Hearthstone's second expansion Goblins Vs. Gnomes will launch on December 8th and 9th. with a slew of new cards. Here's everything you need to know about the game's new era.
Overview
Unlike Curse of Naxxramas, Goblins Vs. Gnomes doesn't have any new single-player content. This new expansion is focused on adding cards to the game. It features over 120 cards, both class-based and neutral. Many of the minions introduced in Goblins vs. Gnomes belong to a new Mech type. These Mechs have special abilities that boost each other's effectiveness.
Release Dates
The exact release date for Goblins vs. Gnomes varies by region. The Americas, Southeast Asia and Oceania will receive the expansion on December 8th. Europe, Korea, Taiwan and China will have to wait until the following day.
Spare Parts
Some of the cards in GvG will place Spare Parts in the player's hand. Spare Parts are one-mana abilities that modify a minion. For example, Armor Plating gives a minion +1 Health while Emergency Coolant freezes them. The Part you receive is randomly chosen from this list of seven:
- Reversing Switch - Swap a minion's Attack and Health.
- Armor Plating - Give a minion +1 Health.
- Whirling Blades - Gives a minion +1 Attack.
- Emergency Coolant - Freeze a minion.
- Finicky Cloakfield - Give a friendly minion Stealth until your next turn.
- Rusty Horn - Give a minion Taunt.
- Time Rewinder - Return a friendly minion to your hand.
Again, there are no single-player challenges to earn the new Goblins Vs. Gnomes cards. Instead, players buy them in packs through the in-game store. They can be purchased individually for 100 Gold. Real-money purchases are also possible at the same price as normal Expert packs.
The Goblins vs. Gnomes cards can be crafted or disenchanted. Crafting them requires Arcane dust, the same currency for older cards. Blizzard evidently decided that introducing another kind of in-game currency would've been too clunky.
Arena
As of December 4th, all Goblins vs. Gnomes cards are usable in Hearthstone's Arena mode. They'll be part of the random pool you craft your deck from. After the expansion's official launch, the card packs awarded when you finish your Arena run will contain GvG cards so you can permanently add them to your collection.
Spectator Mode
Spectator Mode went live in the same patch that introduced GvG cards to the Arena. This feature enables players to spectate their friends' games, as long as they have the feature enabled. You can see your friend's hand but not their opponent's, presumably to prevent cheating.
This mode was also designed for use with Tournaments. During these events, players will be able to see both competitors' hands. Meanwhile, players being watched by a crowd can see the number of spectators in the bottom left corner of their screen.
Balance Changes
The pre-GvG patch also weakens three cards that already exist in the game. Here's a run-down of these changes:
- Flare now costs 2 mana, up from 1.
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer now costs 6 mana, up from 5.
- Soulfire now costs 1 mana, up from 0.
New Cards
Goblins Vs. Gnomes introduces 8 cards for each of the classes in the game. There are also 53 Neutral cards that you can use no matter what character you're playing. Of these new additions, 20 are Legendary minions. Each class has their own new Legendary, while rest are Neutral.
You can check out of all the new additions in the image gallery on the next page.
