Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is not your ordinary Warcraft game, but it contains the same elements and flavors of its source series. Rather than real time strategy, this game is geared more towards card collection and battling, and players can also combat others online. This is an extremely challenging game that will test how you manage and play your cards right, and the game also provides some great visual effects and banter between your hero and the enemy. Can you dominate Hearthstone as you may have Warcraft? Read this guide to get you started.
Gameplay
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a card collection battle game where in players will be able to acquire cards and create decks out of them. These would then be used to battle both AI and player controlled opponents. Battle is turn based, and winners will be able to earn rewards that will allow them to unlock new heroes, cards, and currency that they will be able to use in getting even more powerful minions that they can add to their decks.
Currency
Gold is the main currency within the game. Gold is earned by winning battles in the Arena, and these could then be used to acquire expert packs that will comprise of new and more powerful cards that you can add onto your deck. Expert packs can be bought using either real money or gold, although the latter method is of course the better method as it is free.
Crafting dust also serves as a special type of currency, and the only way to acquire these is by disenchanting cards that you will otherwise not use or are expendable. This is also a great way to dispose of excess cards of the same type as only two are allowed for each deck. Crafting dust can be used in order to craft cards that you do not have or would like to add onto your deck. However, be careful when crafting or disenchanting cards as breaking them down will yield much less than the amount that is actually required for crafting.
Battle Mechanics
Battle within Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is turn based. Players will flip a virtual coin where in the winner will go first with three cards already drawn. The player that will have the second turn, as an advantage, will have an additional card drawn. Each turn, players will draw cards and make their moves for as long as they have mana left or if they simply want to end their turn.
Mana is a resource that refills and increases by one each turn. This means that, the longer that the battle goes, the more mana players would be able to call upon, and this means that players would be able to place more cards onto the field or perform more actions. Take note, however, that minions put into play, with the exception of Spell cards, those with the Charge ability, or those who can trigger other special abilities, will not be able to attack until the player’s next turn.
By default, players will have the option to attack either the opponent’s minions or their hero itself. In the case of minions attacking minions, their respective health and attacks will be deducted against each other, and the minion whose health is reduced to zero or lower would be removed from the board. The game will end once one hero’s health gets reduced to zero.
Cards
Players will have to acquire powerful cards in order to create decks that they can put into battle against others. Cards will differ in classes, although they behave more or less the same depending on type. All cards have a mana cost, and mana is required so that these can be placed on the board. Minion cards also have health and attack points which are used when attacking or defending against other minions or heroes.
Most of the time, cards also have special abilities that have different effects. Examples of these are the abilities to boost health or attack of other minions on the board, to call upon an additional minion, or to deal damage directly to the enemy hero. There are also minions that have Charge abilities, which would allow them to attack enemies on the same turn that they have been placed on the board, as well as the Taunt ability, which would serve as defensive cards as enemies would be forced to attack them while they are at play.
Other cards include Spell cards which would be triggered upon placement on the board and would disappear immediately, and Weapon cards that will allow heroes to attack just like regular minions. There are other cards available, and players can check up on their collections and the cards’ respective abilities in their inventory.
Heroes
Initially, players will be provided with one hero which belongs to a particular class. After the tutorial session, players will then get to do battle with several other heroes for the purpose of unlocking them. Although heroes are more or less the same with regards to statistics, there would be instances where in cards certain cards would work better with them. In addition, by playing certain heroes, they will be able to level up, which would in turn allow players to earn more cards. Should players reach level ten for a hero, they would inevitably be able to acquire all cards available for that class.
In addition, heroes would also have to gain access to different skills that can also consume mana. These skills mainly can do damage to target heroes or minions, although these would depend on the hero currently being used.
Game Modes
There are many different game modes for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. While players can do battle with the AI, Play and Arena Modes are where you would be spending most of your time. Under Play mode, players can get to do battle and earn new heroes in cards. Under Arena, plahers will join a tournament where in they would be facing off with other players online. Depending on your standings at the end of the tournament, players will be able to earn varying amounts of gold that they can then use to buy expert packs that they can use to boost their decks.
Take note that players can use any type of deck that they want, and that these decks will draw from your collection exclusively. This means that, although your selections are limited to the cards that you actually own, each deck can have virtually the same cards with just a few modifications depending on the opponent that you will be facing.