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Mai 8, 2012

Ino-Co Plus

Paradox Interactive

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Warlock — Master of the Arcane

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The latest game in the popular Majesty series, Warlock: Master of the Arcane introduces turned-based strategy and global conquest to the fantastic world of Ardania. In a time of chaotic upheaval, the player takes the role of a great mage, a warlord vying for ultimate power. Your mission is to build an empire, expand your borders, research new spells, and conquer your enemies. Become the ultimate Warlock and rule over all of Ardania!

Features

• Feel the magic: Research and master dozens of spells, conjure powerful enchantments, and discover awesome spell combinations.
• Ready an army: Command an expansive range of units, all with unique abilities. Mobilize the forces of three races, along with special summoned troops and wild creatures.
• Choose your strategy: There are various ways to achieve victory: by the military, diplomatic, or even magical means.
• Fight your enemies: Engage in epic battles with large armies marching across the landscape. Players may develop their own tactics and learn to use a large number of units’ special abilities. Add some magic to this, and you will experience a true symphony of war.
• Command the game: Enjoy an innovative city management system, where there are no routine actions, and every decision counts!
• Have faith: Fight on the side of one of the eight gods. Complete their quests and spread their temples across the lands. — Or throw all gods aside and become one yourself!
• Follow the traditions: Warlock – Master of the Arcane inherits all the best elements of the famous turn-based strategies of old. It has modern feel and looks, but deep down it is a classic game where each player may master his or her own kingdom through magical and military skill.

PC-SYSTEMANFORDERUNGEN

MINDEST-SPECS:

Minimum:

 

• OS:Windows Vista, Windows 7
• Processor:Dual Core CPU
• Memory:2 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce GT240 512Mb or comparable
• DirectX®:9.0c
• Hard Drive:4 GB HD space
• Sound:DirectX 9.0c compatible

 

EMPFOHLENE SPECS:

Recommended:

 

• OS:Windows 7
• Processor:Quad Core CPU
• Memory:4 GB RAM
• Graphics:GeForce GTX460 1Gb or compartible
• DirectX®:9.0c
• Hard Drive:4 GB HD space
• Sound:DirectX 9. 0c compatible

 

Review: Warlock — Master of the Arcane – Destructoid

My army of undead warriors, vampires and minotaurs reached the walls of the reviled city of Cheesetown, home of King Rrat, somewhere around my hundredth turn. The settlement had become synonymous with death and destruction over the previous turns, sending fleet after fleet to attack my empire’s capital. The enemy’s sea superiority meant that the only route for retaliation was through the massive plains of lava to the east.

What started off as a vast army became greatly reduced through battles with greater fire elementals and wandering giants that patrolled the desolate landscape. My mana reserves were low after spending so much on healing my units and casting spells on monsters, so things were not looking good. But it didn’t matter, my forces had reached their goal. As my troops approached the city, all hell broke loose. It was as if we had woken up a slumbering beast; the landscape around the city became covered in rats, some big, some small, all armed to the teeth. I hate rats.

The undead don’t mind rats, though. So my troops stayed strong and cut down their enemies one by one. Things started to turn in my favor, Cheesetown would be mine! But then, betrayal. My undead ally, King Lich V, declares war, his forces come from the east to sandwich my soldiers between death and obliteration. The invasion was over, I slunk back into my cave as gracefully as a two-headed magical dragon can. If you can’t trust a lich, who can you trust? In Warlock – Master of the Arcane, you can’t trust anybody.

Warlock – Master of the Arcane (PC)
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Ino-co Plus
Released: May 8, 2012
MSRP: $19.99

Warlock puts you in the shoes of an imperialistic, power hungry wizard in the irreverent fantasy world of Ardania, the same realm the Majesty series is set in. You can tell because the absurd Sean Connery impersonator who offers advice in Majesty 2 makes an unwelcome return. The goal is a simple one: Amass powerful armies, constantly fuel the war machine, and conquer all your foes. Ostensibly this is a 4X game, but the focus is very much on the final X, exterminate. Ardania is a hostile world, one where even neutral cities will attack you on sight and where roving bands of monsters can pose a legitimate threat to your empire. On the rare occasions when you are at peace with the opposing magical empires, you’re still at war with every other creature.

In my very first game, expansion was halted almost instantly when I discovered that the only viable locations for new settlements were blocked by three gigantic monstrosities surrounding a neutral city. I had to throw countless armies at them, which wasted my valuable resources very early on. The random nature of monster placement means that even early on you can find yourself fighting desperate battles, which means the choices you make when selecting or customizing your wizard and his or her early spells are actually pretty important.

The predefined leaders are all interesting characters which draw from a variety of fun cliches, like dragon lords or Elminster. They all come with their own backgrounds, but their history doesn’t come into play during the game, unfortunately. Each leader has default traits and spells, for instance Tendral, Son of Vendral (the aforementioned two-headed dragon) comes with bonuses to his mana and gold reserves and a fire spell. Each wizard also has the loyalty of one of three races: Humans, monsters and the undead. However, the leaders can be fully customized. If you want to play a gold loving Orc Shaman who rules over the undead with ice magic, go ahead. These initial choices are important at the beginning, but conquering the cities of the other races gives access to their units and new spells are constantly being researched.

The first order of business for any aspiring conquering wizard is expanding the capital and building an army. Initially only two units are available, simple melee and ranged troops, but they can be augmented with new armor and weapons if you construct buildings like the smithy. New units become available once you add buildings from the predefined list based on the city’s racial affiliations. Monster cities get goblins and ratmen and their ilk, while undead cities get skeletons, liches, vampires, and so on. Human cities get boring old humans (obviously) like knights and gross little gnomes, who are not human at all. At first I thought they were just children.  

