Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Hearthstone Beginners Guide - Year of the Kraken by cgmcnama

The guide needed to be updated and users had to PM me for advice instead of commenting because the thread was too old. I just decided to do an update and create a new post altogether.

Reddit "Starters Guide" To Hearthstone

    This guide is aimed at new players to the game and will focus on the limited card set "Standard" instead of all the cards in the game, "Wild". This won't affect you very much but going forward there are two ways to play the game:
  • Standard: Best for new players. Includes cards from the "Classic" collection and the the last year of play. Right now that means Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, League of Explorers, and Whispers of the Old Gods are all allowed in Standard.
  • Wild: This includes every card in the game. It includes all of Standard plus Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes. There are no additional rewards for playing Wild over Standard, it is slightly more expensive to get into, and all official Blizzard events in 2016 will be in Standard. So there is no rush to venture here until you are ready or interested.

Tutorial and First Quests

    Here are some basic steps you should complete (in order) when starting the game.
  • Complete the Tutorial: First you need to beat the Tutorial with "Jaina Proudmore" which is rather straightforward. (Rewards: 1 Card Pack)
  • Unlock All Heroes: Beat each of the 8 AI heros to unlock them for play. I took "Mage" on a straight run though all of them "with this Level-0 deck". Once you hit Level 10 you should "swap in these cards". (Rewards: "Level Up" - 100g and "Ready to Go" - 100g)
  • Beat the Expert AI: After beating every normal AI Hero (including Mage), Expert AI will become unlocked. They have better cards but you want to beat them at least once for the achievement. Keep grinding though them until you beat them all or hit Level 10. If you hit Level 10, switch heroes and start leveling another class. Here are Lvl 10 decks for all classes selected by Reddit User Shengster. (Reward: "Crushed them All!" -100 gold)
  • Leveling Up: At this point you have beaten all Expert AI and might have 1 or 2 classes at Lvl 10. Once you have done this do not waste time re-beating the AI. Go straight to "Play Mode" and start trying to beat real players. You get more experience for playing people and 10 gold every 3 wins. Keep playing until all classes are level 10 (Rewards: "First Blood" - 1 Card Pack, "The Duelist" - 100g, "Got the Basics!" - 100g)
  • Tavern Brawl: (Requires one hero to be at least Level 20) A weekly event that begins each Wednesday (Thursday in Asian regions), ending the following Monday. It has a special set of unique rules that changes each week and winning once in this mode will give you a free Classic pack each week you try. These really add up and are important to complete. If you are struggling on the deck building ones try using Hearthpwn's advanced search options to see Tavern Brawl decks for that week.(Rewards: 1 Classic Pack per week)
    For more comprehensive strategy to the game or Arena try watching streamers like StrifeCro, Kripparian, or Kolento. Personally, I think StrifeCro and Kolento are the most informative in Constructed and Kripparian is an excellent Arena player. These are just my preferences but there are lots of streamers out there to watch and learn from.

Decks to get you Started

    Here are some basic decks you can start out with. The free decks only require you to level the hero to Level 10 and the Budget decks require 880-1600 dust to craft certain cards. For the strongest ladder decks, visit Tempostorm.com's "Meta Report" each week.
Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior
Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget
Decks are courtesy of /u/ShengWangHS

The Arena

    You played normal games because Arena tests game knowledge and a bit of luck. At this point you have leveled every class to 10, should be semi-familiar with the game, and sitting at 500 gold. The Arena will make or break your gold balance as you are guaranteed a card pack (which costs 100 gold normally) but you are paying an extra 50 gold to gamble for higher rewards. (an Arena ticket is 150g). You need 3 wins to "break even" versus buying a card pack or 7 wins to get reimbursed your whole Arena ticket. At 7 you can infinitely play Arena. You also can get crafting dust and individual cards.
    Review a drafting guide or arena streamers to boost your win rate (like ADWCTA or Kripp. ) (Rewards: Enter the Arena - 1 Free Arena Credit) [See "Miscellaneous Links" below for some Arena guides]
Wins Gold Dust Packs Gold Cards Regular Cards
0 14 11 1 0.0 0.1
1 17 13 1 0.0 0.1
2 23 15 1 0.0 0.1
3 41 6 1 0.0 0.2
4 66 6 1 0.0 0.2
5 81 16 1 0.0 0.2
6 106 16 1 0.0 0.2
7 166 6 1 0.0 0.2
8 184 6 1 0.5 0.3
9 209 6 1 0.5 0.3
10 261 31 1 0.5 0.1
11 304 30 1 0.5 0.2
12 339 0 1.3 0.8 0.1
Average payouts from ArenaMastery.com. Updated 19 MAY 16.
Not represented, but now there is a greater chance of receiving a 2nd pack after2 wins.

Crafting

     This is a big issue for some people so I advise you not to craft or disenchant or craft anything right away. Dust is hard to get and you don't want to craft something that you get in a random card pack later. There are three exceptions:
  • You have a Golden Legendary and don't care about having "Golden" cards. At that point you can effectively "trade" your Golden Legendary for a normal Legendary of your choice.
  • You have more then 2 copies of a card. Disenchanting your first card also gives you a bonus 95 Arcane Dust. (Rewards: "Crafting Time - 95 dust")
  • The card was recently changed - Blizzard has been very generous with this policy. If they change a card you can disenchant it for its "full" crafting value for up to two weeks after the change. If the card isn't in your main card rotation I advise dumping it for the full dust price especially if it is a common or rare.
Card Class Disenchant Profit Crafting Cost
Common +5 -40
Rare +20 -100
Epic +100 -400
Legendary +400 -1600
Common (Golden) +50 -400
Rare (Golden) +100 -800
Epic (Golden) +400 -1600
Legendary (Golden) +1600 -3200
    Here are some high value neutral cards that you might want to craft but I personally suggest only crafting Legendary cards and buidling around the cards you open. However, some people just want their cards right away so I listed the most used at each rarity. At least try and open ~10-20 packs or so first before crafting anything.
  • Common: Flame Juggler, Acolyte of Pain, Argent Squire, Earthen Ring Farseer
  • Rare: Azure Drake, Wild Pyromancer, Stampeding Kodo, Defender of Argus
  • Epic: Faceless Manipulator, Doomsayer
  • Legendary: Sylvanas Windrunner, Ragnaros, Leeroy Jenkins, Harrison Jones
    For an expanded list, here are cards weighted off the most competitive decks. Just because they are weighted highly doesn't mean they are good for you and sometimes one class (like Rogue) is over represented when they are exceedingly strong in the meta.

