Hearthstone fans will soon finally be able to play together. The popular “Battlefield” mode finally comes in a proper 2-player version.
Hearthstone is almost 10 years old and many of the fans’ wishes have been fulfilled over the course of the card game. There are long PvE campaigns with treasures, popular evergreen game modes like “Battlefield” and also more curious modes like Mercenary mode. But one wish of the fans has not yet been fulfilled: proper, cooperative play with a friend. That will change soon.
How does co-op mode work? For the new mode “Duo Battlegrounds” you have to register as a pair. You then compete against 3 other teams, so there are still 8 players in a game.
Basically, you continue to act independently in most areas. You have your own gold and your own battlefield and the inn upgrade only applies to you and not your partner.
What is interesting, however, is that you have a portal on the right. For one gold coin each, you can pass cards in your hand to the other player. For example, you see that your colleague collects a lot of ‘Mechs, but doesn’t have any three of a kind yet? If you are offered the missing third mech, you can buy it and simply hand it over to your fellow player.
In the Blizzard “What’s Next” video from BlizzCon you can see the mode from minute 16:50:
By clicking on the portal you can even direct the entire view to your fellow player as if you were in “spectator mode”. This way you always have an overview of what your fellow player is currently doing and which servants he is collecting.
By the way, the whole thing goes hand in hand with a ping system, so that even friends who don’t hang out together in voice chat can give each other clear messages.
How do the fights go? The fights take place one after the other in a sense. The first player on the team competes against an opponent – as before. However, as soon as one side is completely wiped out, the second player on the team moves in with his squad. First he has to attack the remains of the winner and, if he passes, the second player also moves in.
If one side manages to defeat the opponent without the second player even taking a turn, the second player’s stars will still be added to the attack damage suffered by the losing team.
Which partner fights the first battle changes every turn – so the right strategy is necessary to get the best out of both teams.
When is co-op mode coming? The mode is scheduled to go live relatively early next year, although that can still change. At least in the presentation at BlizzCon, co-op already seemed to work quite well – so the concept is working.
Now all we can do is hope that enough other players are interested in such co-op games so that this mode also becomes a new evergreen and doesn’t – like many other ideas in Hearthstone – sink into insignificance relatively quickly.
Are you interested in a co-op mode?