During September, Hearthstone players braved the harsh deserts of Uldum. Fans fought alongside Reno, Finley, and Elise and took the action from the Lost City all the way to Khartut’s Tomb.
But now, fans will travel to one of the most iconic places in Uldum’s history, the Halls of Origination, in Tombs of Terror chapter four. Just like with previous chapters, though, players won’t be making this journey alone. The final member of the League of Explorers, Brann Bronzebeard, is now unlocked.
Anyone who played World of Warcraft during the Cataclysm expansion is probably familiar with the Halls of Origination. During the Cataclysm expansion, the Halls acted as a level 85 dungeon. Inside the dungeon, players were forced to face Titan constructs placed on Azeroth thousands of years prior to the timeline experienced in-game. Fittingly enough, players were escorted through the dungeon by none other than Brann Bronzebeard.
The Dinotamer returns to the Halls as the dual-class Hero for chapter four of the adventure. Brann will act as a Warrior and Hunter Hero. Brann will have a plethora of unlockable treasures, decks, and Hero Powers that can be obtained throughout the run.
Brann’s starting treasure is called Ol’ Faithful. This treasure is a three-cost 4/2 Weapon that deals one damage to all enemies after your Hero attacks. Accompanying Ol’ Faithful will be Brann’s starting Hero Power, Spread Shot. This Hero Power costs two mana and allows you to deal one targeted damage, then one damage to the enemy Hero. Brann also has two more Hero Powers that can be unlocked while playing the adventure.
If you deal 300 damage to enemy Heroes, you’ll unlock the Hero Power Well Equipped. This power costs two mana and allows you to equip a random weapon. The weapon’s durability is then set to one. If you attack with a weapon 50 times, you’ll unlock the Hero Power Dino Tracking. It’s a passive Hero Power that allows you to Discover which card you draw at the start of your turn.
Brann’s starting deck is called Taming Dinos. You’ll be able to unlock additional decks for Brann after defeating eight, 16, and 24 bosses. Taming Dinos has the cards you’d expect from a Dinotamer. The deck includes cards like Raptor Hatchling, Crackling Razormaw, and Vicious Fledgling, which are all powerful dinos that enjoyed meta play in the past.
While playing throughout the Hall of Origination, it’s important to keep the chapter’s twist in mind. Anytime a minion takes damage, it’ll gain +1 attack. Since Spread Shot allows Brann to target any minion he wants, if needed, you can use it to target friendly minions to beef up their attack. Cards like Serpent Egg are perfect for this strategy because it allows you to get even more value out of the card while working toward the Deathrattle.
Your main challenge for this chapter will be Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath. Like all other Plague Lord bosses, Icarax will have 300 health that doesn’t reset between runs. This means if you drop Icarax’s health to 250 and then lose, his health will be at 250 the next time you face him. Icarax will also have various Hero Powers that he changes to after losing 100 health. His starting power costs one mana and is called Commanding Scream. It causes Icarax’s minions to be incapable of dropping below one health for a turn.
This power makes Icarax incredibly good at trading during the early game. But Brann has a ton of tools that allow him to do damage to a large number of minions at once. If Icarax lets too many of his minions drop to one health through trading, it’s very hard for him to sustain them. You’ll have cards like Ol’ Faithful, which allow you to deal damage across the entire board. Your ability to deal one targeted damage with your Hero Power also allows you to snipe minions that Icarax allows to drop too low.
After dropping Icarax by a considerable amount of health, he’ll switch Hero Powers to Wrath Smash. It costs two mana and allows Icarax to destroy a damaged minion. Wrath Smash costs one more mana for each damaged minion. You can expect Icarax to use this the same way you’d use a destroy effect against an opponent on ladder. Icarax is going to use his Hero Power to take out your highest priority target. A good way to keep him from doing so is to use area-of-effect damage abilities that keep all of the minions on the board bloody.
For the final phase, Icarax will unveil a power called Hand of Defiance. This power is free and allows Icarax to swap the attack and health of a minion. Icarax will use this power to save the life of minions that he’s chipped away at to make them benefit from Plague of Wrath. This gives Icarax the ability to build a wall of minions that are hard to push past during the final stages of the fight. If you manage your resources well enough throughout the duel and don’t play everything too fast, you shouldn’t have an issue chipping Icarax down, even if it takes multiple runs.
If you didn’t buy the bundle, you can purchase chapter four of Tombs of Terror for 700 gold or $6.99. Each chapter also includes three Saviors of Uldum packs that can be unlocked through play.
