I have worked a few weeks to get my friend (who is currently broke btw) to try Hearthstone. He likes the game, but he's constantly frustrated by the fact that he keeps getting four commons and a single rare from all of the card packs he opens. Those rares are all for priest, which I have no clue how to build, so I can't help him with his win/loss ratio. Currently he's saving the 700 gold for Naxx. Is there anybody who has seen a similar situation? If so, how did you get past it to start 'really' playing?
Something like this deck is a good start for Priest. It was the first deck I felt really confident playing, and got me up to rank 17 (woot!) the first season I dabbled in ladder:
If you could get all the cards quickly and easily for free, the game wouldn't be profitable, which means they'd stop making it. So, you've got to invest something. It's your choice whether that's going to be time or money+effort.
In general, I find it's a good idea to put a little money into the game early on (once you decide you like it) to help boost your collection which will in turn let you make slightly better decks and get your wins more easily, which translates into a little less time grinding each day. However, if he's broke and can't do that then all you can do is grind and play basic decks. The good news is that there are decent basic decks out there and even swapping out a couple of cards can help tune them up. Let him try out the various classes and get them all to level 10, that should be enough to help him choose a couple classes that he likes. If Priest isn't one of them, that's fine because over time he'll get cards for all the classes. Don't dust anything yet unless you have extra copies, as it's too hard to tell this early what classes he'll like later on.
Just do the dailies every day, reroll 40 gold quests, and play extra games if he has time to earn a few more wins (3 wins = 10 gold). It take time, but your effort will add up.
grinding is part of this game if you don't want to spend much money. the key is to find a relatively cheap deck you enjoy so it does not seem like a daunting task to farm gold.
my best advice is, try to get good at arena, watch streamers that play arena, i would advise watching the old streams of trump, he doesn't play much arena now, i made my collection by watching him and getting good at arena, now i have pretty much all the cards without droping a dime, even for naxx. of course you have to like arena, i love it. you can try to grind the 100 gold per day, but that's just boring and you have to play a lot, i don't think i've done the 100 gold grind even once, and if you don't have cards it's hard to compete, when i started it was much easier because most people didn't have a lot of cards.
If he learns real fast, he could save up his gold to just run arena. If he gets more than 7 wins, he can play it indefinitely while earning GvG packs. This requires quite the time sink each day though. You also generally need to already be good at the game to get 7 wins consistently, which usually means the opposite of someone who doesn't have a big collection. Finally, it only awards GvG packs. While there are some classes that can build a solid deck with mainly these (Mech mage?), lots of normal deck types require a lot of Classic cards.
What I generally did, and what I assume you would have to do is to play 2 ~ 6 Weeks (depending on luck with packs) to get solid cards for one of the top tier cheap-aggro decks, and build that to at least get your friend winning. This would probably be some sort of Zoolock, Face Hunter, or Mech Mage. It should give them understanding of the game, and a competitive deck to climb ladder with. They'll be able to slowly build up gold while experiencing joys of winning in the game. Then you might have to wait 3~4 months to actually be able to craft some of those more expensive (and IMO, funner) decks.
What many do though, is just to buy the largest pack deal as a head start; Since the game is kind of unforgiving for players with just the basic set. IIRC though, if you plan on spending money on the game; Naxx is the best dollar per gold value. Since 60 Packs = 6000 Gold = $70 (Spending either 85 Gold or 1 Dollar to buy packs), while Naxxramas = 3500 Gold = $25 (Spending either 140 gold, or $1 to unlock adventure). Just something to keep in mind if you plan on spending money, AND unlocking the Naxx adventure.
If your friend enjoys the game, and thinks he will play it for a while, then it's worthwhile spending $20 odd to complete Naxx, get some good cards, a little more maybe to buy some GvG packs to get started ... I mean, nobody thinks twice about spending triple that on an xbox/ps/wii or even PC game! And they may only play it for a week or two. You don't have to be loaded to buy a few packs! Just enjoy the game enough to not have those 10 pints you planned to have some random night.
If your friend enjoys the game, and thinks he will play it for a while, then it's worthwhile spending $20 odd to complete Naxx, get some good cards, a little more maybe to buy some packs to get started ... I mean, nobody thinks twice about spending triple that on an xbox/ps/wii or even PC game! And they may only play it for a week or two. You don't have to be loaded to buy a few packs! Just enjoy the game enough to not have those 10 pints you planned to have some random night.
I didn't know about online decks and stuff until 3 months into playing hs. This helped a lot cause I learned how to play with the cards I had. Learn how to build decks and most importantly I had fun cause I just played casuaL and didnt even realize I was missing huge chunks of the cards. I guess its true ignorance is bliss.
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Time is precious. Waste it wisely. Legend Seasons: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17
I have worked a few weeks to get my friend (who is currently broke btw) to try Hearthstone. He likes the game, but he's constantly frustrated by the fact that he keeps getting four commons and a single rare from all of the card packs he opens. Those rares are all for priest, which I have no clue how to build, so I can't help him with his win/loss ratio. Currently he's saving the 700 gold for Naxx. Is there anybody who has seen a similar situation? If so, how did you get past it to start 'really' playing?
Fuck Dr. Boom.
It's free to grind, pay to play.
a) You can still get to rank 20 easily with basic cards. Moderate skill and effort should get you to 15. High skill beyond that.
b) play arena.
c) play casual.
d) Drop $20 on Naxx. Seriously.
