Maybe my luck was extremely high, but I played it through in two sittings, with just a few bosses where I had to adapt my strategy. I actually really love the story. Here's why:
Show Spoiler
The other outcasts, especially Spargl, were really fun to play with/against/as. I liked their nuances (though Baduu becoming part of the legion could've been more climactic) and banter, and found seeing their upgraded Demon Hunter forms to be quite rewarding. Aranna and Illidan bonding was amazing, as well as the storm level wich I had to retry but found super refreshing. I also relate to some Primes differently since I fought them in their normal form to find the other outcasts. Them reappearing on Jarraxxus' battlefield could've become a little bit more special by some lines from Aranna, but I liked it nonetheless. For me, fighting Illidan but not beating him in the end made a lot of sense. It gave him and Aranna some added character development (though a bit basic) and I thought the rhymed lessons by her were really funny. Also, Illidan is still the main hero of the story this expansion. You shouldn't kill him in my eyes so why not be happy about him actually seeing that he's a raging idiot? ^^
I totally get the part about no replayability and the rhyming being annoying after a few failed attempts. But as this is also a showcase of the mechanics and ideas this expansion, I think it's just really cool to get if you are someone who's playing for free. So I wouldn't treat it as harshly (and actually was quite surprised by some details).
It... honestly just felt like the worst single player adventure so far.
1) Randomness Most of the time the bosses have really high variance of randomness, either in their cards (like Bane of Doom) or Hero powers (liek the one that just plays a random outlands card every turn). One "fun" encounter was against one boss casting Eye of the Storm randomly on turn 4, summoning 3 5/6 taunts that were impossible to clear. Another time I beat a boss because they just didn't play a card for 3 turns in a row. Either way, it was very unsatisfying. I had several moments where I thought I was supposed to loose a fight only to realise I had to slog through.
2) Blandness The deck you are forced to play changes extremly slowly. Most of the time you got either a hunter/rogue deck or a demon hunter deck but mostly it feels the same. There isn't anything cool you get to do, your hero powers are either basically a better Tracking or the basic demon hunter HP that sometimes gives +2 attack instead. Your Outcast friends are probably the only interesting cards to play but they are situational and after the 10th time you kind of get over it. After completing the thing, I am unlikely to ever return to these games - unlike Galakrond's Awakening which made sure that every single encounter is unique in a way.
3) Ignoring its own design That's mostly an issue with the Juraxxus encounter towards the end but with the dependancy on random chance it may as well be present in other encounters. Juraxxus has a deck filled with Prime Legendaries and two reactors that make his summons and spells better. Facing a prime deck, you'd assume that the design intended for the battle to ramp up once the prime versions are drawn and bigger threads hit the board. Not so. The moment you even crape the lategame, you are dead. The deck provided to you is aggressive and snowbally in nature and if you let Juraxxus get to the primes, there is no way to outplay him. Your best way to beat him is to restart until you have a hand that can snowball and hope he gets a bad draw. Otherwise he summons Scrapyard Colossus on turn 5 or similar BS.
4) Story just kind of f***s off The plot surrounding Aranna starts of interesting albeit slow, having her meat the outcasts, training as demon hunters and then having to fight former friend and the big bad. However, the fight against illidan comes out of left field and ends in a similar manner. He just kind of apologises for being a bad boy and gives up after you deal 40 damage to him (or sth like that) and it just doesn't feel... good? Meanwhile Galakrond's Awakening had a 3 expansion plotline set up, made sure to give every encounter character and nuance and put some effort into the final encounters.
Overall the entire Adventure felt bland and uninspired almost as if these were scrapped boss designs from another adventure, tossed together and tied into a plot that was written over night. It stands in direct comparison to the prior adventure which actually got some replayablity! Sadly, Trial by Felfire just makes me feel like, since it was free, not a lot of work went into it :(
or to play a DEEP deck that is helped by the stealing ...