Expansions vs Adventures

Expansions are the major additions to Hearthstone and will occur twice a year from this point on. They usually feature about 140 cards that can be opened through card packs. Adventures are specialized releases that usually have about 30 cards and special bosses to beat. While there are fewer cards then an Expansion, they are usually pretty impactful and the best value if spending real money. They will occur once a year from this point on.
Release Type Status Overview
Classic (Classic) Expansion Standard The first and largest Expansion. It will always be in Standard so it is the safest buy for new players.
Naxxramas (Naxx) Adventure Wild A Deathrattle themed Adventure.
Goblins vs Gnomes (GvG) Expansion Wild An Expansion based around Mechs and random card effects.
Blackrock Mountain (BRM) Adventure Standard An Adventure based around dragons and dragon synergy.
The Grand Tournament (TGT) Expansion Standard An Expansion based around the Joust and Inspire Mechanic. Outside of a few cards, the Expansion was one of the weaker releases.
League of Explorers (LoE) Adventure Standard An Adventure with the "Discover" mechanic. Lots of individually strong cards in this Adventure make this the best Adventure for Standard right now.
Whispers of the Old Gods (TOG) Expansion Standard An Expansion that focuses on the 4 Old Gods and them "corrupting" a few existing cards to be bigger and slightly different.

Tips and Advice

DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO PLAY ARENA RIGHT AWAY. Arena is by far my favorite mode, the best way to earn cards, and the fastest way to lose saved gold. The best way to get good at Arena is game knowledge and anticipation. Picks help but I believe doing the little things right is more important in winning. (I.E. Its turn 6 and you have the opportunity to flood the board against a Mage. You shouldn't do so with minions 4 health or below because it is very possible a flame strike is incoming. Or little cues like a Mage pinging a 5 health minion to 4 on Turn 6. Again, could be prepping for a Flamestrike on Turn 7. Knowing these small things make or break arena runs.

Hit Points are only a resource - The only time you lose is when your HP hits 0. Until that time, the game is won through board control and card advantage. If you are a Druid, don't play your 2 mana spell "Wrath" when you can use your hero ability for the same effect and take -1 health. Even if you draw a card off of it (by doing 1 damage) its still a 3 damage option that no longer exists in the future. Late game you can cast it and cycle for a card if you need it.

Don't use spells just to damage enemy HP People waste spells all the time to do damage to the enemy HP and this is usually a bad play. The only exception is if you are playing a "Rush" deck and are trying to win very early (by turns 6-8). Otherwise you burn out your cards and have very few options mid-late game. As stated before, "HP is a resource." Board control and card advantage win games.

Always try and count the maximum damage you can do on a turn when you opponent is getting low. Ask yourself, "Can I win this turn?" There are many games when opponents miss "lethal," or the
ability to end the game immediately. This sometimes leads to needless losses.

Play the game before watching streams. I think it was TrumpSC who said this but it is better for you to play a lot of games, "hit a wall," and then watch streamers. It will be easier for you to follow what is going on and easier to spot your mistakes.

"Actively" watch streams. When you are ready to watch streams, decide what you would do, or say it aloud, before the streamer does. If your watching a replay you can pause if they go faster then you. If they do something different, ask why. Merely watching will not necessarily make you better. Actively watching and learning will.

Find little known streamers to ask questions. There are lots of streamers who are Legend and never hit the front page on Twitch.tv. Scroll down and find high ranked players with few viewers. (Look for Orange Diamond signifying Legend rank) They are a lot more interactive then the "top streams" where you have to make a donation to get seen and are probably playing purely competitive decks. (Instead of "fun" decks).

Miscellaneous Links:


Quests


Daily Quests After the one time quests, "Daily quests" will be your consistent gold income. They reset around 3:00 AM EST and can be for 40, 60, or 100 gold. You can stack up to 3 uncompleted quests and re-roll once daily for another. (Click the red "x" in the top right corner of the box.) Personally, I always re-roll a 40 because it could not be worse. 50g and 60g quests are not worth re-rolling. It is worth noting that you also get 10 gold every 3 wins in Casual or Ranked. This is capped at 30 wins daily though. (100 gold).

Unique Quests: These can only be completed once. The guide has covered all of them but here is a comprehensive list.

Hidden Quest Buffer - This is a known bug that has not been patched for some time. You have 3 extra hidden quest slots that store excess quests if you fail to complete them everyday meaning you can store up to 6 quests instead of the visible 3. However, if at any time you have "hidden" quests, and you reroll any of of your available quests, it will reset and delete all of your hidden quests.

Resources to Help You Improve


Trump Teachings - Good video guide for newer players to learn trading card game concepts and terms. Each video covers a deck and aspect of the game such as Board Control, Mana Efficiency and Card Advantage.
Interaction of Tempo, Life, & Card Advantage - Three part Hearthpwn article by Sar explaining interaction of Tempo, Life, and Card Advantage.
Competitive Guide for Casuals - Outlines basic deck archteypes and how to build a deck for competitive play. Created by /u/Aidin_HS.

Hearthstone Glossary - Good overview for Hearthstone terms. Starting out I had to Google terms like "Ramp" decks or "Tempo." They did a pretty good job listing terms here though so save yourself the trouble.

Hearthstone "Rulebook" - not everything in Hearthstone is intuitive and a lot is learned by experience. Learning the order in which card effects resolve is crucial at higher levels of play. There isn't an official rule book to Hearthstone but this is as close as we have.

Deck Archtypes - Deck types by /u/Burning_Titan. Pretty old comment so if anyone has a better updated source I can replace it.

Secret Reference - Good players anticipate and "test" to find out what a trap is. Knowing all the possibilities makes this easier. Why let a Mage copy your legendary minion when you could have played a 2-drop first?

Tips to building a Collection - A lot of the principles were covered in this guide but building a good collection takes time. This further breaks down tips and the general long term philosophy of building your collection. Created by /u/surprise_sledgehamme.

Arena


Beginners Guide to Consistency and Success in Arena - a good article to get you going on how Arena works and basic strategy.

Best Arena Streamers - This is a piece regularly done by /u/sexting_shakespeare and changes every week. If you are looking to learn from the best streamers this would be the list to consult. While I won't update every week accordingly I linked the submitters profile so you can find the most recent one. Here is a sample copy from 22 MAY 2016.

Arena Tier List - ADWCTA and Merps are consistently some of the best Arena players. The list isn't dynamic like HearthArena yet but it is regularly updated and well done.

HearthArena - If you are looking for an Arena tool this is pretty much the only option on the market. Just blew out the competition when it came out and nothing has come close. Dynamic drafting and looking for synergies in an Arena deck put it far above any tier list. And it does the job tracking arena runs as well as any other site.

3rd Party Tools

(click here for a more comprehensive list)

Hearthstone Deck Tracker (HDT) - This is probably the most popular tool. It tracks your deck, your opponent's decks, the odds of pulling a card, can save unlimited decks, auto import/export decks from the internet to the client, track your Arena results, and more. The interface takes a while to get used to but there is extensive customization once you dig into the options. And it allows you to track and tag your decks so I can even tag them by season and filter out the competitive decks I'm using. Finally, it is customizable as users can create their own plugins.

