This Post is mainly intended for those familiar with the Mercenaries game mode in Hearthstone.
At the time of writing this, the Mercenaries game mode in Hearthstone will not be getting any new content or major updates, but I still want to post a couple of my old ideas for new Mercenaries here. I’ll start with my idea for an updated version of Tamsin Roame.
I wanted Tamsin’s abilities to be more powerful, but my goals were also to give the player more decisions in general. Her first ability, Shadoweave can do 15 damage to an enemy (summoning a Void Consumer minion if the target dies), but if you target an ally, you also heal each of the allies you didn’t target by the amount of damage dealt. The idea of healing most of your team for 15 by sacrificing 15 health for one of them feels nice and warlock-y, and can feel especially powerful if you are draining health from a friendly minion, as they tend to be more disposable than Mercenaries.
Tamsin’s next major ability is Touch of the Nathrazim, which has you target a friendly character. It steals 10 HP from the enemy(s) adjacent to it. I like this one because the ally healed and the enemy damaged *must* be near each other, which makes positioning more of a limiting and important decision. It also Summons a Void Consumer minion if it finishes off something, just like the prior ability. I want to draw attention to how both of these first two abilities synergize pretty well with Shadow-Damage-increasing strategies. they can both scale up their healing via doing more damage, and they both have “Deathblow” effects that are easier to complete with enhanced damage.
Her final ability “Full Blown Evil” is mostly just intended to be a fun payoff for using lots of Shadow abilities in a match, and can make your next Shadow ability cast twice with a Deathblow. Notably, It isn’t a Shadow ability itself, to prevent it from doubling itself.
And finally, we have her Equipment. I wanted all three of her equipment to buff her Shadow Damage, because the idea of gradually ramping up her power feels like a fun payoff. Her first ability rewards you for healing, from your first two abilities, or your other Merc’s abilities. As for the second ability, I feel like the idea of “Deathblow Synergy” has a lot of untapped potential. And the final ability is powerful, but practically requires you to have a team of 3 Mercs with Shadow abilities to activate.