The civil war sparked by the Atal'ai priesthood may be over, but its dire ramifications live on. Within the jungles of Stranglethorn, a dark presence stirs. The great city of Zul'Gurub, once the heart of the Gurubashi Empire, lies in ruins, but its temples thrum with power. Hakkar, the Soulflayer himself, has returned. The priests of the Loa have fallen victim to his corruption, even now spurring him as he eases into the material world. The hour of the Atal'ai may yet be at hand. You, brave hero, must end the tyranny of the blood god. Venture into Zul'Gurub, vanquish the slaves of Hakkar and seize the secrets of Stranglethorn Vale!
ZUL'GURUB- A HEARTHSTONE ADVENTURE
Time for a preface. What follows is the beginning of an incomplete concept- an idea for the next single-player adventure for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. An often under-appreciated raid, Zul'Gurub felt rich, full of flavour, allowing for more expansive encounter designs than its competitors, Blackwing Lair and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. The troll mythology is unique as well, it being vibrant and colorful and thus interesting to work with. Whilst most of my boss designs are in very crude states, I would like to share an early draft of High Priest Venoxis, Avatar of Hethiss, in both Normal and Heroic modes. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
High Priest Venoxis
NORMAL MODE
Phase One- Priest Form: High Priest Venoxis begins the game in Priest Form, with the Venomous Effusion Hero Power. He also begins the game with three Razzashi Cobras in play. Phase One lasts until all three Razzashi Cobras have been destroyed and/or silenced, at which point Phase Two begins. Note: Venoxis plays using the same deck in Phases One and Two.
Phase Two- Serpent Form: After all Razzashi Cobras have been destroyed and/or silenced, Venoxis shifts into his Serpent Form and gains the Bloodvenom Hero Power. Phase Two lasts until Venoxis is killed.
Design Notes- Normal Mode
Phase One: Designed to be a burst phase, Phase One requires you to clear all Razzashi Cobras quickly, before Venoxis can do too much damage to you via Venomous Effusion. I toyed with the idea of him starting with four Cobras, as he did in the raid instance: this could still be an option if people see three as too little of a challenge. This is kind of a fusion of Kel'Thuzad and the Four Horsemen- intentionally, as other methods of modelling transformation were a little clunky.
Phase Two: Venoxis has very strong board control options in his druid class cards and his Hero Power during this phase. At this point, the fight is less about survival and more about establishing and holding a board. Given that Venoxis can kill minions very quickly, a viable strategy would be to use a spell-based deck instead, but whether this could sustain the first phase as well as the second is up for question, especially in Heroic Mode (which duly follows).
HEROIC MODE
Note: On Heroic Mode, High Priest Venoxis has 35 HP (up from 25 HP)
Phase One- Priest Form: Instead of summoning three Razzashi Cobras, Venoxis summons two Razzashi Cobras and one Vilebranch Speaker at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, this phase remains unchanged, ending when the Vilebranch Speaker and both Razzashi Cobras are destroyed and/or silenced.
Phase Two- Serpent Form: When Venoxis transitions to Phase Two, he equips the Sceptre of Hethiss (shown above). In addition, Bloodvenom costs 2 mana (down from 3) to cast. Otherwise, this phase remains unchanged, ending when Venoxis is killed.
Design Notes- Heroic Mode
Phase One:The addition of the Vilebranch Speaker makes this phase more taxing, as it constitutes a larger, scarier threat that has to be quickly removed. An alternative plan was to buff the Razzashi Cobras to 2/2, rather than 1/1, whilst another was to increase the damage dealt by Venomous Effusion to 3. Both of these appeared to me as overly punishing in conjunction with the addition of the Speaker- I'll be interested to hear what others think.
Phase Two: The Sceptre of Hethiss improves even further on Venoxis's ability to clear minions- he is now quite the powerhouse! The reduction in cost of Bloodvenom is also a significant factor. I'll be interested to see whether this model is workable, or whether there are no workable strategies around it.
