Hail, all achievement hunters! Those seasoned and those in the making. We meet again. 

We have had enough time by now to become familiar with the landscape of Forged in the Barrens, steadily collecting a decent amount of cards from the newest expansion (as well as from older Standard sets, courtesy of Year of the Phoenix packs). We also put several balance changes behind us, greatly affecting how everything continues to play out. 

With another Mini-Set on the horizon and a seemingly unending stream of Hero Portraits and Cardbacks to pick from, one can never have too much gold. So if you haven't yet explored various Barrens Gameplay achievements to gain that little bit of bonus experience for your Rewards Track journey, perhaps it might be something worth considering as we offer some guidance along the way.

Then, Now, and Later

The last time we covered a bunch of XP-related achievements, it was more of a last-minute call as everyone was pretty new to this whole thing. Now we have a much better idea what to expect each step of the way. There is no need to rush through anything currently if you'd rather take it slow or still hold on for the sake of maximum efficiency, but the option to get a headstart has been here for a while. 

We will be jumping into this with separate guides for each class plus one for the Neutral category, which should make it easier to navigate. Specific links to be added to this page as they all come online. 

We also intend to take another comprehensive look at all XP achievements sometime next month (assuming the same pattern as for Madness at the Darkmoon Faire holds, with the upcoming Mini-Set adding one achievement per class along with several Neutral ones). Then remind any slackers among us again once this expansion is coming to an end (along with all associated XP bonuses, presumably). But, first things first. 

Useful to Know

Pretty much all aspects of XP achievement hunting remain the same as before: 

  • Can only be done in either Ranked Mode (Standard or Wild), Duels (Casual or Heroic), or Arena.
    • Naturally you wouldn't want to throw away 150 gold every time just for the sake of achievements, so it's a good thing Casual Duels remain free of charge.
    • For Constructed attempts, best make sure you are at a floor (rank 5 or 10 of any kind) where you can't lose any stars and have got no ongoing win streaks.
  • Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, it might be possible to progress through some achievements for a certain class while playing a wholly different one. Either accidentally or on purpose. 
  • If you own the Tavern Pass, all your achievements benefit from bonus experience in the same way that Quests do.
  • It's still not worth crafting any Legendaries or Epics for the sake of these achievements alone - your dust is far more precious than that. When you do, prioritize the cards that have some use for Constructed or Duels as well. 
  • Even though the focus here is always on the newest cards, having a larger Wild collection can make completing everything so much easier due to a number of interactions and synergies.
  • Duels is most helpful when missing specific cards, for that odd chance of finding them through various loot buckets. 

Not everyone seems to agree on whether this set of Barrens achievements is better than the Darkmoon ones were on average, but there are a couple of notable differences: only a few classes have goals tied to owning a specific Legendary, and many tasks are just more straightforward overall. Unfortunately, the tradition of needlessly grindy achievements remains with us as well.

While it is a valid strategy to add relevant cards to Ranked decks and try to win while also completing achievements, it's not necessarily one that pays great dividends. It might feel like you are pursuing two goals at once, but in reality your achievement progress will be slower, and your overall winrate very likely to be much lower. Not as efficient use of time, all in all. Especially at higher ranks where players try harder, instead of experimenting or chasing achievements as well. Some people swear by doing it that way; the choice is in your hands. 

As a whole, we currently stand to gain ~16k worth of experience from this entire package. Sadly no more huge Duels XP, so it's less of a noticeable boost than before. Still, if we were to sum it all up: that's pretty much an entire additional week's worth of quests that can be mined for gold.

How to Complete Forged in the Barrens Achievements Guides

Below you'll find each of the achievement guides we have available for each of Hearthstone's classes (and Neutrals). Click on any of the banners to go to their full guides.

 

 

  

Keep in Mind & Take It Easy

If there is one good thing about achievement hunting - besides that lovely, lovely sound marking their completion - it's that even when you are losing games, you are kind of winning. Be it gradual "ticks" of progress towards any one objective, or simply the smaller bits of XP we collect just by playing. Going out of your way for this is not recommended if it ever causes any frustration or fatigue, but it might be a good fit whenever serious Ranked climbing or other Modes don't seem particularly appealing. Can be combined pretty well with just completing daily quests, too. 

It's unfortunate common knowledge that most players we queue into might not be particularly helpful (to put it mildly) when it comes to completing any achievements - especially on ladder. Not even when you are doing "weird stuff" such as not attacking them or playing odd combinations of cards. That can get occasionally annoying - we've all been there. But once in a while you might find somebody nice enough to play alongside. It makes for some rewarding moments. 

If your time is considerably limited at this point or you just prefer to be as efficient as possible at the cost of slower initial trek through your Rewards Track, there is a fair argument to be made for waiting until after the Barrens Mini-Set has had its release. That's when we expect to have a full set of XP achievements present to us for this expansion, very likely delivering more options to neatly tie everything together. Plenty of weeks still ahead.

Look Here for Even More Assistance

There are some very dedicated achievement hunters among our community members, and they have been at it pretty much from the start. This thread on our forums is the perfect destination if you would like to know more, share your own findings in greater detail, or simply exchange ideas with a like-minded bunch. 

We also have a dedicated #achievements channel on our Discord now! If semi-live chatting is more of your thing, head over there. Feel free to come hang out anyway, even if there isn't anything in particular on your mind. There are many smart folks that can be counted upon. 

And of course the comments below remain ever open: we can complain together about any silly grinds, offer more notes, or add whatever feels relevant (or not) to the topic at hand. 

How is your own achievement hunting going? Have you been collecting whatever you can or taking it easy for the time being? Anything else that you'd like to see in this regard? We'd be happy to hear all about your thoughts and experiences!