Your soldiers aren’t idiots, even if you might expect ratmen pirates and gibbering goblins to be somewhat mentally stunted. They learn from their grizzly encounters, and level up. Usually that just means their stats improve, but occasionally they will learn new abilities. In one intense battle, my powerful vampires were having a terrible time, as they ineffectually flung death magic at some immune elementals. But when it looked like their goose was cooked, they leveled up and they gained some new additions to their magical arsenal. They walked away from that battle with smug self satisfaction. Probably. They are vampires. 

Dotted about the landscape are various resources, which can be built upon to provide passive bonuses or new units. Some resources can provide one or the other, so there are lots of routes you can take with your cities. For instance, if you have a minotaur resource in your influence, you can construct either a palace or a labyrinth. The palace will allow the recruitment of the smelly, hairy bull-men, while the labyrinth makes your troops stronger. See, puzzle solving really does make you tough! 

City management is a complete doddle, something I’m exceedingly glad about. When the focus is on conflict, the last thing I want to do is fiddle about with sliders and pour over building lists. There are three key resources that cities produce: Food, mana, and gold. Hovering over the UI clearly shows how much you are making, how much you are spending and from where. So it’s easy to fix any deficits. You can keep churning out units as long as you have the funds, but buildings can only be constructed when the city increases in size. There’s an annoying bug that stops you from being able to destroy buildings, so I hope that gets sorted soon. It’s the only bug I encountered, but it’s a rather problematic one.

While the words “Warlock” and “Arcane” might lead you to believe that this is a game where magic is king, it’s actually the “War” secretly nestled in there that shows the true nature of the beast. Yes, magic is still important, it’s a resource and a weapon, plus it’s integral to the game’s concept. But honestly, you’re not a particularly powerful wizard. Despite a spell book brimming with destructive magic, casting even one spell renders your leader helpless until the next turn. Some spells can’t even be cast until you wait for a turn. It makes these power hungry wizards seem like impotent magicians at a kid’s birthday party. Magic feels more like a backup. If your army is struggling, cast a heal or set an enemy on fire, then go back to not being able to even pull a rabbit out of a hat. 

To make matters worse, there’s no magic tree or list. Once a spell has been researched, you’re presented with a series of new spells, arranged in a circle. I frequently found myself selecting spells I knew I didn’t need in hopes that it would unlock better ones, but I simply had no idea. I was just hoping for the best. There’s a serious lack of documentation, and I’m still not sure if there’s any logic behind the magical research.

Commanding your bloodthirsty horde, on the other hand, is a delight. Taking a leaf out of Civilization V‘s book (something the game does generally in terms of presentation), the map is arranged in hexes and stacking is not allowed. So a massive force is slow to move, but it also acts like a giant wall closing in on its foe. Getting your army where it needs to be is pretty easy, there’s no faffing about loading troops onto boats, for instance, as all units come with their own combat ready ships when they hit water. There’s a vast array of soldiers willing to lay their life down for their aggressive master — from the mundane, like swordsmen and archers, to the bizarre, like donkey knights or flying ghost ships. Ino-co Plus certainly appears to have had a lot of fun coming up with the units, as is evidenced in their descriptions, which are appropriately silly. The donkey knights, for example, originate from a knight who fled a battle on the back of a stolen donkey. After his enemies caught up to him, the only living souls that were left alive were he and his trusty steed. Thus began an order of knights on donkeyback. 

Unit placement is obviously important, with the tough guys at the front, and the squishy ranged units protected behind them. Some powerful foes can attack from three hexes away, though, so every unit is somewhat vulnerable. While foes are aggressive and the AI is suitably reactive, significantly better than in the Civilization series, they do a terrible job of protecting their cities. They are great on the offense, but their defense is a joke. Cities themselves could really do with beefing up, something I really hope to see in a patch, because right now it’s just too easy to conquer a settlement with weaker units.

The hostility of the opposing leaders and the neutral forces gives the game a constant forward momentum. In a lot of other 4X and grand strategy games, after taking a few cities you might sue for peace and disband your troops to save money, in Warlock, that’s just asking for trouble. Sure, you might find yourself in a spot of financial bother, and maybe you made a shitty investment; you’re a normal wizard, not a financial wizard. But I found it helpful to have a decently sized marauding army at all times. There’s always another battle just around the corner. Especially when you take into account the existence of other worlds.

Up to five extra realms can be added to a campaign, accessed via magical portals. These worlds make Ardania look like a land of peace and sunshine. Entering one of these new dimensions will require a powerful force if you hope to stand a chance of survival. While it’s a lot of fun getting into these extra tough battles, there isn’t really much point in it. The extra worlds can be ignored entirely without any negative repercussions. They aren’t unwelcome additions, but they fail to really add anything.

A lot of the warfare is caused by the fickle nature of your opposition, and diplomacy. I don’t know what emissaries I was sending to chat to the other wizards, but they weren’t very good. It all boils down to making demands, declaring war or making a fragile alliance. Trade is pretty much non existent and any pacts that are made just ensure short term peace. An alliance means that you’re not going to war today, but anything can happen tomorrow. It’s not a big problem, as the game is about conflict, not friendship or politics. However, it would have been nice to have the option to build strong alliances and to conquer the world together — before turning on each other. 

On top of trading words with enemies, you can pay lip service to a bunch of gods. Devoting yourself to a deity nets you some powerful spells and building their temples on holy sites lets you purchase incredibly strong units, like liches. Unfortunately, there’s not much personality behind them and gaining their respect is annoying and arbitrary. Every now and then quests appear, and usually they just require you to attack a city or build something like a harbor, but occasionally you’ll be tasked with constructing a temple or defeating a foe for a god. The problem is that if you fail the task, you piss off the god. That wouldn’t be so much of an issue if it wasn’t for how random these quests can be. Holy sites are not particularly abundant and it’s not uncommon to be told to build a second temple only a few turns later, which is usually impossible, even with the 20 turn time limit.

