Most Hearthstone players expected new content to be announced today at Blizzcon—but very few predicted it would arrive in the game in a matter of days.
The League of Explorers, a Hearthstone adventure mode expansion in the vein of Curse of Naxxramas and Blackrock Mountain, will see its first wing launch next Thursday. Over the course of five weeks players will play through a series of single-player challenges to unlock 45 new cards.
Rather than being themed on a World of Warcraft raid or specific area, the League of Explorers takes place all across Azeroth.
Only a few of the new cards were shown off in the opening ceremony, with many more to be revealed later today in a Hearthstone panel. The cards will also add a new mechanic, discover, which gives players a choice of three random cards. The player can choose one to add to their hand.
One card Blizzard was keen to show off was the Golden Monkey—a card that is only available once you have drawn and played two others.
Though the effect is extremely powerful, it is likely to be very slow. That means it will struggle in a meta where aggressive, fast decks are still incredibly powerful.
League of Explorers will be Hearthstone‘s fourth expansion in less than 12 months, taking the game to a total of over 700 playable cards.
Image via Blizzard