It doesn’t get much more exciting than this for Hearthstone fans. Blizzard is adding a plethora of new features to Hearthstone. The company says that most of these features can be expected in the near future.
Many of these new features are in line with suggestions made by the player base throughout the game’s lifespan. Players are always itching for new rewards, as well as exciting ways to play Hearthstone. With the game’s next major update, it looks like fans will be receiving both.
Here’s what you can expect to see from Hearthstone moving forward.
More events
Those who frequented Hearthstone during the Rise of Shadows expansion may recall the Fire Fest-EVIL. This special event gave Hearthstone fans an exciting new way to play while they patiently awaited the next expansion. Thanks to the success of the Fire Fest-EVIL, Blizzard says it’ll be introducing even more large scale in-game events.
Just like the Fire Fest-EVIL, you can expect these events to have a plethora of rewards. Blizzard says in a couple of weeks, it’ll be debuting a new event that includes Dungeon Run inspired Brawls, dual-class Arenas, and Legendary quest rewards.
Blizzard will be releasing new information about the event on Oct. 4. Blizzard has also referred to the upcoming event as the “spooky” event. Get your costumes ready because it looks like this event will be Halloween themed.
More cards for standard
Saviors of Uldum has finally been out long enough to entice a variety of nerfs and buffs in an attempt to balance the Standard format. Blizzard said now that the Standard ladder seems solidified, it wants to shake things up a bit. To do this, the Hearthstone team will be introducing 23 game-changing cards from Wild back into the Standard format.
The full list of cards will be revealed in a blog update on Oct. 4. But for now, fans at least know the identities of two heavy hitters that will be making their return. N’zoth the Corruptor and Ragnaros the Firelord will both once again terrorize Standard Hearthstone. N’zoth the Corruptor is a 10-cost 5/7 Legendary minion with a Battlecry that summons your Deathrattle minions that died previously in the game. Ragnaros the Firelord is an eight-cost 8/8 minion that can’t attack but deals eight damage to a random enemy at the end of every turn.
When Blizzard says it wants to shake up the meta, it looks like the team means it. If N’zoth and Ragnaros are any indications, the 23 cards that join Standard could drastically change the meta. To ensure everyone gets to participate in the meta-mixing event, Blizzard says it’ll be granting everyone free copies of each card. At time of writing, it’s unclear whether players will get a free copy of all 23 cards or just N’zoth and Ragnaros.
New win reward portraits
Anytime a Hearthstone developer does an AMA, they’re pelted with requests to add more Hero Portraits to the game. Players are also consistent in their desire for more rewards connected to win milestones. It looks like Blizzard has decided to answer both prayers at once.
Right now, you can get a golden border around your Hero Portrait in Hearthstone by winning 500 ranked games with a particular class. With the next major update, Blizzard will be introducing new portraits that can be earned by getting 1,000 wins with a specific class. Wins earned before the update goes live will retroactively count toward these totals. You can take a look at some new portrait examples in the attached image. Anduin’s new portrait looks much closer to his new model in World of Warcraft, something Priest fans will surely be happy to see.
In addition to all of the exciting new features, Blizzard will also be implementing a few quality of life improvements. Players can expect it to be easier to find cards through search thanks to the addition of alternate search terms. Now when you search for cards like SN1P-SN4P, for example, you can just type “snip” or “snap.”
Although it won’t be part of the next major update, Blizzard also plans on changing a few things related to quests. Blizzard will be cutting a few of the less popular daily quests and making the requirements lower so they’re easier to complete. You can also expect to see some new quests that are in the works.
More information about all of these exciting new features will be revealed on Oct. 4
