Attention all wannabe achievement hunters! It looks like we might only have less than a week left to try to milk some extra bits of precious XP from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire related tasks. So if you've been largely slacking off until now like some of us *coughs*, this is your last chance to get moving. The official blog word on the subject as follows:

Quote From Blizzard

Finally, please note that incomplete Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Gameplay achievements will no longer grant Reward Track XP after the 20.0 patch is released, and instead a new set of Forged in the Barrens Gameplay achievements will, so don’t forget to finish and claim those before they’re gone!


The clock is ticking now. It's a bit of a shame we won't have until Forged in the Barrens launches (supposedly due to the nature of Hearthstone's patching), and Celestalon himself was quick to confirm the above in case of any lingering doubts. 

With that in mind, the best we can do is to have a look at some last-minute tips and tricks in order to maximize XP gains from Gameplay achievements for various Darkmoon Class and Neutral cards. We have covered Druid, Hunter, and Mage so far. Here is the second set:


Paladin

Pure Dude Paladin is the way to go here, with some prayers and blessings directed at the almighty Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate. Perhaps the Old God might look favorably upon you. Except for that one random case, Paladin achievements aren't particularly difficult - but they take time, and you will need at least that one Legendary. 

  • Oh My Yogg! achievement is the most infamous of the bunch. As with anything with Yogg in its name, you will need RNG to be on your side. Self lethal apparently counts (so if they cast a spell and your secret triggers to Fireball you in the face, all good); if your opponent plays this secret and you somehow trigger it to kill either of you, that should count as well. The best you can do is to get yourself or the other player low, make sure they have got no minions or you have taunt in the way, and then hope. There is a number of spells that can do face damage even at 1-2 mana cost, and especially at 4. 
  • You don't need Lothraxion the Redeemed for divine shields for your recruits, as there are enough other cards (even as awkward as Righteousness), but he sure helps. 
  • Restoring health with weapons is better done through... Demon Hunter. Aldrachi Warblades sure trumps Libram of Judgment with all the buffs you can get. 
  • Duels note: Bring on Recruits and Men at Arms are a thing, and apparently the latter can even synergize with your Carnival Barker (the aura being applied at the very end). 

Priest

None of these are very difficult per se, but they require quite some setup and don't necessarily work too well together. Priest has a ton of spells and ways to stall, so you can often come up with replacement cards that are to your liking. The hero power is a great boon for achievement hunting.

  • It's a funny thing with that "spending health instead of mana" achievement. G'huun the Blood God seems necessary (and there is a chance to get it from Galakrond, the Unspeakable), but curiously enough one Warlock card from Wild, Seadevil Stinger, was giving progress for this as well. You can try your luck if it hasn't been ninja patched since. You might think that means Cho'gall and Bloodbloom should work as well - but nope, that wasn't the case when we last tried (unless discovered in Priest). Spaghetti code, as they say. 
  • Duels note: Scion of the Deep refused to count as well back in the day, even though it technically should. The game mode had (or still has) its fair share of bugs or weird interactions, and patch notes don't always fully inform us as to what might've been fixed or changed. For what it's worth, G'huun the Blood God can be found in loot buckets there as well. 
  • Priest decks like this can actually work alongside cards such as Horrendous Growth or the Old God duo of C'Thun, the Shattered and Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate if you were looking to also complete a few Neutral achievements on the side.


Rogue

These are on the difficult/awkward side, for the most part. Especially since as Rogue you would rather play more cheap cards to focus on tempo, and you have very limited ways to restore your own health. Fluffy Prize Plunderer is of course the odd easy one. If you played any type of Rogue deck in this meta, you probably have it completed by now or at least advanced along considerably. 

