Everyone has a fighting chance
The next Hearthstone expansion has been named. Called “The Boomsday Project”, it marks the return of mechs to the game for the first time since 2014’s Goblins & Gnomes expansion. There will be 135 new cards, the Magnetic keyword that combines cards to share stats/power, and each class will receive a new Legendary Spell. The expansion will launch on August 7th.
A new blog post has appeared on the Hearthstone site that reveals the details about the July 2018 Ranked Play Season that features a reference to World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Battle for Azeroth. Players who win just five games in any Rank in Standard or Wild Ranked Play Modes will earn the Lightforged card back. The Lightforged are one of the new Allied Races that have arrived as part of Battle for Azeroth.
From June 11th to July 2nd, Hearthstone players will be able to take part in a new event called the Taverns of Time. During the event, players are urged to “be prepared for chronological chaos as alternate realities collide”. The event takes place in the Arena and uses non-collectible Caverns of Time-themed cards alongside new, unique quests to earn dust and gold. In addition, on June 13th, every player who logs into the game will receive a Golden Classic pack filled with Golden cards.
When the 9.1 Hearthstone update is deployed, a number of cards that are part of the Witchwood expansion pack will be seeing some significant changes. Most involve hefty changes to mana cost, most notably the Naga Sea Witch that will see an increase from 5 mana to 8.
From May 9th to May 13th, Hearthstone players can take part in the Noblegarden event that “celebrates the joy of life and friendship”. Players can get hold of new greeting emotes, paint Noblegarden eggs during a new Tavern Brawl and everyone who logs in will earn a brand new pair of Golden Cards, the Eggnapper and the Golden Devilsaur Egg.
Hearthstone players who like a solo challenge will be interested in the latest content addition to The Witchwood expansion. Monster Hunts allow players to choose from one of four Heroes that are specific to the new game mode – Tracker, Cannoneer, Houndmaster and Time-Tinker. Each Hunt has its own end boss and allows player to progress “through a series of increasingly difficult encounters”. Once a player completes a Hunt with each character, all four face off against a epic final boss.
It appears that Blizzard Game Director Ben Brode isn’t the only one who has left the Hearthstone team. In an odd “tag team” post to Brode’s Twitter announcement, Hearthstone Executive Producer Hamilton Chu wrote “Weird! It was mine too…” There is no other word about where Chu is planning to go next and there is no long farewell on the Hearthstone forum similar to that posted by Brode. This marks the second high-profile departure from the Hearthstone team. Do we smell change in the wind?
The face of Hearthstone is leaving Blizzard. In a lengthy note on the Hearthstone forums, Brode bids Blizzard goodbye after today and after 15 years with the company, 10 with Hearthstone alone. He does not indicate what his future plans are beyond “to start a new company” that will “probably make games, but we haven’t figured anything else out yet”. He goes into great detail to thank his team and the community for all the years they’ve had together.
The Year of the Raven has officially kicked off in Hearthstone with the arrival of the game’s latest expansion, The Witchwood. Players can look forward to “135 hair-raising new cards” and a completely new setting in and around the city of Gilneas. Expect lots of lycanthropic action and new gameplay mechanics. Two new Legendary cards have been released as well: Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane.
Hearthstone players will be thrilled to hear that the next expansion, The Witchwood, will be launching on April 12th. Once launch day arrives, simply logging into the game will yield three free card packs and a random Class Legendary card from The Witchwood.