Hearthstone

[420]

A couple weeks ago I got into the beta for Blizzard's Warcraft themed online card game Hearthstone. (Strangely enough, I got into the beta just a couple days after I downloaded and installed the beta of Blizzard's new game launcher.)

Anyway, after playing for a couple weeks I decided I can post some opinions about the game.

First, if you are at all familiar with collectible card games (especially Magic: The Gathering) then you will have no trouble getting into this game. It's a bit dumbed down for a CCG but that's necessary to keep the games short. (They last around 10 min.)

There are 9 classes you can choose from, each one gets to build a deck from a pool of "neutral" cards and a pool of class-specific cards. Higher quality cards can be bought from packs of random cards that you can buy for gold (which you obtain by completing daily quests) or real world money.

Cuchulann's sister is in the beta also, but it seems that opponents are chosen randomly in multiplayer matches so I haven't played against her yet. There is also "Practice" which is basically just single player (vs. AI) and "Arena" which costs gold/money to participate in and is basically a sealed deck tournament against random real players. No idea what the rewards are for winning Arena tournaments.

I finished Bioshock: Infinite and Throbble just got Assassin's Creed IV, so it looks like I'll be playing this and D3 for the near future. Though an interesting DLC came out for Saints Row IV last week that upgrades superpowers...

-420

[Mo]

Funny.  I got into the alpha for Hex. Another CCG.  Ex-Wizards employees are running it so it's quite a bit like Magic but they intend to make a much better game.

[Illutian]

I don't think HS is as dumbed down as some might think.

Due to one simple mechanic. Cards' health aren't restored the beginning of each round.

So it because a game of strategy. Which cards to sack and which to keep on the field.

NOTE: I'm basing this off of playing a spat of Magic 2014.

PS: Tell Throbby to get in her ship and scuttle the main mission...it's boring as fuck.

PPS: TURN ON SEA SHANTIES AND LEAVE THE MUSIC ON! You won't be disappointed.
...well, unless you hate sea shanties.

[420]

I don't think HS is as dumbed down as some might think.

Due to one simple mechanic. Cards' health aren't restored the beginning of each round.

So it because a game of strategy. Which cards to sack and which to keep on the field.

NOTE: I'm basing this off of playing a spat of Magic 2014.

PS: Tell Throbby to get in her ship and scuttle the main mission...it's boring as fuck.

PPS: TURN ON SEA SHANTIES AND LEAVE THE MUSIC ON! You won't be disappointed.
...well, unless you hate sea shanties.

Well, the creatures don't tap when you attack so you don't have to decide between attack and defense. The "taunt" mechanic further removes any attack/defense strategy since it forces the player to attack those enemies first. So far, the best strategy I've seen is overwhelming the opponent with creatures, which makes the Paladin class overpowered.

When I tried the Paladin out for the first time I never lost a practice game against any of the classes. (I play a class in practice until level 10 so I can unlock all the basic cards then I play real people.) They need to seriously nerf the Paladin or give the other classes more mass damage options.

My favorite class however is the Warlock, since he's got a lot of direct damage options. When you mix that with a couple creatures that give +1 damage to spells you can dish out some pretty heavy damage. I throw in some creatures with "charge" and ones that deal damage directly when they come into play (ie direct damage "battlecry") you can really take the opponent by surprise because they can't really plan for what's coming.

So far I haven't seen any cards that allow you to look at an opponents hand so any cards that deal damage on the turn they are played are very effective because the opponent has no way to know what's coming.

Throbble loves her some sea shanties!

-420

[Illutian]

Wait till you see the 'Pro Circuit' of the Arena.

This guy's one of the best I've seen: http://www.twitch.tv/trumpsc#/w/7767396480

[420]

Wait till you see the 'Pro Circuit' of the Arena.

This guy's one of the best I've seen: http://www.twitch.tv/trumpsc#/w/7767396480

What's up with the Arena anyway? It costs 150 gold to play but what are the rewards? I've been spending all my gold on packs of cards because I don't know what the Arena has to offer.

I'll check out the link.

-420

[Illutian]

Arena seems to give this

1 card pack (might be variable amount...I don't know)
1 dust (variable amount; goes up the more wins you have before your deck expires)
3 gold bags (same variable amount as with dust)

For a total of 5 'Reward Crates'

Arena Decks expire after 3 loses or if you click 'Retire'. I believe it's every three matches you win up go up in the ladder.

[420]

Arena seems to give this

1 card pack (might be variable amount...I don't know)
1 dust (variable amount; goes up the more wins you have before your deck expires)
3 gold bags (same variable amount as with dust)

For a total of 5 'Reward Crates'

Arena Decks expire after 3 loses or if you click 'Retire'. I believe it's every three matches you win up go up in the ladder.

Ah, good info. I'll give it a shot next time I have the gold.

That link sucks however. I mean the card choosing strategy is ok. I think he's wrong about the effectiveness of some of the cards but whatever. But it's just about deck building and never actually gets to the matches.

-420

[Illutian]

Um...wut?

I watch him play Arena for about 2hrs (of the ~7hrs he streams). Each day.

[420]

Um...wut?

I watch him play Arena for about 2hrs (of the ~7hrs he streams). Each day.

I guess I need to check it out a bit more. The first four suggestions are all "Hearthstone Arena Draft #x" which just show him choosing his deck for an Arena tournament then polling the community.

-420

[Illutian]

Ya, like right here: http://www.twitch.tv/trumpsc/b/485965134
5hrs of him playing

[420]

Hearthstone has gone into open beta! Join up and check it out.

I don't really see the point of playing this game at my computer since I could easily play something else that's way more engaging and entertaining. But since there is a rumor that it will be released as a smart phone app I could totally see playing this on my phone when I'm commuting to and from work.

-420

[Illutian]

Hearthstone has gone into open beta! Join up and check it out.

I don't really see the point of playing this game at my computer since I could easily play something else that's way more engaging and entertaining. But since there is a rumor that it will be released as a smart phone app I could totally see playing this on my phone when I'm commuting to and from work.

-420

Less likely to be a rumor. The game's built on Unity, which supports immediate (as in no need to rewrite code; just pick the device and go) cross platform creation.