This is actually quite funny. Especially when they accidentally send you into deep and basically hand you the win. :D
Update: They must have changed it in a patch. I remember it used to count to your deep but I was playing deep today and the other guy stole some cards and it didn't count towered deep. Oddly enough it glitched the cards. They ended up showing that I was in deep but the deep effect didn't kick in till a few draws later.
Swim gave some advice on one of his streams which sounds like good advice, but I'm unsure how to use it properly. He said; in the lower tiers like plat and below the game is about getting the most value out of your cards. Like attacking when you have a good opening, but in the higher ranks value starts taking a back seat to probability. For example; there is an opening you can use to deal some good damage to the enemy. Now you have to ask yourself; what is the probability he has something in hand that could either stop it or put you at a disadvantage in the next round? If so. What is it? How could you play around it? If you do play around it; will it make a difference?
He said that's why you sometimes see master level players making moves that don't seem to provide much value at first glance, but that's because they are most likely trying to either play around something they think the other guy has, or they are trying to give themselves an advantage in the next round or two.
Well I'm reaching that point where you have to shift from value to probability because I'm stuck at plat 1. How do you make that change in mindset?
The rhyming is especially annoying in the final battle, when you have to listen to it on repeat every time you lose. The opening part being mandatory - where you don't get your cards until they're done talking - is the worst. I just want to retry the fight for the fifth/sixth/seventh time; making me sit through the dialogue over and over is just mean. I liked the rhyming for the most part - it made the script interesting - but it had run its course by the end.
I was not so fortunate against the final confrontation as you were: it honestly felt like a "supposed to lose" fight for a while, because his hand/draws were just perfect time and again. I couldn't get a foothold to defend myself properly, and was quickly overwhelmed…
Show Spoiler
…only to discover you don't have to win, just survive long enough. Kind of made it anti-climatic, 'cause I probably would have lost that round as well. I would say "at least it's over now", but it really only lasted about two and a half hours of my time. Back to being bored…
I agree with what you said about the final confrontation. It was kinda a letdown.
Show Spoiler
I defeated Illidan on my second try, but I was on the brick of death back then. Imagine me sitting on 2 health with the lifesteal weapon and desperately trying to gain as much life as possible, in order to survive the hits of the twin blades of Azzinoth. I was about to die in two turns, had it not been for the final RP. When it started, I remember thinking "Oh, God, I am almost dead. What will Illidan throw at me now?". I certainly wasn't expecting an apology from him and a victory screen. I was starring at my screen baffled by how the battle had concluded. I expected something exciting during the second phase - like in the lich king or in the Kel'Thuzad encounters - and not a "You were right. Now I see my mistakes" moment.
On the one hand I liked the idea, that the student is not powerful enough to defeat her master, but the ending made it so, that Illidan is just suffering from anger management issues and still living in the past. And all it took was someone (a complete stranger) to reason with him and he would feel bad for his previous outburst and stop his Outland purging plan? What?
I admit, that I forgot some details in Illidan's lore. I know, that he followed the moto "The end justifies all means" during TBC and Legion, which included capturing orcs and infusing them with Magtheridon's blood, enslaving Akama's soul, pumping out the waters in Zangarmarsh, but iirc he would never run amok and kill anyone infected by fel, including innocents, just like that. In WoW he wanted to dismantle the legion by bringing the war in its own domain and dealing with its lieutenants. Did Illidan want to start a genocide war against all corrupted beings after imprisoning Sargeras? Was he ever thinking of purging everyone corrupted like Arthas did in Stratholme? I didn't like how Illidan was portrayed in the solo adventure. He was presented as a tyrant, who still suffers from the events of the pass and can't control himself.
I am wondering though if it would be better to make it 2 mana now. What do you think?
If you want to add "Draw a card" to it, I would definitely make it 2-mana. I don't mind the draw, because you could theoretically add another spell to your hand to benefit from the effect.
People seemed to like my card alright, but I am still not 100% confident. I feel like as it is now it wouldn't be used in hardly any decks outside of OTK decks due to it being such poor card advantage and shamans having such poor draw as it is. To fix this, I decided to simply make it also draw you a card.
