Hearthstone’s Year of the Gryphon update introduces large-scale changes, hundreds of new cards, and more

Blizzard’s Hearthstone is receiving a new update in the coming weeks as the first expansion of the year is available now for pre-purchase.

The Forged in the Barrens expansion introduces 135 all-new cards inspired by one of World of Warcraft’s most iconic locations. New keywords and game mechanics are being added with this set, and the expansion will also introduce ten Legendary Mercenary minions, each one representing a different class.

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There will also be a new singleplayer and competitive game mode coming to Hearthstone called Mercenaries, in which you collect, upgrade, and battle mighty characters from all across Azeroth. You will see your mercs gain experience, equipment, new abilities and watch them evolve into more powerful versions of themselves while battling through randomly generated roguelike missions.

“The Year of the Gryphon will be yet another exciting and eventful year filled with new content and new experiences in Hearthstone,” said J. Allen Brack from Blizzard. “Forged in the Barrens will take us to a place straight out of World of Warcraft that’s dear to us and to many of our players, the new Core set will continue to shake up the game on an annual basis, and Hearthstone Mercenaries and the new Classic mode will introduce even more awesome ways to play.”

You can now pre-purchase the Forged in the Barrens expansion, which costs £44.99 and includes 60 packs from the expansion, two random Legendary Cards, and the Hamuul Runetotem card back.

There’s also the Forged in the Barrens Mega Bundle, costing £69.99 and includes 85 card packs from the expansion, five of which are Golden Card Packs, and two random Golden Legendary cards.

Hearthstone is available on the iOS App Store and Google Play.