Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Back when Blizzard first unveiled Hearthstone's Year of the Dragon, the publisher stated that it would put a greater emphasis on single-player content. A year-long storyline was promised, but when the Rise of Shadows expansion was unveiled, there was conspicuously no word on the ambitious PvE plan. On Thursday, Blizzard finally broke the silence regarding what's next for Hearthstone single-player, unveiling a new adventure called The Dalaran Heist.
Recall that Rise of Shadows united five of Hearthstone's most notorious villains, with Arch-Thief Rafaam leading a crew of Madame Lazul, King Togwaggle, Hagatha the Witch, and Dr. Boom. To this point, their plans were shrouded in secrecy. Those plans have now been revealed, as the League of E.V.I.L. sees the villains and their underlings raid the floating city of Dalaran.
The Dalaran Heist will unfold over five chapters, in the vein of the original Hearthstone adventures. Those five chapters will play out similarly to the more recent Hearthstone PvE offerings, with unique encounters and a final boss. However, there are a handful of new features. Before going any further, here are the characters that will take center stage during this adventure:
The five Dalaran Heist chapters will each come with their own distinct gameplay twists.
While previous Hearthstone adventures have been straightforward affairs, the Dalaran Heist chapters will emphasize replayability. Each class will start off with their standard Hero Powers, but can gradually unlock two more starting powers and additional starting deck options as they rack up victories. To help pile on those wins, players will hit non-combat Tavern Encounters over the course of their runs to help them bolster their decks and also clear out some dead weight. While normal difficulty is entirely doable with the starting Hero Powers and decks, the various unlocks might help out with the returning Heroic difficulty.
Once all five chapters are wrapped up, there's still more to do. Players can return to the Dalaran Heist chapters at any time and play in Anomaly Mode. The Anomaly Mode rules will offer random rule sets, which change on a regular basis and offer new challenges.
Rewards will be many for the Dalaran Heist. In addition to three Rise of Shadow card packs per chapter, completing all five chapters unlocks a gold classic card pack and a Dalaran card back. Completing all five chapters in Heroic Mode will unlock an Aluneth card back. Meanwhile, simply owning all five chapters will unlock a special brand new Golden Legendary, Zayle, Shadow Cloak.
(2) Zayle, Shadow Cloak (3/2)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
You start the game with one of Zayle's EVIL Decks!
Zayle operates similarly to Whizbang the Wonderful. He'll pre-construct a random Standard deck that's based on any one of the five League of E.V.I.L. villains. These decks will update with each new expansion. This Golden version will be offered to anyone who owns all five Dalaran Heist chapters, whether purchased through money or gold. The normal, non-Golden Zayle can be crafted, for those opting to skip the adventure.
The Dalaran Heist begins next Thursday, May 16. Chapter 1 will release for free, with Chapter 2 available for purchase immediately. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 will release on a weekly basis. The full adventure will be available for $19.99 or for 700 gold for each individual chapter.