Didn't see a thread about this game so figured I'd start one. I had seen this game while it was in beta and seemed interesting but didn't mess with it, then a friend mentioned they were playing and figured it wouldn't hurt to try it. For those who don't know, Hearthstone is a free-to-play online collectible card game. One neat aspect for those who played WoW, the heroes and cards are based off entities in WoW. The first time a Bloodfen Raptor shrieked I couldn't help but imagine Wailing Caverns or think of the Barrens quest to get the silver back. I've only played a few days but really enjoyed it and could try to answer any questions if anyone has them. So far it seems to have a great balance in regards to time on matches, long enough for strategy but quick enough to be accessible and fun. You can buy cards with real money but there's nothing that money buys that you can't get for free, buying will just speed the process up. There is also a disenchanting and crafting element, though you will have to disenchant several cards to create an equivalent card.

Anyone else tried it or currently playing?

edit: Adding a video might help.

[video=youtube;XEXLe98bj8I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEXLe98bj8I[/video]

thePhins.com Members

Starry31 - Imbolc#1754
Mainge - Mainge#1987
Dol-Fan Dupree - DeathClock#1545
DrAstroZoom - AstroZoom#1992
Not So Fast - TheAscended#1950

 

I played a Hunter in WoW so my inclination was to start as a Hunter and I use lots of beasts, so far I've done ok but definitely lots of cards I would like to have that I don't. Right now I've been more focused on leveling each class to 10 for their cards and to get some experience with each class so I'm not learning on the job in Arena.

 

That's a really good run. I have had some decent success in casual and ranked but not very good either. I am learning though and having a good time with it, the collecting part will be something I'll probably get into as well. I did the free Arena run they give you like my second night playing and I had not played any of the classes so I did pretty bad. I have a little over 400 gold saved up and it's burning a hole in my pocket but I'm holding off until I get each hero to ten, that way I at least have some experience regardless of which hero I get in the arena.

I'm Imbolc#1754 if anyone wants to add me.

 

:lol: Fin D. There is definitely a lot of skill involved with strategy but a lot of random luck too, and then unlocking better cards and all that.

 

My worst day yet, guess my matchmaking rating caught up to me but I'm learning.

 

Well I've now gotten every hero to 10 and I like how each one is a little different. I like Hunter because it's what I've played the most, like the beast synergy, and it's my main from WoW so I have a soft spot for the class. I think I may have won the most games on the Druid, also did ok with the Priest. Priest is really interesting with all the buffs and heals, my games tend to be longer but it's satisfying when it all works out. I had one game where my hero was at 7 and his 30 but my persistence paid off and my big hitters did him in. I'm still not very good but I'm having fun. Opening card packs also brings me back to my childhood when I would open sports or Spider-Man cards with excitement and anticipation that something good was inside.

 

What mode are you playing? I'm getting beat pretty bad in Arena (2 wins is my usual) but think it's because the competition is better there and I'm bad at building random decks. In casual and ranked I'm faring better. Have you beat all the AI on normal and then expert? You may have weaknesses with how you build your deck, getting bad matchups, or maybe like you said your brain isn't built for it. :lol: In AC3 I was bad at Fanorona, my brain just wasn't catching on but I did beat expert once after countless tries and a football's season worth of curses.

If you do want to get better there are lots of deck suggestions out there and opening packs will only improve your cards. I know Mainge is pretty good because it pops up his record when he finishes Arena :lol: (also beat me in about 5 seconds but shh) so he probably has decent advice.

It's funny how like music, certain RPG archetypes are for some and not for others. I have played enough games to try a lot of things but my two are always a Berserker or DPS Warrior type (medium armor, strong physical DPS, lots of weapons) and a Hunter (ranged with pets).

 

Nice, I have a number of rares but just two epics so far(Cabal Priest and Patient Assassin). I did an Arena run yesterday and first match the guy had the Legend backs, and in a very close and long game I barely got the win, in part with a late use of Alexstrasza and some luck. Might not have played the guy who earned Legend but I was pumped, finished with 4 wins.

