Hearthstone

[zespri]

Just got Hearthstone beta key. Installing now. Did anyone try it?

[Mick]

Yeah. I just in today as well. Anyone want to be b.net BFFs?

I'm Mick#1457

If you send a friend request, just say you're from the Arcen forum so I know you're not a spammer or a Communist or something.

[zespri]

I don't think it allows you saying anything when you send a friend request... At least it did not offer me this option

[tigersfan]

I'm still waiting for my key..... Blizz... where's my key?

[Mick]

Yeah. Probably ties into their no chat between non friends policy, so people can't use friend requests as a way to send a "u suck" message or something to their last opponent.

[Rekka]

I'm still waiting for my key..... Blizz... where's my key?

I had to do so many giveaways to manage to get one that I lost count. I just won mine this morning and I am eagerly waiting for my key to arrive.

[zespri]

Well I played a little yesterday, and It's fairly fun. Nothing outstanding, but those who like Warcraft setting (like I do) will feel pretty comfortable. Of course I just saw the basic cards so I have no idea what kind of variety and card interaction are offered.

There are many similar games, Shadow Era in particular is not bad it just does not have blizzard behind itself =)

For those who have not seen the game:
- there are no resource cards. You get 1 max mana on the first turn and mana max increases 1 point every turn thereafter up to 10 max. All used up mana replenishes at the start of your turn.
- when to card attack each other they both do the damage. Often it leads to both cards die
- when you attack with your cards you can attack other cards or go directly after the hero.
- each hero has an "intrinsic" an ability that costs mana and allow to do something without using a card
- we see most things that we are used to in a game like this: summoning sickness, a range of abilities such as protector, disable, blitz, etc...
- and of course all of the above is getting altered by specific cards.

I can't comment on card acquisition system yet, as I have not worked it out. You get some card for your wins, and you can purchase boosters for real money in the store.

So far it's looks ok. I'll be playing a little bit more of it.

Some more info about game mechanics: http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/forum/topic/8414831807#1

[Aklyon]

I've watched Kripparian play it, it looks pretty solid.

[Mick]

I've been doing a lot of practice matches to unlock the classes.

I keep trying to win with the shaman (a class I liked a lot in WoW), but man they just seem so terrible compared to the others. I mean, I try any other class blind against the AI and I win the first time, but trying the shaman over and over I can't even come close.

You gain XP even if you lose, and therefore the shaman is my most advanced, and I still can't get anywhere with it. Ugh!

EDIT: According to the forums, apparently I'm not the only one that noticed that the shaman starter deck is trash. You basically get cards that don't work well together at all. Free heals when most of what you place has 1 health. Lots of cheap spells with no extra draw powers (which basically means late gate you're just playing whatever you draw and wasting most of your mana). Zilch in terms of AoE.

[Rekka]

Did my first couple of games yesterday and I have to say it's a pretty nice game. I unlocked the 9 classes and did some games against total strangers and it was a lot of fun. I didn't delve into creating my own decks with cards I unlocked but that's planned for my next game session. For now, I play warrior (old WoW habit ) and I've got him to level 10. I don't remember my B.Net ID, I'll post it ASAP.

[tigersfan]

Finally just got my invite!

[Mick]

Sweet. Glad to see more getting in. I really can't wait for them to open the whole thing.

I'm been having a blast overall. Bought some packs too, it's nice to have a lot more options when deck building.

I'm still going through each class to work them to 10, but I'm currently leveling the mage and am finding her a ton of fun to play.

[tigersfan]

Sweet. Glad to see more getting in. I really can't wait for them to open the whole thing.

I'm been having a blast overall. Bought some packs too, it's nice to have a lot more options when deck building.

I'm still going through each class to work them to 10, but I'm currently leveling the mage and am finding her a ton of fun to play.

Is level 10 when you get the full base deck for each class?

[Mick]

It's when you get the full set of basic cards. Anything above that must be earned in packs.

Decks built only from basic cards can be very solid though, so it's not "pay to win" as some claim. Of course the *types* of decks you can build from only basic cards will be limited.

The game uses a matchmaking system, which seems to do a pretty good job of making it so you'll win about half your games.

I don't know how much you know about card games, so please excuse me if this sounds patronizing, but a good tip is to make sure you have a fair amount of draw power in your deck (cards like the gnome engineer and gnome alchemist are basic cards that do this). If you reach a point where you are pretty much only able to play the card you draw from the top of your deck every turn, you're pretty much relying on luck and/or the horribleness of your opponent at that point. Following that point of logic, you don't really want to just throw out every card you can afford each turn either. As a simple example, you don't want to throw out a high attack unit that will simply be killed by your opponent before you can actually use it. You might want to match it with a minion that can taunt, or give it a buff or something.

[tigersfan]

It's when you get the full set of basic cards. Anything above that must be earned in packs.

Decks built only from basic cards can be very solid though, so it's not "pay to win" as some claim. Of course the *types* of decks you can build from only basic cards will be limited.

The game uses a matchmaking system, which seems to do a pretty good job of making it so you'll win about half your games.

I don't know how much you know about card games, so please excuse me if this sounds patronizing, but a good tip is to make sure you have a fair amount of draw power in your deck (cards like the gnome engineer and gnome alchemist are basic cards that do this). If you reach a point where you are pretty much only able to play the card you draw from the top of your deck every turn, you're pretty much relying on luck and/or the horribleness of your opponent at that point. Following that point of logic, you don't really want to just throw out every card you can afford each turn either. As a simple example, you don't want to throw out a high attack unit that will simply be killed by your opponent before you can actually use it. You might want to match it with a minion that can taunt, or give it a buff or something.

Thanks.

I know some about card games. I play Scrolls and Duel of Champions a fair bit (or, at least have been lately).

Now... to wait for the HS download to finish.