Steemians! Hearthstone/Warcraft Fans! Those that want to start hearthstone! What is up!?
It is another great season for all Hearthstone Players all over the world as we welcome another expansion that Blizzard and Team5: Knights of the Frozen Throne.
But today, is not a day that I will be posting the 135 different cards this expansion has to offer. Today I am going to be doing something different. I am going to make a guide that differs a bit than other guides that you see on the web. And yes there are plenty of them that are great ones, those that I tend to get back to most of the times.
This is a "Guide on Progressing in Hearthstone on a Free2 Play account".
As I have mentioned, there are plenty of guides that would teach you/help you become better in Hearthstone. In fact the easiest Guide I could refer you over to would be watching pro player streams on twitch.
So how does this differ than the rest of the guides?
- As a startup (main) F2P account, how do we not get easily bored from the Chore of Grinding everything?
- What is best for me? Arena or Ranked Play or just simply Casual Play?
So let's get started!
Question: How to not get bored from all that grind?
Answer: Opening Legendaries/Completing Tier 1 Decks/Achieving Milestones
To those that already started Hearthstone, everyone, even the PRO Players, would say that the Grind on Hearthstone is a chore. For the uninitiated, well, you will feel this slowly as you get into, maybe, the 2nd week of playing Hearthstone. To us, that has been playing the game for ages, this becomes normal already.
All that said about the Grind, you cannot do anything about it. You just have to accept it, You reap what you sow, right? But that is not meant to scare you, we just have to look at it at different perspectives. So let us start from the top.
As a startup F2P account for Hearthstone
If you have opened a legendary card already - do you remember the excitement? The Thrill? The Adrenaline Rush just by highlighting that card back that is laced with a Legendary Aura? I am sure you do.
If you haven't opened any legendary, I am sure you are dying to open your first one. Most especially opening this from your hard earned grinded gold.
To open legendaries/completing tier 1 decks - you need to open packs. Plenty of Packs. And to do this WITHOUT real money - you need to GRIND to get GOLD.
How you say?
Every 3 wins is 10g. You are only able to get this to 100g a day. That means - to max this out - 30wins per day.
Questing - You get 1 Quest per day (NA Servers refreshes this on 12mn Pacific Time)
You get to keep only 3 quests active at a time, if full in time of refresh - it will not generate another quest. Quests are classified in different gold/difficulty - 40g, 50g, 60g, 80g (Bonus play with a friend) and 100g.
Getting 10g per 3 wins is pretty explanatory. But let us think of this as a consolation.
The main money making machine that you will have daily is QUESTING.
If you are still starting out with Hearthstone, my suggestion to you is to create 2 Accounts.
Requirement: 2 Computers OR 1 Cellphone(with HS) + Computer OR 2 Cellphones(with HS)
First account (Main Account) This is where you will play the most, achieve milestones, have fun, brag about your achievements/cards with friends.
Second Account (Recruit a Friend Account) If you recruit another account and bring the total levels to 20 you get a murloc hero to replace Thrall for Shaman for the one that recruited (In this case your Main Account) -- https://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/community/recruit-a-friend
That is purely Aesthetics - This does not help me at all. Why do I have to do this? -- Friends Forever.
http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/2848-new-features-coming-to-hearthstone-quest-with
We have to admit, if you have a (100g Quest - Win 7 Games) and your winrate is 50% you need atleast 14 games played to finish it.
Grind? Play with your other account on a different device. Win 7 straight games. (Take note - you cannot just auto concede - play a few turns to get it logged)If you are new, you would not have that many friends playing Hearthstone yet, and you come across with the 80g play with a friend quest. - Play with your other account.
100g Play 75 battlecry minions or play 100 murlocs - you cannot finish this right away with playing randomly against anyone. Then play with yourself and get it over and done with fast to get you your gold.
I know playing with yourself is boring. This is not the essence of the game. But if you want to get things done fast this is the fastest and easiest way to avoid that much grind.
This also allows you to retain all 60g and 100g quests and do it easily, rather than settling for 40g and 50g.
So what are the top priority quests I should have up.
All quests at 60g and 100g. Spectate and get 1 Pack (Equivalent to 100g). 80g Play with a friend Quest.
It does not matter which quests you have, if you have a 2nd account - playing through these quests are a breeze.
Check out my Gold saved up since the Start of Un'Goro Crater Expansion.
