New $10 Heroes Coming to Hearthstone, But They Don't Change the Game

Blizzard's free-to-play card game Hearthstone is adding its first new hero since launch. Rather than functioning as a new class, this $10 hero serves as a cosmetic replacement for an existing one.

Dwarven king Magni Bronzebeard is coming to Hearthstone to take the place of the existing Warrior class character, Garrosh Hellscream. Like other new heroes on the way to Hearthstone, Magni costs $10 and provides you with several ways to distinguish yourself in-game without impacting gameplay. Blizzard makes it clear that new heroes don't offer new cards or hero powers, and thus "are not considered new classes."

Instead, playing as a new hero replaces your hero portrait, as well as your hero power animation. They also add new emotes, voices, themes for the play area, and a unique card back, the latter of which can be used with any deck.

A release date for Magni was not announced; Blizzard simply stated he'll be "coming soon." There's also no word on how soon we can expect the next hero, or whom that might be. Based on the switch from a Horde character to an Alliance one, we might also be seeing similar switches for other heroes in the future.