Hearthstone's Next Expansion Adds The One Thing Fans Have Requested For Years

Since Hearthstone's release in 2014, fans have been imagining how Blizzard could add a new class to the competitive card game, but the company has always seemed reluctant to actually do so. Six years later, it's finally getting one as part of its new Ashes of Outland expansion. The first expansion in the new Year of the Phoenix will introduce tons of quality-of-life changes and a big change to an existing class.

The Demon Hunter Class

The tenth playable class will be the Demon Hunter, represented by Illidan Stormrage. He'll be unique among Hearthstone heroes with a 1-Mana hero power, as opposed to all the others that cost 2-Mana. His power grants you +1 attack, making it somewhat similar to the Druid or Rogue power, but the lower cost makes it much more versatile. But his cards help feed this attack-heavy style, with minions that benefit from his attacks and buffs to his standard weaponless attack strength. The Demon Hunter also gets access to the class-exclusive keyword Outcast, which gives extra-powerful perks if played from the far-right or far-left of your hand.

Gallery

There will be 10 Basic and 20 Starter cards for the Demon Hunter available for free, and for the first year the Demon Hunter will get 15 cards per expansion instead of the standard 10. A prologue will be available on April 2, and then the hero will join the rest of the expansion on April 7.

Quality-of-Life Changes

Launching alongside the expansion, Blizzard is making some major changes to how you collect cards and climb ranks. For starters, the anti-duplicate rule that it applied to Legendary cards will now apply to all rarities, so it will be easier to get a full collection. If you're a new or lapsed player and you're concerned your decks won't be able to measure up for competitive play, logging in for the new season will get you a free competitive deck from a class of your choice.

The update will also revamp the ladder ranking system, with leagues ranging from Bronze to Diamond and finally Legendary. This will make the ladder echo Blizzard's other competitive multiplayer games, and the matchmaking system is being revised to better match you against players of your skill level throughout a season.

Priest Gets Major Overhaul

Blizzard has been making aggressive moves the last few years to better define the various class identities so they feel distinct from one another. To that end, the Priest class is getting some substantial changes. Six of its oldest cards are being moved to the Hall of Fame: Auchenai Soulpriest, Holy Fire, Prophet Velen, Shadowform, Divine Spirit, and Northshire Cleric. Those will be replaced by six new cards that better reflect the current class identity:

Gallery

Meanwhile, some other Priest standbys are getting substantial buffs, including cost reductions or increased damage output. Those include Holy Nova, Holy Smite, Power Word Shield, Shadow Madness, Shadow Word: Death, Temple Enforcer, and Thoughtsteal.

Year of the Phoenix Hall of Fame

As part of Year of the Phoenix some other cards will move into the Hall of Fame as well, which takes them out of Standard play. The rationale for these additions is largely that they're limiting the design space in some way. Acolyte of Pain and Spellbreaker give every class an easy and reliable card draw and silence mechanism, while Mountain Giant and Mind Control Tech have resulted in very similar builds for years. Leeroy Jenkins is probably the least surprising, as he's been a constant source of game-ending burst damage since the beginning.

Release Date And Pre-Purchase

Ashes of Outland will be available to pre-purchase through April 6. Pre-purchasing the pack bundle nets you a card back and a Golden Legendary from the new expansion, while the Mega Bundle will also get you a Lady Vashj Shaman Hero. A bonus Legendary, Kael’thas Sunstrider, is available now as a free login bonus.