Hearthstone: Battlegrounds is a new mode that features a fast-paced, easy-to-learn eight player auto battler. You play as a Hero that will need to recruit minions from various tribes. Like a strategy making game, you will need to strategize and set your battle formations as the fight go on automatically.

There are 24 unique heroes that you can be across the Hearthstone history. A few noticable ones are Ragnaros the Firelord, Millificent Manastorm, and The Lich King. You will choose one of two Heroes to play as the start of each game. Each character has a different power to use to your advantages.

Battlegrounds Gameplay

Each round starts with a Recruit phase. During this phase, you’ll hire minions and then position them strategically before the Combat phase. If any of your minions survive the conflict, you’ve won the round and your minions will buff your attack value before you attack the opponent and deal damage.

Your climb to the top begins by spending gold to hire minions from Bartender Bob at the Tavern. You start with three gold coins to spend on a Tier 1 minion drafted from a pool shared by all eight players. You’ll receive an additional coin each round until your purse overflows at 10 gold coins per round. There’s a lot of strategy at play in the Recruit phase, as you’ll have to manage your gold economy and decide when to hire minions, when to sell them off to recoup a coin, and when to pay a coin to refresh the lineup. You can freeze the board for free and lock it in for the next round, and you can also upgrade the Tavern to gain access to
stronger minions.

Your Tavern Tier has a big impact on the game—it increases the amount of damage you deal when you win a round, raises the number of minions you choose from in the Recruit phase, and gives you access to more powerful
minions. Tier 6 minions include some of the most powerful cards in the game. The cost of upgrading the Tavern is reduced by one each round, but don’t wait too long, or your opponents may pull too far ahead when they start recruiting more powerful minions.

Mastering the Recruit phase is key to victory in Battlegrounds. Forming a Triple—by recruiting three of the same minions—combines them into a more powerful Golden upgraded minion as well as the opportunity to Discover a free minion. Minions with Battlecry effects apply their effect during the Recruit phase, so you’ll need to decide whether to sell them off immediately to make room for stronger units—or keep them around to make a Triple.

The Auto Combat phase can be unpredictable, but skilled players will find ways to take advantage of tribal synergies, well-positioned Deathrattles, and their unique Boss power to claim victory.

When can you play?

The game will be a free game mode for all players on the November 13. If you own Descent of Dragons card packs, including free packs and paid packs with both gold and real money, will receive cool bonuses. At 10 packs, players unlock comprehensive stat-tracking in Hearthstone: Battlegrounds; at 20 they can choose from 3 different Bosses instead of 2; at 30, players unlock the ability to use the visual emote system.

This game mode requires no collection to play!

For those who owns BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, attended BlizzCon, or pre-purchased either of the Descent of Dragons bundles will be granted an Early Access period from November 6 – 12.

If you want to know more on Hearthstone, check out their official website! This game is available for Mac, PC, Windows, iOS and Android.

Check out our BlizzCon 2019 Coverage here as well!