Upsetting these petulant powers isn’t always a bad thing, though. If a deity hates you, then it will send an avatar to topple your empire, while defeating said avatar will inexplicably lead to you winning the game. There are four victory types, but they are all pretty uninspired. I just stuck to killing everyone.  

While wanton destruction is something I’m very much in favor of, when that’s all there is things start to get a bit boring. The excitement of crafting a mighty empire ceases once you start to unlock the strongest units (which doesn’t really take very long) and from then it just becomes a series of repetitive battles. Campaigns might start differently, but once you’ve put in around a hundred turns it generally plays out in the same way. But there’s always the chance an AI opponent does something terribly sneaky, or you find yourself beset on all sides by enemies right from the get go. Enough interesting things happened to hold my attention for another click of the Next Turn button. And another. 

Warlock is full of surprises. It looks like Civilization V (albeit set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world complete with towering volcanoes and wastelands filled with demons), the premise sounds like Masters of Magic and it plays like neither of them. 4X fans looking for a deep fantasy game will probably not find what they are looking for, but should still find a lot to keep them occupied. For those who are unfamiliar with the genre, but are looking for a place to dip their toes in, then Warlock is a great place to start.

For all of its flaws, it’s still a remarkably fun game with plenty of character. When you’re commanding armies of dragons and giants to annihilate cities protected by ghost ships or rat snipers, it’s easier to overlook the game’s shortcomings. I know that I’ll certainly be playing a few more campaigns, and once the multiplayer gets added I’ll play even more. 

Race and class combinations not available in the game. Part Three, Mages and Warlocks

“Warlocks love everything green anyway — should take it for their own.”

This time we will look at classes known for their love of the knowledge and mysteries of this world.

Mages

In the games of the Warcraft universe, mages have long been a kind of exclusive to well-read and advanced races like the elves of Quel’Thalas and the people of Dalaran. But these times are already in the past, and the only playable race without mages is the tauren. nine0003

Tauren Mages

Why not available to players?

In itself, arcane magic does not bring harm or filth. It is the same part of the world as the forces of the Elements, for example. But dealing with the forces of magic is already something completely different.

“Magic is powerful.

Magic corrupts.

Magic breeds addiction.

Magic draws the inhabitants of the Twisting Nether to whoever casts it.” — four rules of magic

Magic is harmless as long as it flows peacefully along the ley lines, but once in the hands of a mortal caster, it can become a destructive weapon. Not only for the surrounding world, but also for the magician himself, for arcane magic not only attracts demons and is dangerous without proper control, but also corrupts the magician himself. Therefore, it is not surprising that the tauren, even after their alliance with the Horde, did not delve into this art. The absence of mages in a society like the tauren tribes is, in fact, not uncommon. Usually it speaks of not the highest level of development of society or the presence of certain moral taboos that prohibit dealing with magic. Probably the second option is more suitable for shu’halo. The established negative attitude of the tauren towards the path of magic is the reason for the absence of this combination. nine0003

“ Are you following arcane magic? Pfff! Okay… they can be found near the Pools of Vision, below the ledge of Spirits. ” — Thunder Bluff Cliff Guardian’s answer to the question about the location of the nearest mage teacher

Jonboy fan art

Are there tauren mages?

There is only one known case. In the Blackrock Caverns, the Twilight’s Hammer cultists tortured and mutilated their victims, including an unnamed tauren mage. nine0003

Killing her offenders did not help the cause, and the lady turned her magic against her own saviors, eventually dying at their hands. Who this distraught sorceress was and how she fell into the clutches of the cultists is a mystery.

How can one explain the possibility of such a combination?

Despite the general negative attitude towards magic among all tauren clans, including even the Grimtotem, a representative of their race can turn out to be quite a tolerable magician.

“Few of them experiment with arcane magic, but these bull people have a high predisposition to earth magic. As is the case with many other nature-worshipping tribes, many of them follow the path of the shaman. What’s more, their most senior druids rival the archdruids of Darnassus in strength.” — paragraph about tauren in the old wizard’s almanac

But, of course, it is worth understanding that the path of magic is unlikely to be chosen even by the villainous minion of Magata. Therefore, the case in Black Mountain is truly unique. Still, these proud bulls are too much connected with nature. But still this combination remains possible.

In a tabletop RPG, tauren could be runemasters. According to the RPG, these melee warriors would cover their bodies with runic tattoos full of arcane power that enhanced their abilities. In WoW, runemasters first appeared in WotLK, but there were no tauren among them, only iron dwarves and vrykul, yes magnataur, and later ogres in WoD. Therefore, the canonicity of the runemasters from the rulebooks is still in question. nine0003

off. art by Samwise Didier

A clue in this matter could be the sorcerers from the Sinister Totem. But although they are called sorcerers, they use only the usual forces of nature.

You can also think of the Seed of Wisdom pyromancer and Grimtotem geomancers. But they still do not pull on magicians. You can read about them in the fifth part of this series of articles.

Warlocks

Practicing fel magic and summoning demons, these spellcasters usually have very different goals than ordinary mages. This path is rarely chosen for the sake of knowledge alone, this path is chosen for the sake of power and strength. And sometimes those who are simply not able to resist the corruption of magic. nine0003

Warlock Draenei

Why not available to players?

Twenty-five thousand years ago, those who now call themselves the draenei, the exiles, lost their loved ones, their past lives, and even their home world. Because they didn’t accept the «gift» of Sargeras. But despite all their misadventures, they did not give up. Together with the naaru who saved their lives during the Exodus from Argus, they prepare to make the final stand against the Burning Legion. Obviously, after such events and the eternal persecution of the draenei by Kil’jaeden, the idea of ​​​​going into the warlock can only come to the mind of a complete madman or a traitor greedy for power. The draenei will not use their own demonic energies in the fight against the man’ari, and Kil’jaeden does not need new recruits from the Exodar, but only their corpses. The very history of the draenei, and their relationship to Light and Fel, is the reason for the absence of this combination. nine0003

Are there draenei warlocks?