Hearthpwn Innkeeper - I recomend this for new players because it is easy, fast, and helps you find decks that work within your collection early on. It also works really well if you are searching for decks within a certain deck cost and it will display how much a deck costs or what you are missing when using their site. New features allow you to export your decks directly from the client to Hearthpwn (which is a big deal because it was pretty tedious before). And while their display method of your collection could use some work they are getting better.

Arena Tracker - This is another deck tracking program that also works with HearthArena. While I haven't tested it extensively, the upside is that it works on Mac and Linux which many of these programs do not.

SOURCE

Monday, May 30, 2016

Black Desert Online - Musa Guide: Advanced Stunlock Combos by Extheleon

Black Desert Musa PvP Guide with insight into how to create stunlock combos with a Musa.

Advanced Combos start at 5:46

Blind Thrust / Blooming Combo Key Inputs : 6:10
Double Dragonbite Combo Key Inputs: 6:24
Gale Combo Key Inputs : 5:25

The guide talks about the changes to the Musa after the 18th of May patch, skill build and CC combo execution.
The guide assumes you know how to cancel skills such as Blind Thrust, and Blooming Phantom.

There have been a lot of questions regarding Musa since it's a bit of a complex class which makes it so fun. This video will show you the skillbuild to maximize your damage.

But most importantly I wanted to make this video to help those who still believe Musa's can't stunlock after the CC patch.

When I talk about the dynamics between different CC states in the video it might sound a little confusing so below is a simplified version of how our stuns can stack on each other for best success.

This has been tested with a Musa against other classes, therefore it's possible that playing a different class to alternate between stuns and stiffs to create CC combos may not work.

First we need to talk about the CC patch and what that means:

1. It means once you knockdown someone, they become CC immune meaning you cannot create any stunlocks after you knockdown a target. The CC immunity once they are on the ground are something in the range of 4-6 seconds immunity.

2. It has changed the dynamics of how stiffs and stuns stack on each other. Previously common sense and logic would assume that the different CC states like stuns and stiffs are hierarchical since there are 2 versions of resistances. i.e stiff being a weaker form of stun. This is true, but it lead to people making assumptions and conclusions that once you stun someone, you cannot go back to the weaker form of CC by inflicting stiffness hence why people QQ about not being able to CC chain anymore. This is not true.

3. The CC patch seem to have introduced same state resistance however. What this means is if someone is stunned, trying to stun them again rather than stiff has a very low chance of succeeding.

Therefore, to summarize the dyanmic between stunlocking with different CC states, you will have the most success if you alternate between the Musa's ability to stun and stiff.

Correct CC chain: stun, stiff, stun, knockdown

Incorrect CC chain: stun, stun, stiff, stiff.

The Double Dragonbite CC Combo

1. Stun Dragonbite+Dragonclaw. DO NOT use Lunar slash , Stiff Backstep Slash, Stun Blooming, Stiff Blind Thrust, Stun + Knockdown Dragonbite with Lunar Slash Finisher Rising Storm.

This combo is the strongest Combo I have tested as it has one combo'd Valkyries with 175 DP whilst testing with 99 AP. However it's high risk, high reward as the more stunlocks you chain together the less chance it has of the full combo landing.

It's worth to note, in my testing, Black Horn Bow consistently landed stunlock combos more frequently than a White Horn Bow. Accuracy in landing stunlocks is a definite factor to think about.

This combo is not recommended to White Horn users without accuracy accessories or bhegs gloves.

The Double Dragonbite Combo Safer Version shown at 6:23 in the video guide.

1. Stun Dragonbite+Dragonclaw. DO NOT use Lunar slash / Stiff backstep slash / Stun Blooming / Knockdown Rising Storm / Finisher Dragonbite lunar combo.

Basic CC Combo

Stun Dragonbite + Dragonclaw + 1st hit of Lunar slash, Stiff Backstep Slash, Stun Blooming, Finisher Rising Storm

This is recommended for White Horn Bow users with 130+ AP as there shouldn't be many classes that survive that.

As you can see, the pattern goes Stun, Stiff, Stun and Knockdown at the end of a combo.

My Gale Combo Recommended

Stun Dragonbite + Dragonclaw + 1st hit of Lunar slash / Stiff Backstep Slash / Stun Blooming Phantom / Float Gale / Finisher Ultimate Rising Storm + Blaze.

With this knowledge you can Mix and match quite a few skills to create you're own personalized CC combo.

These combo's work best with 5 Attack Speed and 30+ accuracy without food.

Please note that despite what the tooltip says, for the Musa our dragonbite inflicts stun and for Maewha it inflicts stiffness.

Skill Build : http://www.blackdeserttome.com/calcul...

Have fun.

Click the Subscribe button to be notified and kept up to date on Black Desert Online news and guides.

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Join the discussion at http://forum.blackdesertonline.com/in...

Black Desert Musa Guide - Advanced Stunlock Combos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qpn...

Heroes of the Storm - Pro Hero Build Guides by JHow Gaming

There's a lot of guides out there and some pro players that do them reallllly well. I was fortunate enough to work with some Pros that might not have YouTube and/or written content and began to put together some build guides with tips from the pros and insight on why they may choose certain talents, how they use certain abilities, and so on and so forth.

The original project was hindered a bit by the busy tournament schedule lately and my own travels, but I'm delighted to bring you the early portion of these pro build guides. The first 50 Heroes released is what this current list is based upon.

Several of the pros also stream. Some regularly, some not, but they all provide a wealth of information if you watch or ask questions while you're there. The guides I've done with them are listed below, along with their Twitch streams if you choose to find them out. Individually they should receive the respect for their time and effort and I hope you find these useful!

- Brightwing Build Guide ft. Darkchimaera (Astral Authority) Darkchimaera's Twitter
- E.T.C. Build Guide ft. KilluZiioN (Astral Authority) KilluZiioN's Twitter
- Illidan Buide Guide ft. MichaelUdall (Gale Force) Michael's Twitch
- Kerrigan Build Guide ft. Equinox (Astral Authority) Equinox's Twitch
- Li Ming Build Guide ft. Khroen (Gale Force) Khroen's Twitch
- Rehgar Build Guide ft. Yuuj (Panda Global) Yuuj's Twitch
- Thrall Build Guide ft. psalm (Panda Global) psalm's Twitch
- Uther Build Guide ft. MATRE (TNC) MATRE's Twitch

More videos are on the way! Some modifications are on the way to the video format as feedback was received and is always welcome for me to improve upon future content as well. The videos are designed for you to easily navigate through the Talents if you don't wish to listen to the commentary for each Talent Tier. Tips and Tricks are included after the Talent section if you want hear some ways the players opt to play their heroes. Imgur

SOURCE

Heroes of the Storm - Free Hero Rotation : May 31 - June 6

-


  • Raynor
  • Muradin
  • Uther
  • Jaina
  • Artanis
  • Azmodan
  • Gazlowe (Slot unlocked at Player Level 5)
  • Butcher (Slot unlocked at Player Level 7)
  • Lunara (Slot unlocked at Player Level 12)
  • Kharazim (Slot unlocked at Player Level 15)
SOURCE

Friday, May 27, 2016

Blade & Soul - Detailed Sundered Nexus guide (video + text) by stewpeed

Hi!
In preparation for the new patch coming on the 1st of June, here is a quick rundown of the Sundered Nexus boss mechanics.
  • Full video guide - includes a lot of small excellent tips so make sure you watch the video as well.