Now, I know how to get gold, what do I do next? Open packs and get legendaries!
So for every pack you are given atleast 1 rare and getting epic and legendary cards are very random. The good thing is, there is what is called a pity timer. You will have a legendary for every 30 or so packs you opened. Even Blizzard recognizes this as they encountered a recent bug and handed out 2000 dust for everyone.
http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/3170-get-2000-arcane-dust-blizzard-makes-up-for-pity
Update: Knights of the Frozen Throne (These are not yet live - it's about to be though Americas Region: August 10 12:00 PM PDT)
http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/2930-card-pack-changes-coming-no-more-duplicate
So with all those updates in Knights of the Frozen throne - You will now have a Horde of Legendary Cards in your arsenal.
Grind still not worthwhile?
Question: Now that I have Gold/I have consistent Packs opened, what do I do now?
Answer: You choose your progression in Hearthstone.
There are 3 paths:
- Casual Play (Play for fun - Collect Cards Create LOLDecks and play with friends)
- Arena Play (If you want more gold/packs - this is more of a GAMBLE - an RNG on its own)
- Ranked Play (Go for Legendary Ranks either Standard or Wild or maybe even both)
Another way to not get bored? Think of what you are planning to achieve.
These are the 3 paths to progression in Hearthstone and this is purely your personal preference.
If you are a casual player, the source of your fun would be the MEMEs and the LOLs and the YOLOs that you will encounter with your decks. Even if you lose, it was fun anyways. This is purely for the laughs and finishing quest without ruining your Ranked Records. Or if you want to get out of the serious notes of the game or to let loose.
Arena is for the more advanced player.
To be honest, I find this more difficult than Ranked Play because of it's randomness. RNG starts out when you are still creating your deck then moves to the actual games itself. Though difficult, the reward is greater in game as you get to open Packs Gold and/or even Dust. I would say, breakeven is at around 5 wins(Gold returns), profit at 7 wins(Sometimes 2 packs).
I have to admit, I am not really an arena Player. I am not good in arena, arena deck building (drafting). I don't spend so much time in Arena. Maybe just to break the ice if I'm tired from Ranked play. But again, if you are good at arena, you can definitely farm Gold from this type of play.
The max wins I had in Arena is 11 wins despite the somewhat numerous Arena Attempts. Guide? Lemme refer you over to Kripparian.
Check out his twitch channel, as he mostly plays arena you get the idea how he drafts, make plays, anticipates. But fair warning, Kripp is known to be a salty player, LOL, sorry kripp. He is also partnered with heartharena.com - an arena drafting tool to help you keep track with your arena games as well as help you draft your arena decks. So if you are keen in playing arena, Checke'em out.
Ranked Player - This is quite long - Sorry.
The highest Ranked I achieved was legendary. But that does not mean I am already a professional nor I should be handing out guides to ensure your road to legendary.
Determination is key as you have to allocate hundreds of games just to get to Rank 5 and hundreds more to get from there to legendary ranks.
But as an early player, I would say it would be best to get into the Ranked Play early. Ending at around Rank 18 or Rank 15 are pretty acceptable if you are new and have a very small cardpool to choose from. But the soonest you get to playing Ranked, the faster you engage yourself into researching top tier decks that would help you in attaining better ranks in a particular season.
These are the references I use to check out what is latest in the Meta.
Disguisedtoast.com - toast's website contains a snapshot of the meta and some of the recent legendary decks. It also contains a tier ranking of the meta decks that you can choose and compare with.
Hearthstonetopdecks.com - a website, like toast's, contains much about the recent legendary decks. A deck comparison tool. Articles/Guides and updates. It also contains a list of staple decks like freeze mage and the like along with their guides.
Hearthpwn.com - and this time much like topdecks, contains articles and some guides. The decks here are uploaded by the players themselves rather than something grabbed. Sometimes they copy decks which lack guides but nevertheless the lists are there.
NOTE: These are included in my day to day routine of websites opened as they are pretty much updated.
So if you are starting out, consider looking at cheaper decks that are considered Tier 1-3 in the Meta. Yes they exist. It does not mean to say that you need to have a deck full of legendary cards inorder to achieve legendary ranks. And it also does not mean to say that when you have a Tier 1 deck, it is a breeze to get to legendary ranks. For starters, these decks are already being tested by the bulk of the players and some, if not many, have already piloted the decks to legendary at some point. So technically these decks have proven their worth, piloting it is a different story.
https://disguisedtoast.com/meta_deck_rankings
That is where Guides come in and the most important of them all - experience. Yes, you may have a top tier deck but if you do not play it or learn how to, it will not take you anywhere.
