‘Hearthstone’ Brings The Frigid Wastes Of Icecrown In Knights of the Frozen Throne Expansion

Blizzard has announced the newest expansion to their hit digital card game Hearthstone. Knights of the Frozen Throne brings with it the frigid winds of Northrend and 135 new cards for players to collect.

Nine of these cards are new legendary Hero Cards that, in keeping with the expansion’s theme, are able to transform heroes into Death Knights. This gives heroes a frost-rimmed armor and modified hero powers.

A new mechanic has also been added, although this it is hardly new to those familiar with the Warcraft universe. Lifesteal heals players for a percentage of the damage dealt which will undoubtedly create new strategies to both counter and take advantage of this new mechanic.

According to CNET, the game first set foot on the frozen wastes of Northrend two years ago with the Grand Tournament card set. But unlike the fun atmosphere it brought in 2015, this expansion focuses more on the undead forces of the infamous Lich King.

Knights of the Frozen Throne will bring players back north to storm the Icecrown Citadel and take on the Lich King’s forces. A series of free missions await players at the steps of the frozen fortress with icy rewards waiting for the victors.

According to EuroGamer, players will first go through the prologue mission before taking on the Icecrown Citadel’s two wings. Along the way, players will face off against bosses such as Professor Putricide and Sindragosa before facing the Lich King himself in a final showdown.

Eight bosses lie across the prologue and the two separate wings of the citadel. It will all be worth it though because completing the prologue mission will net the player a random legendary Death Knight Hero Card. The card can be used along with their other cards in Hearthstone’s Standard and Wild competitive play matches.

According to Gamespot, out of the 135 new cards set to be added in Knights of the Frozen Throne, only five are currently known. Two of these cards feature the aforementioned lifesteal mechanic which heals players based on damage dealt.

The first card with the lifesteal mechanic, “Chillblade Champion,” is a minion which has three attack, two health, and four mana cost. The second is a spell card, “Spirit Lash,” which costs two mana and deals one damage to all minions.

The third card is one of the legendary Hero Cards, “Deathstalker Rexxar,” which gives the half-ogre, half-orc a new look and modified powers. The Death Knight version of Rexxar provides five armor and unleashes a Battlecry that deals two damage to all enemy minions for six mana. It also allows gives him the new Hero power called “Build a Beast,” which allows players to build their own zombeast.

The last two cards are standard minion cards namely “Prince Keleseth,” which costs two mana and has two health and two attacks and “Shallow Gravedigger” which costs three mana and has three attack and one health. Expect more cards to be revealed in the lead up to the expansion’s release in August.

As with previous expansions, players can grab a discounted bundle of a discounted bundle of 50 randomized packs and a unique card back if they pre-order. With the recent change to the way legendary cards are distributed in the game, this summer could be lucky for some people.

Since its release in 2014, Blizzard’s digital collectible card game has topped over 50 million players. The game has also expanded to multiple platforms allowing players to battle both at home and on the go.

Those numbers are expected to grow with the release of this latest expansion. Don’t wait, brace for the arrival of the Knights of the Frozen Throne update and prepare to battle the Lich King and his minions by pre-ordering the expansion and receive new legendary Hero Cards.

Hearthstone is currently available on Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Mac.

[Featured Image by Hearthstone/Blizzard Entertainment]