First boss

  • Main boss in middle, adds around him in a circle / clock position (we might even call this the reddit room)
  • You need to find and kill the correct npc/add in order to activate the boss
  • Whenever you hit the wrong add the boss will get more HP
  • Pick up the bomb and start at your 12 o'clock
  • When the wrong add is hit by the bomb it will jump in the air and you'll need to kill it before you can continue
  • Depending on how high the add flies from the bomb detonation you need to rotate properly to find the correct add asap
  • If the add flies high enough rotate to the right. If it's a small jump animation rotate to the left
  • This way you'll be able to find the correct add really quickly spawning the boss with a relatively small HP pool
  • Kill the boss and carry on

Second boss

  • Classical DPS and iframe fight with a few twists
  • Special attacks include a series of 3 consecutive jumps (red AOE) - 3rd one hurts a lot plus you'll get knocked down so make sure you dodge at least the third one.
  • The boss will also try to charge so make sure you block it and keep him in a place, it will make things easier.
  • At the second phase the Boss will use a special attack throwing out a saw/disc (?). You need to line up behind somebody who can block (a BM for example or KFM or WL). If you fail to line up the disc will bounce around between the party members and you'll be toasted (applies a painful dot)
  • At recharge phase the boss needs to be CC-ed with the correct form of CC (Daze = Red, Knockdown = Green and Stun = Blue)
  • The order of the CC types will be random.
  • The type of CC will be announced just like any other announcement in the top middle of the screen (ex: Trigger Flower Surge by inflicting Stun - translations might be different).
  • After the CC phase the boss will do a huge AOE; dodge then all in
  • IMPORTANT: If you mess up the CC phase the boss will get a shield/buff reducing incoming damage by 90% which lasts until he gets back again in the recharge/CC phase. So make sure you get the CC right, it's crucial.

Third boss

  • There are 3 phases for this boss fight.
  • First phase nothing special just DPS and dodge stuff
  • In the second phase the boss will target a ranged player - furthest player to be more precise (you'll see a blue aura under your feet) - this means the boss will throw some drills after you. You will need to kite and DON'T allow the drills to stack.
  • Everyone (except the tank) need to kill the drills ASAP!!!
  • If you fail to kill the drills the whole party will wipe
  • NOTE: Ranged players ... If you get marked by the boss and get the drills just walk backwards to line them up easily for a quick clear (with some AOE skills for example). Again kiting here is the key. Also make sure the drills don't land close to the boss as he will do an AOE. If the drills are in the AOE attack range they will explode and cause the instant party wipe.
  • After you successfully destroy the drills there will be a blue aura around the destroyed drills. This aura gives you 100% critical damage, make use of it (for example a destroyer or blade dancer could pick up the boss and take him there so everybody can benefit from the aura/buff).
  • Quick tip: Don't kdown this boss. He does an AOE when he recovers, just like Yeti.
  • After the drills are killed there will multiple series of 3 (red) AOE attacks - increasing in size with every cast. Some adds (small robots) will also spawn but if you don't CC the boss while he's casting the red AOE, the AOE will destroy the small adds/robots so you don't have to worry about that. BMs can HM block all 3 red AOE's same with FM party iframe. This will really test you dodging skills.
  • Third and final phase - it's just a simple DPS phase before getting the loot, really nothing special.

Bonus and Credits

Overwatch - Useful tips and information by RaptorZ Gaming

5 pointers for Newcomers to Learn Quickly

Clarity of mind in every situation will give more of an edge than all tips.

No matter the situation, thinking clearly will help you. This is especially true when dealing with the "plague of quick match" Bastion. Approaching every situation from different angles will help you stay ahead of your opponents and score a victory with your friends and teammates.

Be ready to adapt to the flow of the game

You can change your hero at any point in the match, this is a very powerful tool you can use to single handlely change the outcome of matches. Overwatch is much different than popular FPS's through its use of Heroes, but differs from MOBA's like HotS, DotA, or LoL because you switch any time you die or are in the respawn area.
Changing your hero can mute one or possibly two hero choices from the other team. Imagine you are a playing a very strong Widowmaker: Two players switch to Tracer and Reaper to counter your Widowmaker. As soon as you notice this, or die because of it, switch to McCree for instance. In this case he counters both these heroes well.
Using hero switching well can not only negate the enemy picks, but open up the heroes you play best. Starting as say McCree again to deter the use of heroes that counter your Widowmaker giving you freedom to use her. Be aware of counters and use them to your advantage.
Be aware of what hero brings when you switch, leaving your team without a critical role or hero will hurt your team. If you are one of those critical heroes and your team is need of a change up, considering looking at similar heroes with slightly different abilities (i.e If you are Reinhardt, Consider Winston if your team needs a more mobility rather than Tracer or Genji).
Offer different answers to problems, both through varying play-styles within roles or heroes, and switching effectively. When you adapt to flow better than your opponent's you will be dictating it, consistently keeping them on the back foot.

Work and stick as a team.

In all team games the group that sticks together and works as unit has better chances. Teams who fight 2v5's, 3v6's or even go in alone, will start a "Pick-train" for the enemy that will eat up time your team needs for pushing or holding the point/pay-load. This will make it harder to mount a meaningful effort as a team when everyone is dead or separated. Always take the time to find your team and group up with them (if your playing a hero like tracer, reaper, etc. there are exceptions to this).
Exploit teams who have players that take fights alone or in lesser numbers. When you are able to start picking off players 1 by 1, 2 by 2 you gain a great amount of tempo and can translate this to objective time. Find the players that are pushing too far, or playing with too much adrenaline/emotion and kill them first every time. This is the easiest way to start the "Pick-Train."

The only wasted abilities are those are never used or never synchronized.

