Hero Abilities

[Kanadei]

So I was checking out the hero abilities (was looking on hearthstonepedia, let me know if that proves to be inaccurate) and it seems like some are clearly better than others.

Obviously we will have to see how the decks build etc but take a look for yourself:

Warrior Ability: Gain 2 Armor
Hunter Ability: Deal 2 damage to enemy Hero
Rogue Ability: Equip a dagger with 1 attack and 2 durability, or increase dagger's attack by 1
Mage Ability: Deal 1 damage to minion or enemy hero
Priest Ability: Heal a minion or hero for 2
Warlock Ability: Lose 2 life and draw a card
Druid Ability: Gain 1 armor and 1 attack
Paladin Ability: Summons a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit
Shaman Ability: Summons one of the following (randomly):
1. Healing Stream Totem (0/2): at end of turn heal 1 for all friendly characters
2. Stoneclaw Totem (0/2): Taunt
3. Searing Totem (1/1): Battlecry - 1 damage

Now I dunno about you guys, and obviously it's a bit early to discuss balance and stuff (especially since we don't know exactly how the deck builds will differ from class to class) but a few of those just seem way better to me.

The warlock being able to sacrifice health in order to draw? Pretty amazing since "drawing out" is one of the main ways people lose cardgames.

The Paladin having a free summon regardless of what is in his hand? Pretty great as well.

Shaman is RNG but still has some great stuff there depending on what totem gets summoned.

By comparison things like 1 damage to minion or enemy or +2 armor seem pretty... tame.

Thoughts?

[xskarma]

Depends on what armor does. If +2 armor means you get a "shield" that absorbs 2 damage from the next attack to hit you, it's basically the same as a +2 heal in effect. Anything less then that will indeed make it less interesting to play Warrior.

[Kanadei]

Depends on what armor does. If +2 armor means you get a "shield" that absorbs 2 damage from the next attack to hit you, it's basically the same as a +2 heal in effect. Anything less then that will indeed make it less interesting to play Warrior.

Yeah. I feel the same about the mage ability compared to the hunter ability.

If you give me a choice to do 2 damage directly to someone or 1 damage to either him or his minion - I'll take the 2 damage every time.

[xskarma]

Yeah. I feel the same about the mage ability compared to the hunter ability.

If you give me a choice to do 2 damage directly to someone or 1 damage to either him or his minion - I'll take the 2 damage every time.

Yeah, I was thinking about that one too, I think I agree. Thing is it could possibly really save your ass to be able to hit a minion with your hero, so not sure it's as weak as the "only" 1 damage makes it look.

I personally think the Shaman looks most OP. All 3 of those abilities look very useful, and even when you can't pick the one you most need, getting the right one at the right time can really change a game.

[Kanadei]

I personally think the Shaman looks most OP. All 3 of those abilities look very useful, and even when you can't pick the one you most need, getting the right one at the right time can really change a game.

I'm torn.

On the one hand, the Shaman one has three great abilities with no downside.
On the other hand, the Warlock has one AMAZING ability but at a significant cost.

In my experience cost>RNG but I'd have to see what the balance of health/mana/draw power is by actually playing before I could say for sure.

[xskarma]

I'm torn.

On the one hand, the Shaman one has three great abilities with no downside.
On the other hand, the Warlock has one AMAZING ability but at a significant cost.

In my experience cost>RNG but I'd have to see what the balance of health/mana/draw power is by actually playing before I could say for sure.

Warlock kit is very much a flavour thing, but I always feel that they push it too far at points, making Warlock have a risk factor that doesn't get rewarded enough. I mean we have a Felguard I think it was class card that costs us 7 life. In the gameplay video that thing almost cost that Warlock the game, and I see few situations where draining 23% of your max life will weigh up against the benefit of that minion. I mean there's a fair few cards that seem to (largely) nullify minions.

