The long awaited announcement of pets for Hearthstone is finally here, and they've revealed who the first pet is going to be: A miniature King Krush (or is the game board just really giant), and they've also announced a new mechanic known as Darkmoon Faire Treasures, which gives players the ability to unlock cosmetic game items for a paywall. Everyone's first pull is free, but all subsequent pulls will go up in price. King Krush is part of a set of cosmetic items that can be accessed from July 8th to July 29th:
- Pet - King Krush
- Diamond Legendary Card - Niri of the Crater x 1
- Signature Legendary Card - Opu the Unseen x 1
- Hero Skin Set - Aegwynn Mage Hero Skin and Card Back
- Signature Epic Cards - Creature of the Sacred Cave x 2
- Hero Skin - Field Researcher Elise Druid Hero Skin
- Signature Rare Cards - Volcanic Thrasher x 2
- Card Back - Clever GIrl x 1
- The Lost City of Un'Goro Golden Card Pack x 1
- Signature Common Cards - Questing Assistant x 2
Additionally, each pet has its own way of unlocking extra cosmetics for it. In the case of King Krush, you can unlock Devilsaur Krush, Crystal Krush, and King Plush by playing cards with Rush. Pets take up the bottom-left of the board (or at least Krush does. There's no guarantee that other pets won't be on other quadrants instead), have their own animations, and even change the end of match screen.
Pulling Odds and Pricing
Not every item has the same chance of being received though. Blizzard has published a post talking about the pulling odds of each item. Below is a chart of the odds of each item being received on the first pull:
You cannot receive the same reward twice (even in the case of rewards like the Golden Card Pack, where having a duplicate of the reward would still provide some intrinsic value). Here, you have only a 0.1% chance of pulling King Krush on your first pull. Your chances of receiving a particular treasure goes up as you buy more treasures, but because of the weight system, the odds of each item don't scale at the same rate as each other. Even if you roll every item except for the Diamond copy of Niri of the Crater and the King Krush Pet, you're still 14 times more likely to get the Diamond copy of Niri instead of the King Krush pet.
How expensive is this though? As mentioned previously, the first pull is entirely free, but every pull after that cumulatively increases in Runestones. Here is the official breakdown of the Runestone prices relative to the number of pulls:
Runestones have a price of $1 USD per 100 Runestones, meaning that it will cost you $158 USD to receive all 10 prizes. Because King Krush's weight on the wheel is so low, your chances of grabbing King Krush on any roll before your 10th one is incredibly low. This means that while it is possible to receive the pet for free if you're extremely lucky, you may very well have to spend $158 for your King Krush pet if you really want it.
To be fair, this is $158 for the pet plus all of the other treasures in the wheel, but if you're only interested in the pet, this is an extremely heavy investment to make.
Read the full Blizzard post below.
Quote From Blizzard Entertainment The cat's out of the bag: Pets are coming to Hearthstone! We’re excited to share all the details on how these cosmetic companions work and how to obtain one through our new random pull system, Darkmoon Faire Treasures.
Pets Are Interactive Cosmetic Companions
Let us introduce you to Hearthstone’s first collectible Pet, King Krush! This mini version of the precocious—and ferocious—green devilsaur will make for the perfect partner as we prepare to enter the Lost City of Un’Goro! The domesticated dino will chomp and roar by your side during matches, like any good caveman’s best friend would.
Pets are cosmetic creatures that will join you and your Hero on the game board during matches (Hearthstone, Battlegrounds, Arena, and Practice). Your feisty little friend will react to gameplay as you make a big move or suffer a devastating blow.
When your hero emotes, your Pet will mimic your mood. All six emotes prompt your Pet to respond with a unique animation and audio cue. For example, greet your opponent and King Krush will give them a wave, or deliver a threat to hear him let out a growl.
Can you pet the Pet? Of course you can! Give your Pet some personal attention by petting it, feeding it a treat, or playing with it using an interactive toy. Pet King Krush until he starts to growl and wag his tail in dino-delight. Watch King Krush get excited when you bring him a tasty treat. Find out just how strong King Krush's bite is as you play tug-of-war with his favorite Murloc chew toy.
End your games in style! Pet owners will enjoy a first in Hearthstone history: when a game ends, your Pet will take you to a new endgame screen where they’ll celebrate your victory or lighten the mood after a tough loss. Regardless of whether you win or lose, your Pet will always be there by your side.
Best of all, this is a Pet you’ll never have to clean up after!
Play with Your Pet to Unlock New Skins
Change your Pet’s look! As you interact with your Pet and play games, it will gain experience points that level it up and unlock new skins. Different Pets like to see different things during matches, so each one will gain experience in their own unique way. Let’s just say that King Krush is a big fan of Rush cards!
King Krush looks mean and green with his Classic Krush starter skin. Unlock three additional skins as he levels up: Devilsaur Krush, Crystal Krush, and King Plush.
