Hot on the heels of its 10th anniversary and WoW Crossover event, Hearthstone is rolling out a new game mode that allows for coop play in one of the game’s most beloved modes: Battlegrounds Duos. The new mode will allow players to team up with a friend or random player to take on other teams in the familiar Battlegrounds setting with a few new tricks to make it unique. If that sounds appealing, this guide details what you can expect from this new way to play Hearthstone.
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What are Battlegrounds Duos in Hearthstone?
Battlegrounds Duos is a new way for players to enjoy the Battlegrounds mode in Hearthstone. It allows 2 players to team up against three other teams of two in intense, cooperative matches that require the same strategic thinking and feature the same gameplay as usual, only now with a few extra quirks.
It’s a free addition to the game, so any player can try the mode, and it’s simple to play. To play Battlegrounds Duos, it is as simple as clicking the crown icon at the top of the right corner of the Battleground UI. Once clicked, the icon should change from 1 crown to 2. When it does, players are in Duos mode and ready to look for a game. This mode also has a separate rating and leaderboard system from regular Battlegrounds.
New Features in Battlegrounds Duos
The gameplay of Battlegrounds Duos is almost the same as regular Battlegrounds, with gameplay separated into 2 phases: recruiting and combat. During recruiting, players spend gold to purchase minions with different effects, which they then use in battle against other players in the combat phase. The winner deals damage to their opponent.
In Duos, this is the same, only there are a couple of extra quirks that play into the coop aspect of the mode. For one, players take turns attacking first, and if they happen to lose and their warband is defeated, the second player’s warband steps in to take over. Whichever Duo has a warband left standing will win and deal damage that round. If a player happens to wipe both enemy warbands, empty space is filled with their teammate’s minions to deal extra damage.
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Additionally, health and armor are shared, so it’s all the more important to work together since it will be both players on the line. Tavern tier costs are also increased by two gold for tiers 4,5, and 6.
Beyond these fairly small changes, several more significant additions make the mode its own.
Players can View Each Other’s Boards
Since players will need to work together, it makes sense to see each other’s boards and know what they are doing. To do so, click the blue portal on the board’s right side, where players would find their deck in traditional Hearthstone. That way, it gives players an idea of what their partners have, need, and could use, which players can then adapt and work around.
Pass Cards to Each Other to Help Maximize Damage and Strategies
Along with viewing teammates’ hands, the portal is used to pass cards to each other during a game. This costs 1 gold and can only be done with a card in a player’s hand, excluding spells. With this, players can give their partner cards they may need to upgrade units or help them if they lag behind in the match.
Players can denote cards partner players have by the green sheen on a card portrait. There are also several Duos-specific cards that use the Pass mechanic to increase their power or effects.
Players have their own Gold and Tavern Line Up
For all the coop features introduced in the mode, some things stay the same, such as gold and tavern lineups. Each player will have their own gold and lineup of minions to choose from each round, making it all the more important to check what a partner has on their board, as one player might have a minion that they need or could benefit from. Tavern tiers are also separate.
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Pings Help Communicate with Other Players
Duos uses a ping system to help players communicate with their teammates. By pressing right-click or two-finger tapping on mobile on a card or button, players can select one of several emotes that highlight cards or indicate an idea to the other player. They can then respond and play accordingly, making this a helpful tool for communicating and planning the next move.
Along with the recently released Whizbangs Workshop expansion, Blizzard has many more plans for Hearthstone over the year, and we imagine this includes new cards and tweaks to this mode.
Hearthstone
- Released
- March 11, 2014
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game