Same goes for the Warlock hero ability. It's a cost thing, where every other class gets theirs free, and the use of it is not universal. There's enough situations where an extra card doesn't add much, while 2 damage to the enemy hero is always useful. On the whole though I don't mind the RNG it brings to the class, like the Shaman, in the right situation it can really change a game. We'll just have to see if that happens often enough to be balanced.

[Kanadei]

Warlock kit is very much a flavour thing, but I always feel that they push it too far at points, making Warlock have a risk factor that doesn't get rewarded enough. I mean we have a Felguard I think it was class card that costs us 7 life. In the gameplay video that thing almost cost that Warlock the game, and I see few situations where draining 23% of your max life will weigh up against the benefit of that minion. I mean there's a fair few cards that seem to (largely) nullify minions.

Same goes for the Warlock hero ability. It's a cost thing, where every other class gets theirs free, and the use of it is not universal. There's enough situations where an extra card doesn't add much, while 2 damage to the enemy hero is always useful. On the whole though I don't mind the RNG it brings to the class, like the Shaman, in the right situation it can really change a game. We'll just have to see if that happens often enough to be balanced.

True, I didn't take other cost cards into effect. I'm sure we can also expect the warlock to be devoid of heals (unless there is a bandage card out there somewhere :P) so depending how reliably you are paying lifepoints this could turn into more of a hassle than it is a bonus.

And then ofcourse there is the mana cost of each hero ability and how this is offset against the amount of mana you are already using per turn...

Should be interesting to see what ends up as powerful - I'm sure it will be pretty strongly connected to the class cards available.

[xskarma]

I'm sure we can also expect the warlock to be devoid of heals (unless there is a bandage card out there somewhere :P) so depending how reliably you are paying lifepoints this could turn into more of a hassle than it is a bonus.

No, of course not! Warlocks are known for their self healing abilities. Warlocks get Drain Life to heal, and another spell that heals us by drawing power from an enemy or minion or something. No, we have some options out there.

Looking the Hero abilities over again though, I notice the Rogue one isn't very strong actually. It's a 1/2 weapon or a +1 att to an allready in use weapon. Especially that +1 to existing weapon sounds meh. I suppose it's the same deal as Mages though, cause you can freely aim where you can use that dagger.

[Kathranis]

No, of course not! Warlocks are known for their self healing abilities. Warlocks get Drain Life to heal, and another spell that heals us by drawing power from an enemy or minion or something. No, we have some options out there.

Looking the Hero abilities over again though, I notice the Rogue one isn't very strong actually. It's a 1/2 weapon or a +1 att to an allready in use weapon. Especially that +1 to existing weapon sounds meh. I suppose it's the same deal as Mages though, cause you can freely aim where you can use that dagger.

For the rogue, you can keep stacking poison (I assume that's the mechanic) onto the dagger every turn in order to unleash a couple of big attacks before the dagger breaks. In practice, you can just save it up to deal massive late-game damage to strong minions or the opponent's hero.

Rogues in general look like they'll potentially be really powerful with all those cards that have stealth and/or combo keywords.

[Xiphias]

Depends on what armor does. If +2 armor means you get a "shield" that absorbs 2 damage from the next attack to hit you, it's basically the same as a +2 heal in effect. Anything less then that will indeed make it less interesting to play Warrior.

You can't Restore health above the maximum for that character (which is different from effects that just give +X/+Y, since that can go above the maximum), whereas Armor can be used even if you're at full Life.

[xskarma]

You can't Restore health above the maximum for that character (which is different from effects that just give +X/+Y, since that can go above the maximum), whereas Armor can be used even if you're at full Life.

And does the armor stack? so I use it now and get +2 and then use it next turn and get +4 (assuming I'm not hit in between) cause that would make it VERY powerful. If it's just a flat +2 armor you get every time, not so much.

[Endus]

What I want to know is if the Paladin's ability is limited to one active recruit, or if he can just spam them.

As someone who played a Goblin deck in early-era MTG, 1/1 minions with low costs are good things.

