Rise of Shadows, Hearthstone’s latest expansion, was based on the villains of the past. Dr. Boom, Hagatha the Witch, Madam Lazul, King Togwaggle have all gathered at the behest of Arch-Villain Rafaam. With their bunch of cronies and followers, they term themselves E.V.I.L, and set off to attack the floating city of Dalaran, forcing the residents to fight back with their magic. The E.V.I.L.’s invasion of Dalaran marks the grand Dalaran Heist.
Players actively took interest in the single player content after the release of the Dungeon Run in Kobolds and Catacombs. The Dungeon Run offered a unique roguelike experience for the players to try out by adding new cards to their decks with each enemy defeated. The Witchwood’s theme brought special characters with unique powers to the front, allowing players to become something different than the heroes they are accustomed to playing. The Rumble Run saw Rikkar rise from a no one to the champion of the Arena, with playstyles being modified to suit the signature totems on either side of the duel.
The new single player is a step away from the old chapter based approach, which had an attraction of its own – tied to its reward structure. The Dalaran Heist is a combination of all roguelike modes added to the game, along with the charm of a reward structure with a chapter based approach like the past adventures.
The Dalaran Heist is a five-chapter adventure, pitting the player against the defenders of Dalaran. All heroes the players have access to are E.V.I.L cronies with their own special hero powers. In turn, each chapter of the adventure has special rules which alternate the playing field.
The Underbelly (or in layman terms, the sewers) reverse the attack and health of every minion, while the Violet Hold has imprisoned minions who join the fight after a number of turns.
The change makes every chapter feel different and unique in its own way, making the draft more challenging. A unique addition to the Dalaran Heist is non-combat encounters, which allow the player to add new cards to their deck at several places inside the floating city. Apparently, not everyone living in Dalaran is thrilled with the domination of the mages, and wants them overthrown – including the keepers of the taverns throughout the city. Players can edit their decks in new ways – add powerful minions and weapons from the tavern, while getting rid of weaker minions and weapons in these non-lethal encounters.
Being an E.V.I.L henchman gives players access to new hero powers allowing the player to choose from a range of powers instead of traditional ones chosen for the class. For example, Rakanishu, the Mage hero has access to the standard Fireblast hero power, along with Burning Wit, which reduces the cost of a minion in the player’s hand, and Frostburn, which freezes a character, or deals damage to an already frozen character.
E.V.I.L. henchmen also have access to special starter decks instead of starting out with the same decks as before, out of which one deck is truly randomized with cards chosen from all expansions released. Players have to unlock the special hero powers and starter decks before they truly get rolling. A progress tracker keeps a watch on the progress recorded across the mode in all runs (truly keeping in mind that no one gets to beat the chapters in their first try). This feature, possibly inspired by Slay the Spire, is an interesting addition, to say the least.
Players looking to complete the adventure will be in for a treat. For owning all chapters of the Dalaran Heist, the player gets a golden variant of Zayle, Shadow Cloak. Zayle is a legendary card that allows the player to play with one of the five E.V.I.L themed decks(for example, the Rogue deck features a tempo-based approach with Togwaggle to help pressurize the opponent, while the Warlock deck is a fast aggro deck using Rafaam as one of the win conditions). Zayle can be crafted normally, though the golden variant can be owned only by those who have access to all chapters of the Heist.
Players completing the story on Normal once gets access to Anomalies. Anomalies modify the playing field even more by adding more effects to make it tougher. Sometimes murlocs join the fight, sometimes your minion get a boost in stats with every turn, and more. If the anomaly is not a desirable one, players can always wait for the next run to change it.
Players will earn 15 Rise of Shadow card packs on completing the normal mode, while a Golden pack awaits those who complete the Heroic mode. Heroic mode for the Dalaran Heist isn’t for the faint of heart, with the developer team promising that players will need everything they’ve got to beat it and that it is one of the toughest Heroic adventures developed so far.
The Dalaran Heist comes out on May 19.