Abilities have Cooldowns, be aware of your heroes cooldowns and what situations they excel in. Refrain from using the logic, "I do not wish use X ability because X ability may be needed later" If you never use an ability in the time it would be off cooldown you effectively wasted an use of it. However be wary of using abilities you will later; spamming some abilities will be less effective than if precisely timed. Key point here too is when you feel you are going to die never just run; Juke, shoot, spam your abilities. This will help your team win critical fights.
Synchronizing abilities has devastating effect A well timed ultimate can outright win a game. Know the heroes you are with and what synergies you can exploit. Key examples here is Zarya's Ultimate, which acts as an AoE Vacuum crowd control ability, and Pharahs ultimate, which rains an onslaught of rockets at your foes. If these two ultimates are used in tandem your enemies will have to figure things out back at the respawn area. Here is a list of strong combinations to use in your games.

Coordinate and work with your team.

Overwatch is a team game, and much like fighting as a team with using numbers to our advantage, we want to synergize our abilities, pushes, and picks. Think and work as a 6 man team, communicate with any force you wish. I found during the beta the emotes were particularly useful (especially the one letting your team know the status of your ultimate).

Eat well, Drink lots of water, and be ready to enjoy the most entertaining shooter of the year! Remaining content is for more experienced OW players.

Working Spreadsheet for Hero Counters

Compiled spreadsheet of discussions I have had with some pro players, forum discussions, and personal theory-crafting. It is currently in the second major iteration and will be updated after more professional matches have been played. If you have any thoughts or comments on this spreadsheet you can leave them as comments there or here.

Hero Synergies, Hero Combinations, and Team Compositions

Tl;DR: List of strong hero synergies to use matches with friends and teammates. Examples of strong hero synergies are Zarya + Damage Ultimates (i.e. Pharah's Barrage, Reapers DeathBlossom, Hanzo's DragonStrike). Example of strong hero Combo: Pharah and Mercy pair uniquely well; Mercy can pseudo-fly by sticking with Pharah, and the Damage Amplification makes Pharah deal 156 Damage with direct rockets. Strong Team Compositions, Protect the President utilizes Bastion setting up on the Pay-load with 2 Reinhardts using barrier to shield him. A Mercy to Amp the Bastion, and heal the team. 2 Widowmakers, who cover the Bastion and Reinhardts and if ignored deal amazing burst damage.

Stratwatch: Analysis series for learning Professional Strategies, Tactics, and Compositions

If you are looking for more advanced content than what is above this series is for you. Each episode will dissect a professional team composition or strategy so advanced players can execute it better, and newer players can learn about them.

Episode 1: Protect the President

Summary: Cloud 9 unveils the first competitive variation of a Bastion based composition. Using Bastion on the pay load with 2 Reinhardts, and Mercy to immediately assist him - add 2 Widowmakers and this line-up can dominate any escort or hybrid map-type. Because Bastion has so much room with 2 Barriers protecting him and damage amp, coupled with the 2 Widowmakers and 2 Reinhardts being a threat in their own right; this comp has to be dealt with cleanly and swiftly.

Episode 2: Goggles and Glasses

Summary: Double McCree, Double Lucio, Double Reinhardt, used by EnvyUs on KoTH map type versus Luminosity in Overkill.GG for 3rd place. This strategy uses aggression to seize tempo and cap the point, push out and establish a soft contain to get extra objective time. Through sticking together as 6 heroes and having healing and speed auras this lineup can be terrifying to play against. (McCree's can be subbed for tracers, and Reinhardts for Winstons).

Episode 3: Hollywood Defense

Summary: This episode we will finally cover a Defensive strategy by Reunited against Cloud9 in the Overkill.GG Finals. Using spam, position and information manipulation Reunited's strong individual play lets them take the map, and tie the series.

Episode 4: Importance of Individual Play-Making

Summary: This episode will be covering the elephant in the room, can individuals shape the outcome of the game? In this match between Luminosity and EnvyUs, Seagull and Enigma prove how much value there is in strong individual plays. Without their abilities in this game, Luminosity would have lost.
Thank you for reading this! I hope any of it helps! If you have any discussion points or thoughts please let me know!

SOURCE

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Black Desert Online - Short and Quick 1-50 Leveling Guide by rndbdoplayer

This is my personal route I took to get characters as quick as possible (<15 hours) to 50 so I could play and test them. I used "safe levels" in the guide so it should be fine for anyone to follow, but if you have good gear (i used +9 Grunil/Yuria set) you can possibly leave each zone 1 level early. It is also important to read a guide on your class so you know which good PvE skills to take. I've found there's usually 2-3 must have skills per class for PvE to make it easy. Hope it helps you.

1-16 Follow quests until you complete the Inventory expansion quest given by Eileen in Velia. If you aren't 16 just go grind some white/pink/red mobs, whatever works for you. It shouldn't take long too long.

16-32 http://i.imgur.com/qVrLDj5.png
32-50 http://i.imgur.com/uUVYq7Z.jpg

SOURCE

Dark Souls 3 - PvP character creation guide/checklist by Warmag2

Simply put, this is a guide for creating a PvP char in DS3 with the minimum hassle recquired, it fulfills these recquirements:
  • grants most of the spells
  • grants all gestures
  • grants all multiplayer items
  • keeps the maximum amount of areas multiplayer-capable (i.e. the boss is alive)
  • 14/+9 estus if you want to keep Aldritch alive, full 15/+10 otherwise
This guide is not in-depth and not concerned with finding specific items of any kind, because it assumes you can transfer everything down from your NG++ characters. Neither does it list detailed locations for the items it recommends to find. It is meant to be a time-efficient way to run through the game in an order, which produces an optimal result in the PvP sense and following it fulfills all the requirements for granting untransferable, once-per-playthrough features and items.

As such, the guide does not recquire NG+, but being in NG+ has obviously some advantages (such as the possibility of being able to obtain all the spells).

I will try to keep updating this as errors are noticed. The formatting is as such that first I tell what to do in the area and then, whether the boss should be kept alive or not.

Cemetery of Ash
  • Sit on a bonfire -> GESTURE Rest
KILL Iodex Gundyr

Firelink Shrine
  • Get an Estus Shard from the rafters near the crows
  • Talk to Andre -> GESTURE Hurrah
  • Talk to Crestfallen Warrior -> GESTURE Collapse

High Wall of Lothric
  • Get Estus Shard from the anvil
  • Save Greirat (get key from near the estus shard)
  • Talk to Emma -> COVENANT Way of the Blue
KILL Vordt of the Boreal Valley

Undead Settlement
  • Get Undead Bone Shard near the white birch the giant is shooting at
  • Get Estus Shard near the tree with the crowd
  • Invite Yoel to Firelink Shrine
  • Talk to Yoel in Fireling Shrine -> GESTURE Beckon
  • Invite Cornyx to Firelink Shrine
  • Talk to Cornyx in Firelink Shrine -> GESTURE Welcome
  • Give Loretta's Bone to Greirat
  • (somewhat later) Talk to Greirat -> GESTURE Curl Up
  • (somewhat later) Send Greirat to pillage Undead Settlement
  • Talk to the cage carrier -> COVENANT Mound Makers
  • Find item in kitchen -> COVENANT Sunbro
  • Find Mortician's Ashes and buy the Cell Key from Shrine Handmaid
  • Use the Cell Key to invite Irina of Carim to Firelink Shrine -> GESTURE Prayer
  • Find Siegward and help him beat the demon -> GESTURE Toast, GESTURE Sleep
  • Die enough times to get all of Yoel's levels
DO NOT kill Curse-Rotted Greatwood

