For the Wild! Five Possible Alternate Druid Heroes for Hearthstone
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, alternate hero portraits are a part of Hearthstone. These purely cosmetic heroes (they simply give the player a new portrait and new voice lines) don’t change the game in any gameplay sense and can be unlocked in a few different ways. The current alternate heroes (and how they are obtained) are below:
- Magni (Warrior), Alleria (Hunter), and Medivh (Mage) are only available if you purchase them in the shop for $9.99.
- Khadgar (Mage) was sold for $4.99 during a limited time event benefiting the World Wildlife Fund.
- Maiev (Rogue) is unlocked through a special quest that new players received which requires playing Standard games.
- Morgl (Shaman) can only be earned through the Recruit a Friend system.
- Lady Liadrin (Paladin) can be unlocked by raising a character to level 20 in World of Warcraft.
- Tyrande (Priest) was available exclusively to Twitch Prime members.
- Prince Arthas (Paladin) is the reward for beating the Knights of the Frozen Throne single player mission with all 9 classes.
- Nemsy Necrofizzle (Warlock) can be unlocked by attending a Fireside Tavern Gathering.
Notice anything? That’s right! The only class who has been horribly abandoned and neglected here is the druid…not one single alternate hero. Which means, *drumroll*, it’s time to fix that with some wild speculation about who could be the next alternate druid hero!
Hamuul Runetotem
Leading the pack of most commonly predicted and/or requested is Hamuul Runetotem. In World of Warcraft, Hamuul is the Archdruid of Thunder Bluff and a well-regarded leader among the Tauren people. If Blizzard chooses him as the next alternate hero for Druid, it would mark the first time a Tauren was chosen as a hero character.
In WoW, Hamuul was the first Tauren druid in almost 20 generations, so why not first Tauren hero too? Being a Tauren means his portrait will be visually very distinct from Malfurion’s (who, coincidentally, is his mentor). That could be an enormous plus in his favor. Fans have been clamoring for more diversity in the heroes. Many feel there are plenty of humans and elves already, so including a Tauren could be a great step in the right direction.
Lunara
Lunara is an interesting character because she was actually first introduced in Heroes of the Storm and was only later added to World of Warcraft in the Legion expansion. She is a dryad and the first daughter of Cenarius, with whom Hearthstone players are already familiar. She is described as being a fierce protector of the forest, who frequently makes use of poison to cripple her foes. Sounds pretty badass, no?
A lot of fans would love to see male and female options for all of the heroes, which might help put her in the running despite her not having quite the same pedigree of lore as some of the others on this list. Currently, the options for Rogue, Warrior, and Shaman are all the same gender. Mage, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, and Warlock have male and female portraits.
Fandral Staghelm
Most of us are probably already acquainted with this character because he’s already in the game! Fandral Staghelm is a legendary druid card that first made an appearance in the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion. Say what? Surely they wouldn’t make a hero out of a character that’s already a minion? Right? Well, maybe, maybe not. Medivh is a playable minion and an alternate hero portrait for the mage class, so it has been done before. How likely it is, I’ll leave up to you to decide. For those who aren’t that familiar with the lore, here’s a fun fact about Fandral: He was opposed to Hamuul (the very same from above) becoming a druid on the basis that he was a Tauren (Fandral is a bit of a jerk if you didn't know).
Broll Bearmantle
Broll Bearmantle is an elf druid from World of Warcraft of great ability. Broll is somewhat unique because of the antlers he was born with (they are very rare and an indicator of his great power). However, because of this feature, if he was chosen they’d have to take special care to distinguish him from Malfurion (who also has this rare feature), especially for those Hearthstone fans who don’t have a World of Warcraft background. One of the cool things about Broll is that he seems to have a lot of friends in high places, friends even the aforementioned Hearthstone players would recognize. He’s a companion of our very own original rogue hero, Valeera and Varian Wrynn. He helped Tyrande free his mentor Malfurion from the Emerald Dream (Malfurion has a lot of mentees, you guys). And it is even said that Malfurion himself considers Broll to be an equal.
Hearthstone is full of fun little interactions between the characters, for example when Tyrande and Malfurion play each other they have a special greeting. Team 5 would probably have fun putting all those little easter eggs in if they chose Broll as the next druid hero.
Zen’tabra
Another great option for a female druid hero, Zen’tabra is a druid trainer in WoW. Not only that, but she’s also a troll! We definitely don’t have any troll heroes yet, and I’m sure players would love to see it.
Zen’tabra used to be a witch doctor, before studying druidism in the Emerald Dream. She along with her other fellow ex-witch doctors helped Vol’jin reclaim their home and defeat the evil Zalazane, who was actually responsible for the loss of their witch doctor powers in the first place! I could easily see them releasing her as an alternate druid hero, maybe alongside a Darkspear themed expansion?
You’ve seen our picks, now let us know what yours are! Do you hope to see one of the above more than the others? Are you excited by the prospect of a new druid hero? Are you tired of human and elf heroes? Let us know in the comments!
#teambroll
What's the artwork from thumbnail?
I think its Jungle Moonkin, a druid card that gives both players +2 spell damage.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XnGGa
I'm surprised they didn't make completing all 9 dungeon runs give you a Kobold hero. Druid or rogue would have been interesting. I have no knowledge of WoW lore so I don't know if Kobolds can even become druids.
I'd be fine with either Hamuul or Lunara. As a counterpart to Maiev being available through winning 10 Standard games, and as a cheeky reference to what Druids are defending, the new Druid hero should be obtained by winning (or perhaps just playing) a certain number of Wild games.
Hamuul Runetotem for president!
Hamuul. Need a Tauren hero.
What we need is that Zen'kiki (http://www.wowhead.com/npc=44269/zenkiki) He's a druid of some renown! lol
Its going to be Hamuul, its just a question of when
I'd like a female Druid--I don't care who. (And an opportunity to get Tyrande, since I missed it the first time. :P )
I choose LUNARA!!! Cuz I like her mane/hair :3
Mankrik
I heard you can unlock his wife as a alternate portrait but I can't seem to find her anywhere.
With special quest card: Players must find Mankrik's wife by turn 7 or both lose.
How is this comment only sitting at +5. Underrated comment.
Three of the last four heroes added were female. Not really too many males compared to females anymore.
To be honest, we already have 3 nigh elf heroes and a fourth would be too much. Having a new Tauren or Troll druid hero will bring much more diversity to the game.
Agreed. Anything but a night elf. Tauren, Troll, even Ogre druid if you need, you name it ... but Blizzard, no night elf please.
Please no more elves or humans. Anything but elf or human.
I like the Hamuul Tauren guy. Fandral portrait would also be killer.