Hearthstone - An Overview

Between the lull of the end of the World of Warcraft: Mist of Pandaria expansion, and the awaited Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard has cleverly expanded on Diabolo 3 and the new game, Hearthstone (Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft).

Hearthstone is currently free-to-play. Players have options of buying cards and expansions. It currently runs on PC, Mac and iPad. There are plans for a release on iPhone and Androids.

Theme

If you remember Magic (Magic: The Gathering), or maybe I’m too old, Hearthstone is based on a very similar concept, just in a digital form. Hearthstone is themed on concepts, characters, NPCs and spells from World of Warcraft. Like its name where you use your Hearthstone in WoW to your designated home inn, this game has a theme around playing around the Hearth. You can even play against your Innkeeper in Practice Mode.

There are 9 main characters each of a different class. If you are a WoW player, these would be very familiar to you.

• Druid – Malfurion Stormrage
• Hunter - Rexxar
• Mage – Jaina Proundmoore
• Paladin – Uther the Lightbringer
• Priest - Anduin Wrynn
• Rogue – Valeera Sanguinar
• Shaman - Thrall
• Warlock – Gul’dan
• Warrior – Garrosh Hellscream

To maximise number of spells, there are no specialisations in each class. For example, a Priest would have all Holy, Discipline and Shadow spells.

Play Overview

Players start by selecting a character deck to play with. For example, a player can choose a Druid deck. Each player start with 30 health points each.

The game is turn based. In the first round, each player has 1 mana. Mana increases by 1 each round until a max of 10 mana points per round, used mana regenerates after each turn. Cards are made up of creatures (dragons, minions, and beasts) and spells. The player who starts first has 3 cards, and the player who starts next has 4 cards plus a bonus extra mana card to level up the playing field. Each card has a different pre-determined mana usage. In each turn players play their cards, summoning creature or casting spells with an ultimate goal of getting their opponent to 0 health before theirs runs out. Players can play as many cards as they like to as long as they have enough mana.

After each game, you gain experience towards a level for the deck (eg a Priest deck). For the first 10 levels, players gain 2 cards every 2 levels. This would form your basic deck. Thereafter, players gain 1 card every 5 levels. Players can form their own deck, or disenchant extra cards to craft their own cards.

There are various daily quests to enable players to earn gold. Gold can be used for  buying entry into Arena or Adventure Mode or to buy packs of cards.

Play Modes

There are various play modes:

• Practice – This is where players play against the Innkeeper. These games give little experience but enables new players to better understand the game. Most of the time you cannot complete quests in this mode.
• Play Casual – This is where you play against another player. But these games are not counted for ranking. You can still earn experience for the deck and you can complete your daily quests on this mode.
• Play  Ranked – This is where you play against a similarly ranked player. Each the winner of the game gains 1 star and the loser, loses a star. You don’t lose stars before Rank 20. The best rank is Rank 1, and the lowest rank is rank 25. In the beginning of each month, the rankings reset. Players with at least Rank 20, will receive a different display on the back of their cards.
• Arena Mode – This is where players pay 150 gold to enter into the Arena. Players are given 2 characters decks to chose from (e.g. rogue deck versus druid deck). Players are then shown 3 cards at a time, each time picking 1 card, to form a deck of 30 cards. These cards are not necessarily cards you own. Players play against other players. Each win will better your winnings. When you lose 3 times, or win 12 times, or retire your deck, you will unlock your winnings.
• Adventure Mode – This is where players pays gold or money to unlock an adventure to kill boss. Currently there is the 4-wing old school Naxxaramas. There is the typical normal and heroic modes. There is also a class mode, where you are given a deck from a particular class to kill a certain boss. Beating a boss will unlock cards.

Competitive

There are tournaments for the best players on Hearthstone, for example “The Innkeepers Invitational” hosted by Blizzard with a US$250,000 prize pool. So if you’re up for becoming a card genius, try out Hearthstone!