Blizzard will be making several drastic changes to one of Hearthstone‘s staple game modes in the near future, as per a post over on Battle.net. The competitive card game, which boasts a huge number of players, has four distinct modes that all appeal to different types of players. However, one in particular – Arena – has been increasingly criticized by the game’s player base over the last few months over a perceived lack of support and balance.
For those unfamiliar with the way it works, Arena Mode requires an upfront entry fee (either with real money or in-game gold) to participate, whereupon the player is asked to pick a hero to play as (random choice of three) and then must draft a full 30-card deck from similarly randomized cards with rewards doled out depending on how many matches you win (maximum of 12).
Three losses results in you being expelled from the mode, whereupon you must pay again to re-enter.
So, where does the problem lie, exactly? Unsurprisingly, it’s the random nature of Arena that’s causing more and more people to decide against putting their money on the line, as a certain few classes have become progressively more powerful with each new card expansion.
Mage, Rogue and Paladin are explicitly mentioned as the three members of this category, and as part of a multi-step process to try and even the playing field, Blizzard has announced plans to completely remove both cards that they believe are too powerful and too weak for every class.
You can see the full list of changes below. Interestingly, Paladin appears to have been left completely untouched so far. It should also be noted that this list isn’t final. Blizzard’s currently asking for fans to provide feedback on how they’d like to see Hearthstone‘s Arena improve, so if you’ve got a corker of an idea on how to make that happen, head over to the official site here.
Mage
- Forgotten Torch
- Snowchugger
- Faceless Summoner
Rogue
- Goblin Auto Barber
- Undercity Valiant
Paladin
– No changes
Shaman
- Vitality Totem
- Dust Devil
- Totemic Might
- Ancestral Healing
- Dunemaul Shaman
- Windspeaker
Warlock
- Anima Golem
- Sacrificial Pact
- Curse of Rafaam
- Sense Demons
- Void Crusher
- Reliquary Seeker
- Succubus
Druid
- Savagery
- Poison Seeds
- Soul of the Forest
- Mark of Nature
- Tree of Life
- Astral Communion
Warrior
- Warsong Commander
- Bolster
- Charge
- Bouncing Blade
- Axe Flinger
- Rampage
- Ogre Warmaul
Hunter
- Starving Buzzard
- Call Pet
- Timber Wolf
- Cobra Shot
- Lock and Load
- Dart Trap
- Snipe
Priest
- Mind Blast
- Shadowbomber
- Lightwell
- Power Word: Glory
- Confuse
- Convert
- Inner Fire