Hearthstone
Collectible hero powers, a simple idea to add more depth to the game?
Dalaran Heist gave us the possibility to choose a hero power for our class. Why not bring this to the PvP part of the game?
Here's how I imagine it: Hero powers would become collectible just like other cards. HOWEVER they would not be considered cards properly speaking because they would have a specific slot for them in each deck list. All 9 existing hero powers would be part of the basic set. Then, from time to time, Blizz could give us collectible hero powers as the second class legendary slot for each class, kinda like Quests right now.
Non-basic Hero Powers wouldn't need to have the restrictions of basic ones. They could be passive; have a cost different from 2; have an effect with keywords in them and that is more specific than the basic hero powers which were designed to be versatile; etc... It would also be the occasion to give ping hero powers to classes that don't have one but desparately need one (hi Priest and Warlock).
Blizzard already has part of the code done for that since it's done in Heist. Pain Split and Touch of Bark, for instance, both look like good candicates. On the other hand, Cut-less and The Pact aren't due to the tempo they generate.
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Dalaran Heist gave us the possibility to choose a hero power for our class. Why not bring this to the PvP part of the game?
Here's how I imagine it: Hero powers would become collectible just like other cards. HOWEVER they would not be considered cards properly speaking because they would have a specific slot for them in each deck list. All 9 existing hero powers would be part of the basic set. Then, from time to time, Blizz could give us collectible hero powers as the second class legendary slot for each class, kinda like Quests right now.
Non-basic Hero Powers wouldn't need to have the restrictions of basic ones. They could be passive; have a cost different from 2; have an effect with keywords in them and that is more specific than the basic hero powers which were designed to be versatile; etc... It would also be the occasion to give ping hero powers to classes that don't have one but desparately need one (hi Priest and Warlock).
Blizzard already has part of the code done for that since it's done in Heist. Pain Split and Touch of Bark, for instance, both look like good candicates. On the other hand, Cut-less and The Pact aren't due to the tempo they generate.
Allowing all classes to collect and use the other basic hero powers would be an enormous balance headache and would also lead to dozens of additional card nerfs for cards that aren't an issue.
Plus chances are they would dump all of the hero powers into the laps of warlock, mage, priest, and warrior with only a wink and a nod for card nerfs while eviscerating (pun intended) the class cards of classes like rogue, druid, or shaman. Zomg can't let rogues get tempo or face hero powers without nerfs, but by all means warriors, priests, and mages with life tap? Psh, favored classes will be favored classes. Can't have too much control power creep.
I think this is a good idea, but maybe it would be better to have it be more like Baku, as in a legendary card that says "Start of Game: Replace your Hero Power with the alternate one for your class"
I think that in general it could be a good idea though, they would just have to make sure that the new Hero Powers were very well balanced
It would be a real nightmere to balance properly, just look at how Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater were forced in HoF earlier or how much DKs forced almost everyone to play them (ofc some are far better than others also thanks to their battlecry). Also it may requires a whole balance round for potential broken interaction.
It's a nice idea, but probably it should have been implemented since the start of the game instead of being thrown in at this point.
"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?"
What do you think about having it tied to a legendary, like Genn and Baku were? Alternatively, it could be something like a 3 Mana 3/3 that starts in your opening hand (like quests) and changes your Hero power to the alternate one when played. That way it is balanced by reducing the number of cards in your opening hand, not activating until turn three, and requiring you to play an understatted 3 drop. This would actually be really easy to balanced, since if it were too good it could easily be balanced to a 3/2 or even 1/1. Of course, the Hero Powers would have to be of equivalent power to the existing ones.
While i would love it, it would be impossible to balance the game properly, or maybe just Blizzard impossible :kappa:
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The only way to make a decent use of alternate HP is a mechanic like Justicar Trueheart: high mana cost, bad stats and the only condition to use it is that you actualy have to draw that single card in your deck, so you're also tied to get a decent luck or you may not even see it.
Everything that can come into play in the early game will be broken or at last really hard to balance, because the initial turns are a crucial phase of a match and often the final outcome is determinated by how it's started.
"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?"
Uh, you don't understand. I'm not proposing that all basic hero powers should be available to all classes, that would be silly. My idea is giving entirely new collectible hero powers (like collectible heroes) to each class.
It would be hard to balance properly, but not impossible. There are people paid for that at Blizzard, and it's not like they never get it wrong even when they're conservative in what they do.
Also the Genn/Baku problem arguably already exist for one of the existing hero power: Life Tap already wraps the entire warlock class. It alone gives it its two historical main archetypes: Zoo and Hand (Ok, Flame Imp and Mountain Giant help too). As long as the new HP avoid that, we're good.