Towers contain allied NPCs and have guards equipped with bows at the top that attack enemy troops from long distance. Towers are very effective in supporting your defense. Once a tower is destroyed, it will remain destroyed for the rest of the match. In the center of the tower rooftop is a flag. The enemy has to get to the top and capture the flag in the same way as the graveyard. After several minutes, if the tower hasn't been recaptured, the tower is destroyed.
Alterac Valley Loot
When you kill enemy players, enemy guards, and certain creatures, they will drop money and quest items. These items can be turned in to activate special events, such as summoning powerful NPCs to assist your side. Some of the items can only be turned in if the NPC that collects them has spawned or is currently alive. The items you gather, such as Storm Crystals, Stormpike Soldier's Blood, and Armor Scraps, will disappear when you leave the battleground. These events are more likely to occur in longer games. They aren't used as often as they have been in previous versions of Alterac Valley.

Captains
Your side's NPC captain gives everyone a powerful buff every so often. The captain also controls various guards. If your captain is slain, you will no longer receive the buff and you will have fewer allied NPCs to help your cause. For this reason, you need to protect your captain whenever he or she is under attack. Make sure you alert your team that the captain is in danger and organize a defense. Depending on your battlegroup and side, sometimes armies skip killing the captains since they only give 20 honor and take valuable time to kill.

Assaulting the Enemy Town
To take over an enemy town and fight the general, you should first capture the graveyards outside and inside the enemy base. Once you take over both graveyards (which is easier said than done), the enemy guards will be forced to spawn at the tunnel entrance leading to their base, which is far away from their town. Enemy players can still reach you to harass you, but it will take them a little longer.

Attacking the Fortress
Before you take out the enemy general you need to pull the warmasters and other NPCs who guard the general. It's a good idea to assign a main tank to the job of tanking these hard-hitting NPCs, with plenty of healing to back them up. If everyone does their role, the process will go much more smoothly. The puller also has to make sure that they don't bring back too many NPCs in one pull. If a player rushes in and engages the general before the guards have been killed, they should just die in place rather than running out, as that will draw the general out as well.

When it's time to take on the general, people usually say something along the lines of "all in" which indicates everyone should rush into the general's chamber and kill him. Again, having a designated tank with plenty of healing is best. Without reliable tanking, the general bounces around between players slaying them. The generals should be tanked right where they stand rather than dragging them outside, if possible. If a player aggros the boss by mistake by doing too much damage, or threat, they should stand their ground even if it means death, rather than train the general out. It's still possible to kill the general without a tank if you have enough players, but it's less than ideal as it is much more time consuming. Also, make sure you kill any enemy players you see in the general's room once you're fighting inside.

If you have a Battle Standard, place it in the general's room to help in the final fight, or use it on the warmasters outside. It has a long cooldown, so save it until you really need it.

Overcoming Fortress Defenders
Defenders can significantly slow down the attack on the general by attacking players, assisting NPCs, attempting to capture graveyards, or other forms of disruption. A common defensive tactic is to attack the gathered enemy force outside the fortress from the fortress entrance, and then run back into the fortress by the general and hide. This can be countered by crowd control / movement impairing abilities such as fear, entangling roots, polymorph, and stuns. In close matches, defense is key in delaying the enemy's attempt on your general while your attackers are simultaneously attacking their general.

Defenders with a Stormpike Insignia or Frostwolf Insignia can use it repeatedly to teleport just outside the fortress entrance. This can near your general and defend them.

AFK
If you type /afk or go too long without taking any actions, you'll exit the Alterac Valley instance. This is in place to encourage players to actively participate in the battle. Players who exit by these means will be affected by the Deserter debuff, which prevents you from joining another battleground queue for 15 minutes. However, if you find yourself in a protracted stalemate, then the debuff could be an attractive option in comparison.