  • You are definitely going to need some mystical-jitsu on your side in order to get that Shadow Clone achievement. It is a pain. Best case scenario involves surviving long enough to hit some discounts with your Galakrond, the Nightmare and Heistbaron Togwaggle (through Wondrous Wand, perfect post Lorekeeper Polkelt). You can then give your 10-cost minion to your opponent with Silas Darkmoon and cast the secret. Ideally, their board is clear and they will be nice enough to go face and not trade (there is always an option to Shadowstep your own Silas Darkmoon, but you may have other minions around anyway). Did we mention it's all rather complicated? 
  • Many people prefer to get that one done in Wild thanks to the likes of Arcane Giant, Emperor Thaurissan, Vanish, and what have you. 
  • Or you could just slot Shadow Clone into any Rogue deck of your choice and hope you will somehow queue into Big Warrior or Duel/Ramp Paladin, rare as they might be. 
  • Duels note: Vile Concoction, Green Tortollan Shell, and Acquired Allies can all help your game plan, and it's possible to go against some greedier decks there that run 10-cost minions of their own. 

  • Grand Empress Shek'zara achievement mostly requires a bit of patience. Once you have drawn her, you only need properly updated Togwaggle's Scheme to be cast on any minion of your choice. If you somehow miss out on hitting whatever you copied, Shadowstep offers another chance. 
  • Shenanigans achievement doesn't really need a dedicated deck for it (although some sort of Secret Rogue is recommended) - you could technically add it everywhere while hoping to face opponents with decent card draw. It's just rather slow and annoying, not to mention buggy. There have been reports of stuff such as Soul Fragment messing with it, the secret not always triggering properly with Skull of Gul'dan, and so on. It does take even more patience to get there. 
  • As always, secrets can't trigger on your own turn - so there is no being clever with something like Prize Vendor plus Shadowstep to force the other player into drawing cards when you want. Only Dancing Swords in Wild could do that job if they decide to kill it on their turn. 

Keep In Mind

These achievements can only be completed in either Ranked Mode (Standard/Wild), Duels, and Arena. Not Casual Standard/Wild or Tavern Brawl though. It's advised you hit a ranked floor first (i.e. 10 or 5 Silver/Platinum etc.) where you can't lose any stars before attempting anything there. Make sure you're not on a win streak either, it would be a shame to let that go to waste. With nothing at stake and gradual achievement progress to be had, you can have a number of relaxing games that don't require much attention. My favorite for multi-tasking. 

Heroic Duels and Arena will cost you 150 gold per run while having the fiercest competition on average, so probably not the best investment for the sake of some additional XP (pretty good for finding Legendaries you don't have though). Casual Duels, on the other hand, is free of charge, and unlike Casual Standard/Wild, counts for all achievements. Being limited to 15 starting cards can actually help in some cases, and there is even more to gain for hitting 3-12 wins and achieving a flawless 12-0 run if you haven't done those yet.  


Also losing the XP bonus, so grab it while you can! 


Don't Stress Over It 

You should expect that most opponents won't be able to read your intentions even once you start playing weirdly, likely still doing their best to go for the win and inadvertently ruin your delicate setup plans. Alas, it's rather difficult to communicate through a limited selection of emotes! Try not to let that annoy you too much; once in a while someone might catch on and play along. It's your call how much you want to try with these extra sources of XP and whether it's worth your time; every game played adds a small amount regardless. At the end of the day, you wouldn't be missing out on a lot (except for Duels). Just a nice little bonus here and there. 

Unless stated otherwise, you can also complete achievements from one class with another class doing the same thing or getting a hold of required cards (such as Paladin lifesteal or Shaman face damage accomplished by Demon Hunter). We tried to mention that where applicable. The main focus here is on the cards available in the Standard format, as the extent of everyone's Wild collection would vary greatly. That said, you can definitely experiment to find valid additions and replacements based on what you got from the older sets. Many options exist. Good luck! 


How many of these achievements did you manage to get done over the course of this expansion? Are you going to try your hardest during the final week to earn some extra XP or just take it easy? Any other tips and tricks that might be worth sharing with the rest of us? You can use our Deckbuilder to show your own achievement spins for these classes, and drop us a link in the comments! 

Also a shout-out to many of our community members for being an inspiration with their creative suggestions and forum threads such as these. When in doubt, you know where to look!