When you enter the new Mercenaries mode, you will be taken to the Village. The Village is the central hub to all things Mercenaries, the place where you can manage your Mercenaries, prepare for Bounties, check the Task Board, and so much more. Here you can learn more about the Village, how to upgrade your Mercenaries, and what Mercenaries will be available at launch!
A Tour of the Village
First, let’s take a look at the sights in the Village.
Workshop
The Workshop will be your first stop in the Village. Actually, when you first enter the Village, it will be the only stop! At the Workshop, you can build out and upgrade all the other locations in the Village. Upgrading locations gives them a new look and improves their functionality. Some upgrades unlock additional features, whereas others allow for more efficiency. All Village upgrades are persistent, so you’ll be able to watch your Village grow and flourish as you play.
Tavern
The Tavern is where your Mercenaries rest and relax when they’re not out chasing a Bounty. Think of it like your Mercenaries Collection Manager. From the Tavern, you can craft Mercenaries, browse your collection of Mercenaries, select from any cosmetic options for them, upgrade their Abilities and Equipment, or throw them together to form a Party!
Travel Point
The Travel Point is your access to Bounties across Azeroth for Mercenaries PVE gameplay. From here, you can pick a Zone and then a Bounty to hunt within that Zone. The Bounties unlock sequentially within a Zone and each has a suggested level and predetermined Bounty Boss, so you have some idea what you’re getting yourself into. After you upgrade your Travel Point, you will also be able to unlock the Heroic difficulty, which will make Bounties much more challenging! We also have plans to continue adding to the Travel Point in future updates for even more challenges.
You can learn more about collecting Bounties in the Gameplay blog.
Fighting Pit
Once you’ve collected a few Bounties, you can head to the Fighting Pit for a different kind of combat! In the Fighting Pit, you are always paired against a similarly-powerful team of Mercenaries, even when trying out one of your new, under-leveled Mercenaries. Gameplay is also a little different in the Fighting Pit than it is while hunting Bounties because you can’t see what moves your opponent is locking in. Compete in the Fighting Pits to complete achievements, get rewards, and even push for a spot on the leaderboard!
Merchant Cart
The Merchant Cart is your shortcut to the Mercenaries-specific part of the in-game shop. From there, you can get Mercenaries Packs, Mercenaries Coins, and any seasonal or personal offers that might be available to you. Mercenaries Packs are a great way to grow your collection! Each Mercenaries Pack offers five Mercenaries items, which can include new Mercenary Cards, Mercenary Coins, or Mercenary Portraits.
Mailbox
The Mailbox is where you will receive in-game announcements about Hearthstone’s Mercenaries mode. Check in regularly to see what kinds of special events and offers you can take advantage of!
Campfire
And last, but certainly not least, the Campfire. The Campfire is where your Mercenaries can sit, relax, and trade stories about glorious Bounties you’ve claimed with them. Functionally, the Campfire houses the Task Board. The Task Board is similar to your Quest Log or Achievements tab in the Journal. Once a day, Mercenaries will come sit by the Campfire and put up a new task for you to complete. Once you have completed the task, return to the Campfire to claim your reward. Those rewards can include Mercenary Coins, Mercenaries Packs, or Equipment for a particular Mercenary. Even after you’ve completed your dailies, there will be ways to get more tasks in your Village, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss anything!
Managing Your Collection
Now that you’ve taken a tour of the Village, let’s head back to the Tavern for a more in-depth look at the Mercenaries collection system.
When you first enter the Tavern, you’ll notice that your Mercenaries are organized into three sections, called Roles, each with a corresponding color. Red Mercenaries are called Protectors; green Mercenaries are called Fighters; and blue Mercenaries are called Casters. Each tends to have different strengths and weaknesses and play a different role in your Parties.
You’ll also notice your existing Mercenaries Parties and a button to create a new Party on the right side—similar to your decks and deck slots in the Collection Manager. If you create a new Party, or select an existing Party, you can edit it by dragging Mercenaries to or from the collection, just like building a deck.
You can learn more about what each of the Roles entail, and strategies for building a good Party, in the Gameplay Blog.
Selecting a particular Mercenary will also give you lots of information and options for that Mercenary, like their stats, Abilities, Equipment, and Portraits (alternate cosmetic art options) you’ve obtained.
* Mercenaries is still in development and all stats and effects are subject to change. The Card Library will be updated when Mercenaries launches on October 12 to represent any updated versions.
Abilities unlock automatically as you level up the Mercenary; Equipment is unlocked by completing Achievements and tasks related to that Mercenary; and Mercenary Portraits can be obtained from Mercenaries Packs. A Mercenary has access to all their earned Abilities each fight, but has to choose one piece of Equipment to wear. You can set your Mercenary’s Portrait and Equipment from this screen.
Finally, from here you can spend Mercenary Coins to upgrade any Abilities or Equipment you have. Within the Tavern, you can also use Mercenary Coins to craft Mercenaries you don’t already own.
Growing Your Roster
Mercenaries will launch with over 50 Mercenaries! To start out with, all players will receive 8 Mercenaries just for completing the Mercenaries prologue missions. In completing your early adventures, you will also amass some Mercenary Coins and some Mercenaries Packs. These are the two main in-game methods for receiving new mercenaries.
Mercenary Coins are earned throughout the Mercenaries mode, including from completing tasks and Bounties. Each Mercenary Coin is specific to that particular Mercenary and can then be redeemed in the Tavern to craft that Mercenary if you don’t own it, or upgrade their Abilities or Equipment if you do. Mercenaries Packs can also be earned or purchased, and include 5 Mercenaries items, which can include new Mercenary Cards, Mercenary Coins, or Mercenary Portraits. Each Mercenaries Pack includes at least one new Mercenary Card until you own all Mercenaries of that rarity tier. You can learn more about the details of Mercenaries Packs here.
From time to time, there will also be various offers in the in-game store. These can include standalone Mercenary purchases, deals on packs, options for Coins, and bundles combining a few Mercenaries items. There are also three exciting pre-purchase options that are available from now until Mercenaries launches!**
Diablo, The Lich King, and Sylvanas each have their own special pre-purchase bundles if you want to kickstart your Mercenaries collection. These bundles will give you a huge swath of Mercenaries to play with right out the gate! Don’t worry if you can’t get all three, Diablo, Sylvanas, and the Lich King are here to stay and will be obtainable in-game through packs and crafting after launch.
** Mercenaries pre-purchased items will not appear in-game until the mode launches on October 12. You will know that your pre-purchase has been confirmed by checking that the bundle has been marked as owned in the in-game shop.
Make sure to mark your calendars for when Mercenaries launches on October 12! In the meantime, check out our Overview and Gameplay blogs for more details on Mercenaries. We’ll see you in the Village!