Road of Sacrifices and Farron Keep
  • Get Undead Bone Shard inside a tower with slugs at Keep Ruins bonfire
  • Get Estus Shard near a collapsed tower within basic progression route
  • Get Estus Shard near a bonfire close to Crucifiction Woods bonfire
  • Braille Divine tome of Carim down a jump just before Halfway Fortress
  • Find Great Swamp Pyromancy tome to the right of the Farron Keep entrance
  • Find Sage's Scroll by going forward from the Keep Ruins bonfire and hugging the left wall
  • Find Golden Scroll in a cave below a broken wall near Farron Keep Perimeter
  • Talk to Anri and Horace -> COVENANT Blue Sentinels
  • Invite Orbeck of Vinheim to Firelink Shrine
  • Give Golden Scroll / Sage's Scroll to Orbeck to prevent him from leaving prematurely
  • Talk to Sirris at Firelink Shrine
  • Find Dreamchaser's Ashes near the Old Wolf of Farron and give them to Shrine Handmaid
  • Talk to Sirris again -> GESTURE Darkmoon Loyalty
  • Talk to Old Wolf of Farron -> COVENANT Watchdogs of Farron, GESTURE Legion Etiquette
  • Talk to Ringfinder Leonhart for the first time
KILL the Crystal Sage
IMPORTANT -> DO NOT kill Abyss Watchers yet! <- IMPORTANT

Cathedral of the Deep
  • Get Undead Bone Shard near the white birch tree the giant shoots arrows at
  • Get Estus Shard near the obelisk just outside the Cleansing Chapel bonfire
  • Get Deep Braille Divine Tome from a mimic
KILL the Deacons of the Deep
  • Open the main door and meet Patches, fall into his ploy
  • After you met Patches, get a Pale Tongue from behind the giants
  • Talk to Ringfinder Leonhart again and get the Cell Key
  • Kill the Darkwraith in the Undead Settlement
  • Talk to Ringfinder Leonhart again -> GESTURE Applause
  • Meet Rosaria -> COVENANT Rosaria's Fingers
  • NOTE: Patches may be outside Rosaria at this point! You need to talk to him here, if he is.
  • Kill Rosaria's passive grub to get the Red Sign Soapstone
  • Give one pale tongue to Rosaria
  • Buy the key and get the firekeeper soul
  • Patches should lock you in now
  • Talk to Patches -> GESTURE Prostration
  • Buy Catarina Armor and give it to Siegfried -> GESTURE Rejoice
  • Talk to Patches again -> GESTURE Patches Squat
Farron Keep
  • Kill Yellowfinger Heysel and summon him -> GESTURE Proper Bow
  • Summon Londor Pale Shade -> GESTURE Duel Bow
  • Summon Gotthard -> GESTURE By My Sword
KILL the Abyss Wathcers

Catacombs of Carthus and Smouldering Lake
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from the skeleton ball
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from the sandworm
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from the long hallway in Demon Ruins
  • Get Estus Shard near the Antechamber bonfire behind an illusonary wall
  • Get Carthus Pyromancy Tome
  • Get Quelana Pyromancy Tome
  • Get Izalith Pyromancy Tome
  • (somewhat later) Get Grave Warden Pyromancy Tome from the Wolnir bossfight
  • In Firelink Shrine, meet Yuria -> GESTURE Dignified Bow
  • Buy Londor Braille Divine Tome from Yuria
  • If you like being a zombie, follow Yuria's questline, otherwise KILL Yuria and/or ignore her questline
  • Talk to Anri in the catacombs
  • Kill Horace in Smouldering Lake
  • Talk to Anri again, just before High Lord Wolnir. Tell about Horace
  • Kill or lose to Knight Slayer Tsorig -> GESTURE My Thanks
DO NOT kill Old Demon King
KILL High Lord Wolnir

Irithyll of the Boreal Valley
  • Get Undead Bone Shard by turning right after going down from Church of Yorshka
  • Talk to Anri in Church of Yorshka bonfire -> GESTURE Quiet Resolve
  • Follow questline (either kill or do not kill assassin)
  • Meet Siegfried in the kitchen
  • Send Greirat to pillage Irithyll
  • DO NOT reach Irithyll Dungeon before killing the Pontiff, as this will get Greirat killed
KILL Pontiff Sulyvahn

Anor Londo
  • Get Estus Shard from a chest in the final hall
  • Go to Water Reserve bonfire -> COVENANT Aldritch Faithful
  • Go to Prison Tower -> COVENANT Darkmoon
  • Follow Anri's/Yuria's Questline (either take his/her dark sigils or help him/her)
If you need crystal class spells this playthrough, KILL Aldritch. Otherwise DO NOT kill Aldritch.

Irithyll Dungeon and Profaned Capital
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from corpse near bonfire -> GESTURE Stretch Out
  • Get Estus Shard from mimic beside the normal progress route
  • Get Logan's Scroll from the top of the tower
  • Save Siegfried - key is in the rat tunnel with the basilisks
  • Save Karla - key is further on in the tunnel near Siegfried
If you need crystal class spells this playthrough, KILL Yhorm. Otherwise, DO NOT kill Yhorm.

Lothric Castle
KILL the Dancer of the Boreal Valley
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from under the bridge near the dragons
  • Find Divine Tome of Lothric at the platform the white dragon is on
  • Find Sunlight Altar -> GESTURE Praise the Sun
If you need crystal class spells this playthrough, KILL Dragonslayer Armour. Otherwise, DO NOT kill Dragonslayer Armour.

Grand Archives (if you needed the crystal spells)
  • Get Undead Bone Shard from the chair beside normal progression route
  • Get Estus Shard from the very back of the rooftop
  • If you have access to Grand Archives and don't like Greirat, you can send him to pillage Lothric Castle. In any other case, DO NOT send him to pillage Lothric Castle
DO NOT kill the Twin Princes

Consumed King's Garden and Untended Graves
  • Get Estus Shard by jumping off midway in the first elevator
  • Pick up GESTURE Path of the Dragon
KILL Oceiros, the Consumed King
DO NOT kill Champion Gundyr

Archdragon Peak
KILL the Ancient Wywern
DO NOT kill the Nameless King

FINAL ITEMS
  • Buy spells from Orbeck (Aural Decoy, Farron Flashsword, Hidden Body, Pestilent Mercury and Spook) -> GESTURE Silent Ally
  • Trade the speaking stones from Pickle-Pee and Pump-a-Rum (Divine Blessing, Hidden Blessing, Alluring Skull, Shriving Stone, any chime)
SOURCE

The Division - 1.2 Clear Sky - 5 minute speed run guide by I Survive

Clear Sky is the new incursion for the 1.2 update that hit on the 24th May 2016. We made it our mission to complete the run as fast as possible, and we finally did a sub 5 minute run.. coming in at 4:58. If you ignore the run from mission start to the first set of mobs the time would be 4:27.