Yes, in the Sargerei sect. This is a demon-worshipping draenei cult that originated in alternate Draenor. Members of this cult are trying to bring the Burning Legion into the world and are actively cooperating with the Shadow Council. But in fact, for the most part, they are strikingly different from the warlocks we are used to in their worldview. Therefore, let’s try to understand where they came from and who they are. The draenei were too late to notice the growing threat of the Iron Horde: the Prophet Velen could not predict either the creation of this armada, or a sharp increase in the technical equipment of the orc armies. This was the first call. Velen’s personality is immensely important to his people, he has been their leader since the fall of Argus, for thousands of years. And it was his gift of foresight that helped the exiles get away from the Legion’s bloodhounds in time. Some draenei thought that since the Prophet had lost his gift, they might already be doomed. That they were let down or deliberately betrayed. And then the Prophet died altogether, which could lead to an even greater influx of recruits into the camp of the cultists. This way of thinking may not seem entirely logical, but it was Exarch Otaar who promoted the one who created Sargerai. This power-hungry traitor proved to be a skilled orator and knew the strings to pull to sway the draenei to his side. And he knew exactly which draenei needed to be lured away: those who were already born on Draenor, who did not see the horrors of the Legion, who did not experience the vengeful punishment of Kil’jaeden. And Otaar, who later became known as the demon Socretar, created a new ideology for them: the draenei are the descendants of a great and immensely powerful race, forced to live in filth and a fanatical faith in the Light. The Sargerei believe they are destined to conquer the stars and regain the former glory of Argus. They do not see something vicious and disgusting in connection with the demons, on the contrary, for them this is the path to true greatness. After all, they have never seen Argus and don’t realize how little the original Eredar and Man’ari have in common. nine0003

“We draenei are a chosen people… civilized, cultured, wise. There is no technology that we cannot understand, no magic that we cannot master. Our state on Argus was majestic. Our people are not slaves or cowards burying their talents in the ground. Our people are destined to conquer the stars themselves! Come to me, brothers and sisters, and together we will take what is rightfully ours!” — The goal of unity

How can one explain the possibility of such a combination? nine0003

Moral and worldview issues aside, draenei are not only capable of mastering demonic magic, they have the potential to become the most powerful sorcerers and gain even greater power by turning demons. Strictly speaking, this is why their ancestors were chosen by Sargeras. But the history of the draenei and the Legion does not in any way contribute to the fact that one of the exiles turned to this power, we have already talked about this.

A greedy and bitter draenei might decide to become a demon lord, but there are a couple of interesting pitfalls that we haven’t mentioned yet. There is a reason why the Sargerei cult could never have appeared in the central timeline — Kil’jaeden. His hatred is not so much for the draenei, but for Velen himself is very strong. The tempter does not want to turn the draenei into man’ari, he wants to kill them: Velen will not be honored with the «honor» of becoming a demon, he will repay his choice with suffering and pain. Therefore, the demons who followed the trail of the draenei were not interested in any kind of agitation. They came for the souls of the draenei. But in the alternate Draenor, Kil’jaeden’s plan failed, forcing Archimonde to intervene. The Defiler does not hate the draenei and Velen personally: for him, they are ordinary inhabitants of the new world on the path of the Burning Legion. Which means they either die or join them. Therefore, on the fertile soil of the loss of Velen’s gift, the creation of the Sargerei cult went quite according to Archimonde’s plan: new recruits would not harm him. So the draenei of the central timeline did not have much opportunity to try themselves in the warlock, not only because of their beliefs, but also because of the attitude of the demons to this. nine0003

The second pitfall is much simpler. On the terribly, terribly rare occasions when the draenei turned into darkness, they did not want to remain simple warlocks, they aspired for more power, so they turned into demonic eredar. Suffice it to recall the original Socretar, who, even without a cult, alone, decided to turn into a demon. Using fel magic won’t just turn a draenei into a demon. This will not happen from the usual practices of the black book. This requires great magical power, but such a transformation is what traitors like Socrethar and Levixus strive for. nine0003

“The Legion’s influence grows stronger every day… even in our area. If I knew… If I knew that my boy would contact the demons… They promised him power and let him taste it… That was enough for him.” — Nitrin Aware of his son Levixus, who became eredar

Attitude towards demonic and distinguishes them from warlocks available to players. These guys aren’t Legion cultists, and it’s not like they’re looking for ways to become full-fledged demons, they’re teetering on the edge in search of power and knowledge. Such warlocks are distinguished by remarkable willpower: they do not bow before the demons and do their will, it is the demons who dance to their tune and shed blood for them in battle. nine0003

As an alternative to Sargerei, the closest pre-WoD counterpart to warlocks among the draenei were Auchenai necromancers. Lost their minds, they sank in their practices even to classical necromancy. But still, they are not warlocks, although they are close to them. Also, several draenei necromancers have been seen in the Cult of the Damned.

We can also think of warlocks among the Broken. They are found in the Cabal, the Shadow Council Sect. And the only friendly Broken warlock and trainer in this art is Dreadcaller Guloto of Shattrath City. The presence of warlocks among the Broken is explained by the changes that have occurred to them, as well as in the case of rogues. nine0003

Night Elf Warlocks

The reason for the unavailability of the players?

Ten thousand years ago, pride and arrogance of the Highborne led to the Sundering. Desiring to call on their new god, they destroyed their native empire and almost destroyed the whole world. Their sins were not and cannot be forgotten by other kaldorei. Although the modern night elves are not involved in the affairs of the Highborne, they understand the danger lurking in the Fel.