I am wondering though if it would be better to make it 2 mana now. What do you think?
The hero doesn't do anything for me, the card back doesn't do anything for me, I never played WOW, I already have an the cards for Ashes Of Outland....I still bought this bundle. What is wrong with me?!
Well, you are a ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex, and historically, those guys have been pretty impulsive. So I wouldn’t worry about it, as it’s just in your nature.
It is an interesting idea, but ultimately I don't think it would be good for the game. Due to the randomness of the Heroes you get to chose from, and the different available tribes, Battlegrounds already feels like it is a different play style each time. I don't think Anomalies are necessary to shake things up.
The different Hero Powers already fulfill the same role as the Anomalies. It is a unique change to the way the game works that is different for each player. They shape your strategy, and can create interesting synergies/interactions. Adding Anomalies would probably just add an extra layer of stuff to balance and think about, and it would make Battlegrounds too complicated.
Would one of the mods let me know if this counts for this week's theme (since it doesn't actually give Spell Damage)?
No one else is online at the moment to discuss the matter, but someone will get back to you as soon as possible :)
I, for one, am willing to let it slide, but maybe I'm becoming too lenient in my old age lol. Also, assuming you get the go-ahead, you'll have to force-bold the "-2" part to make it look right.
Okay, I'm back to give this idea a second pass (thanks for the input).
Decided to turn it into a battlecry, so I figured I'd bump up the power since it'll only effect one turn. Now it's much more potent, but you have to play it at the right moment to capitalize on it.
Would one of the mods let me know if this counts for this week's theme (since it doesn't actually give Spell Damage)?
Anyway, feedback time for anyone who hasn't submitted:
Show Spoiler
Demonxz95: Anti-Mage spell is a decent card, but I don't think it's unique enough to get high votes. Tarecgosa is interesting although the wording could be confusing. And don't use the rager. Don't do it.
Ekkeh: I like it, simple but interesting and the flavor fits. Could stand to be 5 Mana though, because coupled with a Frost Nova this guy could quickly become a low-cost Malygos.
grumpymonk: I'd go with the second artwork for Starstruck if you use it, although I'd go with Riptide.
KANSAS: Lowercase spells and I think that card's ready to submit.
MenacingBagel: Maybe make it so only your spells give spell damage instead of both players. A minion immune to any spell damage is pretty powerful (especially when it's not even a Legendary).
Cg8889: Switch 'affected' to 'improved' and italicize '(target enemies if possible)'.
BasilAnguis: If the Cleric already has Spell Damage, you should probably drop it's stats to 1/2 or make sure it can't affect itself.
There are already threads about this on Bug Reports so they're aware. Hope it gets fixed promptly so the quest doesn't just sit in my quest log. Already completed the entire advanture before the quest appeared and now I'm stuck with it like many others.
I guess it would cause balance issues because the anomaly might make a certain tribe too good, and Blizzard wouldn't be able to correct for it by nerfing cards or changing Tavern Tiers. However, I think that the attack-changing Anomalies wouldn't cause this because most strategies have at least one minion that they want to protect, so it would still allow for a wide range of viable strategies. Time of Plenty and The Meek Shall Inherit might cause issues though, so if Anomalies was introduced maybe they wouldn't be one of the options. I think with balanced Anomalies it could still work though
Man, some people will just never be happy! Blizzard has ALWAYS released OP cards, the only difference is that NOW they are actually fixing them in a timely manner. I'm no blind follower, but I like to give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt and say that they did a ton of testing, but that's never going to be enough to anticipate all the issues.
Now as for this "nerf," I like the way it cripples some of DH's too-strong-too-early plays, but the added damage may be too much in the late-game. I guess we'll see!
Odd demon hunter in wild is already comfortably tier 1. This is an enormous buff. Prepare for wild to be horrific for a month or two until they finally change somethin
Hearthstone's Battlegrounds is Getting a Balance Patch on June 18 - Hero & Minion Changes Detailed
The Macaw change is not enough.