The run and voice guide can be found here: https://youtu.be/GPHwqULUXjo



We picked up a few tricks along the way to help speed the run up (No cheesing, legit strats).

  • Run two, or three, attack signatures with one defensive. Rotate the attack signatures for the first bomb wave, second bomb wave then the end mission boss.
  • It is possible to avoid all of the final wave mobs in the first area, you can run through the tunnel after breaching straight away.
  • You can activate the first laptop without being seen if you run up the left of the statue, so long as the mob on the left is turned around.
  • Have 2 skill power builds in the group, these will be picking up the fuses as using the booster shot will not make you drop the fuses, unlike a medkit.
  • 2 each side works on both areas for clearing, and is essential if you want the fuses to be placed at the same time.
  • Pop both survivor and attack signatures when the boss jumps down for an easy kill, then clear up as normal.
  • USE CONSUMABLES!!! seriously... just do it!
  • If you need to ult while moving the fuse, walk backwards as the speed buff won't work walking forwards.
  • Speed running for this incursion is not recommended for people under 200 Gear score, however some tips can still be applied!



Hope you enjoyed the guide and video, special thanks to Twirlyw00s, chuck0379 and ScroogeyMcDuck for going beast mode!

EDIT:If people are having trouble on PC, and I mean REAL trouble completing it, pm me your uplay and I'll see if I can help you out.

EDIT2: I'm going to stream the incursion over at www.twitch.tv/I_survive - If anyone want's to join in hit me up on there!

See you on the field!

SOURCE

Monday, May 23, 2016

Doom 2016 - All Collectibles (Secrets, Dolls, Data Logs, Maps, Elite Guard, Runes) by 360GameTV

In the last couple of days I was working really hard to finish my 100% collectibles guide for this amazing game.

There are over 200 "collectibles" in the game (79 Secets, 49 Data Logs, 36 Elite Guards, 26 Collectibles (Action Figures Models), 12 Rune Trails, 12 Field Drones, 11 Argents Cells and 13 Automaps)

Here are the Missionlinks to each video. In the youtube description you have always a timeline for each collectible. The complete playlist link can you find at the end of this post

Mission 1 - The UAC
Mission 2 - Resource Operations
Mission 3 - Foundry
Mission 4 - Argent Facility
Mission 5 - Argent Energy Tower
Mission 6 - Kadingir Sanctum
Mission 7 - Argent Facility (Destroyed)
Mission 8 - Advanced Research Complex
Mission 9 - Lazarus Labs
Mission 10 - Titan's Realm
Mission 11 - The Necropolis
Mission 12 - Vega Central Processing
Mission 13 - Argent D'Nur
Playlist Link

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

PS: Sry for the bad english, is not my motherlanguage ;)

SOURCE

Overwatch - Lucio Wall Ride Guide - Introduction by Planet Overwatch

Hello everyone!
Welcome to Planet Overwatch!

This video is an introduction to our new series that will be starting off at final launch. The series is going to be Lucio movement guides on specific maps, showing you the best and most useful wall rides.


If you haven't seen our introduction video, press here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHi52...


Big thanks to Soda Island for providing us with awesome tunes!
Song: Grynpyret - Wings

Make sure to follow us on social medias:

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/PlanetOverwatch

Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/planetoverwatch

Facebook:
Coming soon..

Thank you very much for watching! We hope you are as stoked as we are for this game, and if so, hit that subscribe button for your daily dose of Overwatch!

Heroes of the Storm - Free Hero Rotation: May 24 - 31, 2016

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The Free-to-Play Rotation for this week:
  • Li Li
  • ETC
  • Sylvanas
  • Falstad
  • Zagara
  • Sonya
  • Tassadar (Slot unlocked at Player Level 5)
  • Stitches (Slot unlocked at Player Level 7)
  • Li-Ming (Slot unlocked at Player Level 12)
  • Tracer (Slot unlocked at Player Level 15)
SOURCE

Friday, May 20, 2016

Diablo 3 - 2.4.1 Frenzy Thorns Barbarian Guide (GR90+ Solo / T10 Speedfarm) by Deadset Gaming

The Division - Gear Sets Detailed For 1.2 Update

Final Measure:
  • 50% Exotic Damage Resilience (2)
  • 15% Protection From Elites (3)
  • When damaging a hostile with a grenade, gain the defuse buff. When in range of a hostile grenade, the buff is consumed and defuses the grenade as well as gives you a grenade (4)
Hunter's Faith:
  • 20% Marksman Rifle Critical Hit Damage (2)
  • 20% Damage to Elites (3)
  • Hitting an enemy with a bullet grants you temporary armor. The further your shot, the more armor. The armor disappears after one bullet hits you. (4)
Lone Star:
  • 100% Ammo Capacity (2)
  • 1000 LMG Damage & 1000 Shotgun Damage (3)
  • When the weapon is holstered, it regains full ammo. (4)
Predator's Mark:
  • 20% Optimal Range (2)
  • 800 Assault Rifle Damage & 700 Pistol Damage (3)
  • Hit 10 shots without switching target to make the target bleed for 100% of damage already done by those bullets. (4)
In-Game Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/qPjev
Twitch VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/thedivisiongame/v/67370475?t=01h00m35s

SOURCE

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Hearthstone - New Player & Beginners Guide by sebZeroToHeroes

For some time now, I've seen new players come here and ask again and again about how to get into the game. There are many resources around on the net (including on this subreddit), but didn't find any single one I could easily reference to and that took things step by step in a logical order.
I've thus started writing a blog post to answer this question, and that has been reproduced below.
I'm mainly looking for community advice on how to make this more complete; or more easily understandable, or even fix some mistakes I might have made.

Thanks for your help!

In Fall 2015, I discovered HearthStone and HearthStone's subreddit. It has been a great source of help and advice at the beginning, and for a few months now I've been trying to give back to the community by helping beginners who had questions about how to get better at the game.
The three questions that were asked over and over were:
  • I'm a new player, how do I get into the game? How can I stop sucking and climb over the 18-20 wall? More generally, how can I improve my gameplay?
  • What should I do with my gold or real money? Packs? Arena? Adventures? Which ones? What should I do with my dust?
  • How do I get better at Arena?
I've also read the advice that many people provided on the subreddit, and wanted to compile what I found the most useful in a quick post for future reference.
It's easy to be overwhelmed at the beginning. There are lots of things in the game, lots of different cards, and the game (or rather, the matchmaking system) is rather unforgiving to new players. So you have to take things step-by-step, accept that at the beginning your card collection will suck, and steadily get better at the game by both improving your gameplay and your card collection.