Of course, there is the old principle — to use the enemy’s weapons against himself. There are rare warlocks who do not pursue in their practices the search for strength and power. There is Jubeka of the Grim Harvest, for whom demonology is more of a science and field of study than an occult practice. There is her partner Kanretad, who tried to unravel the secrets of the appearance of demons and the essence of Fel, but in the end, completely succumbed to corruption. There were also non-corrupted warlocks in the RPG. They avoid corruption, do not practice evil spells and are generally rather positive guys. But almost no one manages to resist the harmful influence of the Filth and remain themselves. nine0024 So, the fact is that among the night elves there are their own warriors with fire, defeating fire — demon hunters. That rare elf who decides to devote his life to the fight against the Legion with his own weapons will rather choose this path, which is much more effective than black magic in this matter. But even such individuals are wary of the rest of the night elves. They are not allowed into the elven settlements and are often seen as traitors sold to demons, rather than fighters against them. But it is fair to say that this path can lead to loss of sanity. Therefore, a crazed hunter or traitor Illidari devotee can get from the Guardians and deserve it. nine0003

On the other hand, after the Cataclysm, the Highborne from the Dire Maul, Eldre’Thalas, returned to kaldorei society. And with them came the opportunity to learn arcane magic. And the thorny path of magic can lead to Filth. But there is a huge gulf between those close to Azshara who happily greeted the demons who killed their own kind, and the last survivors of the Dire Maul who fended off these demons, and later lived ten millennia in decline and fear for their lives. The same abyss separates the Filth, hated by the children of the stars, and arcane magic, even if it was forbidden. Many night elves have become interested in arcane magic, and their alliance with the Alliance has shown them that magic is not bad in itself. How Fandral had shown them in his time that even druidism could be perverted and turned to evil. But that is another story. nine0003

Are there night elf warlocks?

Given all of the above, it’s hard to imagine a night elf deciding to become a warlock, especially given the existence of a demon hunter path for particular demon haters. Of course, Azshara’s ancient confidants would have made great warlocks. But they either died during the Sundering, or took on the appearance of monstrous nagas and satyrs — to match their vile essence. But not all. Perhaps the only Highborne close to Azshara remained who retained his elven appearance. His name was Athrikus Narassin, he was one of Azshara’s most loyal servants and ruler of the cities of Ameth’Aran and Bashal’Aran. He survived the Schism and didn’t even become a satyr. He was both a mage and a warlock. Indeed, this elf is unique. He was not far from the Well of Eternity at the time of its explosion, and after it he found that, although he had lost his many beloved artifacts, in return he gained the ability to bind the souls of other magicians to himself and support his life at the expense of them. And so he lived to this day: fueled by the energy of the souls of the elves, who believed his promise to protect them, but became only his victims. Acticus founded the Cult of the Dark Thread, a cell of the Shadow Council, and continued his dark deeds until he was finally decapitated by Alliance heroes during the events of the original WoW. nine0003

Warlocks are probably also those Highborne spellcasters who mingled with demons during the War of the Ancients and began to use the power of fel. True, they are either no longer elves at all, or corpses.

We can also recall the case of the druid Tyranis Malem. He researched arcane magic and later joined the demon worshipers of the Burning Blade. He did not have time to become a full-fledged warlock, because he was killed by an adventurer during the events of the original WoW. nine0003

How can one explain the possibility of such a combination?

Night elves have an impressive gift for the study of the magical arts and demonology is quite up to them. But as we have already found out, it makes little sense for them to choose such a path. And those who still dare to elect him should not stick their nose into the kaldorei settlements.

There is also a common misconception that elves turn into satyrs if they turn to Fel. This is not true, the Satyr’s demonic curse created by Sargeras spawned a unique subtype of demons. If Xavius ​​had simply taken a dip in the Well of Fel, he would have looked different. And that’s not all, a representative of almost any mortal race can become a victim of the curse of satyrs, and not just a night elf. nine0003

Another immediate alternative to warlock, apart from the art of demon hunters, perhaps this curious example can offer. Summoner Nolric of the Silver Covenant is a high elf but also a warlock trainer. Considering that he is still a high elf, and not a blood elf, it is fair to assume that despite his knowledge of the Fel, he did not satisfy his magical hunger for it. And his robes may hint that he is dealing with the demons of the Abyss rather than ordinary demons — but that’s just my speculation. nine0003

According to the RPG, the path of the warlock was also chosen by those high elves who decided to use the forces that destroyed their homeland against the undead and demons that sent those destruction. In the original WoW, there were high elves warlocks, but from a completely different test. They were part of the Dark Thread Cult of that same Athrikus. They were accompanied by the demons of the Abyss, and these spellcasters themselves launched arrows of darkness at their enemies.

Warlock Pandaren

Why not available to players? nine0003

The pandaren are a peaceful and friendly people, and the villains among them can be counted on the fingers, if not counting those driven mad by the sha. And their life philosophy of balance and harmony is contrary to the use of demonic energies. And warlocks have never been seen in Pandaria before the age of 30 from the opening of the Dark Portal. And the pandaren of the Wandering Isle began their journey before Huojin and Tushui could make contact with the Horde and the Alliance.

Are there pandaren warlocks? nine0003

No known cases.

How can one explain the possibility of such a combination?

It is more than difficult to imagine such a combination. Unless another Jade Witch wants to command demons, and Madame Goya doesn’t need doomguard bouncers.

Tauren Warlocks

Considering everything written about tauren mages in this issue, warlocks among tauren can be left without comment at all. There are no known tauren warlocks or even demon worshipers. The shu’halo’s closest analogue to the warlock are the practices of the Yaungol Dead Speakers. Their dust defilers practice dark magic and bend the souls of the dead to their will. But it is worth noting that the Speakers with the Dead began to do all this only under the influence of the sha, which drove them crazy. Previously, they simply performed sacred rites for the burial of the dead in various Yaungol tribes. And yet, these are not warlocks either. nine0003

See you in the next issue!

