PCGamesN had a chance to speak with Dave Kosak, the Lead Mission Designer on the Hearthstone team, about the Tombs of Terror adventure.

Here are the highlights from their interview.

  • Adventure content being released after a set launch makes a big difference since players get time to enjoy the new meta.
  • The team had become very confident with creating bosses in this type of game mode.
  • Bosses are self-balancing. Those that are too difficult are prevented from being encountered early in a run / the adventure as a whole.
  • The Plague Lords being defeated over multiple runs is to make the adventure accessible to all skill levels.
  • Plagues Lords as a concept didn't change much, but they did a lot of tinkering with them.

Deckbuilding

  • Dual-class choices were paired up thematically.
  • They worked on Elise (Druid + Priest) first because they didn't know how much deckbuilding potential there was.
  • Zephrys's Lamp exists because highlander-style decks aren't as much fun to play but still allowed for inclusion of [Hearthstone Card (Zephyrs the Great) Not Found].
  • There is an Easter Egg associated with the lamp. "I'd suggest taking that treasure often"
  • They were surprised at how much players loved Bob. "I suspect we'll see more of him"

Card Bundles

  • Most loot chests have cards that are more likely to show (like [Hearthstone Card (Pogo Hopper) Not Found] whenever Reno finds a Mech-themed loot chest.
  • A Card Draw-themed loot chest will always contain a Bloodmage Thalnos, Power Word: Shield, or Azure Drake whenever Elise finds one.
  • Picking a particular type of loot makes that loot more likely to show up in future choices.
  • You should see different types of loot from run to run to give more choices.

Quote From Dave Kosak

Bartender Bob is back as Bazaar Bob, do you think he’s a staple for the foreseeable future?

We were completely surprised at how much that character resonated with players. Going into the tavern is a really fun gameplay moment and it allows you to do some crazy things to the deck you’re building, so I suspect we’ll see more of Bob. He’s got a couple tricks up his sleeve in the Tombs of Terror: players can get a VIP membership to his tavern, giving them even more minions and deck-altering options. Also, there’s a new ‘Hearthstone’ treasure that allows you to escape from a fight you’re losing, return to the tavern to adjust your deck, and then try the fight again. It’s great to use against the Plague Lords!