Hearthstone: The Witchwood - How to Beat Hagatha the Witch
Have you completed Hearthstone's Monster Hunt with all four Heroes? Then there's one more challenge ahead of you. It's not easy, but Shacknews is here to help.
For those who have completed Hearthstone: The Witchwood's Monster Hunt mode with all four Heroes, congratulations! That's certainly not an easy task. But there's still one more piece of business to attend to. Upon completing the Monster Hunt with the fourth hero, the Final Challenge opens up. This is a climactic showdown with Hagatha the Witch, the main villain of this expansion.
She's certainly not easy. She's not afraid to play unfairly. And she has nearly infinite resources at her disposal with her "Bewitch" Passive Hero Power, which also means she'll often have random spells available to her throughout the game.
But Shacknews has conquered the witch and we're here to help. So here are some key points to keep in mind when facing Hagatha the Witch.
What to Know About the Final Challenge vs. Hagatha the Witch
- Hagatha comes in at a whopping 100 Health. This one won't be easy.
- The battle begins with the players taking the role of Houndmaster Shaw, with 30 Health.
- The other three Heroes are available as Hero Cards. They are:
- (3) Toki, Time-Tinker: Battlecry: Deal 3 damage to all minions and choose a Passive Treasure.
- (5) Darius Crowley: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage to all minions and choose a Passive Treasure.
- (8) Tess Greymane: Battlecry: Deal 8 damage to all minions and choose a Passive Treasure.
- Remember that all Hero Cards come with a 5 Armor boost. Use the Hero Cards strategicailly to help clear the board, as well as save yourself from the brink if Hagatha threatens lethal damage.
- For Houndmaster Shaw, you'll have a choice of the following three Passive treasures:
- Crystal Gem: Passive: Start with an extra Mana Crystal.
- Lunar Signet: Passive: After you play a minion, trigger its Deathrattle effect.
- First Aid Kit: Passive: At the end of your turn, restore 2 Health to all friendly characters.
- This is going to be a long battle, so don't bother with the Crystal Gem. That extra Mana Crystal will prove inconsequential in the long run.
- The Lunar Signet is tempting, since Shaw uses minions like Webspinner, Sludge Belcher, and Rotten Applebaum. But remember, you're preparing for the long haul and while these might look useful, they'll start to look less so after Hagatha starts to fill her side of the board.
- That leaves First Aid Kit, which is honestly the best choice. Hagatha will try and chip away with her Ritual Dagger weapon that almost never runs dry. Not only will it heal your Hero, but also any minions that trade in.
- All Passives carry over to the next Hero. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND!
Facing Hagatha the Witch
Be sure to keep Webspinner, Crackling Razormaw, or Glaivezooka, if possible. The Hunter weapon is weak, but should trade into a handful of Hagatha's early minions. Use the Crackling Razormaw on one of Shaw's Hero Power Rush dogs. If you can score Poisonous, trade it into one of Hagatha's Twilight Drakes.
Hagatha will sometimes go to her Ritual Dagger early, which can often be bad news. Sometimes she'll burn throguh it, but most times, she'll cast enough spells to keep it all the way through the late game. This is where First Aid Kit proves to be helpful.
Do NOT use Animal Companion as Shaw. Keep it in your hand and leave it for Toki. Make sure your board state is in a good place before switching off to Toki. But before playing her Hero Card, make sure you also have Call of the Wild in your hand and at the ready.
If you switch to Toki, you'll get to choose between these three Passive treasures:
- Double Time: Passive: After you cast your first spell in a turn, cast a copy of it (targets chosen randomly).
- Expedite: Passive: Your minions cost (1) less.
- Robe of the Magi: Passive: Spell Damage +3
Double Time should always be your choice here, as you make sure to lead with spells that won't backfire on you, like Primordial Glyph. If you absolutely must use a spell like Fireball to get yourself out of a sticky situation, have Toki's Hero Power ready to reset the turn if the repeat spell goes haywire.
