During the Q&A that took place on April 14 on Reddit, hundreds of players had the opportunity to ask their questions to the Hearthstone development team. Although the real number of questions that were asked is uncountable, the same questions kept coming again and again — particularly regarding the planned balance changes.
We sum up the two main questions in the article below.
Have you planned any balance changes?
- Question: Are there any major wild changes/patches on the planning?
"Hey! We are planning something soon, but here I will shed light on what we are looking at.
With the Year of the Phoenix and Demon Hunter especially, we want to make sure we are active with our approach to balance. There will be additional changes coming shortly that is focused on Demon Hunter, Standard, Wild, and Arena.
For Demon Hunter, we are still monitoring the data as it comes in but expect 1 or 2 cards to see a change. We are thrilled by how players have responded to Demon Hunter, but we want the class to be in a healthy state for years to come. Will be adjusting as we see fit in order to get it into a great spot.
For other standard cards, we are looking at a number of cards including Sacrificial Pact, Bad Luck Albatross, Frenzied Felwing, and Kael'Thas. Some of these cards present some raw power that is just a little too high (Bad Luck Albatross, Frenzied Felwing), while a card like Kael'Thas can create some crazy swing turns but that's usually only fun for one player. Kael'Thas is a super interesting card though so we don't want to kill off his combo potential entirely.
When it comes to Sac Pac, we don't believe it is fun if it plays such a large role in the metagame. That says a lot about where the meta is and your ability to play certain cards. Also, it would be awesome to see more Jaraxxus!
For Wild, we know there has been a lot of very strong reactions to Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock. These decks play in a one-player fashion similar to other decks we've nerfed in the past. There's going to be crazy combos in Wild, but we don't think these two decks in particular are healthy. Expect to see changes to Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom.
Finally for Arena, we are looking to do a full microadjust patch alongside these changes or shortly after. DH is still a little too strong here and we want to bring up the other classes to close this gap."
Game Designer Alec
What about class identities?
- Question: Will Team 5 be revisiting and/or amending any of the class strengths, limitations or weaknesses? And will DH's class strengths, limitations or weaknesses be included, as well?
"Hey there, this is a great question!
When it comes to class identity, it's something we are still seeing through and want to be noticeable for the Year of the Phoenix and all future years. So yes, we will be amending and revisiting those class strengths, limitations, and weaknesses as development continues. DH will also be included in that process.
More to the second part of your question though, while developing and honing in on these more specific class identities, we've learned quite a bit. Hearthstone games definitely play out different when you know which classes have the large removal vs. which don't, or know which classes can kill you from hand and against which classes you feel a bit safer at say 8 health. That's important for the game and creates a more varied experience.
We've also learned that pushing some of those strengths really does help establish the identity further. I think Druid is a solid example of this in Ashes of Outland and that was part of the intention when development started on the expansion. When you have cards like Overgrowth, it goes a long way to reinforcing the mana generation of Druid. We will be leaning more into themes like these for specific classes in order to showcase their strengths.
Finally, we do realize that some of the outlined weaknesses can be a bit too limiting in a card game like Hearthstone. Card draw, for example, is a natural part of our game. The class identities should detail and remind which classes draw a ton of cards vs. which classes draw fewer cards, not which classes draw a ton of cards vs. which classes draw no cards at all. This is something we are actively discussing when it comes to class design and how classes will be shaped in the future."
Game Designer Alec
Ashes of Outland will be available from April 7. Here is our selection of decks made by professional players or streamers, to have fun once your boosters are open.
