Hearthstone fans can finally play together soon. The popular “Battlegrounds” mode is finally coming in a proper 2-player variant.
Hearthstone is almost 10 years old and many of the fans’ wishes have been fulfilled over the course of the card game. There are long PvE campaigns with treasures, popular evergreen game modes like “Battlegrounds,” and also somewhat more curious modes like the Mercenaries mode. However, one wish could not be fulfilled for the fans so far: proper cooperative play with a friend. That will change soon.
How does the coop mode work? For the new mode “Duo Battlegrounds,” you need to sign up as a pair. You will then compete against 3 other teams, ensuring that 8 players are still in a match.
Fundamentally, you will continue to act independently in most areas. You have your own gold and your own battleground, and the tavern upgrade applies only to you and not to your partner.
However, it is interesting that you have a portal on the right side. For one gold coin, you can pass cards from your hand to your teammate. For example, you see that your colleague is collecting a lot of mechs but doesn’t have a triple yet? If the missing third mech is offered to you, you can buy it and simply hand it over to your teammate.
In Blizzard “What’s Next” video from BlizzCon, you can see the mode starting at minute 16:50:
With a click on the portal, you can even shift the entire view to your teammate as if you were in “spectator mode.” This way, you always have an overview of what your teammate is doing and which minions they are collecting.
By the way, this also comes with a ping system, allowing friends who are not on a voice chat together to send clear messages to each other.
How do the battles unfold? The battles take place somewhat consecutively. The first player of the team faces an opponent – just like before. However, once one side is completely eliminated, the second player of the team moves in with their troop. First, they must attack the remnants of the winner, and if they succeed, then the second player can move in as well.
If one side manages to defeat the opponent without the second player even getting a turn, the stars of the second player are still added to the attack damage that the losing team suffers.
Which partner takes on the first battle changes each turn – so appropriate strategy is necessary to get the best out of both teams.
When is the coop mode coming? The mode is expected to go live relatively early next year, though that may change. At least in the presentation at BlizzCon, coop seemed to work quite well – the concept is therefore effective.
Now we can only hope that enough other players are interested in such coop matches, so that this mode also becomes a new evergreen and does not, unfortunately, meet the same fate as many other ideas in Hearthstone, quickly fading into obscurity.
Are you excited about a coop mode?
