Attention all wannabe achievement hunters! It looks like we only have less than a week left to try to milk some extra bits of precious XP from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire related tasks. So if you've been largely slacking off until now like some of us *coughs* , this is your last chance to get moving. The official blog word on the subject as follows:
Quote From Blizzard Finally, please note that incomplete Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Gameplay achievements will no longer grant Reward Track XP after the 20.0 patch is released, and instead a new set of Forged in the Barrens Gameplay achievements will, so don’t forget to finish and claim those before they’re gone!
The clock is ticking now. It's a bit of a shame we won't have until Forged in the Barrens launches (supposedly due to the nature of Hearthstone's patching), and Celestalon himself was quick to confirm the above in case of any lingering doubts.
With that in mind, the best we can do is to have a look at some last-minute tips and tricks in order to maximize XP gains from Gameplay achievements for various Darkmoon Class and Neutral cards. Here is the first batch:
Druid
We like being efficient, so in the interest of saving time, it's actually possible to cram all relevant cards into a single deck and have them reasonably synergize with one another. The shell is similar to any Token Druid, after all, which can buy you extra turns when opponents are busy clearing your wide boards.
- Slotting in Guidance makes it even more greedy, for finding extra copies of Eclipses, Arbor Up and Guess the Weight. Educated Elekk and Archmage Vargoth as "tech" cards.
- Treants are very special creatures, apparently, distinct from one another. So only Arbor Up and Faire Arborist summon the Darkmoon kind.
- Cut whatever you don't need/have. Druid achievements are rather slow, may test your patience. Greybough can be technically copied by effects such as Germination or Faceless Manipulator.
- Duels note: Harvest Time! and Warden's Insight don't spawn the right treants. It's easier to find multiple copies of Greybough there.
Hunter
Less monotonous than Druid achievements, even if Bola Shot sucks. Generally going for Deathrattle route, slower or faster depending on preferences.
- You can fish for Maxima Blastenheimer with Lorekeeper Polkelt if needed, but it mainly needs an opponent who won't concede when getting very low. By that time you would probably draw her naturally in many games. Thanks to your hero power even a minion with 2 attack can be "tossed" for lethal.
- Toxic Reinforcements just auto-completes that one achievement, so even Face Hunter does the job with it.
- Bola Shot works on your own minions too. Makes for a combo with Desert Hare.
- Duels note: Deathrattle Hunter remains popular there, and you may find more opportunities for your Bola Shot.
Mage
Not too difficult if you own the Legendary and both Epic copies, otherwise you can only do so much. Secret Mage shell or even Burn Mage to use Mask of C'Thun as a finisher.
- Wand Thief can find you Mask of C'Thun and Conjure Mana Biscuit even in Rogue, that's actually how I got most of my achievement progress there.
- Conjure Mana Biscuit achievement is better done with all other Mage decks (though nothing stops you from adding them everywhere). You can live your Mozaki, Master Duelist dream!
- Duels note: with enough secrets it's not that hard to manipulate loot buckets into offering you Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon, multiple Occult Conjurer, and even handy secrets such as Duplicate. Secret Studies not necessary but useful, Infinite Arcane and Embercaster can mean extra copies of that tasty Mana Biscuit!
Keep In Mind
These achievements can only be completed in either Ranked Mode (Standard/Wild), Duels, and Arena. Not Casual Standard/Wild or Tavern Brawl though. It's advised you hit a ranked floor first (i.e. 10 or 5 Silver/Platinum etc.) where you can't lose any stars before attempting anything there. Make sure you're not on a win streak either, it would be a shame to let that go to waste. With nothing at stake and gradual achievement progress to be had, you can have a number of relaxing games that don't require much attention. My favorite for multi-tasking.
Heroic Duels and Arena will cost you 150 gold per run while having the fiercest competition on average, so probably not the best investment for the sake of some additional XP (pretty good for finding Legendaries you don't have though). Casual Duels, on the other hand, is free of charge, and unlike Casual Standard/Wild, counts for all achievements. Being limited to 15 starting cards can actually help in some cases, and there is even more to gain for hitting 3-12 wins and achieving a flawless 12-0 run if you haven't done those yet.
