Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft's single-player expansion Curse of Naxxramas will add another wing later today. The Plague Quarter will go live in all territories by midnight.
While American gamers will have to wait until late at night, everyone else will get it several hours before then. Here's the full release schedule released by Blizzard:
- Americas: Tuesday, July 29th at 11:59 PM PDT
- Europe: Tuesday, July 29th at 11:59 PM CEST
- Asia: (Korea) Wednesday , July 30th at 12:59 AM KST / (Taiwan) Tuesday, July 29th 11:59 PM CST
- China: Tuesday, July 29th at 11:59 PM CST
The Plague Quarter of Naxxramas introduces three more bosses: Noth the Plaguebringer, Heigan the Unclean, and Loatheb. Defeating each will unlock new cards for your collection:
- Noth - Stoneskin Gargoyle (1/4, 3 mana): At the start of your turn, restore this minion to full health.
- Heigan - Unstable Ghoul (1/3, 2 mana): Taunt. Deathrattle: Deal 1 damage to all minions.
- Loatheb - Sludge Belcher (3/5, 5 mana): Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon a 1/2 slim with Taunt.
Additionally, defeating Loatheb will unlock his Legendary card. He's a 5/5 minion that costs 5 mana. His Battlecry makes your enemy's spells cost 5 more mana next turn. It would be a good way to blunt a mage or miracle rogue's offensive. It could be a really potent ability if you have a way to return the card to your deck like Shadowstep.
Once you've beaten the Plague Quarter on Normal, you'll unlock two Class Challenges. These Challenges will ask you to beat a specific Plague boss with a Hunter and a Mage, respectively. You'll be forced to play with a custom deck in the match. Here are the rewards for these Challenges:
- Mage - Duplicate (3 mana): When a friendly minion dies, put 2 copies of it in your hand.
- Hunter - Webspinner (1/1, 1 mana): Deathrattle: Add a random Beast card to your hand.
The final challenge of the Plague Quarter is Heroic mode. This mode cranks up bosses' health from 30 to 45. It also makes their Boss abilities more potent than usual. We'll update our Naxxramas guide with strategies for defeating these new bosses on Heroic soon.
Last week's wing, the Arachnid Quarter, was free to download. The Plague Quarter, however, is going to cost you. You can unlock it by either spending $6.99 or 700 gold. Bulk discounts are available as well if you're comfortable buying multiple wings. However, you can only spend cash with bulk purchases.
Blizzard will release three more wings in Curse of Naxxramas in the coming weeks.
