As you might already know, Signature Legendaries are a new type of cosmetic regarding Legendary cards, which is going to be introduced with the March of the Lich King expansion, going live on December 6th.
This addition brings many implications to the table, and Blizzard knows it: in fact, Team 5 published a forum post, sharing more details on the Signature cards. Here is the most relevant information:
- March of the Lich King will contain 18 different Signature cards, 15 of which are Legendaries.
- The 3 non-Legendaries will be given away for free, from a launch event.
- 2 of the 15 Legendary ones are on the Tavern Pass.
- The remaining 13 will be obtainable through random drops from bundles/packs.
- With March of the Lich King packs, Standard packs, and Class packs, Signature cards drop at the same rate as Golden Legendary cards (1 every 181 packs on average), and are purely in addition to all other drops.
- Therefore, the total Legendary drop rate in these packs is slightly higher.
- In March of the Lich King, Golden Packs have been upgraded to Signature Golden Packs.
- They are essentially the same as Golden Packs, but they’ll also drop Signatures at triple the Golden Legendary rate, in addition to all other drops.
- This means the Legendary drop rate is effectively quadrupled in Signature Golden Packs, to a total (Golden+Signature) of 1 per 5 packs on average.
- Signature cards follow the duplicate protection rule.
- Once you unpack a Signature Legendary you already own the non-Signature version of, you will be asked whether you want to keep the non-Signature version or not.
- If you decide to roll, you'll get another non-Signature card from the same set, rarity and quality.
- It's basically a reverse duplicate protection rule.
Quote From Blizzard Hello everyone,
After all of the new info we shared in yesterday’s Expansion Announcement Stream, there are a few clarifications we wanted to share regarding Signature Cards:
- There are 18 Signature cards launching with March of the Lich King (15 of which are Legendaries). The 3 non-legendaries are free, from a launch event. 2 are on the Tavern Pass. The remaining 13 are random drops from bundles/packs.
- With March of the Lich King packs, Standard packs, and Class packs, Signature cards drop at the same rate as Golden Legendary cards, and are purely in addition to all other drops (other than replacing a Normal Common). As a result, the total legendary drop rate in these packs is slightly higher.
- In March of the Lich King, Golden Packs have been upgraded to Signature Golden Packs. While these are essentially the same as Golden Packs, they’ll also drop Signatures at triple the Golden Legendary rate, in addition to all other drops (apart from replacing a Golden Common). This means the Legendary drop rate is effectively quadrupled in Signature Golden Packs, to a total (Golden+Signature) of 1 per 5 packs on average.
- We knew many players would want to get the Signature quality of a card that they already own, so we handle duplicate protection in reverse. They can drop, but when they do, you’ll get a popup that asks if you’d like to reroll your existing normal/golden copy for free. Say yes, and it rerolls to a different card of the same set, rarity, and quality.
Two examples of Signature Legendary cards.
Moreover, Hearthstone Game Designer Celestalon was as active as usual on socials, and took some time to answer multiple questions from the community. Here are the most relevant pieces of information:
- The art style for Signatures will change for each expansion, to fit that expansion's theme.
- This time around we got a cold and murky theme, with spiky borders, but things won't stay this way forever!
- Signatures do count toward Golden Coins, just like Diamonds.
- This is a reference to the fact that, if you play a deck with 30 (or 40, in case of Prince Renathal) Golden cards, your coin will turn golden.
- Signatures have a pity timer on their own: they do not interfere with how often you will find Golden or regular Legendaries.
- Therefore, the total Legendaries rate is (a very little, but still) higher.
- Signatures do respect the duplicate protection rule.
- If you own all but one Legendary and up unpack a Signature Legendary, it is guaranteed to be that one.
- The reroll option for Signature cards will happen any time that a player is awarded a non-disenchantable version of a card they already have a disenchantable version of.
Quote From Celestalon Are we going to get "golden" Signature Cards as well or only the default ones? (Would love to see the golden card texture.)
The art style for Signatures will change for each expansion, to fit that expansion. We'll see what other things Signatures could look like in the future.
And also, do they count as "golden" Legendaries or nah? (For the golden coin)
Signatures do count toward Golden Coins, just like Diamonds.
Quote From Celestalon I know odds to open Signature Legendaries will be quite small, but still it might suck for some free to play Hearthstone players if they open one instead of a Golden Legendary. Instead of a Legendary of your choice for disenchanting you are stuck with the card…
Signatures are in addition to existing drops. Only thing they're replacing is a Common. Total Legendary rate is higher now.
Quote From Celestalon This reroll offer happens any time that you are awarded a non-disenchantable version of a card that you already have a disenchantable version of. Reward Tracks, Achievements, Signatures in Packs, Bundles, etc.
What do you think about Signature Legendary cards? Do you like this new cosmetic? Let us know in the comments below!
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Comments
Sounds like this reroll system is also going to replace the short refund period we get at the start of every expansion for people who opened a rewards track legendary before claiming it. This is a much more elegant solution.
So from here on out, assuming they continue with signature cards and signature golden packs, the golden packs of an expansion will drop a legendary 1 in every 5 packs on average, at least until you get all the signature legendaries? DAMN! I don't ever buy the golden bundles but now... I'm still probably not going to buy them! However, for the people that do, it would seem they just got a lot more value for their money with this change!
They really made this extremely difficult for anyone to find a complaint with. Good on them for anticipating every community concern and addressing it before release!
If it doesn't have any new card animation or sound, entrance animation. Then I don't understand why it warrants the top tier spot for card cosmetics.
This is always going to be difficult because its really a subjective thing. Diamond cards to me always looked messy while this one stands out really well, even if it looks like you've just pulled it through a color filter. Have to say that Im impressed as far as optional cosmetic goes, and it does help that each expansion will feature its own unique look.
But objectively, I have to believe that making signature cards simply requires less effort (and therefore less expensive to produce) than diamond cards, which is perhaps why team5 is more willing to elevate this rather than continue with diamond cards. There's 18 of them every expansion after all.
What's kind of weird with the effort put towards diamond cards is that the large majority of it goes towards skins for legendary mercs. Many of these fly under the radar because they're not exactly easy to obtain, though to their credit, they do hand a decent number of them out through merc events so they aren't completely missed. I actually have a bit of a problem though because my laptop tanks badly if I use multiple diamond mercs simultaneously, so I tend not to use them even when I own them. (I make an exception for my diamond Valeera, but I may be a little bit biased there...)
Frankly, I'm surprised we haven't had either diamond C'thun of N'zoth for a complete WotOG set yet, since we already have diamond-ified versions of their original art.
You have an error in the article. You can get a a signature card even if you own the corresponding card, and the pop-up question will then let you replace (if you so choose) the non-signature copy with one of the same rarity/quality/set.
Yeah, now I see where and why I messed up: hopefully, I fixed the mistake. Thanks for pointing it out!
If I understand correctly, this is still wrong. You will be prompt with the question once you open a signature card (of which you have a normal copy already) - the card you reroll will be the one you already owned, and not the signature card, and you won't be offered a roll when opening non-signature cards.
Shit is more convoluted that I thought, not gonna lie: a clarification video would've probably saved both of us some time.