The card turns the game into pure casino, where whoever gets to go first, deals 15-20 dmg to the opponent.
How does one go about implementing this into their games?
I guess a large part of it is knowing your matchups and regions, and using that information to deduce which cards would punish you.
Trial by Felfire Opinions
Maybe my luck was extremely high, but I played it through in two sittings, with just a few bosses where I had to adapt my strategy.
I actually really love the story.
Here's why:
Aranna and Illidan bonding was amazing, as well as the storm level wich I had to retry but found super refreshing. I also relate to some Primes differently since I fought them in their normal form to find the other outcasts. Them reappearing on Jarraxxus' battlefield could've become a little bit more special by some lines from Aranna, but I liked it nonetheless.
For me, fighting Illidan but not beating him in the end made a lot of sense. It gave him and Aranna some added character development (though a bit basic) and I thought the rhymed lessons by her were really funny. Also, Illidan is still the main hero of the story this expansion. You shouldn't kill him in my eyes so why not be happy about him actually seeing that he's a raging idiot? ^^
I totally get the part about no replayability and the rhyming being annoying after a few failed attempts.
But as this is also a showcase of the mechanics and ideas this expansion, I think it's just really cool to get if you are someone who's playing for free.
So I wouldn't treat it as harshly (and actually was quite surprised by some details).
Trial by Felfire Opinions
It... honestly just felt like the worst single player adventure so far.
1) Randomness
Most of the time the bosses have really high variance of randomness, either in their cards (like Bane of Doom) or Hero powers (liek the one that just plays a random outlands card every turn). One "fun" encounter was against one boss casting Eye of the Storm randomly on turn 4, summoning 3 5/6 taunts that were impossible to clear. Another time I beat a boss because they just didn't play a card for 3 turns in a row. Either way, it was very unsatisfying. I had several moments where I thought I was supposed to loose a fight only to realise I had to slog through.
2) Blandness
The deck you are forced to play changes extremly slowly. Most of the time you got either a hunter/rogue deck or a demon hunter deck but mostly it feels the same. There isn't anything cool you get to do, your hero powers are either basically a better Tracking or the basic demon hunter HP that sometimes gives +2 attack instead. Your Outcast friends are probably the only interesting cards to play but they are situational and after the 10th time you kind of get over it. After completing the thing, I am unlikely to ever return to these games - unlike Galakrond's Awakening which made sure that every single encounter is unique in a way.
3) Ignoring its own design
That's mostly an issue with the Juraxxus encounter towards the end but with the dependancy on random chance it may as well be present in other encounters. Juraxxus has a deck filled with Prime Legendaries and two reactors that make his summons and spells better. Facing a prime deck, you'd assume that the design intended for the battle to ramp up once the prime versions are drawn and bigger threads hit the board. Not so. The moment you even crape the lategame, you are dead. The deck provided to you is aggressive and snowbally in nature and if you let Juraxxus get to the primes, there is no way to outplay him. Your best way to beat him is to restart until you have a hand that can snowball and hope he gets a bad draw. Otherwise he summons Scrapyard Colossus on turn 5 or similar BS.
4) Story just kind of f***s off
The plot surrounding Aranna starts of interesting albeit slow, having her meat the outcasts, training as demon hunters and then having to fight former friend and the big bad. However, the fight against illidan comes out of left field and ends in a similar manner. He just kind of apologises for being a bad boy and gives up after you deal 40 damage to him (or sth like that) and it just doesn't feel... good? Meanwhile Galakrond's Awakening had a 3 expansion plotline set up, made sure to give every encounter character and nuance and put some effort into the final encounters.
Overall the entire Adventure felt bland and uninspired almost as if these were scrapped boss designs from another adventure, tossed together and tied into a plot that was written over night. It stands in direct comparison to the prior adventure which actually got some replayablity! Sadly, Trial by Felfire just makes me feel like, since it was free, not a lot of work went into it :(
2 mana steal 2 cards?