[Arlee]

What I want to know is if the Paladin's ability is limited to one active recruit, or if he can just spam them.

I would imagine it works sort of like the Priest one where you can use it, but it takes a round or two to charge back up and be used again.

[xskarma]

I would imagine it works sort of like the Priest one where you can use it, but it takes a round or two to charge back up and be used again.

Hold on, there's cooldowns involved as well? That changes everything. List is pretty useless then untill we know what ability has what cooldown. It will cloud the issue and make it harder to compare Heroes as well this way. =/

[blackblade]

So I was checking out the hero abilities (was looking on hearthstonepedia, let me know if that proves to be inaccurate) and it seems like some are clearly better than others.

Obviously we will have to see how the decks build etc but take a look for yourself:

Warrior Ability: Gain 2 Armor
Hunter Ability: Deal 2 damage to enemy Hero
Rogue Ability: Equip a dagger with 1 attack and 2 durability, or increase dagger's attack by 1
Mage Ability: Deal 1 damage to minion or enemy hero
Priest Ability: Heal a minion or hero for 2
Warlock Ability: Lose 2 life and draw a card
Druid Ability: Gain 1 armor and 1 attack
Paladin Ability: Summons a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit
Shaman Ability: Summons one of the following (randomly):
1. Healing Stream Totem (0/2): at end of turn heal 1 for all friendly characters
2. Stoneclaw Totem (0/2): Taunt
3. Searing Totem (1/1): Battlecry - 1 damage

Now I dunno about you guys, and obviously it's a bit early to discuss balance and stuff (especially since we don't know exactly how the deck builds will differ from class to class) but a few of those just seem way better to me.

The warlock being able to sacrifice health in order to draw? Pretty amazing since "drawing out" is one of the main ways people lose cardgames.

The Paladin having a free summon regardless of what is in his hand? Pretty great as well.

Shaman is RNG but still has some great stuff there depending on what totem gets summoned.

By comparison things like 1 damage to minion or enemy or +2 armor seem pretty... tame.

Thoughts?

If you actually look at the decks, these make a little bit more sense.

The paladin, for example starts with only one other exclusive minion in his deck (Tirion Fordring) And that 1/1 recruit is hardcountered by a mage ping.

Given that it's not in beta yet, we'll see how much it changes.

[Skarsguard]

In my 16 years of TCG experience any kind of card draw is usually OP. The Warrior ability seems the most boring/underwhelming.

[xskarma]

If you actually look at the decks, these make a little bit more sense.

The paladin, for example starts with only one other exclusive minion in his deck (Tirion Fordring) And that 1/1 recruit is hardcountered by a mage ping.

Given that it's not in beta yet, we'll see how much it changes.

I think I saw a Silver Hand Knight, isn't that Paladin exclusive as well? Would seem obvious.

[Deleted]

I think I saw a Silver Hand Knight, isn't that Paladin exclusive as well? Would seem obvious.

nope http://hearthstonepedia.org/index.ph...er_Hand_Knight

[Kanadei]

In my 16 years of TCG experience any kind of card draw is usually OP. The Warrior ability seems the most boring/underwhelming.

Yeah that was my initial thought as well.

[Conscious]

Now I dunno about you guys, and obviously it's a bit early to discuss balance and stuff (especially since we don't know exactly how the deck builds will differ from class to class) but a few of those just seem way better to me.

The warlock being able to sacrifice health in order to draw? Pretty amazing since "drawing out" is one of the main ways people lose cardgames.

The Paladin having a free summon regardless of what is in his hand? Pretty great as well.

Shaman is RNG but still has some great stuff there depending on what totem gets summoned.

By comparison things like 1 damage to minion or enemy or +2 armor seem pretty... tame.

Thoughts?

Going to go out on a limb here and surmise that most of these will invoke cool-downs when used.

I would imagine that each ability will fit a certain archetype based on what the Hero's deck's are designed to do.