Can anyone who is on my friends list on battle.net see me on there? I added a friend and it cleared my friendlist except for the new person, read it was a bug but that was in February.

 

I ended up getting hacked and that's why my friend list was wiped, will try adding everyone again. I played WoW off and on from 2005-2010 and never had any issues, not real sure how it happened. I don't think I'll play WoW again but got my gear and 20k restored back just in case.

 

Yeah, when I played I saw myself too smart for those (no smart phone or would've grabbed the app) and once I quit, then I get hacked. I don't guess the Heartbleed Bug would have caused it? I know battle.net wasn't affected but used same email/password for a lot of stuff, guess that's a stretch. Might look into an authenticator now, I used one with FFXIV.

Man my packs have been crap lately. Not that every deck needs rares and above but mine uses 5 commons and the rest are free cards. Hunter and Paladin are only two classes without a rare or better, and of course I play Hunter. There are a lot of cards I'd like to have but I open a pack a day and only disenchant multiples so it's going slow.

Ouch, are you missing some cards to push you past that or is it more bad matchups and just good players? I was at 15 and lost something like ten in a row yesterday, dropped to 19, won four or five in a row and climbed back a little, etc. Today I tried a new deck and got to 13; I stopped on a four-game winning streak because that seems like a good stopping point and it was my 30th win so no more gold. In my defense I haven't came close to my daily cap before and the weather messed up my plans (don't judge me). :lol:

 

Rank 18-15 isn't good and even there it seemed like it was mainly Warlock and Rogue, definitely frustrating watching a Rogue combo a million cards. What do you consider your primary classes?

 

Grats man. On reddit there was discussion that there needed to be a reward for other ranks since after 20 there's nothing until Legend. There's competition, credit for 3 win quest, and experience but no reason outside of that to go past 20 unless you can hit Legend. I don't think there has to be a reward but would be nice, either a small amount of gold at the end of the season increasing with your rank. That or maybe 20-16 gets a random common card, 15-11 rare, 10-6 epic, 5-1 legendary. That's a small reward but enough to encourage more rank play.

My daily Arena run got me 4 wins and 70g/pack so saved 20g. I accidentally clicked twice and instead of a buzzard I picked a boar, ugh. I build Arena decks bad enough without needing to misclick. One game I was sitting on a Hyena and Hounds while he was putting out a Novice Engineer and Murloc Raiders/Tidehunters, just kept getting more excited and then boom! :lol: It's fun when things go according to plan.

 

I added everyone's battle.net names to the OP, if you want your name taken off or added to the list just post here or PM me.

I was doing one Arena run a day so that every day I opened at least one pack, finally cracked and bought some packs. I got some good cards and was able to edit my Hunter deck some, plus a lot of dust to use later. Finally pushed past four wins in Arena and got to five, with one crazy game on the way there. I had a Knife Juggler and summoned four hounds so that's four knives (opponent had three minions on the board with low health), then killed one hound off and laid a snake trap down. On his turn the snake trap was activated and that was three more knife throws. It might not have been the best play but couldn't pass it up and it worked out. Of course, tomorrow I'll get a class I'm not good at and go 0-3.

 

To continue here on my Hearthstone blog, I experimented with two different Hunter builds and really didn't do very well with them. Granted I have to practice with a deck more to be better and trying to learn a deck in ranked wasn't smart, but got frustrated and went back to my favorite deck. Since the switch I have went 15-3 and currently sit at rank 12 with a win streak so that was fun. Each loss was bracketed by win streaks so that helped climb from 19 to 12 fairly quickly. Of my losses, two were Mage and can't remember the third; Mages can just jump out on you so quick.

I never really thought I would get too excited about watching an e-sport but I was wrong. During my WoW days I did watch some competitive Arena and enjoyed it but I have seen people say they watch people play League of Legends more than they actually play it, and always viewed that as strange. This weekend though I watched a lot of the Dreamhack Hearthstone tournament and really liked it. So from my OP until now you can see the progression from trying a game out to addiction, in a few days I imagine friends and family will stage an intervention.