Release date: January 26, 2016
Chronicles of Entrath is the free to play PvE Campaign portion of the digital trading card game (DTCG) Hex: Shards of Fate. This is the launch of Adventure Zone 1, as the devs have named it, that will allow players to create a champion and play through a portion of the world map and dungeons with card battles.
Classes and Races
There are eight races to choose from, four of each belong to two different factions, the Ardent and the Underworld. Please check out this page for more information on the major races of Entrath.
There are three classes to choose from with the launch of the Campaign, Warrior, Cleric, and Mage. Ranger, Rogue, and Warlock will be coming in future content releases, with Ranger being first.
There are also specific traits for the race you choose as well as specific race/class combination traits. As you level up, you will be able to acquire talents to improve your champion. Note there is a progression system that restricts what shards you can use in your champion's deck as well as the number of copies of per rarity. This is gradually relaxed as you level up.
The Adventure Zone
The Adventure Zone is the world map of the PvE campaign. You traverse the map via nodes that could lead to NPCs, encounters, dungeons and more. Some nodes may have repeatable encounters where others can only be completed once.
Dungeons
Dungeons are a series of encounters, some with branching paths, that lead to a Boss Encounter. Typically, your character will have 3 lives in which to complete the dungeon. If you lose 3 battles, you will be kicked out of the dungeon and will have to start over from the beginning if you wish to complete it. You will receive any rewards you’ve earned on your progress regardless of defeating the boss or not. Note that you do not lose any lives on the first encounter of a dungeon to save players the hassle of restarting for optimal progression. Adventure Zone 1 has 5 dungeons aside from the first “starter dungeon”, two of which are faction specific.
Loot
There are new Adventure Zone and Dungeon packs for rewards in the campaign. This was done to give players who are not interested in buying packs from the PvP side of the game the experience of being able their own packs. There are over 100 new PvE rewards cards and almost 200 new pieces of equipment in this release. Players can also receive PvP commons as rewards from their packs as well.
FAQ:
Is this free to play?
This is separate from the competitive esport PvP side of the game that is pay to play. However, all PvP cards you buy or acquire are usable in the Campaign.
How do I play this?
There is a new in-game tutorial that I highly recommend trying before jumping into the Campaign if you are relatively new to TCGs or have been away from them for a while.
This is like Magic right?
You will find similarities, but many things are different, namely this entire campaign experience. A word of warning to veteran paper card game players: object permanence is a key facet of Hex: Shards of Fate. Many effects in the game stay on a card even after it leaves and returns to play.
I thought they got sued?
The case has been settled, enjoy the game.
Where is 'feature X'?
This article contains a brief roadmap of what to expect in the coming months.
Why did this take so long?
The lawsuit and major overhauls and improvements to the original design of the PvE experience. New content should come faster now, but only time will tell. Please try not to derail the thread too much over the wait. Feel free to create a new thread of your own to discuss the delays.
Why can't I be a female Dwarf or Vennen?
They don't exist in the lore of the game...yet. Please read the link about the factions and races earlier in the post.
Useful links:
HexTCG official site - Place to register and download the client
Five Shards - A Hex community-run site with great content as well as a community organized tournament series
Daily Hex Streaming - These guys are all from the Hex community and do a wonderful job of showing off the game.
Actual battles are ok.