Consider these decks.
Tier 1 - Pirate Aggro Warrior
Deck Code: AAECAQcCrwSRvAIOHLACkQP/A44FqAXUBaQG7gbnB+8HgrACiLACub8CAA==
Pirate Aggro warrior has been deemed a top tier deck ever since the last 2 expansions.Though it is not as OP as it once was, many still play this because of the fast games. Either Fast wins or Fast Losses - LOL. And yes, it can get you legendary if you play it right for hundreds of games. SMORC anyone?
NOTE: This is a 5,200 Dust Deck. What makes this expensive are the Legendary Cards - Leeroy and Patches, and 2 Epic cards SouthSea Captain. The rest though are pretty much attainable. All we need to do would be to swap out these cards and eventually craft them if you really like how the deck is.
Reckless Rocketeer? A Tech Card in Spellbreaker or Acidic Swamp Ooze? to swap out the expensive cards. So if you choose to swap them out, that deck becomes a 1,200 Dust Deck.
http://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/aggro-pirate-warrior-deck-list-guide-standard/
Tier 3 - Midrange Hunter
Deck Code: AAECAR8C2wnOrgIOqAK1A7sDuwXrB+0JgQr+DLm0Auq7Auy7AuTCAonDAo7DAgA=
Midrange Hunter has always had it's place early in an expansion. It is always cheap and effective, most especially on a fresh meta. But I have not seen this on higher ranks nor is it present in tournament play. Midrange Hunters are a good learning curve for new players, as you get to play to fight for board control and effectively dishing out damage as you do it. It gives you space for plenty of decisions but not enough to drain you out.
NOTE: This deck posted is 2,740 Dust but has a tech'd in Hungry Crab for the bulk of the Murloc Presence in the current Meta. I am unsure though if it would change eventually. There are a bunch of cards here that comes from solo adventures as well but they can be replaced with a whole lot of other selections.
Vicious Fledgeling, Nesting Roc, Dire Wolf Alpa, even Freezing Trap.
http://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/midrange-hunter-deck-list-guide-standard/
Those are just examples of decks recognized as higher tier which are much more affordable than a legendary laden deck (PRE KOFT Expansion). When the "Questing with Friends" Update went live, I created a new F2P account I use to hasten my Questing and I always go back to having these cheap decks created up my rank a bit on them.
My Last bit of input would be always to check out twitch.tv as plenty of PRO players stream their games there. They also test out decks there that goes high up in the ranks. I have learned alot from them in terms of decision making skills, anticipations and even RNGFails.
Speaking of RNGFails. Even after all that discussion on determination or even completing the tier decks you have dreamed of acquiring, you are still tired and bored from all of the Grinding. You might like to check out Trolden's Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/Trolden1337
He has episodes of Funny and Lucky Moments makes me ROFL.
So PLaying as a Free2Play, I expect you to be exhausted if you grind your way every single day. My day to day activities in Hearthstone - considering busy schedules would be to just Complete Quests Daily. Exchange 40g - 50g quests in the hope for a more expensive one. Tavern Brawl once a week - easy pack. If you are in the mood to grind a few ranks, get into ranked play. Want to have laughs? Test out a fun combo deck? Casual.
And no, Hearthstone is not a pay to win game. You pay to get cards fast, but that does not mean you can't get the cards as a Free2Play. Like me, there are plenty out there that have been playing as F2P and we no longer need to buy packs and craft everything every single expansion. Just like any other expansion - let the meta dust settle a bit before you craft cards. Be wary of sudden nerfs as they entail full dust refunds.
So I believe that's that. I hope that you new guys would be able to speed up your gold gain and get a horde of them legendaries this new expansion.
And I also hope that you got to have a handful of inputs most especially to new players or about to be new players out there.
I will be uploading a video of me opening packs with whatever Gold I have at the moment. Please stay tuned as I will be sharing that experience with you as I am nearing the 10,000 GOLD mark.
So if you enjoyed this please follow, upvote and resteem! And continue to stay tuned for more!
Till next time!