Patch 20.0 Description — Hearthstone

Blizzard Entertainment

03/22/2021

Patch 20.0 is truly massive! Coming out on March 25th, it will bring a lot of new content to the game, and even more exciting content awaits you in the «Forged by the Steppes» expansion , which will be released on March 30th! Below is a detailed list and timeline of the introduction of changes. All of the above changes will go into effect with the release of the March 25th update (unless otherwise noted)! Today we also made a lot of changes to the game and added new treasures for the Duel mode! You can read about the new duel content in this article. nine0003

Balance changes

Nitroid

• Before change: [Cost: 1] → After: [Cost: 2]

Developer Comment: We’ve increased the cost of Nitrovenom to 2. mana to reduce the ability of rogues to economically deal a large amount of damage in a short period of time, as well as to introduce the actual cost of «Corruption». For future weapon-based rogue archetypes, we’d like to see multi-turn weapon buffing and board control playstyles predominate, rather than extremely aggressive strategies like the cloaking rogue deck. nine0167

For two weeks after the release of Update 20.0, Nitrovenom will be disenchantable at full cost.

Battlegrounds Mode Changes

• Piloted Shredder has been removed from the list of available Battlegrounds creatures.

NEW HERO

Warmaster Saurfang

• For the Horde! [Cost: 1]
  • Gives +1 Attack to the next creature you buy this turn. nine0166 (Improves every turn!)

Players with Battlegrounds perks will unlock Saurfang’s Warmaster before it officially launches on April 8th.

NEW BEING

Blacksmith of the Barrens ( gold mark is not in the final version of )

• [Level 3]: 3/5. Frenzy: Your other creatures get +2/+2.

Classic format, set rotation and new main set

Ready for some nostalgia? In the Classic format, players will be able to build decks and fight using 240 original cards — the same ones that the game came out with in 2014. With the release of the March 25th update, all eligible cards in your collection, from the Core, Classic, and Hall of Fame sets, will be copied and made available for Classic deckbuilding. The maps will be presented in the same form as in version 1.0.0.5832 in June 2014 (with some important changes). All subsequent balance changes that affect the card data will be canceled. Classic card packs will now be able to drop cards for the collection in classic format, as well as cards for the old set in wild format. The Classic Ranking Table will be available in-game on March 30th. See the Classic Format announcement for details. nine0003

To celebrate the addition of the new Classic format, we’re giving all players one Classic Gold Card Pack just by logging in after the release of Update 20.0!

The Year of the Griffin sets will rotate on March 30 with the release of «Forged by the Steppes» add-on ! Rise of Shadows , Saviors of Uldum , Descent of Dragons , Galakrond’s Awakening , Illidari Initiate, Basic and Classic will be moving to Wild. In Standard format, the new Core Set will replace the Basic and Classic Sets. It includes existing, redesigned and brand new cards! The cards of the main set are distributed as follows:

• 88 cards from the classic set (54 class cards, 34 neutral cards).
• 52 cards from the core set (41 class cards, 11 neutral cards).
• 55 cards from the wild set (36 class cards, 19 neutral cards).
• 4 cards from Ashes of Outland (4 Demon Hunter class cards).
• 4 cards from the Illidari Initiate set.
• 1 Hall of Fame card (Shadowshape).

nine0174 31 new cards (20 class cards, 11 neutral cards).

You may have noticed that the number of base and new cards has changed from the previous distribution in the main set. Based on community feedback, we’ve decided to replace the original Core Set versions of Rocktusk Boar and Bluegill Warrior with two new creatures, Emerald Skyclaw and Redgill Sharptooth!

Finally, we’ve updated the shaman’s power, replacing Wrath of Air (spell damage) with a new power totem that gives your creature +1 attack at the end of your turn! nine0003

Greater Anti-Weaken

We’re also reversing changes to weaken the 36 cards moving into Wild! The release of Patch 20. 0 and the moment these cards are added to Wild are five days apart, and we think that the Standards metagame conditions will become extremely interesting at that time. The labels on the maps below are not final.

MAG

Manasmey

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• Before changes: [Cost: 2] 1/3. → After: [Cost: 1] 1/2.

snake charmer

• Before changes: [Cost: 5] 3/6. Resonance: Summons two 1/3 Mana Wyrms. → After: [Cost: 4] 3/5. Resonance: Summons two 1/2 Mana Wyrms.

Will of the Summoner

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 3]

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Dragon Mage

• Before change: [Cost: 7] → After: [Cost: 6]

HUNTER

Illumination rocket

• Before change: [Cost: 2] → After: [Cost: 1]

Hunter’s Mark

• Before change: [Cost: 2] → After: [Cost: 1]

hungry buzzard

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• Before change: [Cost: 5] 3/2 → After: [Cost: 2] 2/1.

Lizard Tamer Brann

• Before change: [Cost: 8] → After: [Cost: 7]

WARRIOR

dash

• Before changes: [Cost: 1] Your creature gains the Charge ability. It cannot attack heroes this turn. → After: [Cost: 3] Your creature gains +2 Attack and Dash. nine0176

Blood Mercenary

• Before change: 2/2. → After: 3/3.

Herald of Destruction

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 3]

SHAMAN

ghost claws

• Before change: [Cost: 2] → After: [Cost: 1]

Flame Totem

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• Before changes: [Cost: 3] 0/3. → After: [Cost: 2] 0/2.

Ice Call

• Before change: [Cost: 2] → After: [Cost: 1]

dragon flock

• Old: Summons two 2/3 wolf spirits with Taunt. If you called twice, they get +2/+2. → After: Summons two 2/3 wolf spirits with Taunt. If you called twice, they get +3/+3. nine0176

Elementalist

• Before change: [Cost: 6] → After: [Cost: 5]

DRUID

Keeper of the Chalice

• Before change: 2/2. → After: 2/4.

tree of wisdom

• Before changes: Choose an effect: you draw a card or restore 5 health. health. → After: Choose an effect: you draw two cards or restore 5 health. health. nine0176

PRIEST

Power Word: Shield

• Old: [Cost: 0] Your minion gets +2 Health. → After: [Cost: 1] Your minion gets +2 Health. You take a card.

