On the occasion of the imminent release of the new Hearthstone expansion called Kobolds and Catacombs, Blizzard invited us to a well-hidden hostel in Paris, just to give us a little presentation around the game's animations. news, discussions, card games, blindtests and goodies for Christmas.
Kobolds and Catacombs
The pitch
Venture into the dark and winding dungeons beneath Azeroth in search of legendary ancient treasures with Kobolds and Catacombs, the new expansion for Hearthstone, the popular online card game from Blizzard Entertainment, available in December 2017. Players brave enough to face the dangers and monstrosities of this underground realm have the opportunity to fill their saddlebags with fabulous treasures in the form of 135 new maps!
Kobold vermin have been tunneling beneath Azeroth for thousands of years, uncovering and accumulating artifacts long forgotten by mortals and surface dwellers ... but rumors of these fabulous treasures have spread to inns around the world. . Some speak of powerful spell gems hidden among the 135 cards of Kobolds and Catacombs : enchanted objects to keep in hand to strengthen them before playing them. Intrepid adventurers will also be able to obtain one of the nine new legendary class weapons ! They will receive a Legendary Weapon for free when they first log into Hearthstone after Kobolds and Catacombs release.
So what's up?
On this occasion, Ben Thompson (artistic director) and Peter Whalen (senior game designer) were there to give us a presentation by the fireside and answer our questions.
As with each expansion, Hearthstone is therefore given 135 new cards every 4 months. Kobolds and Catacombs is the last expansion of the year of the Mammoth and will end it in a beautiful way with cards offering a lot of playing possibilities. Indeed we can find there:
- One legendary weapon per class. After the hero DeathKnight and the unique quest, this will allow new strategies or, why not as often, fun decks that will revolve around these weapons.
- The call that allows you to directly put a card from the deck on the game board. Many cards already performed this mechanic, Blizzard will amplify it.
- Upgrade cards, spell gems, jewelry, or gems that get stronger and stronger in your hand if you meet certain conditions. Each class is assigned one which, of course, gets stronger and stronger for the same cost depending on the abilities of the class. It will thus be necessary to equip yourself with a weapon to improve the "Mithril of lower spell" of the Warrior.
The bravest and daring of adventurers need help tackling Hearthstone's new free-to-play mode: Dungeon Ride! In Kobolds and Catacombs, Dungeon Rides immerse Hearthstone players in extremely difficult but high-stakes underground adventures, inspired by medieval-fantasy paper role-playing games. Players start with a partial deck of the class of their choice and face a series of increasingly powerful opponents, randomly selected from a large number of unique bosses. As they progress, they bolster their decks with cards looted from defeated bosses, including extremely powerful treasures exclusive to Dungeon Rides. However, heroes should exercise caution when looting, as losing a single game will end their dungeon journey.
This free and fun mode and each time different will allow streamers to offer even more interesting content with interactivity with their audience, because it offers many choices. For beginners, it will present a fun PvE mode, which won't require spending gold or rare cards to get started.
For more experienced players, it is a game mode with, I hope, many challenges and potential gains that will allow you to test yourself and, why not, to play with friends on the same adventure via audio chat. (in any case this is how I will surely discover this new dungeon adventure). A new card back is also to be won via the dungeon mode.
An evening at the HearthStone Inn
After these brief explanations of the new features of the game, it was time to move on to the entertainment:
On the program a few games in Fireside Gathering mode by the fireside in a medieval atmosphere to perfection, which allowed us to recover the sympathetic gnominette Nemsie as an alternative character of warlock hero. to eat and drink in quantity and to meet very nice people.
And to finish a blindtest to win some goodies. A great day at a nice little Hearthstone hostel, I really believed it!
And when is it?
You will be able to find all these new cards in the next expansion which should be released on December 7 and 8 (depending on the US or EU servers). On this occasion, a legendary weapon will be offered to each player as well as several packages of the new expansion. The "Dungeon Trip" mode is available free of charge to everyone.
It is still possible to pre-purchase the expansion for 49,99 € in order to obtain 50 packs of cards and a card back.
Log in between Monday, November 6 and the launch of the expansion to receive the legendary minion Marin the Rogue for free.
Even more info and the list of new cards for the curious at our friends from Mamytwink
