How to Complete the Forged in the Barrens Paladin XP Achievements

Welcome, fellow achievement hunter.

Here we will be taking a closer look at what Hearthstone has for us in store when it comes to Gameplay XP Achievements for the Paladin class in Forged in the Barrens expansion. Each one gets its own section below, so you could always scroll down if looking for tips and tricks for anything in particular. All other important info along with the links to other classes and categories can be found here.

Paladin Barrens Achievements - General

Previously, Paladin became very infamous for having the worst kind of achievement that involved somebody dying from Oh My Yogg! interaction. So hey, why not have yet another awkward task with Secrets to continue that poor reputation. It may not be as random as before, but it still has the potential to be quite a headache for you without some luck and the right cards. Meanwhile, a combo of Secret/Libram Paladin can at least try to cover the rest of them: 

As is often the case, that's far from a recommended approach. Instead of trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, we can take a more reliable route and focus on specific achievements one by one. Those pesky secrets will only keep getting in the way otherwise. 

As always, we will be defaulting to Standard format lists with the assumption that many players may not have the necessary older cards, then adding relevant notes for Wild and Duels where applicable. Remember that this is just one example of a possible direction to take! Mix and match per your own needs. Tips, tricks, and recommended cards for each separate achievement as follows:

How to Complete the "Spell Slingin' Savior" Barrens Achievement

Just sling them librams one after another and you will get there, yo. Perhaps with a dash of other Holy spells. This can be done even through playing the current Ranked version of Libram Paladin (post-Lady Liadrin), or by modifying it to look for even more librams and useful cards:

• Mulligan for: Aldor Attendant, then any early plays like First Day of School or Venomous Scorpid. Aldor Truthseeker is a fair keep against slower classes. 
• Once your Libram of Wisdom cost 0 and are in your hand, that's where the fun starts. It's possible you will have even more than 2 copies through various means, or another cheap Holy spell to pair with and maybe hit that required 5 in one turn. 
• If you have a few minions with initiative on board and are able to trade with the opposing side, this becomes very easy. Put librams on any one, have it die, rinse and repeat. Otherwise both Animated Broomstick and Pen Flinger (hits own minions too, little backstabber) can help with returning Libram of Wisdom to your hand in order to keep that recasting cycle going. 
• Lady Liadrin makes the whole process a lot simpler, but the card isn't absolutely required. None of the supporting Legendaries are. It may just take more tries, but there are enough cheap Holy spells (besides librams) and discover cards to fill your deck with - so once in a while you might end up with 5 castable ones in hand. 
• Alternatively, Educated Elekk could multiply some Libram of Wisdom for you (but you will still have to draw them). As might that Baron Rivendare guy, no waiting around necessary here. Gift of Luminance is the final option here - as well as being a Holy spell itself - even if it can be a little awkward to use at times. 
• Wild format note: there is a huge amount of cheap Holy spells, possibly more than you could fit in your deck. To just mention Forbidden Healing, Blessing of Wisdom, Potion of Heroism, Flash of Light, Lightforged Blessing, and Divine Favor for refill. Crystology becomes handy if still going for the Libram of Wisdom strategy. Lynessa Sunsorrow could play a similar role to Lady Liadrin, if you can manage to kill her off. 

How to Complete the "Just Between You and Me" Barrens Achievement

Psst, let me tell you a secret just between us. These Secret-related achievements can actually be a huge pain. Okay, so maybe it's not that much of a secret. Gotta try your best, but you will also inevitably need to find some luck on your side: 