Your friend needs an effective, cheap deck that he can reliably win with if he plays properly.
Any deck will struggle if you're making big gameplay mistakes. I recommend this video series for anyone new to the game: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvEIxIeBRKSjprrvlbAcbVjzHsnH9PjDX
Something like this deck is a good start for Priest. It was the first deck I felt really confident playing, and got me up to rank 17 (woot!) the first season I dabbled in ladder:
This deck focuses on board control, while using healing and card draw to build an advantage. As your friend gets stronger individual cards that still fit this theme, sub them in. Wild Pyromancer for Bloodfen Raptor, Sludge Belcher for Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Injured Blademaster for Shattered Sun Cleric, etc.
Other good starter decks are Aggro/Midrange Hunter, Warlock Zoo, Midrange/Control Mage, etc.
Feel free to add me if you play on NA! iMPose#1429
It would be at least 1.5 months before he can "enjoy" the game, if he doesn't spend money. 1.5 months is the average duration to unlock naxx.
I can't imagine playing without naxx. Sure you can build a mech mage, but good luck completing those dominance quests without Belcher and Creepers.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
If you could get all the cards quickly and easily for free, the game wouldn't be profitable, which means they'd stop making it. So, you've got to invest something. It's your choice whether that's going to be time or money+effort.
In general, I find it's a good idea to put a little money into the game early on (once you decide you like it) to help boost your collection which will in turn let you make slightly better decks and get your wins more easily, which translates into a little less time grinding each day. However, if he's broke and can't do that then all you can do is grind and play basic decks. The good news is that there are decent basic decks out there and even swapping out a couple of cards can help tune them up. Let him try out the various classes and get them all to level 10, that should be enough to help him choose a couple classes that he likes. If Priest isn't one of them, that's fine because over time he'll get cards for all the classes. Don't dust anything yet unless you have extra copies, as it's too hard to tell this early what classes he'll like later on.
Just do the dailies every day, reroll 40 gold quests, and play extra games if he has time to earn a few more wins (3 wins = 10 gold). It take time, but your effort will add up.
grinding is part of this game if you don't want to spend much money. the key is to find a relatively cheap deck you enjoy so it does not seem like a daunting task to farm gold.
my best advice is, try to get good at arena, watch streamers that play arena, i would advise watching the old streams of trump, he doesn't play much arena now, i made my collection by watching him and getting good at arena, now i have pretty much all the cards without droping a dime, even for naxx. of course you have to like arena, i love it. you can try to grind the 100 gold per day, but that's just boring and you have to play a lot, i don't think i've done the 100 gold grind even once, and if you don't have cards it's hard to compete, when i started it was much easier because most people didn't have a lot of cards.
If he learns real fast, he could save up his gold to just run arena. If he gets more than 7 wins, he can play it indefinitely while earning GvG packs. This requires quite the time sink each day though. You also generally need to already be good at the game to get 7 wins consistently, which usually means the opposite of someone who doesn't have a big collection. Finally, it only awards GvG packs. While there are some classes that can build a solid deck with mainly these (Mech mage?), lots of normal deck types require a lot of Classic cards.
What I generally did, and what I assume you would have to do is to play 2 ~ 6 Weeks (depending on luck with packs) to get solid cards for one of the top tier cheap-aggro decks, and build that to at least get your friend winning. This would probably be some sort of Zoolock, Face Hunter, or Mech Mage. It should give them understanding of the game, and a competitive deck to climb ladder with. They'll be able to slowly build up gold while experiencing joys of winning in the game. Then you might have to wait 3~4 months to actually be able to craft some of those more expensive (and IMO, funner) decks.
What many do though, is just to buy the largest pack deal as a head start; Since the game is kind of unforgiving for players with just the basic set. IIRC though, if you plan on spending money on the game; Naxx is the best dollar per gold value. Since 60 Packs = 6000 Gold = $70 (Spending either 85 Gold or 1 Dollar to buy packs), while Naxxramas = 3500 Gold = $25 (Spending either 140 gold, or $1 to unlock adventure). Just something to keep in mind if you plan on spending money, AND unlocking the Naxx adventure.
When I started I mained Priest. It is definitely a good class to learn and grind out the early packs.
Yes, because spending hard earned money on an online game is the best financial investment.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
If your friend enjoys the game, and thinks he will play it for a while, then it's worthwhile spending $20 odd to complete Naxx, get some good cards, a little more maybe to buy some GvG packs to get started ... I mean, nobody thinks twice about spending triple that on an xbox/ps/wii or even PC game! And they may only play it for a week or two. You don't have to be loaded to buy a few packs! Just enjoy the game enough to not have those 10 pints you planned to have some random night.
It's a matter of how much $20 means to you.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
I didn't know about online decks and stuff until 3 months into playing hs. This helped a lot cause I learned how to play with the cards I had. Learn how to build decks and most importantly I had fun cause I just played casuaL and didnt even realize I was missing huge chunks of the cards. I guess its true ignorance is bliss.
Time is precious. Waste it wisely. Legend Seasons: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17
Current deck: Not playing much anymore
Highest rank: legend rank 9 Highest finish: legend rank 103 Infinite Arena Player
Just play arena, forget around ranks till you can win 7+ in arena.