Banaani's Comments
Huge Shop Update: Constructed, Battlegrounds & Mercenaries Bundles (Including Diao Chan Valeera and Bartender Fizzy for Gold) + Free Card Back
There also were new Chinese New Year battleground skins listed, so I am guessing a new battleground bundle with a bartender is coming in few weeks, also the three other old skins of Garrosh, Anduin and Uther might be coming back then too.
What Will Happen to the Current Combo Decks in the Next Standard Rotation?
E.T.C. will also be going, it was fun while it lasted. Also Mordresh stays, maybe he can make an OTK?
Shop Update: Battlegrounds Bundle - Mechastorm, Battlegrounds Board - Arena of Champions + Mercenaries Bundles
Hopefully no one actually gives money yo Bobby Kotick anymore…
Irondeep Trogg
Going first: 5 stars. Stops quest decks and coins.
Going second: 2 stars. Great for buffs but that’s it.
Horde vs Alliance Event Guide - Honor Points System in Alterac Valley Expansion Explained, Drek'Thar or Vanndar Stormpike
I joked that it means “summon two of every minion in your deck”
Next Expansion (Alterac Valley?) Teaser - Card Reveals Start Tomorrow (November 16)
Alterac Valley War? Showdown in Alterac Valley? Buried in Alterac Valley?
What’s the end for Forged -> United -> ?
Mr. Smite
Aggro pirate Hunter and Paladin, let’s go! They have weapons, right?
Wait a minute… Celestial Ink Set, Runed Mithril Rod and Sphere of Sapience…
PIRATE MAGE AND WARLOCK!
Iksar's Twitter Q&A #33 Summary - Next Focus After Mercenaries, Different Modes & Progression in BG, In-Game Tournaments, Dual-Class Arena Returning
“Bloodbloom is dangerous”
*prints Stealer of Souls*
Mercenaries Packs Drop Rates - How Many Packs For Full Collection? What Can You Expect From 50 Packs Pre-Purchase?
I think the real bottleneck will be getting enough coins to upgrade legendary mercenaries. If it’s like Pokemon Masters (only gatcha game I have played) you can get the characters quite easy and upgrade them to be good (lvl 120) is doable f2p, but getting to level 140 perfect has an insane curve. Maxing out a mercenary and all their gear is going to be really expensive, while they will be good and playable for f2p players.
How Good Will Questlines Be in United in Stormwind?
First in the Barrens we had frost mage, now we have fire mage in Stormwind so I would expect we get arcane mage in the last expansion. Mage quest might therefore become playable in the next expansion!
How Good Are the New Battle-Ready Hearthstone Decks? Which Ones You Should Pick Based on Power and Value?
I personally feel like buying a ready meta deck skips the “game” part of this game. I want to open packs, collect cool cards, build my own deck and test it out myself. But then again, I’m on a website about meta decks, so I am in a minority here.
Meet the Mercenaries - Official Lore Overview And Artwork Of Mercenary Characters
Well Barrens was supposed to be Horde themed but we got 2 Alliance and only one Horde character. We might as well get 2 Horde and 1 Alliance in the next one, and finally 2 Horde and 2 Alliance in the last expansion of the year.
However they might release these skins some other way than with battle pass.
Forged in the Barrens Rewards Track: How Good Is It and What You Need to Do!
Does anyone remember how they promised events with bonus battlepass xp but didn’t deliver? Instead they gave out some of the rewards that would have been earned from the bonus xp and everyone thought everything was okay?
Can You Build Decks From Just the Hearthstone Core Set Cards? Theorycrafting Free & Budget Core Set Decks
Good article but why would you ever use King Krush instead of Alexstrasza the Life-Binder? Both are 9 mana 8/8 but Alexstrasza goes through Taunt, King Krush doesn’t. On top of that Alexstrasza can heal too!
Book of Heroes (Valeera) + Gladiator Valeera Bundle Have Been Released! (Update: Last Chance To Buy)
Oh no, now that you said it I can’t unsee it… It’s supposed to be just light on the parts of the face not covered by the hood’s shadow.
19.4.1 Patch Notes - Hysteria Works Only on Enemy Minions, Duels Balance Changes - January 28
Hysteria change is good as it was really limiting design space as if they changed Wretched Tiller they couldn’t have ever made any on attack effects for priest, warlock or neutral.
Artist Alex Horley Reflects on 15 Years of Working with Blizzard
I don’t usually like his style as I prefer cartoony pictures for the cards in Hearthstone, but those new Old God paintings are incredible!
No One Is Prepared: How Demon Hunter Keeps Dominating the Meta
“There’s so much more to explore with the class” – like Illidan’s horns, Illidan’s weapons, female illidan, troll Illidan, old Illidan, red Illidan, anti-Illidan or double Illidan? The class is thematically dead end. There is no lore beyond Illidan. Hunter has beasts, traps, all kinds of weapons, rangers, shooting spells, being a lone wolf, being a pack leader, Rexxar, Alleria, Sylvanas and anyone who wanders the woods or is an animal, while Demon Hunter has Illidan and copies of Illidan. Also Warlock’s demons and fel.
(I know, you probably meant game mechanics.)
My Take On The New Progression System / Battle Pass - How Bad it Really Is, How To Fix It + A Few Words About Dev / Streamer Harassment
My ideas for a new system:
All levels are the same amount of xp, lets say 1000 xp.
Each level grants 50 gold. There is no level cap.
Cosmetic rewards and packs are on a separate track that doesn’t have rewards on every step. You get a legendary on step 1 and 25, skins every 10 steps, and old and new packs for different levels, and finally the last exclusive reward on level 100. Every time you get a pack, you also get the normal reward of 50 gold.
Buying Tavern pass grants another reward track with the exclusive cosmetic rewards and a flat amount of packs and gold on the premium track. No hard-to-calculate hidden pack amounts.
Daily quests come every day and grant 500-750 xp each, no other rewards. You can hold three quests.
Weekly quests come one every three days and grant 1250-1500 xp, but as they are devastating when missed, you can see three at a time but they get stored so that when you complete one, if you have stored quests, you get a new one instantly.
Additionally playing the game grants xp for playing the game, but the more you play, the less you get. Playing for an hour grants 500 xp, two hours more grants 500 xp and so on. This is not in chuncks but after each game where you played cards.
Events don’t give bonus xp (exept maybe final push at the end of the pass). Instead they either come with their own mini reward tracks that require certan amount of xp for packs or just straight up grant packs.
In conclusion: Exclusive rewards and packs are bonuses on top of normal 50 gold rewards. Each tier is as easy to get than the previous one, and the gratification of higher levels is done by bonus rewards, not piling up normal rewards. While top players can play multiple hours to gain more and more gold, the players who have less time can still finish the battle pass easy with daily and weekly quests. By doing the daily quest and playing for about an hour, casual players get the 50-60 gold every day like normal, but additional playing will grant more gold and bonus rewards. But on top of that, weekly quests grant 60-75 gold every three days, so that every three days you get 2750-3750 xp from quests and from playing the game 0-4500 xp. Play an hour a day and complete only best quests: 250 gold in three days.
Ok, the numbers need balancing but you get the idea. More friendly to players who play casually, possibility earn from playing a lot, no long times without packs and battle pass rewards don’t clash with each other.
I mean the cards rotate out of standard anyway…