Hearthstone designers explain what to expect from next week's Monster Hunt

For Hearthstone fans who have grown frustrated by facing endless board-spamming Paladins, next week may offer some relief. That's when The Witchwood's single-player Monster Hunt mode is set to go live, and to help get everyone ready lead mission designer Dave Kosak sat down at the fireside with mission designers Paul Nguyen and Giovanni Scarpati to talk about what players have to look forward to in the spooky showdown. 

"If you played the Dungeon Run in Kobolds & Catacombs, the Monster Hunt will feel familiar," Kosak says. "You'll take on the role of a hero, and you'll venture deep into the Witchwood, defeating a random series of monstrous bosses. With each victory you can gear up, building a stronger and stronger deck with the treasures you find." 

But of course it's not quite that simple. Monster Hunter classes have new unique powers that change how cards are played: Darius Crowley, for instance, has an indestructible cannon that fires on enemy minions when his hero power is used. He can also find treasures in the Witchwood that will make his cannon more powerful.

There are more than 45 bosses in the Witchwood, all of them unique to the expansion. Some are "beefed up versions of the collectible card," as Kosak puts it, but most of them are unique to Monster Hunt, and the majority of treasures they drop will be new as well. And then there's Hagatha, the Big Bad of the Witchwood, who's a whole story unto herself. Hey, I don't want to spoil all of Kosak's surprises.

The single-player Monster Hunt mode is set to go live on April 26.