Come One, Come All to the Darkmoon Faire!
To get King Krush, and other collectible cosmetics, visit the Darkmoon Faire’s newest attraction—Darkmoon Faire Treasures. Here, you can claim wondrous treasures, and all items up for grabs are part of a themed collection of curated rewards for Hearthstone cosmetic enthusiasts—and the first pull is free!
When the Faire visits the Tavern, the Treasures booth displays 10 magical items unlike anything you’ve seen before, such as brand-new Signature cards, unique Hero skins, and an excitable Pet raring to meet its new owner.
Here’s what’s available in the debut collection inspired by the deadly dinosaurs and fabled explorers of the Lost City of Un’Goro:
- Pet - King Krush
- Diamond Legendary Card - Niri of the Crater x 1
- Signature Legendary Card - Opu the Unseen x 1
- Hero Skin Set - Aegwynn Mage Hero Skin and Card Back
- Signature Epic Cards - Creature of the Sacred Cave x 2
- Hero Skin - Field Researcher Elise Druid Hero Skin
- Signature Rare Cards - Volcanic Thrasher x 2
- Card Back - Clever GIrl x 1
- The Lost City of Un'Goro Golden Card Pack x 1
- Signature Common Cards - Questing Assistant x 2
These items will be available during the Darkmoon Faire’s stay at the Tavern from July 8 at 10 a.m. PT to July 29 at 10 a.m. PT. Every time the Faire comes around, there will be a fresh selection of treasures that may include a new Pet, Mythic Hero Skin, and other curious collectibles.
How It Works
At the Darkmoon Faire, everyone’s a winner! Your first pull at the Treasures stall is free of charge. Just press the button and receive one random item from the prize pool. After that, the cost increases with each additional pull. Learn more about Darkmoon Faire Treasure pricing.
Every time you pull, you’ll receive another treasure from the remaining items on display. That’s right: no dupes, no duds! Each pull guarantees a reward, and every reward is always a brand-new cosmetic, aside from the Golden Card Pack.
The rarer a reward, the less likely you will get it until closer to the end—but every item, including the Pet and Diamond Legendary, is always a potential prize. And if you want the full set, you can get all 10 items in exactly 10 pulls. Read more details on Darkmoon Faire Treasures pulls and odds.
We can't wait for you to explore the enchanted relics and arcane delights of Darkmoon Faire Treasures. As with all new features, we look forward to hearing your feedback to ensure it feels fun and rewarding for collectors.
And for those who add King Krush to their collection, know that he’s surprisingly well-behaved for a dinosaur—just don’t forget to pet him.
Darkmoon Faire Treasures is not available to players under the age of 18 in certain regions. Battle.net Account required to access.
Keep up with all of the latest Hearthstone news and content on the Hearthstone website and social media. Good luck, have fun, and we'll see you in the Tavern!
What do you think about pets and the Darkmoon Faire Treasures? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
I quit Hearthstone after the Starcraft set drop partly because I was no longer having fun but also because I was trying to keep up with getting all the signature legendaries etc. and realised it was only going to get worse and worse for my wallet.
I feel extremely validated now.
I like flashy, rare cosmetic stuff that you can only get with extreme luck or dedication, but not when it's for money. When it's for money, just give it to people. When it's free, then you can do the ultra rarity.
Marketing team once again making the devs look like greedy assholes. They probably put a lot of work into this, making it look cool.
this is the biggest slap in the face blizz has ever come up with in Hearthstone
imagine knowing people were actually waiting for the pet cosmetic for a while (I think it's been teased for at least a year or two) and then putting it behind a 150+ dollar paywall
I mean there still will be people (around 1000 for every 1m players) that will get it from the free pull and we will see those posts on reddit but for the average person this will be not achievable
I really can't wrap my head around this the more I think about it, having a somewhat cool cosmetic only available to a really niche group of players is downright idiotic
I just find it funny that the first cool thing added to the game and theyre charging an extortionate 158 bucks for it .
Because lets be real, no matter how incredible pets will be in hearthstone, no ones gonna pay that amount for it. Especially for any serious players out there, past turn 3 you'll most likely just forget it existed, because youre playing a game where concentration is in fairly short supply. Whats more incredible is that if it were simply on sale for 30-60-80 usd, most people would just call blizz a greedy mf and move on. This one however, takes incredible amounts of piss by making you gamble for an item that's a mere 0.1% chance (not even 1%, I mean seriously) to pull, and even up to 9 pulls its still only a 6.67% chance out of two items left, with the last pull costing 5k runestones (50 usd).
Wouldnt even bother with it, and Im sure even whales would be maxing their mom's credit card through gnashed teeth. Fairly certain at some point blizz would prob sell this at 60 bucks in the store, maybe 1 year in when we have 5 different pets around to choose from.