ROBBER

underground caves

• Before Changes: Objective: Play 5 creatures with the same name. Reward: Crystal Focus (Your creatures become 4/4 until the end of the match). nine0175 → After: Objective: Play 4 creatures with the same name. Reward: Crystal Focus (Your creatures become 5/5 until the end of the match).

Edwin vanCleef

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 3]

Blade Flurry

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 2]

Experimenter with necrium

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• Before change: [Cost: 5] → After: [Cost: 4]

Galakrond the Nightmare (applies to upgraded versions)

• Before change: You draw 1 card. She is worth (1). → After: You draw 1 card. She is worth (0).

PALADIN

To arms!

• Before change: [Cost: 5] → After: [Cost: 4]

nine0178

WARBORN

Demonic rites

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 3]

NEUTRAL CARDS

Gravedigger

• Old: Gain +1 Attack when you summon a minion with Deathrattle. → After: Gain +1/+1 when you summon a minion with Deathrattle.

Leprognome

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• Before change: 1/1 → After: 2/1.

Juggler with daggers

• Before change: 2/2. → After: 3/2.

Frenzied Felwing

• Before change: 3/2. → After: 3/3.

Damned albatross

• Before change: [Cost: 4] → After: [Cost: 3]

Draenei Convict

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• Old: Warcry: Summons another Draenei Convict. → After: Warcry: Summons a copy of this creature.

Arcane Golem

• Before change: 4/4. → After: 4/2. Jerk.

bone mare

• Before change: [Cost: 8] → After: [Cost: 7]

Archivist Elisiana

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• Before change: [Cost: 9] → After: [Cost: 8]

Queen Alexstrasza

• Before changes: Battlecry: If your deck has no matching cards, put 2 random dragons into your hand. They cost (1). → After: Battlecry: If your deck has no matching cards, put 2 random dragons into your hand. They cost (0).

Spell Schools

Arcane Spell Schools — Arcane, Shadow, Fel, Fire, Ice, Light and Nature magic — will be a permanent part of Hearthstone in Update 20.0, which will be released on March 25, and will share 545 already released spells among themselves in standard and free formats. Spell Schools will add new combinations and mechanics to the collection. And 24 more new spells will appear in add-on Forged by the Steppes ! You can read an updated overview of what’s new below. Details about maps can be found in the map collection.

• Arcane (2 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 44 spells from previous sets)
• *UPDATE* Fel Magic (3 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 23 spells from previous sets)
• *UPDATE* Fire Magic (2 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 45 spells from previous sets)
• Frost Magic (2 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 24 spells from previous sets)
• Light Magic (5 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 67 spells from previous sets)
• *UPDATE* Dark Magic (4 spells from «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 113 spells from previous sets)
• *UPDATE* Nature Magic (6 spells out of «Forged by the Steppes» in addition to 117 spells from previous sets)

Reward Feed Update and Diamond Cards

In the first Reward Feed Update on March 30, players will automatically receive previously unclaimed rewards from both the Free Feed and the Regular Pass Feed (if purchased). And instead of the old reward ribbon, a new one will appear, where you can find many new items!*

In addition, in Update 20.0, we’ve made a number of changes to the new version of the rewards feed to make progressing through the game even more fun. The number of main levels with rewards has been doubled (from 50 to 100), and the amount of experience required to reach each level has been halved. In addition, we’ve spread the rewards more evenly across the feed. For the full table of rewards and details on the new improvements to the rewards ribbon, check out our article. Please note that as of March 25th, you will no longer be able to earn XP for the Game and Duel Achievement Ribbon in Expansion 9.0166 Madness Fairs . Instead, experience will bring new achievements in the «Game» category of add-on «Forged by the Steppes» !

As we announce the Patron Pass for Forged in the Steppes , we’re excited to show off a new decorative tier of cards in Hearthstone — Diamond Cards! Each expansion will contain at least one hand-crafted diamond card with new 3D animation, an expanded art area, and a stylish diamond frame. nine0003

Blademaster Samuro and Bru’kan will get diamond versions in the Forged by the Steppes expansion! To obtain these cards, the following requirements must be met:

• Diamond Blademaster Samuro: Can be obtained from the reward ribbon immediately after purchasing the Forged by the Steppes Regular Pass .
• Diamond Bru’kan: To get this card, you need to complete the Legendary Collection 5/5 achievement from Forged in the Steppes (collect all the legendary cards from the set).

*Level 50 Hero Skin must be selected prior to updating the Forged by the Steppe rewards ribbon. In addition, the reward feed update will not happen instantly for players who are logged in at the time the update is released. To see the new rewards feed, you will need to exit the game and re-enter it. We’re currently working on a change that will allow players who don’t select a Hero skin at level 50 to automatically receive one, as well as a feature to dynamically update the rewards feed for players who are in-game. nine0167

Season’s Forged Pass

Season’s Pass Madness Fairs will expire with the release of Season’s Forged and a new pass will be available in the store to unlock new cosmetic rewards and bonuses experience.

Purchasing the Haunter Pass during the expansion cycle will instantly grant you the Blademaster Samuro diamond card, a 10% XP bonus until the end of the expansion cycle, and all items from the paid reward ribbon at your level and below. Playing with the Forged on the Barrens Regular Pass will give you more XP, the Barrens shirt, the golden Shadowhunter Vol’jin legendary minion (cannot be crafted), the Rexxar Firefang Hero Skin, and a new cosmetic coin! You’ll also be able to get skins for the new mercenaries added in Forged in the Steppes: three Rokara Warrior Hero Skins, three Demon Hunter Kurtrus Skins, and three Zirella Priest Skins! nine0003

New Decorative Coins

Three new decorative coins will be added to the game, two of which are in the style of Steppesforged . They can be obtained in the following ways:

• Complete the first 90 levels of the reward belt with the regular pass.
• Collect 135 unique cards from : Forged in the Steppes .