This is actually quite funny. Especially when they accidentally send you into deep and basically hand you the win. :D
Update: They must have changed it in a patch. I remember it used to count to your deep but I was playing deep today and the other guy stole some cards and it didn't count towered deep. Oddly enough it glitched the cards. They ended up showing that I was in deep but the deep effect didn't kick in till a few draws later.
How does one go about implementing this into their games?
Swim gave some advice on one of his streams which sounds like good advice, but I'm unsure how to use it properly. He said; in the lower tiers like plat and below the game is about getting the most value out of your cards. Like attacking when you have a good opening, but in the higher ranks value starts taking a back seat to probability. For example; there is an opening you can use to deal some good damage to the enemy. Now you have to ask yourself; what is the probability he has something in hand that could either stop it or put you at a disadvantage in the next round? If so. What is it? How could you play around it? If you do play around it; will it make a difference?
He said that's why you sometimes see master level players making moves that don't seem to provide much value at first glance, but that's because they are most likely trying to either play around something they think the other guy has, or they are trying to give themselves an advantage in the next round or two.
Well I'm reaching that point where you have to shift from value to probability because I'm stuck at plat 1. How do you make that change in mindset?
Return to Gadgetzan's Streets
a minor detail, Frost Giant already exists
This is a nice idea, i like mixing up the tri class factions
Trial by Felfire Opinions
I agree with what you said about the final confrontation. It was kinda a letdown.
On the one hand I liked the idea, that the student is not powerful enough to defeat her master, but the ending made it so, that Illidan is just suffering from anger management issues and still living in the past. And all it took was someone (a complete stranger) to reason with him and he would feel bad for his previous outburst and stop his Outland purging plan? What?
I admit, that I forgot some details in Illidan's lore. I know, that he followed the moto "The end justifies all means" during TBC and Legion, which included capturing orcs and infusing them with Magtheridon's blood, enslaving Akama's soul, pumping out the waters in Zangarmarsh, but iirc he would never run amok and kill anyone infected by fel, including innocents, just like that. In WoW he wanted to dismantle the legion by bringing the war in its own domain and dealing with its lieutenants. Did Illidan want to start a genocide war against all corrupted beings after imprisoning Sargeras? Was he ever thinking of purging everyone corrupted like Arthas did in Stratholme? I didn't like how Illidan was portrayed in the solo adventure. He was presented as a tyrant, who still suffers from the events of the pass and can't control himself.
D-A-M-A-G-E - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
If you want to add "Draw a card" to it, I would definitely make it 2-mana. I don't mind the draw, because you could theoretically add another spell to your hand to benefit from the effect.
D-A-M-A-G-E - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
People seemed to like my card alright, but I am still not 100% confident. I feel like as it is now it wouldn't be used in hardly any decks outside of OTK decks due to it being such poor card advantage and shamans having such poor draw as it is. To fix this, I decided to simply make it also draw you a card.
I am wondering though if it would be better to make it 2 mana now. What do you think?
Original card:
Get a New Demon Hunter Hero in the Aranna Starseeker Shop Bundle - Now Available
Well, you are a ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex, and historically, those guys have been pretty impulsive. So I wouldn’t worry about it, as it’s just in your nature.
Trial by Felfire, the Ashes of Outland Story, Releases Today!
Cool card back.
Battlegrounds Anomalies Idea
It is an interesting idea, but ultimately I don't think it would be good for the game. Due to the randomness of the Heroes you get to chose from, and the different available tribes, Battlegrounds already feels like it is a different play style each time. I don't think Anomalies are necessary to shake things up.
The different Hero Powers already fulfill the same role as the Anomalies. It is a unique change to the way the game works that is different for each player. They shape your strategy, and can create interesting synergies/interactions. Adding Anomalies would probably just add an extra layer of stuff to balance and think about, and it would make Battlegrounds too complicated.
