This month the first expansion for Blizzard’s free online card game Hearthstone is coming. We have gathered information from the internet about what to expect in the Necropolis of Naxxramas.
Wings will be unlocked gradually
Naxxramas consists of different parts, five wings, if you will. The first wing, the Arachnid Quarter, will be open to all players and will be the only wing available in the first week. A new wing will be opened each week after the release. Access to these additional wings must be purchased by the players, either with gold or euros.
The game modes: Normal, Challenge, and Heroic
In these five wings, there are a total of 15 bosses, AI-controlled opponents, similar to the practice mode or tutorial. These bosses will be modeled after their counterparts from the World of Warcraft raid. Players who defeat one of these bosses will receive cards, including Legendaries. These boss fights in Naxxramas are referred to as the “Adventure Mode”.
Initially, there is only the option to defeat the bosses on “normal” mode. Those who succeed will gain access to the “Challenger” mode. Here, opponents must be defeated with a specific class. Then class-specific cards await as rewards: Raexxar, who leads all Hunter decks, must face Loatheb. If he defeats the ancient mushroom infection, he will receive the recently teased class card Webspinner, a 1/1 spider that summons a beast card upon death.
It is assumed that the Heroic mode will be unlocked when the Challenge mode is completed. In Heroic mode, opponents are expected to become significantly stronger, but will also grant more EXP and perhaps better rewards.
What is known about the bosses?
The 15 bosses of the Hearthstone expansion correspond to the final bosses from Naxxramas. Their card counterparts also replicate their abilities.
The Arachnid Quarter
- Deathlord Anub’Rekhan – a formerly powerful Nerubian lord guarding the gates of the Arachnid Quarter and likely the first opponent adventurers will encounter in Hearthstone.
- The Grand Widow Faerlina – a master of poisons, responsible for breeding the undead spider hordes.
- Maexxna – a massive spider from the depths of Northrend, producing one spider after another.
The Plague Quarter
- Noth the Plaguebringer – once a mage in Dalaran, now a necromancer in the service of Kel’Thuzad. Every time a minion dies, Noth summons a 1/1 skeleton. So a minion rush is imminent.
- Heigan the Unclean – responsible for the plague, which gave the Western and Eastern Plaguelands their names.
- Loatheb – a mutated fungus creature so corrupted that healing abilities directed at it instead affect the caster.
The Military Quarter
- Instructor Razavious – the ruthless trainer of death knights. Is said to be so powerful that only his own students can withstand one of his strikes.
- Gothik the Harvester – a masterful necromancer in charge of training young necromancers.
- The Four Horsemen – the king’s guard of Kel’Thuzad consists of particularly powerful and outstanding death knights. Baron Rivendare will likely represent them in Hearthstone and will be accompanied by three skeletal rider minions.
The Construct Quarter
- Patchwork – a pile of flesh made from corpses with a playful spirit. Patchwork is likely to receive a hook weapon with 5 damage and 7 durability in Hearthstone, hitting blindly on the opponent until one falls. A real DPS check indeed.
- Grobbulus – a flesh giant that carries a plague injector instead of an arm. Created to spread the plague.
- Gluth – an undead and extremely biting plague dog. Characterized by an insatiable hunger and a taste for dead flesh.
- Thaddius – a soul-sucking construct of power, fed by constantly flickering bolts of lightning. Completing the Construct Quarter will reward the two minions of Thaddius, Feugen (4/7 at 5 mana) and Stalagg (7/4 at 5 mana) as playable cards. If both die in a match, Thaddius will be summoned, likely even stronger.
The Frost Wyrm Lair
- Sapphiron – once part of Malygos’ blue dragonflight, was slain by Arthas and resurrected. Now combines the arcane powers of a blue dragon with a truly chilling breath.
- Kel’Thuzad – the first servant of the Lich King, arch-villain, super-brain, cat lover, and the operator of the coldest hour hotel in all of Northrend. Defeating Kel’Thuzad will reward a legendary card, Kel’Thuzad himself. It costs 8 mana, has stats of 6/8, and resurrects deceased creatures at the end of each turn.
The bold information comes from cinemablend, which has interpreted the leaked screenshots. It is possible that this may change before release.
Card backs, how long does the season last and what comes next?
It is already known that the new card back with green and purple colors will depict a Naxxramas theme. It can be earned until the end of the month. To achieve that, rank 20 must be obtained. Season 5 begins on August 1.
The Naxxramas expansion could just be the first of many excursions by Blizzard into the Adventure Mode. With Naxxramas, they have now laid the foundation and completed the work so that future expansions can arrive much faster.
At the moment, it is not clear when exactly Naxxramas will arrive (only “in July” is known) or how much it will cost to unlock a wing.
What do you think when reading the boss descriptions? Do you have any ideas? Can Gluth heal himself by consuming his own zombies? Will Sapphiron clear the board with his class ability? And which deck do you want to use against the monstrosity Patchwork?
Here you can view the class cards in a gallery (the Hunter card is already shown above):
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