Hi everyone, I have been thinking about a new mechanic for Hearthstone, something that has been part of World of Warcraft since the beginning, and already present in the game, but in another form: Quests. The core idea behind this new mechanic would be a relatively challenging condition for a meaningful reward.
Here is a quick rundown of the mechanic: A Quest minion has a, well, quest, for you the player, with a broad range of difficulty in its requirements, and a proportional reward if you're able to complete them. A Quest minion must remain alive until the completion of the quest for it to trigger, and unless mentioned, is a one time effect.
Out of all the cards available today, the closest one to this idea would be Mimiron's Head.
Challenging condition: Have three mechs out and have them survive an enemy turn.
Meaningful reward: A powerful game-wining minion.
Now, readability is a pretty important thing in Hearthstone, and while this could be implemented as Triggered Abilities, it would limit both how interesting the conditions and the rewards could be, and it would be somewhat awkward to read for the more complex ideas.
Unlike Battlecries, which are triggered on play, the effect would be a lingering threat, much like deathrattles, but unlike deathrattles, Quest minions would be vulnerable to normal removal before the could complete their effects in addition to silences, and since they are theoretically harder to pull off, this justifies their effects to be more powerful on the budget.
To differentiate further from Battlecries and Deathrattles, and to play on the quest theme, one of the type of rewards could be permanent "effects" for your character. Small stuff like increase Hero health by 5, or more powerful ones like giving your hero Spell Damage.
The text structure would be very simple, here is the general example.
Quest: [Insert Requirement] -[Insert Reward]
I've done a couple of mock up cards (Of questionable balance status) to portray the kind of things this mechanic could do.
Eh, I don't know. Seems pretty hard to balance. Kael'thas for instance just seems absurd. Wrathion too, with Mage or Hunter. Imagine. Play Wrathion, complete his quest. Then plop a Coldarra Drake and you instantly win.
An interesting idea, like a long-term battlecry effect. The first one is probably the most well-conceived. Something like "Quest: Draw 4 cards - Summon a Demolisher" or "Quest: Deal 8 Damage to the enemy hero - Equip a 2/2 Weapon."
I'd love a "Quest: Have 4 friendly Totems on the battlefield - Give all friendly Totems +3/+3" quest!
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Building Quirky Decks Every Week, Loving Life at Rank 15!
Eh, I don't know. Seems pretty hard to balance. Kael'thas for instance just seems absurd. Wrathion too, with Mage or Hunter. Imagine. Play Wrathion, complete his quest. Then plop a Coldarra Drake and you instantly win.
Those effects can win games yes, but keeping the minions alive or unsilenced long enough for them to trigget is pretty darn hard.
Hi everyone, I have been thinking about a new mechanic for Hearthstone, something that has been part of World of Warcraft since the beginning, and already present in the game, but in another form: Quests. The core idea behind this new mechanic would be a relatively challenging condition for a meaningful reward.
Here is a quick rundown of the mechanic: A Quest minion has a, well, quest, for you the player, with a broad range of difficulty in its requirements, and a proportional reward if you're able to complete them. A Quest minion must remain alive until the completion of the quest for it to trigger, and unless mentioned, is a one time effect.
Out of all the cards available today, the closest one to this idea would be Mimiron's Head.
Challenging condition: Have three mechs out and have them survive an enemy turn.
Meaningful reward: A powerful game-wining minion.
Now, readability is a pretty important thing in Hearthstone, and while this could be implemented as Triggered Abilities, it would limit both how interesting the conditions and the rewards could be, and it would be somewhat awkward to read for the more complex ideas.
Unlike Battlecries, which are triggered on play, the effect would be a lingering threat, much like deathrattles, but unlike deathrattles, Quest minions would be vulnerable to normal removal before the could complete their effects in addition to silences, and since they are theoretically harder to pull off, this justifies their effects to be more powerful on the budget.
To differentiate further from Battlecries and Deathrattles, and to play on the quest theme, one of the type of rewards could be permanent "effects" for your character. Small stuff like increase Hero health by 5, or more powerful ones like giving your hero Spell Damage.
The text structure would be very simple, here is the general example.
Quest: [Insert Requirement] - [Insert Reward]
I've done a couple of mock up cards (Of questionable balance status) to portray the kind of things this mechanic could do.
What do you guys think?
Eh, I don't know. Seems pretty hard to balance. Kael'thas for instance just seems absurd. Wrathion too, with Mage or Hunter. Imagine. Play Wrathion, complete his quest. Then plop a Coldarra Drake and you instantly win.
An interesting idea, like a long-term battlecry effect. The first one is probably the most well-conceived. Something like "Quest: Draw 4 cards - Summon a Demolisher" or "Quest: Deal 8 Damage to the enemy hero - Equip a 2/2 Weapon."
I'd love a "Quest: Have 4 friendly Totems on the battlefield - Give all friendly Totems +3/+3" quest!
Building Quirky Decks Every Week, Loving Life at Rank 15!
Those effects can win games yes, but keeping the minions alive or unsilenced long enough for them to trigget is pretty darn hard.
That said, they could probably use a few tweaks.
Here is a symmetric effect that a lot of players would at least consider letting through.
A very interesting concept, but the last three you made are just too insane. Try to stay away from effects that are absolutely permanent.
I'd like to see a quest for controlling 7 minions.
Well, this is awkward.
Hah. Where's your royalties?
I was for it then, and I still would like to see it implemented now.