'Hearthstone' Now Welcoming Players to The Witchwood With Latest Expansion

"Hearthstone" is taking players for a stroll through the haunted Witchwood, the gloomy forest outside the capital city of the Worgens, Gilneas. "Hearthstone: The Witchwood" will also feature 135 new cards as well as some brand new gameplay mechanics, which will be revealed in a live stream later on March 26.

"The city of Gilneas once lived in uneasy peace with the sprawling, ancient forest that looms beyond its walls. Though the wilderness was grim and forbidding, the citizens of Gilneas—being no ordinary folks—roved and hunted there without fear," Blizzard described the setting of the new "Hearthstone" expansion in their blog post on Monday, March 12.

"That was before a darkness began to fester in the heart of the forest. . . . Before the curse of The Witchwood!" the "Hearthstone" team continued the tale, one which will set the tone for the 135 new cards coming in the latest expansion of the card game.

It's a bit of an early Halloween for the card game, with the new cards revolving around a theme about werewolves, ghosts, and haunted forests. Some of the new cards are based on the shapeshifting Worgens of the city of Gilneas, and to reflect their dual forms, they will be able to swap their attack and health values under certain conditions, as IGN noted.

Two new mechanics, called Rush and Echo, will also be going into the game with the new expansion. The new Rush attribute lets cards have the option to attack another minion as soon as its played, a slight variation on the Charge attribute.

The Echo mechanic, meanwhile, lets minions or spells be played again and again as long as the player can pay the mana cost.

The video below is Blizzard's announcement trailer for "Hearthstone: The Witchwood," the newest content update for the card game. "Hearthstone: The Witchwood" is now available for pre-order, and more details are coming in a card reveal live stream on Mar. 26.