The Year of the Raven is officially over in Blizzard's card game Hearthstone, as the developer has revealed that the Year of the Dragon is here, featuring a year-long story across three expansions for the first time ever.
The first Hearthstone expansion of this year will shake up the meta by introducing new cards and more deckbuilding options, building upon the foundations laid by various other expansions like Rastakhan's Rumble that was revealed at BlizzCon last year.
Solo Adventures are coming to give players hours of new and replayable challenges, fresh game modes, friendly encounters, and new playable characters, with rewards like card packs and backs for those who prove themselves.
April is when we'll see the first expansion, and it'll bring a Solo Adventure with it, starting in May. The first chapter of the Solo Adventure will see you play from the perspective of a familiar mage, and this will be free to all, although if you want the whole thing, you should know that each Solo Adventure will cost £16.99 (€19.99, or 700 gold per chapter). Each extra chapter includes two new playable characters - each of which has three Hero Powers and four starting decks unlocked as you progress - and more information on the first chapter is promised later this year.
Other updates include migrating the Journey to Un'Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne, and Kobolds & Catacombs card sets to Wild, but if you want the card packs though you can still purchase them via the Blizzard Shop. The following cards are also going to be added to the Hall of Fame as well:
Players will be able to keep their Hall of Fame cards and Blizzard will provide the full dust value for each (up to the maximum that can be put in a deck) just like if they were disenchanted.
Quality of life updates are being added on top of this, including a card back randomiser so players can show off their collection, a smarter deck auto-complete tool, and allowing Arena wins to count towards Golden Hero progress.
Are you excited for what's coming?