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Hearthstone: Arachnid Quarter guide
Curse of Naxxramas' initial wing launched on Tuesday, much to the delight of eager fans. The Arachnid Quarter features exactly what Warcraft veterans should expect, that being a lot of spiders. Anub'Rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina and Maexxna serve as the first trials thrown at adventurers looking to fight their way to the nefarious lich Kel'thuzad. Today, we'll go over a bit about what these baddies do, and how best to crush them. Anub'Rekhan The Traitor King boasts a couple of unique mechanics that are worth making note of. His hero power Skitter allows him to summon a 3/1 Nerubian for two mana. On heroic mode, it's a 4/4 Nerubian for two, which is pretty brutal. Anub'Rekhan also has access to a unique card called Anub'ar Swarm, which can really just ruin your day if you don't expect it. It costs a whopping seven mana, but does three damage to all of your minions and heals Anub'Rekhan for three health. Definitely prepare yourself for that, come turn seven. Beyond that, this fight's not too difficult. Anub'Rekhan has access to the rogue specific Curse of Naxxramas card Anub'ar Ambusher, and while 5/5's nothing to scoff at, destroying it will force another random minion on the board back into his hand, assuming there's anything he has anything else in play. It doesn't permanently deal with the threat, but it does buy you time to develop your board in response. Also of note, expect a strange blend of warlock and mage spells, specifically Shadow Bolt, Mortal Coil and Frostbolt.
Hearthstone reveals new Webspinner card
Hearthstone unveiled its final class specific Curse of Naxxramas card yesterday, the Hunter beast Webspinner. The 1/1 spider costs one mana, and upon expiring summons a random beast card into your hand. Senior Game Designer Ben Brode explained via Twitter that the range on the text includes any beast card, with the exception of tokens. That rules out the 1/1 hound summoned by the Unleash the Hounds spells. All other beasts (Including hunter legendary King Krush) appear to be fair game. Webspinner can get any collectible Beast. Everything from King Krush to Captain's Parrot. - Ben Brode (@bdbrode) June 19, 2014 In terms of viability, this card shows promise. The other turn one beasts available to hunter generally serve specific purposes. Stonetusk Boar exists almost exclusively to be used with Hunter's Mark, while Timber Wolf is utilized in conjunction with other beasts already able to attack. Webspinner could be a nice early game tempo play, while retaining value later on in the match because of its ability to provide the user an additional card. If that card ends up being a Savannah Highmane, King Krush, or even Core Hound, it's a great play. Really, so long as it doesn't draw you Captain's Parrot or Angry Chicken, it's a victory. The hunter set currently sits right in the middle, as expert opinions go. It is nowhere near as crushing as it was prior to the most recent Unleash the Hounds nerf, but it definitely has a place in the metagame, especially against the all powerful Miracle Rogue deck. Webspinner doesn't look like it will unhinge the class again, so much as it will provide another early game option, something the class can definitely use. Moreover, it will provide the class another degree of trickery. After Webspinner dies, opponents will be forced to wonder if you have a giant dinosaur in your hand or not.
Hearthstone patch notes, patch 1.0.0.5314
Hearthstone community manager Zeriyah has released a round of patch notes for patch 1.0.0.5314 -- that's a mouthful, isn't it? With the exception of the previously discussed Unleash the Hounds change, this patch includes primarily bug fixes and quality-of-life changes. Examples include: Winning a game as Lord Jaraxxus will now properly grant credit towards unlocking the Warlock golden hero. You win... BUT YOUR WORLD IS STILL DOOMED! [iPad] Resolved an issue that was causing a client crash when choosing between two options of certain Druid cards. Resolved issues that prevented the Fireside Friends card back from being properly unlocked under certain conditions. You can find the full patch notes below or on Battle.net.
Unleash the Hounds mana cost going up in Hearthstone
CM Zeriyah has announced that the mana cost for the hunter card Unleash the Hounds will be changing from 2 to 3 in an upcoming patch. Since Hearthstone came out of beta, Blizzard hasn't made any card balancing changes, but this card's power -- Hearthhead suggests the card is in 74% of hunter decks, and we honestly have to wonder about the 26% of decks that don't include it -- made the change necessary. Zeriyah ...when playing against Hunter decks, you may feel punished too much for playing minions. Playing minions is one of the key, fun pieces of the overall Hearthstone puzzle, and feeling like your options are limited by the opponent creates a play experience that may not be particularly enjoyable. source Still, that extra mana cost isn't so much that Unleash the Hounds is likely to go away entirely -- but hopefully it means you won't struggle with it every time you're matched up against a hunter. For more on the reasoning behind this change, be sure to read Zeriyah's full post.
