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Hearthstone gets Dalaran Heist solo adventure next week

Hearthstone's ambitious year-long PvE storyline begins next week with the release of the new Dalaran Heist solo adventure.

Ozzie Mejia

May 9, 2019 10:00 AM

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Back when Blizzard first unveiled Hearthstone's Year of the Dragon, the publisher stated that it would put a greater emphasis on single-player content. A year-long storyline was promised, but when the Rise of Shadows expansion was unveiled, there was conspicuously no word on the ambitious PvE plan. On Thursday, Blizzard finally broke the silence regarding what's next for Hearthstone single-player, unveiling a new adventure called The Dalaran Heist.

Recall that Rise of Shadows united five of Hearthstone's most notorious villains, with Arch-Thief Rafaam leading a crew of Madame Lazul, King Togwaggle, Hagatha the Witch, and Dr. Boom. To this point, their plans were shrouded in secrecy. Those plans have now been revealed, as the League of E.V.I.L. sees the villains and their underlings raid the floating city of Dalaran.

The Dalaran Heist will unfold over five chapters, in the vein of the original Hearthstone adventures. Those five chapters will play out similarly to the more recent Hearthstone PvE offerings, with unique encounters and a final boss. However, there are a handful of new features. Before going any further, here are the characters that will take center stage during this adventure:

• Rakanishu (Mage): This is the wicked little flame from King Togwaggle's lantern.
• Vessina (Shaman): A slithery serpent known for serving Hagatha.
• Ol' Barkeye (Hunter): A gnoll packing a sniper rifle.
• Kriziki (Priest): An arakkoan apprentice who's made a bargain with Madame Lazul.
• Captain Eudora (Rogue): A vulpera pirate, serving the League for funsies.
• Mr. Chu (Warrior): A Pandaran bouncer acting as the burly bodyguard for the League.
• Squeamish (Druid): A Kobold known as the Druid of the Rat.
• Tekahn (Warlock): A tol'vir prince who practices dark magicks.
• George the Fallen (Paladin): You might remember this guy from the Kobolds & Catacombs Dungeon Run. He's no longer lost and he's looking for revenge after basically being left for dead.

The five Dalaran Heist chapters will each come with their own distinct gameplay twists.

• Dalaran Bank: Coin-filled Coffers
• The Violet Hold: Imprisoned Minions
• Streets of Dalaran: Crowded Streets
• The Underbelly: Swapped Attack and Health
• Kirin Tor Citadel: Four Additional Encounters

While previous Hearthstone adventures have been straightforward affairs, the Dalaran Heist chapters will emphasize replayability. Each class will start off with their standard Hero Powers, but can gradually unlock two more starting powers and additional starting deck options as they rack up victories. To help pile on those wins, players will hit non-combat Tavern Encounters over the course of their runs to help them bolster their decks and also clear out some dead weight. While normal difficulty is entirely doable with the starting Hero Powers and decks, the various unlocks might help out with the returning Heroic difficulty.

Once all five chapters are wrapped up, there's still more to do. Players can return to the Dalaran Heist chapters at any time and play in Anomaly Mode. The Anomaly Mode rules will offer random rule sets, which change on a regular basis and offer new challenges.

Rewards will be many for the Dalaran Heist. In addition to three Rise of Shadow card packs per chapter, completing all five chapters unlocks a gold classic card pack and a Dalaran card back. Completing all five chapters in Heroic Mode will unlock an Aluneth card back. Meanwhile, simply owning all five chapters will unlock a special brand new Golden Legendary, Zayle, Shadow Cloak.

(2) Zayle, Shadow Cloak (3/2)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
You start the game with one of Zayle's EVIL Decks!

Zayle operates similarly to Whizbang the Wonderful. He'll pre-construct a random Standard deck that's based on any one of the five League of E.V.I.L. villains. These decks will update with each new expansion. This Golden version will be offered to anyone who owns all five Dalaran Heist chapters, whether purchased through money or gold. The normal, non-Golden Zayle can be crafted, for those opting to skip the adventure.

The Dalaran Heist begins next Thursday, May 16. Chapter 1 will release for free, with Chapter 2 available for purchase immediately. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 will release on a weekly basis. The full adventure will be available for $19.99 or for 700 gold for each individual chapter.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?