Hearthstone’s next expansion, Fractured In Alterac Valley, finally pits Alliance vs Horde. It’s a way of bringing together all of the various mercenary characters that have been progressively built up over the course of the year, and part of that means new Hero cards based on each of the 10 characters. Among those is the Warrior Rokara.
Hero cards in Hearthstone are class Legendaries with big game-changing effects. They replace your Hero entirely, usually granting you a powerful Battlecry and significantly upgrading your Hero power. In the case of Rokara the Valorous, that means equipping a 5/2 Unstoppable Force, which smashes enemy minions into your opponent like croquet balls. Her upgraded hero power, Grand Slam, utilizes the new Honorable Kill keyword. It can always deal 2 damage, but if you do exact lethal to a minion, you’ll also gain 4 Armor. That makes it a strong combination of offense and defense that can help you last into the late-game.
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For those who have been paying attention to Hearthstone card reveals in advance of Alterac Valley, you may notice that Rokara’s new 5/2 weapon is a mirror image of another legendary Hero card. The Paladin card Lightforged Cariel comes with her own weapon, a 2/5 weapon called The Immovable Object. So Rokara’s Unstoppable Force pairs thematically with Cariel’s Immovable Object. That’s by design, as Blizzard intends the two to have something of a rivalry going into this final expansion:
Rokara had proven herself over and over again. Every time she was tested, she stood up to the challenge without missing a beat. With every challenge, her sights were set higher. She had gained a reputation within the Horde as the Unstoppable Warrior. As she stared across the battlefield, she locked eyes with the Immovable Cariel. There was only one way to see what would happen when they met.
Following the Deadmines mini-set, Warrior has been an especially powerful class. Pirate Warrior was already a relatively strong deck thanks to the Warrior quest Raid the Docks, and it got even stronger with the addition of key new cards like Mr. Smite and Defias Cannoneer. It’s difficult to tell if Rokara the Valorous will slot into a new build of Pirate Warrior, or if it will help define its own separate archtype.
Fractured In Alterac Valley is having players pledge allegiance to the Alliance or Horde by logging in and claiming a free golden Legendary representing the two sides. That will determine your side of the conflict during the Alterac expansion, when you’ll get special quests to build up Honor for your side. The winning faction’s leader will be immortalized as a Diamond card. Pre-purchase bundles are now available.
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