The newest adventure in Hearthstone, The Dalaran Heist, has been out for several weeks. Currently, there are three chapters available. These adventures at first seemed incredible promising. But, as more came out, there were a few disappointments coming up. Overall, the adventure is excellent but needs some improvements.
Variety
One of the biggest things Blizzard prides themselves in with adventures is the variety. However, it seems very lacking. Granted there are tons of treasures to choose from. But, when it comes to enemies, players will notice the same ones over and over again. This even happens in different chapters. No matter the chapter, no matter the henchman you play as, you will most likely run into the same enemies again and again.
Perhaps if there were a set number of minions for each chapter. That way, whenever players go through a chapter, it feels like those belong in this chapter. For example, it’s very odd to run into a barber when you are going through a bank heist, and then running into the same barber when performing a jail break. What makes this barber so special?
There are rare enemies that you can run into. And these can be fun. However, playing through over and over to find these rare encounters can be annoying. Even if players find these rare encounters, there are no rewards for them. Perhaps adding a reward for finding and defeating these rare and powerful enemies, like a treasure or a special minion.
Balance
There is a great imbalance to this adventure story. If players choose the same type of cards every time they are offered, it is almost impossible to lose. There is the possibility that the boss will destroy the player if they get unlucky draws or simply don’t have a deck to overcome the boss’s hero power. So, it’s not a guarantee win, but this is one of the easiest solo adventures out as of now.
There are several ways to fix this problem. Weakening the players’ deck, improving the enemy decks, or giving them new hero powers. To Blizzard’s credit, the ease of these chapters is to allow players to receive their packs. Additionally, there is Heroic Mode, but again, there should be some form of challenge aside from the boss for the players.
Story
As far as story goes, there is little to none here. Although, through all the story modes, this is usually the case. In this one however, it feels even less so. The grand scheme of things is to take the city Dalaran. Each of the members of the League of E.V.I.L. have a job to do. Heistbaron Togwaggle would rob the Bank of Dalaran, Swampqueen Hagatha released prisoners from their cells in Violet hold, Madame Lazul would cause chaos in the streets, Dr. Boom would put rockets on the city to make it move and Rafaam would take care of the mages in the city.
Overall their plan is clear, but what they plan to do with the city, what E.V.I.L. stands for, or anything like that isn’t answered. All we know is that these villains of the past are working together to take the city. And this is a literal meaning, they are moving the city. But what good is taking a city? There are still people, mages, dragons and prisoners in the city. Yes, the villains are taking care of some of these problems, but they can’t possibly clear the entire city. This lack of a story makes it less compelling to play.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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