• Mulligan for: Knight of Anointment, Righteous Protector, First Day of School, Wandmaker, Venomous Scorpid. 
• Heads up (once more) - this can be really tricky to pull off in Standard, because there are only 5 Secrets total. So it's not like there is any choice, and they aren't all necessarily that simple to trigger together. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's still far more realistic and a lot less random than killing anyone with Oh My Yogg! was for the previous set. 
• Since it's very unlikely you will queue into any Paladin running full 5 Secrets (it's usually 3 different kinds, occasionally 4) - and even if you somehow did, it's not like you could do anything other than wait until they have all of them up - your best bet is to count on your opponent to do the triggering once you have set up all of yours. 
• The first step is lasting long enough to gather all 5 of your Secrets. The second is to play them at the right moment. The more mana the other player has, the better. They also need to have a minion with 3 or more Attack on the board, at least 3 cards in hand, and you will need one minion of your own either alive or to be played on the same turn as you launch your Secret offensive. 
• The above scenario is what you are looking for with the following sequence of events: their 3+ Attack minion strikes, triggers Noble Sacrifice. Your Defender dies, triggers Avenge on your other minion. Their guy dies off to triggered Reckoning. Now you will also want the other player to cast a spell for Oh My Yogg!, and play 2 more cards for Galloping Savior. It's got to be all or nothing. 
• If you don't run into any Secret trigger-happy people, you could try forcing their hand by using King Mukla and/or Banana Vendor along with your Secret package.
• Remember, getting any Secrets out of your deck is not a priority early on (not even through Sword of the Fallen, it can actually be counterproductive to use it at the start) - they will find their way into your hand given time, one way or another.
• You can equip Sword of the Fallen a turn before and just not swing with it, it means a free Secret up once you are ready with the rest. Then you only need to have the other 4 in hand, or 3 plus Inconspicuous Rider. Just play the ones you have in hand first, so Sword of the Fallen and Inconspicuous Rider can pull out what's lacking. 
• Any duplicate Secrets already in your hand or from discovers you can "throw away" freely to help with prolonging the game, since it doesn't matter if they get triggered separately. At least as long as you are not saving them for backup in case your opponent fails to trigger all on the 'big setup turn'. 
• Wild format note: just a 'tad' easier. Mysterious Challenger is your guy. Subject 9 can get there too. Commander Rhyssa doesn't even require you to use 5 Secrets. And there is Hydrologist and Desperate Measures. Of course, you also want to use a better Secret package: Noble Sacrifice, Avenge, Redemption, Getaway Kodo all work well with one another, then either Autodefense Matrix or Reckoning. 

How to Complete the "Wear Your Sunday Best" Barrens Achievement

Dress all up and get to inspiring your minions with Invigorating Sermon en masse. The final number of 600 might seem intimidating at first, but it actually builds up pretty quickly and shouldn't take dozens of games. 

• Mulligan for: Knight of Anointment and Invigorating Sermon only. 
• Since Invigorating Sermon is your only Holy spell in the deck, Knight of Anointment is able to tutor it consistently. You should be able to find at least one copy relatively early in most games. 
• Educated Elekk and various discovers might occasionally provide you with more copies of Invigorating Sermon to cast. A single use should hit ~20 targets on average. Early on even more if your boards don't get fully cleared. 
• Only the 4 cards listed in the mulligan are really required for this; you could always fill your deck with 26 minions of your choice if lacking certain options. 
• Wild format note: Archmage Vargoth can double your Invigorating Sermon cast. Perhaps you might stumble upon somebody willing to keep trading the spell through Lorewalker Cho. There are more Discover options with Firetree Witchdoctor, Golden Scarab, Vulpera Scoundrel - in general any minions that add other minions to your hand are useful, keeping your hand size steady for the buffs. Lots more card draw as well, of course. Just be wary of including Salhet's Pride - it may not be able to draw anything once the minions' health got buffed. 
• Duels note: it's a valid option with Bring on Recruits, especially as your deck grows thicker in later games. Possible to find extra Invigorating Sermon and Knight of Anointment copies through loot buckets and treasures, but you would want to dodge any other Holy spells. It's probably still not going to be as fast as a special Ranked deck for the achievement, however. 

Other Resources

Our clever community members set up a forum thread just for such achievement progression, and we have added separate #achievements channel to our Discord server. Feel free to join in! Any comment in here will also not go unnoticed, if you'd like to share your own experiences or point out anything in particular. We try to keep an eye on things and reply swiftly. 

Good luck tackling any of these achievements for your experience boost or just for the sake of satisfying completion!