DECKLIST
- UNIQUE CARDS: 3x Razzashi Python
- DRUID CARDS: 2x Druid of the Fang, 2x Wrath, 2x Wild Growth, 1x Mark of Nature, 1x Naturalise, 2x Poison Seeds, 2x Keeper of the Grove, 2x Ancient of Lore
Opening Remarks: Ya cannot lay a finger on me! The venom of Hethiss is mine!
Emotes: Bow before the loa of serpents!
Transition into Phase Two: No matta. Behold, unbeliever- the powah coursin' within...
First Use of Venomous Effusion: Can ya feel 'is kiss?
First Use of Bloodvenom: Rot, worm!
Death: I can 'ear da whispers... No longa...
Thanks for reading this profoundly truncated little musing of mine. If you have any comments, criticism or construction, please leave it below and I'll be sure to read it over. If you'd be interested in more of these boss designs in the future, again just let me know.
I always liked Zul'Gurub, plus you had all those random elites running around the raid to make some mini-boss adventures as well. Look forward to reading the rest of it. +1
@Wxy: Yes, these are all cards made via Hearthstone Card Maker, with a little help from Google Images.
@kira458: Karazhan was on the cards as well, but considering Naxxramas was a big, spooky necropolis filled with the undead, making a big, spooky tower filled with the undead seemed like a bit of a cop-out.
@Elanyr: Pretty sure there is no karazhan ( at least I check the bosses) monster are in our current card pool. Also most of karazhan monster are ghost / demon instead of undead.
Apologies. It seems Hearthstone Card Maker doesn't like me and my URL's very much. The following link is to an imgur album in which all the relevant images are available to view: http://imgur.com/a/TsIDT#0 Enjoy
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The civil war sparked by the Atal'ai priesthood may be over, but its dire ramifications live on. Within the jungles of Stranglethorn, a dark presence stirs. The great city of Zul'Gurub, once the heart of the Gurubashi Empire, lies in ruins, but its temples thrum with power. Hakkar, the Soulflayer himself, has returned. The priests of the Loa have fallen victim to his corruption, even now spurring him as he eases into the material world. The hour of the Atal'ai may yet be at hand. You, brave hero, must end the tyranny of the blood god. Venture into Zul'Gurub, vanquish the slaves of Hakkar and seize the secrets of Stranglethorn Vale!
ZUL'GURUB- A HEARTHSTONE ADVENTURE
Time for a preface. What follows is the beginning of an incomplete concept- an idea for the next single-player adventure for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. An often under-appreciated raid, Zul'Gurub felt rich, full of flavour, allowing for more expansive encounter designs than its competitors, Blackwing Lair and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. The troll mythology is unique as well, it being vibrant and colorful and thus interesting to work with. Whilst most of my boss designs are in very crude states, I would like to share an early draft of High Priest Venoxis, Avatar of Hethiss, in both Normal and Heroic modes. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
High Priest Venoxis
NORMAL MODE
Phase One- Priest Form: High Priest Venoxis begins the game in Priest Form, with the Venomous Effusion Hero Power. He also begins the game with three Razzashi Cobras in play. Phase One lasts until all three Razzashi Cobras have been destroyed and/or silenced, at which point Phase Two begins. Note: Venoxis plays using the same deck in Phases One and Two.
Phase Two- Serpent Form: After all Razzashi Cobras have been destroyed and/or silenced, Venoxis shifts into his Serpent Form and gains the Bloodvenom Hero Power. Phase Two lasts until Venoxis is killed.
Design Notes- Normal Mode
Phase One: Designed to be a burst phase, Phase One requires you to clear all Razzashi Cobras quickly, before Venoxis can do too much damage to you via Venomous Effusion. I toyed with the idea of him starting with four Cobras, as he did in the raid instance: this could still be an option if people see three as too little of a challenge. This is kind of a fusion of Kel'Thuzad and the Four Horsemen- intentionally, as other methods of modelling transformation were a little clunky.
