Hearthstonerecently announced Titans, its newest card expansion, and it finally brings the planet-sized gods of theWarcraftuniverse to the game. While these Legendary minions will reshapeHearthstoneforever, they aren’t the only new thing coming in Titans. The new set is doubling down on the Location cards and Magnetic and is introducing the new Forge keyword.
Game Rant participated in a roundtable interview withHearthstonelead designer Cora Georgiou and VFX artist Luke Mason about the upcoming set. From the biggest Titan to the smallest use of Forge,HearthstoneTitans introduces a lot of ways to influence the battlefield. The developers talked about these new keywords and how they thinkthe set will shapeHearthstone’sfuture.
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Playing Gods in Hearthstone
In this set, each of the 11 classes, including thenew Death Knight inHearthstone, is getting its own Legendary Titan. It comes as no surprise to learnHearthstonedesigned the entire set around these cards. “We knew that we wanted Titans to be the very exciting thing for the expansion,” Georgiou said. These epic cards are technically minions, but they work quite differently from what players might expect.
“These are the ultimate, god-like beings in World of Warcraft, and to bring them into Hearthstone and to translate them into Hearthstone gameplay, it felt like a traditional minion wouldn’t be enough to represent the scale of these characters.”
When a Titan is played, it drops onto the field with an epic visual effect. However, unlike normal minions, Titans can’t attack right away. Instead, they have three different powers that can each be triggered once. Players can choose an effect on the turn the Titan is played and can choose the remaining ones on subsequent turns. Once all three powers have been used, the Titan can attack as normal on the following turn.
Georgiou gave a few examples of some of these game-changing cards. Norgannon’s abilities can deal damage or control the battlefield, with each one becoming twice as powerful as the last. Golganneth, on the other hand, will synergize with the Nature magic archetype of the Shaman class, while Eonar, the Druid Titan, can refill a player’s hand, mana crystals, or life total with her powers. Titan cards are like a marriage between minions and locations and will make an epic centerpiecefor anyHearthstonedeck.
“These activatable abilities on board are something we have been iterating on and trying to make happen for years now. Locations were the culmination of that work. I personally didn’t expect us to revisit it this soon… but they are so different from Locations because there is so much varied use of these abilities.”
However, it is important to note that Titans are minions like any other. “There is no guarantee,” Georgiou reminded players. “The Titans are minions; they can be killed. You need to plan out ahead of time the ability you want to use, how you want to use it, and how you attempt to protect your Titan to get the most use out of it.” The more turns one lets their opponent’s Titan stay on the battlefield, the more mighty powers they will be able to unleash. Destroying enemy Titans - and protecting one’s own - will be a major objective whenthis newHearthstoneset releases.
Keywords to Reforge the Hearthstone Meta
The Forge mechanic is adding a tactical new way for players to use their mana. Similar toHearthstone’s Tradeable keyword, Forging a card is done by dragging it to the deck and spending two mana to upgrade it. Mason was excited for players to experience the new keyword. “Once they release their card over the deck, down comes this large, Titan-tastic hammer, emanating celestial heat and energy onto it, and imprinting your now-Forged card, returning it back to your hand.”
Forge cards appear across the cost spectrum, so players can decide when and if sacrificing mana early for these empowered cards is worth it. Georgiou believes that player agency will create an engaging and rewarding experience.
“The cards will transform - you will see a new art piece, you’ll see the upgraded text box, and you’ll have this card in your hand that feels like, ‘I’ve spent two mana, I’ve put in the work, and now I’ve been rewarded with this upgraded, awesome new thing.’”
The Mech-focused Magnetic keyword is also making a big return in Titans. “[Magnetic] ties so well into the theme [of Titans],” Mason explained, “this is an age of technology that modern-day Azeroth has not even caught up to yet.” With a robust number of Magnetic and Mech cards already inHearthstone’s Year of the Wolf Core set, most classes will be able to use this keyword in ways that have never been seen before.
It has been a year sinceHearthstoneintroduced Location cards in Murder at Castle Nathria, so it is fitting that Titans doubles down on them. “Locations are here to stay,” Georgiou said. “It was the first time we had done a new card type since Hero cards, and we really wanted them to feel like they fit inHearthstone. And I think they have!” Players have had a near-unanimously positive response to Locations, each of which has improved upon the formula. Some iconic locations from Ulduar will appear in the set, including the Prison of Yogg-Saron - the first neutral and Legendary Location card players can get as a free reward for logging in toHearthstone.
“Players feel like they’ve been around for longer than they have! They feel appropriate, natural, and awesome, and it means we can build upon that foundation with locations… I think it is important to us to explore the design space of what locations specifically can do, and build upon that as time goes on. Legendary locations were one way to do that.”
Between Forge, Magnetic, Locations, and the massive Legendary minions themselves, Titans is shaping up to be a set as exciting as it is ground-breaking. It seems the Titans will have as significant an impact onHearthstoneasthey do onWorld of Warcraft, and as Mason said, “If [players] have a favorite Titan, hopefully, all of us on the team did it justice.”
Hearthstoneis available now for Mobile and PC.
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