Hearthstone
Mercenaries Roles Speculation
Since I am waiting for Mercenaries to be released, I thought it would be fun to guess what roles the mercs will play in the new mode.
The "roles" I am talking about are the main 3 for dungeon and raid running in WoW: healers, to keep their allies alive, tanks that act as targets and can soak damage, and DPS, or damage dealers.
So now that this is out of the way, I am now going to guess, using Wow class knowledge, what role the Forged in the Barrens mercs might play.
Kurtrus: One word tips me off about Kurtrus; VENGEANCE! In Wow, V DHs are tanks with high mobility and are able to deal heavy AoE damage to enemies. In Hearthstone, he swiftly attacks minions, so that checks out. Maybe fast slashes might bolster Kurtrus' allies
Guff: My best guess for Guff is Restoration Druid, a type of healer. They heal allies equal to their spell power. In BoM, he really isn't the fighting type, instead buffing friendly minions. But don't worry, he can still defend himself with shapeshifting.
Tavish: With all of the animals following him, he is obviously a form of DPS for Hunter called Beast Mastery. They can pair up with a ferocious friend and deal damage. Hunters themselves can shoot with guns and bows, so we can expect some sharpshooting from Ol' Tavish.
Varden: Frost Mages can literally freeze enemies in their tracks and have great AoE with crowd control. Perhaps they can stop the bosses, making them skip their turn. If so, I would sign them up to be on my team in a heartbeat!
Cariel: Due the ridiculous size of that hammer, I am making an educated guess that she is a Ret Pally, a melee DPS. They can heal also a tiny bit. Also, they can cast Avenging Wrath. to buff themselves for damage.
Xyrella: For Xyrella, I am thinking Discipline Priest, a protective healer. They can shield their allies from harm, then unleash the Holy Light on their enemies. They can also heal, making them a jack for all trades.
Scabbs: With steel-tipped shivs and a small stature, this gnome has me confused. I am torn between Assassination and Subtlety. While they are both melee DPS, they are both starkly different. Assassination Rogues use poisons to deal damage between strikes. Subtlety, on the other hand, are quick and stab quickly. I am leaning towards Subtlety, since he works for SI:7 and they are as stealthy as they get.
Bru'kan: His strong connection to Nature makes him a strong contender for a powerful caster DPS spec called Elemental Shaman. They can scorch and shock enemies with strong elemental magic. A valuable asset for a team.
Tamsin: Tamsin belongs to a shadow-magic using DPS spec called Affliction Warlock. They revel in damaging enemies over time, siphoning their life out bit by bit. Pain is in your future if you are fighting one of these. They also summon imps to help you fight.
Rokara: Berserker rage lays in her soul, because she's a Fury Warrior, feared melee DPS. They go into a frenzy, swinging their two weapons to cut their enemies to ribbons. Expect heavy damage.
ALL DONE! I really had fun looking all of this up. Do you agree with my selections for these ten mercs? Any guess what roles the other mercs will play, like the regular Hearthstone heroes?
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Since I am waiting for Mercenaries to be released, I thought it would be fun to guess what roles the mercs will play in the new mode.
The "roles" I am talking about are the main 3 for dungeon and raid running in WoW: healers, to keep their allies alive, tanks that act as targets and can soak damage, and DPS, or damage dealers.
So now that this is out of the way, I am now going to guess, using Wow class knowledge, what role the Forged in the Barrens mercs might play.
Kurtrus: One word tips me off about Kurtrus; VENGEANCE! In Wow, V DHs are tanks with high mobility and are able to deal heavy AoE damage to enemies. In Hearthstone, he swiftly attacks minions, so that checks out. Maybe fast slashes might bolster Kurtrus' allies
Guff: My best guess for Guff is Restoration Druid, a type of healer. They heal allies equal to their spell power. In BoM, he really isn't the fighting type, instead buffing friendly minions. But don't worry, he can still defend himself with shapeshifting.
Tavish: With all of the animals following him, he is obviously a form of DPS for Hunter called Beast Mastery. They can pair up with a ferocious friend and deal damage. Hunters themselves can shoot with guns and bows, so we can expect some sharpshooting from Ol' Tavish.
Varden: Frost Mages can literally freeze enemies in their tracks and have great AoE with crowd control. Perhaps they can stop the bosses, making them skip their turn. If so, I would sign them up to be on my team in a heartbeat!
Cariel: Due the ridiculous size of that hammer, I am making an educated guess that she is a Ret Pally, a melee DPS. They can heal also a tiny bit. Also, they can cast Avenging Wrath. to buff themselves for damage.
Xyrella: For Xyrella, I am thinking Discipline Priest, a protective healer. They can shield their allies from harm, then unleash the Holy Light on their enemies. They can also heal, making them a jack for all trades.
Scabbs: With steel-tipped shivs and a small stature, this gnome has me confused. I am torn between Assassination and Subtlety. While they are both melee DPS, they are both starkly different. Assassination Rogues use poisons to deal damage between strikes. Subtlety, on the other hand, are quick and stab quickly. I am leaning towards Subtlety, since he works for SI:7 and they are as stealthy as they get.
Bru'kan: His strong connection to Nature makes him a strong contender for a powerful caster DPS spec called Elemental Shaman. They can scorch and shock enemies with strong elemental magic. A valuable asset for a team.
Tamsin: Tamsin belongs to a shadow-magic using DPS spec called Affliction Warlock. They revel in damaging enemies over time, siphoning their life out bit by bit. Pain is in your future if you are fighting one of these. They also summon imps to help you fight.
Rokara: Berserker rage lays in her soul, because she's a Fury Warrior, feared melee DPS. They go into a frenzy, swinging their two weapons to cut their enemies to ribbons. Expect heavy damage.
ALL DONE! I really had fun looking all of this up. Do you agree with my selections for these ten mercs? Any guess what roles the other mercs will play, like the regular Hearthstone heroes?
I think it's worth considering other characters for each class, and expect they will not overlap with each other. For most classes we only know we'll get the Barrens mercs plus the basic hero, which isn't a lot to work with but is something.
Rogue is the class that we have the most information for, since the Mercenaries key art depicts all of Scabbs, Valeera and Captain Eudora (who was our rogue character in The Dalaran Heist). Furthermore, Valeera's dagger is dripping with poison, so a sensible guess would be that they fill the WoW rogue specs like so:
That would be a bit out of character for Valeera to be honest, since she's a subtlety rogue in Heroes of the Storm and I don't think she ever used poisons lore-wise, but the poison in the art easily outweighs those issues.
They could also go beyond WoW specs and focus on HS class mechanics. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a thief merc, for example. And who knows, maybe Scabbs' time as a chef will be represented inn his abilities? He is holding a meat cleaver in the key art after all.
Thoughts on a few other classes:
Until we know how gameplay works in Mercenaries it's difficult to really say what any of these would actually mean of course.
Jaina is actually confirmed to be a boss. I belive it was from the IGN interview.The example path they showed had King Mukla as the final boss, and we know he's also a playable mercenary, so it looks like we will unlock characters after defeating them as bosses.