Hearthstone's newest expansion, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, is now available!

Hearthstone Game Director Benjamin Lee recently hosted Hearthstone's Fall Reveal stream with several major announcements! Game Designers Pat Nagle, John McIntyre, and John Yang had in-depth conversations with host, Brian Kibler to reveal everything new coming to the online card battler. Be sure to head to Blizzard for a fantastic rundown of everything new coming to Hearthstone. Here's what we learned:

Amid all the carnival rides and games, there’s a whiff of ancient corruption. The Old Gods are back and have chosen the Darkmoon Faire as the site of their return! Introducing Hearthstone's newest expansion, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, complete with 135 all-new cards and many more, available November 17th!

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Image via Blizzard

THE OLD GODS RETURN

The iconic Old Gods—C’thun, N’Zoth, Yogg-Saron, and Y’Shaarj—are back, and as Legendary minions! Each Old God drives a different deck archetype and has a potent Battlecry capable of turning the tide of a match. If they dare, players can also toy with Old God artifacts: four ancient spells with zany effects that hearken back to the designs of the Old Gods in their fearsome earlier incarnations.

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Image via Blizzard

NEW KEYWORD: CORRUPT

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire introduces a new Keyword: Corrupt! Corrupt cards upgrade in your hand after you play a higher cost card. The Corrupted version of each card isn’t just stronger—it also features unique alternate artwork with more eyeballs and tentacles than before!

NEW GAME MODE: HEARTHSTONE DUELS

Hearthstone Duels is an all-new completely free game mode that combines the thrill of the player-vs.-player Arena mode with the delightfully unpredictable and over-the-top deckbuilding experience from the game’s most beloved Dungeon Runs. In Duels, you’ll choose a Hero, a Hero Power, a signature Treasure, and build a 15-card starter deck from your collection before facing off against a series of worthy human opponents. Between each match, you’ll level up your deck by adding minions, spells, and powerful Treasures!

Duels Beta will start November 12, with early access available from October 22 for all that pre-purchase a Madness at the Darkmoon Faire bundle.

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Image via Blizzard

LOG IN REWARD

  • Log into Hearthstone to receive the Silas Darkmoon Legendary minion for free, available to play immediately.
  • Pre-purchase for Madness at the Darkmoon Faire will go live with the 18.6 patch on October 22 at ~10:00 a.m. PT.
  • News revealed today included beefed up cards, Duels in Early Access, and the reveal of the new Expansion, plus a System Revamp, and a New Game Mode:

New Game Mode:

Duels, starting today in Early Access

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Image via Blizzard

We’re pleased to reveal Hearthstone Duels, a new collection-based game mode! In Duels, you’ll choose a Hero, a Hero Power, a starting Treasure, and build a 15-card starter deck from your collection before facing off against a series of worthy human opponents—Dungeon Run style!

  • PvP Dungeon Run where you rack up as many wins as you can
  • Found in the Mode section of Hearthstone, choose a Hero, Hero Power, and Signature Treasure
  • Then, build your Starting Deck from your own cards with your own unique direction based on your Hero Power
  • Cards allowed Scholomance, Karazhan, Naxxramas, Basic, and Classic sets
  • Play until you lose 3 games, getting as many wins as possible on the way
  • Health, Cards, and Treasure Cards will increase along the way
  • Early Access gives 1 Hero Power and 1 Signature Treasure per Hero; on November 17th, Darkmoon Faire will be added to the allowable card sets; expect more refreshes to come in the months ahead
  • You can play Duels Casually (launching today with Early Access) or Heroically (launching on November 17th)

Newest Expansion:

The Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Mega Bundle is available starting today for $79.99 USD and comes with 85 card packs from the expansion—5 of which are Golden Card Packs (containing all Golden cards)—plus one random Golden Legendary card; the N’Zoth Warlock Hero; the N’Zoth card back; perks for Hearthstone Battlegrounds that last until the next expansion; and early access to the upcoming Hearthstone Duels game mode from (see dates above). Also available is the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Bundle for $39.99 USD, which includes 45 packs from the expansion, one random Legendary Card, the N’Zoth card back, and early access to Hearthstone Duels (see dates above).

Hearthstone: Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, which goes live for pre-purchase today at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Total of 170 cards in the set coming; 135 at launch, the remainder in the follow-up update.

Cards: "Guess the Weight", "Fortune Teller", "Silas Darkmoon", "Fleethoof Pearltusk"*, "Day at the Faire"*, and "Dunk Tank"

Old Gods: "Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate", "C'Thun the Shattered", "N'Zoth, God of the Deep", "Y'Shaarj, The Defiler"

Minions: Darkmoon Rabbit

*Corrupt mechanic, a keyword that allows "Corrupted" cards to power up when a higher-level card is played. Adding a new layer of depth that lets players decide when to play the cards; at their vanilla entry level or at their upgraded Corrupted version.

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Image via Blizzard

Darkmoon Faire comes to the Hearthstone from World of Warcraft, including faire games, prizes, rides, and even a petting zoo. Hearthstone's version will explore food and snacks while also introducing Old Gods who wreak havoc in the fairgrounds. They'll attempt to bring a bit of chaos to the otherwise jovial and fun-filled setting.

Darkmoon Faire is run by Silas Darkmoon, who arrives today after the patch for free.

"Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate" will allow a 19% chance of one of five options in a spin of the wheel of fate (5% chance for Rod of Roasting, casting Pyroblast until 1 player is left standing)

Druid Cards: "Lunar Eclipse", "Solar Eclipse", "Kiri, Chosen of Elune"

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Image via Blizzard

System Revamp

Hearthstone will undergo its biggest ever systems update on November 12 with its fully overhauled progression system. The new system aims to deliver regular, exciting reward to players, be they initial dabblers, periodic deck-builders, or committed card-slingers. Here’s a rundown of what’s changing:

  • The new Achievements system tracks players’ statistics and in-game accomplishments. New achievements will be added with every expansion, as well as future game modes, and major updates.
  • The Reward Track allows players to earn in-game gold, card packs, cosmetics, and more—with bonus rewards for players who purchase a Tavern Pass. Every expansion will introduce a new Reward Track, and players progress through its 50 levels by accumulating experience points from Quests, achievements, and play.
  • The revamped Quest system adds robust and rewarding Weekly Quests to the regular rotation of Daily Quests and the special event-driven Legendary Quests that accompany expansions and content updates.
  • Players will be able to view their progress through all of these systems via the new profile page, which will track lifetime stats across a player’s account, including ranks, ratings, and wins.

More information on Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, Hearthstone Duels, and the new progression system is available on our official site:

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