Also losing the XP bonus, so grab it while you can!
Don't Stress Over It
You should expect that most opponents won't be able to read your intentions even once you start playing weirdly, likely still doing their best to go for the win and inadvertently ruin your delicate setup plans. Alas, it's rather difficult to communicate through a limited selection of emotes! Try not to let that annoy you too much; once in a while someone might catch on and play along. It's your call how much you want to try with these extra sources of XP and whether it's worth your time; every game played adds a small amount regardless. At the end of the day, you wouldn't be missing out on a lot (except for Duels). Just a nice little bonus here and there.
Unless stated otherwise, you can also complete achievements from one class with another class doing the same thing or getting a hold of required cards (such as Paladin lifesteal or Shaman face damage accomplished by Demon Hunter). We tried to mention that where applicable. The main focus here is on the cards available in the Standard format, as the extent of everyone's Wild collection would vary greatly. That said, you can definitely experiment to find valid additions and replacements based on what you got from the older sets. Many options exist. Good luck!
How many of these achievements did you manage to get done over the course of this expansion? Are you going to try your hardest during the final week to earn some extra XP or just take it easy? Any other tips and tricks that might be worth sharing with the rest of us? You can use our Deckbuilder to show your own achievement spins for these classes, and drop us a link in the comments!
Also a shout-out to many of our community members for being an inspiration with their creative suggestions and forum threads such as these. When in doubt, you know where to look!
Comments
I largely share that sentiment, some achievements are not worth the effort they might require if you are not an ardent collector. You may luck into them randomly with various card generation, or try to engineer your own conditions, but then a small XP bonus probably shouldn't be the main motivation.
No, I don't think I will. (costs me 6k per deck)
A lot of cards are somewhat optional (except the ones you need for a given achievement, of course) when losing or winning doesn't particularly matter. Of course you will be limited by whatever legendaries and epics you got from your packs or crafted. For the rest, we recommend Duels for a reason if someone wants to try their luck with finding the right loot buckets.
Awesome post!!
Might be good idea to include Duels decks. It's easier to make them in casual with the starting 20 cards and for people that don't want to drop ranks in standard/wild.
At least that's how I did most achievements.
As pointed by @Aesan , it was commented in the last paragraphs. Remember kids, it's important to read through the whole text.
Yep, that's definitely our main recommendation in the finishing paragraphs. Who knew the Duels mode would find its niche as a fertile ground for achievements ;)
Felt like separate Duels decks would end up mostly being redundant copies of the others, except with one-offs of cards by default. So instead making sure we add relevant notes for each particular case where you can hit helpful treasures and buckets to help with certain achievements. Perhaps you might have more observations to add from your own experience.
Should've read through the whole article. Sorry for pointing out what was already said!
I was lucky (and insane) to finish all of the XP achievements like a month ago except for 12-0 Duels run, which I won´t even try to complete.
That's most impressive, I imagine only a handful of dedicated people are in that camp (I don't think Yogg will decide to answer my prayers in time).
12-0 in Duels is certainly tricky. Takes a busted combination of treasures and some luck, if only not to run into that "final boss" who might counter you with their even more ridiculous deck. I remember how discouraging it felt to pick up a loss right before the finish line.
how much xp to these actually give you?
Different amounts. Many of them give 200 XP. Some of them have few levels to complete. 2 level ones give 100 XP (1 lvl), 200 XP (2 lvl).
And few of them have 3 levels to complete (100 XP - 100 XP - 500 XP).
Yeah, that's what I thought. thanks.
Not worth the effort on my schedule, imo. tryna hit legend so I can meme dreadsteed haha
Some of them should definitely give double or triple that amount of XP, considering what they take. It can be a decent chunk of gold, but I agree it's only worth it as far as you can find some enjoyment while doing it. Have fun with your Dreadsteeds!