Once you have Toki ready to go, that's when you'll use your Animal Companion to bring out two companions. If you don't get the two you want, feel free to reset your turn with Toki's Hero Power and try again. By this point, Hagatha will have busted out The Mistcaller to buff up her minions, so the rest of the game is about to get nasty. Use Toki's Blizzard or Shaw's Call of the Wild if you're backed into a corner.
Theoretically, Toki should have enough to finish the fight, but Hagatha has an army of Giants (Mountain, Sea, and Arcane) that will all be buffed to 9/9 with The Mistcaller. If things start getting hairy, be ready to switch to Darius.
Switching to Darius Crowley gives you access to a third Passive treasure:
- Tactical Reinforcements: Passive: Whenever you fire your Cannons, reduce the cost of a card in your hand by (2).
- Entrenchment: Passive: Your minions have +2 Health.
- Pillage the Fallen: Passive: Whenever your weapon is destroyed, equip a random weapon.
While Tactical Reinforcements might have served Darius well in his Monster Hunt, it doesn't quite work here. Not only are Hagatha's minions bigger and nastier, but the cannon goes away after switching to Tess, so it becomes a wasted effect. The best bet here is Entrenchment, which will play nicely with the First Aid Kit from earlier.
Don't expect to play as Darius for long, because his cannon isn't very useful here. Be ready to switch to Tess soon, but try not to switch over before drawing Brawl, because it could be a life-saver.
You're hitting the home stretch once you switch to Tess. Whenever you make that switch, here are your three Passive treasure options:
- Cult of the Wolf: Passive: You can use your Hero Power twice each turn. It costs 1 less.
- Sticky Fingers: Passive: Cards that didn't start in your deck cost (1) less.
- Cloak of Invisibility: Passive: Your minions have permanent Stealth.
Both Cult of the Wolf and Sticky Fingers are great choices, so it's really a matter of preference. Tess should be where you start to make up ground against Hagatha, since she'll still have Toki's Double Time treasure available to her. You can discover control spells like Blizzard and use them to buy you time, but the money is in grabbing Call of the Wild, which puts down six minions on 9 Mana, including two Taunts and two Charge minions that can trade into larger threats.
By this point, Hagatha will still be running wild with Ritual Dagger. Get ready to finally put a stop to that nonsense by drawing Tess' Sabotage spell, which will destroy a minion and that pesky weapon.
It's important to note that Hagatha has one big-time trick up her sleeve that can be an instant win for her if you're not ready for it. Amalgamate is a sickening spell that will wipe out every minion on board and combine all of their Attack and Health stats into one giant monstrosity on her side of the board. If it's just the Amalgamate monster on her side, you can take a chance on Call of the Wild and hope that Hagatha doesn't have removal or you can lay down multiple taunts like Sludge Belcher and Rotten Applebaum to buy you time. The aforementioned Sabotage spell will also dispatch it.
But often times, Hagatha will overplay her hand, playing Amalgamate and also sprinkling in Arcane Giants and anything else she might have available. If that's the case, hope you saved that Brawl! Play one of your own minions (preferably something with a summoning Deathrattle like that Sludge Belcher or Infested Tauren) and then let that Brawl rip. Double Time means it'll trigger twice, so if you've played that Sludge Belcher/Infested Tauren, you'll have two chances to dispatch the killer Amalgamate monster. Even leaving a 9/9 Giant standing is preferable to something that can dish out 20+ damage in a single turn.
Lastly, don't be afraid to use Hagatha's own Shaman spells against her. If you can discover Jade Lightning or Bloodlust, feel free to use those to your own advantage. Jade Lightning, in particular, when used with Double Time can be a huge help, because the Jade Golems will start to grow surprisingly fast.
Even with these tips in mind, there's going to be a lot of luck involved with beating Hagatha, especially if she uses Amalgamate early on. It's okay to know when you're licked, because the "Restart" button will put you right back in the fight quickly. But keep these tips in mind and you'll be well on your way to getting that Monster Hunt card back.