We plan to release a 35-card mini-pack for the Forged in the Steppes expansion . The second condition will be easier to fulfill when there are a total of 170 cards in the set! We’ll be posting more information about the Steppesforged Miniset in the next few months.

We’ve also added a Bigglesworth Coin for the collection of all Scholomance cards . Collect all 135 cards from Scholomance Expansion Pack to claim it!

Book of Mercenaries: Rocar

In addition «Forged by the Steppes» 10 brand new legendary mercenary creatures will appear! We’ll be telling their stories throughout the Year of the Griffin in future expansions, on the website, in Hearthstone Mercenaries, and in the Book of Mercenaries.

This epic tale will reveal the past of all 10 mercenary characters; new parts will be released every two weeks, as well as the chapters of the Book of Heroes. The first episode, Tome of the Mercenaries: Rokara, will be released on April 6, and as a reward for completing it, you can receive a set of warrior cards! nine0003

March 30 — Arena rotation

After the release of «Forged by the Steppes» expansion on March 30, the following sets will be added to the list of cards available in the arena:

• base set,
• Forged by the Steppes,
• Darkmoon Race Mini Pack,
• Madness Fair,
• Scholomance,
• Outland Ruins,
• Rise of Shadows,
• «Mean City Gadgetzan». nine0177

Gameplay fixes and improvements

• Max deck slots increased from 18 to 27.
• The Seasonal Ranked Reward Chest is now in the Deck Select menu. In addition, March’s Ranked Rewards contain «Steephardened» card sets, not «Madness Fair» .
• Added progress bars for each achievement category to the journal. nine0177
• The guaranteed weekly quest «Win 5 Ranked Matches» can now be changed.
• Some loading screen tooltips have been updated to reflect recent changes.
• Arena rewards now contain card sets «Forged in the Steppes» instead of classic sets.
• Tavern Brawls now drop one Year of the Phoenix Card Pack instead of the Classic Pack.

nine0174 Some new player quests from both legendary chains can now be completed on the battlefield. As a reward for completing them, you will also receive card sets from recent expansions instead of classic ones.

• The Malfurion, Tyrande, and Hakkar fights have been removed from the legendary quest chain for returning players. In addition, players will now be rewarded with 15 card packs from recent expansions for completing it.
• Updated the composition of free decks for new and returning players (templates can be found on this page).*
• Completing all Tome of Heroes quests for a specific class now unlocks that class in the game.
• The Demon Hunter can now be unlocked by playing against the class in Play Mode or defeating it in Practice Mode. The Demon Hunter Prologue will still unlock this class. In addition, players who have not yet completed the Prologue will now receive 1 Demon Hunter Card Pack for completing the Prologue.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Wild cards from displaying in the collection if the player did not have the Demon Hunter class unlocked. nine0177
• Fixed an issue that prevented Zephrys the Great from offering Mass Scatter and Shadowflame to players whose side of the field was already full.
• Fixed an issue that caused Deathrattle proc cards (such as False Death) to continue to work even when Deathguard was played.
• Fixed an issue that prevented creatures with Aspect of the Murloc from displaying the Deathrattle icon. nine0177
• Fixed an issue that prevented Khadgar from copying Deathrattle effects from Vectus on Plague Whelps.
• Fixed an issue where when Unscrupulous Rider cast a Secret from your hand, your opponent’s Anti-Magic would trigger but the Secret would still play. Unprincipled Rider no longer triggers Anti-Magic.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Pranks from triggering if the first card drawn by an opponent had a draw trigger effect. nine0177
• Fixed an issue that could cause Dark Twin to trigger even if the board was already full.
• Fixed an issue where using Crystal Focus and Humble Blessing in the same match did not have the permanent effect of changing the stats of the card that was played the second time.
• Fixed a graphical issue in Battlegrounds where buffs applied by creatures were not showing for all creatures spawning during combat. nine0177
• Fixed an issue in Battlegrounds that prevented all heroes other than Bileticus from displaying the correct number of turns until the Prize Showcase Hero Power triggered.
• Fixed an issue in Battlegrounds that caused Free Secrets created with Prestige to display their gold cost incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue in Duel Mode that could cause the win counter to show -1. nine0177
• Fixed an issue in Duel Mode where card blocks could be duplicated.
• Fixed an issue in Duel Mode that prevented your deck from appearing on the End of Journey screen.
• Fixed an issue in Duel Mode where the Deathbringer Treasure would cause the game to crash if multiple Deathrattles were triggered at the same time.
• Fixed an issue in Duel Mode that was causing the Soul Seeing Hero Power to be listed as coming soon. nine0177
• Fixed an issue in Duel where Prince Malchezaar’s start-of-match effect would not trigger if the card was drawn from the Pouches.
• Fixed an issue where clicking the Victory Flag in an Adventure would prevent players from exiting a match.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Trial by Fel adventure to not appear as completed even after completing the achievement.

nine0174 Fixed an issue in Trial by Fel that caused the game to freeze during the fight with Gruul Dragonslayer.

• Fixed an issue in Valeera’s Tome of Heroes where creatures drawn by Varian Wrynn would not be placed on the board even if there was room for them.
• Fixed an issue in Valeera’s Tome of Heroes that caused an AI opponent to play Feed the Fish even though it didn’t do any good. nine0177
• Fixed a graphical issue in Valeera’s Tome of Heroes that caused creatures already played at the start of a match to appear ready to attack during the redraw phase.
• Fixed a graphical issue in Valeera’s Tome of Heroes that caused Rehgar Earthfury to display as unable to attack even though it had the ability to.
• Fixed a graphical issue with the spawn animation for «B-07-TP-0H». nine0177
• Fixed a graphical issue that caused the Spell Power Up effect to appear briefly while Imprisoned Phoenix was dormant.
• Fixed a graphical issue that caused some of the skin animations for Anduin Zhuge Liang and Valeera Diaochan to not play.