Springing in a burst of surprise at Blizzcon comes new announcements from the Hearthstone developers. Though the reveal of the Kobolds & Catacombs expansion was not surprising, it is interesting to see the new “Dungeon Run” single-player experience being implemented within the game. Both these grandiose developments entering the game in December are sure to rejuvenate players and shake up the meta.Delving deep toward the underground, and highlighting one of Azeroth’s famed races, the Kobolds, this new expansion brings more changes than the previous. This expansion will include legendary weapons for all nine classes. Heroes will dawn ancient weapons from Warcraft’s lore and use them to vanquish their opponents across the table. After all, what good is a fantastical adventure through underground caverns without a mountain of precious loot to be had at the end?
Directly after the opening ceremony, I darted to the empty queue lines for the Dungeon Run demo. Though the demo was short, it offered a good glance into what to expect from the full experience.Dungeon Run consists of picking a class from the existing roster and battling the first opposition armed with a random assortment of ten common cards. Throughout the eight challenges, each victory will hold the benefit of redefining the player’s deck and adding powerful artifact cards to boost their overall survivability. After vanquishing the first foe, the player is prompted to choose one of three various artifact cards that offer huge benefits. Because they are extremely overpowered, these cards are exclusive to the Dungeon Run mode.However, obtaining a powerful artifact is not enough; players must then choose their deck specialization. That’s right flavorful to the class specializations of World of Warcraft, with some new additions. Sets of three cards are chosen from these specific bundles to form a deck specializing to the player’s preference. Playing with a less-than-ideal deck of cards and creating a perfect destroyer-of-bosses arena deck is what makes this system especially enjoyable.
As stated before, the improvements in the upcoming Kobolds & Catacombs bring a lot of interesting mechanics and strategic lining to the game. New card abilities and the new solo mode are a huge update to Hearthstone. Many of the previous sets included a singular theme, whereas this upcoming expansion focuses on multiple aspects of cards and what makes Hearthstone so enjoyable. Many virtual TCGs may try to usurp Blizzard’s throne, but none have surpassed the simplistic enjoyment that Hearthstone can bring.Are you excited to dive into a single-player campaign? What improvements are you hoping to see from the new
Hearthstone expansion? Let us know in the comments below.
Includes several titles.
Which was showcased at E3 2003.