Get familiar with the game

Get familiar with all the classes by leveling each of them to level 10 first (first against the Innkeeper, then against the Expert Innkeeper, then against other players in Ranked, Standard mode - casual's matchmaking will often pit you against strong players, and Wild makes collection gaps even more difficult to bridge). Even if you don't plan to use them, you need to understand the basic strengths and weaknesses of each class.
I suggest you use no-dust deck like Sheng's 0-dust decks. These decks also come along with detailed guides that explain the cards and how to play them. It will give you a solid basis to attack the game with and be competitive on the first levels of the ladder.
Then play for a while with these basic decks while doing your daily quests and unique quests. These are one-offs that will give you rewards (usually gold or packs) when certain conditions are met.
Also, level one of your classes to level 20 to get access to the Tavern Brawl (and get a free pack every week). This will give you a feel for the game that you can't have otherwise, which will help you a lot going further.
Once you feel you are familiar with the game, it's time to get to the second step: improving your mastery.

Improve your gameplay

It is actually more important to improve your gameplay (your knowledge and skill at how to play the game) than increasing your card collection. At the beginning, you can beat seemingly much stronger decks with simple ones just because you understand the game very well.
To do so, there are 3 things you can do in parallel:
  • Read beginner guides and resources. This will give you the basics of strategy and understanding of the game mechanics. For now I'm linking to hearthstoneplayers.com resource (which is pretty good), but I'll add more individual links as time goes on
    • You should start with Trump's Teachings, which does a great job at explaining the basic concepts of the game
  • Watch streamers to get a feel of what to do and what not to do. Prefer educational streamers (ie streamers that explain their moves and thought process), like:
    • Trump
    • Kibler (prefer his stream here, as the YouTube channel contains more highlight moments from his stream rather than more traditional gameplay videos)
    • Savjz (prefer his stream here, as he doesn't have that much YouTube content)
    • StrifeCro
    • ThijsNL
    • Dog
    • wowhobbs
    • Kripp
  • Once you have an idea of what you should do, time to know if you're doing it right. Record your games and discuss them with other experienced players (trackers like Hearthstone Deck Tracker are the best way, and I wrote a guide if you need more help). You'll get to learn tons about how to play the game, especially since the advice will be directed at your specific mistakes, and not simply generic advice on the net. Zero to Heroes lets you do just that, and here are two examples of games that got reviewed for illustration.
You'll know when you have gotten good enough at the game. You'll be able to predict the moves the streamers will make, and reviewing your games won't reveal any big mistake.
And one last thing: HearthStone is a card game, so with natural RNG. Some cards again add some RNG to the mix. Being a good HS player means learning to play with this in mind. You won't win all your games (you need to accept that most pros win only slightly more than half of their games), but you can play in a way that maximizes your chances.
At this stage, it's time to increase your collection to be able to build competitive decks (this is obviously mostly valid for free-to-play players. If you're willing to spend money to buy packs, getting cards will be a lot easier).

Improve your collection

There are three main ways of improving your collection (I'm not counting the Watch and Learn quest, which gives you a free pack but pops rather rarely, or the Tavern Brawl that is limited to one pack per week):
  • Buying packs
  • Buying Adventures
  • Getting packs from Arena
The article (and this section in particular) is written mainly with f2p in mind, so using gold instead of real money. If you're using real money, Adventures are the best bang for your buck. And in any case, never buy an Arena ticket with real money, it's just not worth it.

Packs

Buying packs is the most obvious way to go by, and what you should start with. Buy 15-20 packs of the Classic expansion, and as much from the latest one (Whispers of the Old Gods). Please note you can earn 13 free WotOG packs by winning some games in Standard, which you should obviously do. This will gradually lets you expand your collection, get to know more cards, and possibly gain access to stronger decks.
Once you're there, you have two possible paths: Arena or Adventures. There is no consensus on which one you should follow, and it mainly depends on whether you have fun in Arena, or if you are looking for specific Adventure cards.

Arena

First, should you play Arena at all? This is still a controversial subject.
My take is that at this point, if you took things step by step and focused on improving your gameplay, you should be able to do decently (~3 wins) in Arena. Which, if you like the format, is enough to justify doing Arena to get your packs.
Otherwise, it can be pretty frustrating, and the time investment may not make it worth it compared to playing ranked for your quests.
So before going into Arena, make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Read a few guides to learn how to draft and how the gameplay is different from constructed, and watch streamers to get a feel for it. Then do a few test runs, and depending on your results decide whether you'd like to go down this route or not.
Being good in Arena will let you pay 150 gold to earn a pack AND other rewards, mostly gold and dust. At some point (it used to be when you have at least 7 wins, but rewards have changed with WotOG and we don't have any clear stats yet), you'll get more gold than your entrance fee, which lets you get a pack for free and do another Arena to continue the chain.
How to achieve this is the subject of a whole post by itself and long hours of sucking at it, but luckily there are plenty of resources available on the net (including an article on this blog).

Adventures

Adventures are pretty straightforward, and lets you play against the AI in predefined scenarios to earn certain specific cards. Two Adventures are part of Standard today: League of Explorers (LoE) and BlackRock Mountain (BRM). It's probably better to start with LoE. You get more cards for cheaper, and the majority of the set contains viable cards, as opposed to BRM which just has a few playable cards for specific decks. You can build a pretty good deck built around the LoE cards, and they're really good for new players.

Understand the cards and build your own decks

The final step, and a difficult one. It's again the subject of a whole article, and again hearthstoneplayers has some interesting resources.

Closing words

Getting into HS is more difficult than it should be. Blizzard has done some nice things to make things easier with WotOG, and I hope this trend will continue in the future.
This said, the HS community is very helpful and will help you get past this initial wall. Set your goals to getting better at the game, and you'll be able to enjoy it from the start.

SOURCE

Heroes of the Storm – Chromie Trailer

Chromie is, at first glance, a charismatic but somewhat forgetful gnome, constantly distracted and intrigued by the world around her. But don’t let her appearance fool you. This seemingly precocious gnome’s true form is that of Chronormu, a powerful Bronze Dragon capable of bending time to its will, eternally tasked with maintaining the balance of infinite timelines by any means necessary. Sensing a disturbance of the greatest proportion in a brand new world, Chromie now makes her first foray into the Nexus…or is it her second foray, third, there’s really no telling. It’s so hard to keep track!
For information on Heroes of the Storm, visit the links below:

Website - http://heroesofthestorm.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/BlizzHeroes
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BlizzHeroes