Phase Two: Venoxis has very strong board control options in his druid class cards and his Hero Power during this phase. At this point, the fight is less about survival and more about establishing and holding a board. Given that Venoxis can kill minions very quickly, a viable strategy would be to use a spell-based deck instead, but whether this could sustain the first phase as well as the second is up for question, especially in Heroic Mode (which duly follows).
HEROIC MODE
Note: On Heroic Mode, High Priest Venoxis has 35 HP (up from 25 HP)
Phase One- Priest Form: Instead of summoning three Razzashi Cobras, Venoxis summons two Razzashi Cobras and one Vilebranch Speaker at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, this phase remains unchanged, ending when the Vilebranch Speaker and both Razzashi Cobras are destroyed and/or silenced.
Phase Two- Serpent Form: When Venoxis transitions to Phase Two, he equips the Sceptre of Hethiss (shown above). In addition, Bloodvenom costs 2 mana (down from 3) to cast. Otherwise, this phase remains unchanged, ending when Venoxis is killed.
Design Notes- Heroic Mode
Phase One: The addition of the Vilebranch Speaker makes this phase more taxing, as it constitutes a larger, scarier threat that has to be quickly removed. An alternative plan was to buff the Razzashi Cobras to 2/2, rather than 1/1, whilst another was to increase the damage dealt by Venomous Effusion to 3. Both of these appeared to me as overly punishing in conjunction with the addition of the Speaker- I'll be interested to hear what others think.
Phase Two: The Sceptre of Hethiss improves even further on Venoxis's ability to clear minions- he is now quite the powerhouse! The reduction in cost of Bloodvenom is also a significant factor. I'll be interested to see whether this model is workable, or whether there are no workable strategies around it.
DECKLIST
- UNIQUE CARDS: 3x Razzashi Python
- DRUID CARDS: 2x Druid of the Fang, 2x Wrath, 2x Wild Growth, 1x Mark of Nature, 1x Naturalise, 2x Poison Seeds, 2x Keeper of the Grove, 2x Ancient of Lore
- HUNTER CARDS: 2x Snake Trap
- NEUTRAL CARDS: 2x Gurubashi Berserker, 2x Jungle Panther, 1x Stampeding Kodo, 2x Priestess of Elune, 1x Windfury Harpy, 2x Stranglethorn Tiger, 2x Emperor Cobra
QUOTES
Opening Remarks: Ya cannot lay a finger on me! The venom of Hethiss is mine!
Emotes: Bow before the loa of serpents!
Transition into Phase Two: No matta. Behold, unbeliever- the powah coursin' within...
First Use of Venomous Effusion: Can ya feel 'is kiss?
First Use of Bloodvenom: Rot, worm!
Death: I can 'ear da whispers... No longa...
Thanks for reading this profoundly truncated little musing of mine. If you have any comments, criticism or construction, please leave it below and I'll be sure to read it over. If you'd be interested in more of these boss designs in the future, again just let me know.
I always liked Zul'Gurub, plus you had all those random elites running around the raid to make some mini-boss adventures as well. Look forward to reading the rest of it. +1
are those your own made cards?
Nice. Though as a wow player back in BC, I would hope the next adventure to be Karazhan
@Wxy: Yes, these are all cards made via Hearthstone Card Maker, with a little help from Google Images.
@kira458: Karazhan was on the cards as well, but considering Naxxramas was a big, spooky necropolis filled with the undead, making a big, spooky tower filled with the undead seemed like a bit of a cop-out.
Cant see any of the cards :(
Moved to Off-topic. This is where we put fan creations.
@Elanyr: Pretty sure there is no karazhan ( at least I check the bosses) monster are in our current card pool. Also most of karazhan monster are ghost / demon instead of undead.
Can't see images.
Apologies. It seems Hearthstone Card Maker doesn't like me and my URL's very much. The following link is to an imgur album in which all the relevant images are available to view: http://imgur.com/a/TsIDT#0 Enjoy