5 Beginner Tips for Hearthstone

Window Shopping, the Hearthstone Way

Hearthstone may be a free card game add-on to one of the biggest intellectual properties this side of the gaming world, but it doesn’t lack the depth to keep players hooked. There are enough different strategies, monsters, and spells to keep anyone on their toes. As a result, it can be difficult to find your preferred deck set up or even get started but don’t fret. Everyone has to start somewhere and the more battles you endure, the more you’ll learn.

You might set up a deck to go all out on your opponents in the first few turns. This will work against some but not others. By the same token you could prefer a much longer play strategy with several high powered cards you can only play with higher mana. There is no one strategy in Hearthstone and no one way to be the best around so take your time.  Variety is the spice of life may be somewhat cliche but by slightly changing your style you may find the best way for you to play. Getting an idea of this early will help you build a deck around what you want to do.

In order to do this though, you’re going to have to get the research done. Half the research comes from just playing the game (simple enough, it is free after all) and the other half comes in the next tip.

Class Clown

Here’s the research you should be doing. There are (at the time of writing) nine different classes of deck in Hearthstone. Each one has a unique hero ability and class-only cards that it can use. For many the best way to learn is practically so take that and apply it to Hearthstone: try out all the classes yourself.

They can be unlocked for you by defeating each one in Practice Mode. This not only provides an easy way to get your hands on each class, it also shows you how they play as the computer makes its moves to stop you. I know when you’re playing a new game the desire is often to jump in first and ask questions later but I implore you, go and unlock every class first. You’ll not only level up (and unlock new cards as a result), you could find that class which plays perfectly for you.

For example, I went into the game planning to play as a Warrior – I had for several years in World of Warcraft. After taking on the Hunter deck though I changed my mind. Amassing a menagerie of monstrous fauna suddenly became an appealing prospect along with the spells the class had. Every one of them has a particular flavor so don’t let your palette go wondering and give them a shot.

Gimme Gimme Gimme Mana After Midnight

One of Hearthstone‘s rather unique mechanics is that of Mana Crystals. At the beginning of the game each player has 1 mana crystal (although whoever goes second has 2 in theory because they are given a special one-time use card). After a turn passes the maximum amount of mana players have at their disposal increases by 1. You’ll see on the top left hand of corner of each card a small number, that’s the Mana cost to play the card. Managing this is the key to your success.

We all know it would be nice to have the most powerful cards in your deck at all times but this simply isn’t feasible. Firstly because you can only have two of each card in your deck at any one time – except Legendary cards where you can only have one. That means you’re not allowed a full deck of Core Hounds or Arcane Shots. Secondly, and most importantly, having a deck full of highly powerful cards will likely mean you’ve got nothing to play in the opening turns.

Against some players this won’t be a problem. Against most though, it can cause you to lose before even playing a single card. Hearthstone‘s internal Suggest Card option when building a deck does help you to avoid this but it isn’t perfect so be careful. Also keep track of how much you’re using in a turn. If you’re planning a combo of several cards only to find that on the final strike you’ve got nothing, your opponent will take advantage of your weakness.

Health Freaks Unite

This is without a doubt the second most obvious tip for beginners on this list but it is no less important. Zombies don’t win at card games. How do you avoid becoming a zombie? Simple really, don’t die. The major win condition in Hearthstone (except form running out of cards) is the loss of all your hero’s health so make sure you don’t lose it.

Yes I understand that this might sound like having to remind someone to breathe but bear with me. Hearthstone is an easy game to get sucked up in. That rush when you’ve got a powerful card ready and raring to go which will decimate your opponent is exhilarating, don’t let it wash you away. The person across the table could have enough on the field to take your health down to nothing in several turns.

Being prepared is the only real advice that works here. If you leave yourself open to direct damage you’re going to have a bad time. Throw out a couple of minions with Taunt to ensure your rival has a couple of hurdles to jump over. Also bear in mind that you can do the same to them and prepare a collection of attacks which will whittle down their health pool without them knowing. Keep a calculator handy if your mental arithmetic isn’t the best.

Be an Upstanding Citizen

Competitive online mulitplayer is often a toxic environment. Most arenas that run through the series of tubes we call the Internet are tainted in some way by players who insult those they defeat or those they are defeated by. Hearthstone is quite special in that you can’t communicate directly with your opponents unless you know them. Even though their BattleTag is displayed in the top left of the screen, you’ll not be able to add your rival this way and vice versa.

There are however a few unwritten rules in this world. By right-clicking on your hero’s profile you’ll see a selection of 6 phrases. While it’s rare to offer a greeting it doesn’t hurt. What is a generally accepted rule however is to offer your opponent a Well Played should you beat them or they beat you. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice and shows a mutual respect. After many (and I mean many) hours playing Hearthstone I’ve never come across a player who acted like an outright asshat.

Of course if your opponent is just getting on your nerves you can press a bunch of them to confuse their minds but this is sort of bad practice. Be nice to them and they will probably be nice to you to.