level 10. Use: Restores 378 health and 567 mana over 21 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 3 Mana every 5 seconds for 15 min.
This is great for low-level PVP for casters. The 3 mana every five seconds buff helps them keep the spells going.
Murloc Fin Soup
●Requires Level 15. Use: Restores 552 health over 24 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 6 Stamina and Spirit for 15 min.
This food buff gives low-level characters 60 health. When your health is probably around 200-300, this is an amazing increase.
Also see: Redridge Goulash, Seasoned Wolf Kabob, Crispy Lizard Tail, Gooey Spider Cake, Big Bear Steak, and other recipes for the same buff.
Tasty Lion Steak
●Requires Level 20. Use: Restores 874 health over 27 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 8 Stamina and Spirit for 15 min.
For the level 20-29 bracket, this food provides a 80 health buff and increases Spirit by 8.
Note that there are many other recipes that provide the exact same buff as the Tasty Lion Steak. Look for recipes in the Auction House, as well as buy them from Cooking trainers.
Dragonbreath Chili
●Requires Level 35. Use: Occasionally belch flame at enemies struck in melee for the next 10 min.
This has great surprise value in PVP. A huge jet of flame erupts from your mouth, blasting whoever is in front of you. This is best for melee players who get close to their opponents. Damage for a level 30 or so character can be in the 50-70 range per burp, and the burp can crit.
Heavy Kodo Stew
●Requires Level 35. Use: Restores 1392 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 12 Stamina and Spirit for 15 min.
Now the bonus for level 35 characters and above is 12 Stamina and Spirit. Several other recipes have this same buff.
Grilled Squid
●Requires Level 35. Use: Restores 874 health over 27 sec. If you eat for 10 seconds will also increase your Agility by 10 for 10 min.
Rogues may prefer this recipe for the stamina buff.
Nightfin Soup
●Requires Level 35. Use: Restores 874 health over 27 sec. Also restores 8 Mana every 5 seconds for 10 min.
If you are a caster, this recipe can compliment a mana enchant on your gear to make sure you never run out of mana.
Poached Sunscale Salmon
●Requires Level 35. Use: Restores 874 health over 27 sec. Also restores 6 health every 5 seconds for 10 min.
Here's a health regeneration buff, a great buff for melee players.
Buzzard Bites
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 4320 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Stamina and Spirit for 30 min.
Now level 55 characters and above can get a 20 Stamina and Spirit buff for 30 minutes. That's 200 life and quicker health/mana regeneration.
Smoked Desert Dumplings
●Requires Level 45. Use: Restores 2148 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Strength for 15 min.
This is a Strength buff, great for increasing your attack power.
Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 4320 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 25 Stamina for 15 min.
This 250 life buff can compensate for weakness in your gear, or give you enough life to outlast your opponents.
Blackened Sporefish
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 4320 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Stamina and 8 Mana every 5 seconds for 30 min.
This buff to Stamina and Mana is great for Warlocks.
Blackened Basilisk
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 7500 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 23 Spell Damage and 20 Spirit for 30 min.
A great buff for any caster. This is a favorite for raiders, but it also works great for PVPers.
Grilled Mudfish
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 7500 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
Another great buff for Rogues, and also any class that can use an Agility buff to their crit and dodge chances.
Golden Fish Sticks
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 7500 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and increase healing done by 44 and Spirit by 20 for 30 min.
Here's a great buff for healers.
Spicy Crawdad
●Requires Level 55. Use: Restores 7500 health over 30 sec. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 30 Stamina and 20 Spirit for 30 min.
You get an extra 300 health and 20 Spirit towards regeneration with the Spicy Crawdad.
Cooking Daily Quests
Daily cooking quests are now available from The Rokk in Shattrath City! In addition to gold, you can receive random cooking reagents and new recipes as a reward for completing these quests.
The Big Picture
Now that we've discussed the elements of getting buffed up for PVP, let's look at putting them all together.
We'll look at how we'd buff up a caster. Use the following buffs:
●Superior Wizard Oil (+42 spell damage) from Enchanting
●Elixir of Major Fire Power (+55 fire damage) Battle Elixir from Alchemy
●Elixir of Draenic Wisdom (+30 Intellect and +30 Spirit) Guardian Elixir from Alchemy
●Blackened Basilisk (+23 spell damage +20 Spirit) from Cooking
●Enchant Cloak - Spell Penetration 20 Spell Penetration from Enchanting
●Enchant Chest - Major Resilience +15 Resilience from Enchanting
●Enchant Bracer - Spellpower +15 Spell damage from Enchanting
●Enchant Gloves - Major Spellpower +20 Spell damage from Enchanting
●Enchant Boots - Boar's Speed +9 Stamina +8% speed increase
●Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower +40 Spell Damage
●+45 Stamina - Gnomish Poultryizer from Engineering
Remember, all of this is added to the bonuses granted by your gear.
Here's what you'll get:
●+195 damage with fire spells
●+300 mana
●+50 to regeneration (in battle and casting!)
●+20 to spell penetration
●+15 to resisting critical hits
●+610 health
These buffs on top of good gear would make a caster an engine of destruction. With the wide variety of the various buffs we've discussed, you can configure any character for any purpose. Healing, melee, crowd control, damage; you can play it how you like with amazing power.
Battleground Buffs
Spell buffs at the start of a BG and upon rezzing in a BG are free. Those of you with buffs to give should slap them on your entire team.
The Arena
The rules for preparing for Arena PVP are different from Battlegrounds PVP.
One you enter the Arena instance, your health, mana, and energy are maxed (even if you were dead). Buffs, conjured items, and pets are removed.
You have 60 seconds to get ready, which includes summoning pets, applying buffs, making soul stones, and so on.
Here's more from the official site:
●No consumables other than bandages and conjured items can be used while in the arena. (No food or alchemy buffs allowed.)
●Abilities/ spells /items with cooldowns longer than 15 minutes cannot be used while in the arena. This also applies to resurrection. (Some Engineering gizmos won't work.)
●When players enter the Arena, all cooldowns on spells or items that have 15 minutes or less are reset. This allows them to have all their abilities available when the fight begins.
For Arena play your Enchanting buffs are more important than ever.