D-A-M-A-G-E - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
No one else is online at the moment to discuss the matter, but someone will get back to you as soon as possible :)
I, for one, am willing to let it slide, but maybe I'm becoming too lenient in my old age lol. Also, assuming you get the go-ahead, you'll have to force-bold the "-2" part to make it look right.
D-A-M-A-G-E - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Okay, I'm back to give this idea a second pass (thanks for the input).
Decided to turn it into a battlecry, so I figured I'd bump up the power since it'll only effect one turn. Now it's much more potent, but you have to play it at the right moment to capitalize on it.
Would one of the mods let me know if this counts for this week's theme (since it doesn't actually give Spell Damage)?
Anyway, feedback time for anyone who hasn't submitted:
Demonxz95: Anti-Mage spell is a decent card, but I don't think it's unique enough to get high votes. Tarecgosa is interesting although the wording could be confusing. And don't use the rager. Don't do it.
Ekkeh: I like it, simple but interesting and the flavor fits. Could stand to be 5 Mana though, because coupled with a Frost Nova this guy could quickly become a low-cost Malygos.
grumpymonk: I'd go with the second artwork for Starstruck if you use it, although I'd go with Riptide.
KANSAS: Lowercase spells and I think that card's ready to submit.
MenacingBagel: Maybe make it so only your spells give spell damage instead of both players. A minion immune to any spell damage is pretty powerful (especially when it's not even a Legendary).
Cg8889: Switch 'affected' to 'improved' and italicize '(target enemies if possible)'.
BasilAnguis: If the Cleric already has Spell Damage, you should probably drop it's stats to 1/2 or make sure it can't affect itself.
Legendary Quest Woes
There are already threads about this on Bug Reports so they're aware. Hope it gets fixed promptly so the quest doesn't just sit in my quest log. Already completed the entire advanture before the quest appeared and now I'm stuck with it like many others.
Trial by Felfire, the Ashes of Outland Story, Releases Today!
Did you try replaying the chapter?
Battlegrounds Anomalies Idea
Edit: I changed "The Meek Shall Inherit" and "Time of Plenty" to have less of an effect on the game.
Battlegrounds Anomalies Idea
I guess it would cause balance issues because the anomaly might make a certain tribe too good, and Blizzard wouldn't be able to correct for it by nerfing cards or changing Tavern Tiers. However, I think that the attack-changing Anomalies wouldn't cause this because most strategies have at least one minion that they want to protect, so it would still allow for a wide range of viable strategies. Time of Plenty and The Meek Shall Inherit might cause issues though, so if Anomalies was introduced maybe they wouldn't be one of the options. I think with balanced Anomalies it could still work though
Twin Slice is Being Changed in a Patch Tomorrow! Higher Cost but Higher Attack
Man, some people will just never be happy! Blizzard has ALWAYS released OP cards, the only difference is that NOW they are actually fixing them in a timely manner. I'm no blind follower, but I like to give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt and say that they did a ton of testing, but that's never going to be enough to anticipate all the issues.
Now as for this "nerf," I like the way it cripples some of DH's too-strong-too-early plays, but the added damage may be too much in the late-game. I guess we'll see!
Twin Slice is Being Changed in a Patch Tomorrow! Higher Cost but Higher Attack
Odd demon hunter in wild is already comfortably tier 1. This is an enormous buff. Prepare for wild to be horrific for a month or two until they finally change somethin
Twin Slice is Being Changed in a Patch Tomorrow! Higher Cost but Higher Attack
Welcome back Hunter as the true insufferable class.
Trial by Felfire, the Ashes of Outland Story, Releases Today!
It's not even the mid-expansion event, it's the expansion's solo content that they forgot to add 3 month ago xD
Battlegrounds Anomalies Idea
It would certainly be interesting, but could it be balanced?
You Could Win an Amazing Custom iPad Featuring a Custom Illidan Cover Thanks to Thijs and Blizzard
huh?:)