Blizzard has sent out a survey about Hearthstone Mercenaries and we've got some screenshots and descriptions of the mode from it! Thanks to LeadingmoreH on Twitter for sharing these.
With details being so easily available, we suspect that we'll be hearing something about the mode very soon, with a launch coming either alongside the next expansion or slightly before or after.
First up we've got a few images that showcase the new mode including:
- Battlefield
- Game Map
- Mercenary / Character Levels
We've also got descriptions of the new mode! We've transcribed the images for easier reading.
Quote From Mercenaries Survey Description
Master an all-new challenge in Hearthstone's single-player, competitive roguelike game mode: Mercenaries. Build and customize your dream team of iconic Warcraft characters to take into battle, vanquish foes, and collect bounties. Use your earnings to customize, upgrade, and equip your team with the abilities and treasures needed to jump back into battle and storm through ever-changing maps… or other players! As your Mercenaries progress, so too will their opponents, so keep your strategies at the forefront as you tackle this all-new combat system. Which of your Mercenaries will earn their glory?
Additional Details
- Deck-free Battles: Say goodbye to building and balancing 30-card decks. Instead, choose which 6 Mercenaries you think have what it takes to team up and take home the bounty.
- Collect, Experiment, and Conquer: Put countless squad combinations and strategies to the test with more than 50 Mercenaries to collect at launch, each with unique abilities to bring to battle. Continue to grow your roster with new game-changing mercenaries dropping monthly.
- Innovative Combat: Deal damage with a twist as you and your opponent queue abilities and select targets, then sit back and watch the right unfold. Pay close attention to the order of your abilities to get the most damage out of each move.
- Align and your team will shine: Battles only get more heated with the introduction of alignments, giving on-the-spot bonus damage based on which Mercenaries take to the board.
- Play Your Way: Fight through evolving maps and bosses at your own pace or go head-to-head with other players. How you play and progress is entirely up to you!
- Replay All Day: Randomized maps and seemingly endless team treasure, and ability combinations make for a unique experience with every battle.
- Expand Your Village: Put down roots in your Mercenaries' gathering grounds. Your Village will start small, but as your squadron grows, so too will your Village!
Comments
they would not have said it if they weren't sure about it. You can also monetize it through other ways like XP booster and or payed runs with extra rewards.
single-player
competitive
or other players
I do not think these words mean what [Blizzard] thinks they mean!
Anything they release will be soured by the wait, so it's good that they're taking their time and doing it well. . . . I guess. My expectations are low, following all the kerfuffle.
I wonder how those monthly new characters will be obtained?
Also, what were the survey questions about?
If we knew what the questions were, we'd have posted them! I'm also very curious because there is certainly some missing context here that can help explain things more.
Thanks for answering, Flux! Makes me curious as well, aye. What would they need to ask, at this stage in development? Distribution methods, interest, graphics decisions... I've no experience with this sort of thing.
Looks pretty unfinished from the screenshots, very curious about when and how it'll end up. Seems super cool and unique.
I don't know; I feel like this is pretty close to what I'd consider final, we're just missing a lot of the context for what stage of a battle the battle screenshot is from.
The map seems pretty solid, and experience at the end of the game must be final (frames are awesome btw).
If you look at the 4th screenshot you can see that Xyrella and Cariel's images are miscropped since there's white at the top. There's also a lot that looks off visually. Like the deckholders being pitch black and the battlefield looking exceptionally empty.
Don't get me wrong I think it looks like it'll be sick, but it seems that it's still got a bit to go with visuals and some ui design. Visuals are often done later in the process anyways so I don't think it'll be too crazy long of a wait.
Oh, they're certainly in-development screenshots, though they are almost certainly weeks or a month old at the point of the survey going out since they prepare these things before they going out to the public. What you pointed out though are fairly minor details - the art positioning looks like its from when they would have used minion frames - though it is kinda weird that they wouldn't fix those couple of problems to just make it look more polished.
Battlefield, I don't know; I think we're missing some extra context. Maybe the battlefield is bare in the earlier stages of your runs or when your mercenaries are still just starting out. If that screenshot is final and representative of the entire end of the product though, I'd hope its just one iteration or as you said, visuals are kinda the last stage of polish.
I'm kinda bummed out that we didn't get to see screenshots of the questions that were being asked. It would have helped so much more in knowing what Blizzard is thinking about with the visuals and descriptions we got to see. Also, its crazy to think we were supposed to get into this mode so long ago.
I can't wait for this. I'll be playing Mercenaries most of the time once it launches.