Rumors have been circulating recently about a looming expansion for Hearthstone following the major Gadgetzan update late last year. The leaks have cited the so-called The Lost Secrets of Un'Goro update and Blizzard has officially confirmed it last Feb. 27.
The publisher, however, announced a slightly different title, which is Journey to Un'Goro.
Ancient Jungle
Essentially, Un'Goro is purportedly an ancient jungle teeming with primordial wonders. So you can expect dinosaurs, violent volcanoes, plants that can eat you, and other ferocious beings on your deck.
Naturally, the interface got a makeover as well so that the game board now features lush landscapes, overgrown vines and a lava-spewing volcano. According to Blizzard, the Hearthstone expansion will let you draw an eye-popping 135 new cards populated by minions, spells, and beasts, among others.
In the announcement, the game publisher only unveiled few cards. These included a Shaman card called Volcano. Its utility, however, is a bit strange given its classification. The Shaman class typically includes more minions on board but the card only inflicts distributed damage to minions, which means it could be less useful when compared to cards such as Elemental Destruction.
The Pyros Mage card, however, looks more promising. First, the card sort of marked the creation of a new tribe composed of Elementals. The card itself is more on the mediocre side especially considering the power to mana ratio. But it will be interesting to watch the dynamics of the tribe's gameplay, including the new cards that will be lumped with the old Elementals. This particular area is newish and could help shape a different gameplay experience. There are, however, more obvious shifts in the game mechanics.
New Mechanics
The Un'Goro expansion introduces several new changes and one of these has been demonstrated by the Verdant Longneck card. This Druid class minion has an Adapt attribute, which allows it to upgrade itself in 10 different ways. It could, for example, assume shield, taunt, attack, speed or a deathrattle capability. Sources say that it has traces of Discover and Spare Parts attributes and, overall, it could beef up the power of beasts for the Druid and Hunter cards.
Finally, there is the Awaken the Makers card. This Priest class is way too powerful in relation to its mana requirement. More importantly, however, it could spawn brute force deck building.
Awaken the Makers is also called a Quest Card, which is a brand-new legendary card that will always show up in a player's opening hand. When drawn, it will trigger a task that has to be completed and it will be indicated in the player's portrait. Completed tasks will earn rewards. Awaken the Makers, for instance, will earn the legendary minion Amara.
There is no word yet how the upcoming expansion will work with recent modifications to the Hearthstone such as the Arena Mode and the proliferation of spells.
The Un'Goro expansion will roll out in spring. Those who preorder 50 Un'Goro card pack worth $50 will receive the Fossil card back.
