Greetings! The Winterveil event for HotS is upon us once again - this time it's "Toys!". Today's article will cover all of the new content and collectibles (and how you can get them) from the new event. Below you'll find a table of contents - without further ado, let's get into it!

1. Skins



- Cuddle Bear Stitches

- Dehakasaurus Rex

- Cosmic Force Valeera

- Mint Sugar Plum Sylvanas

2. Mounts

- Plush Unicorn

- Cosmic Lion

3. Bundles

4. Portraits

5. Sprays

6. Event Quest Breakdown

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Cuddle Bear Stitches

Notes:

- The Cuddle Bear Stitches Skin is Legendary and costs 2400 Shards.

- The skin includes themed animations, themed abilities, and an altered voice-over.

Dehakasaurus Rex

Notes:

- The Dehakasaurus Rex Skin is Legendary and costs 2400 Shards.

- The skin includes themed animations, themed abilities, and an altered voice-over.

Cosmic Force Valeera

Notes:

- The Comic Force Valeera Skin is Epic and costs 600 Shards.

- The skin includes an altered voice-over.

Mint Sugar Plum Sylvanas

Notes:

- The Mint Sugar Plum Sylvanas Skin is Legendary and costs 2400 Shards.

- The skin includes themed abilities.

- Mint Sugar Plum Sylvanas is an additional color palette of the exisiting Sugar Plum Sylvanas skin, which came out in Winterveil 2015.

Plush Unicorn Mount

Notes:

- The Plush Unicorn Mount is Legendary and costs 2400 Shards.

Cosmic Lion Mount



Notes:

- The Cosmic Lion Mount is Epic and costs 600 Shards.

Celestial Surfboard Mount

Notes:

- The Celestial Surfboard mount is available as a free bonus upon purchasing Gems, current as of this patch.

- These Gem purchase mounts usually rotate out after some time.

Bundles

Notes:

- The Toy Heroes Bundle includes 3 heroes (Stitches, Valeera, and Dehaka), as well as all of their newly released event skins. The bundle is currently 30% off and costs 4070 Gems.

- The Cuddle Bear Stitches Skin Pack contains all his latest skin variants (see above) and costs 1500 Gems.

- The Cosmic Force Valeera Skin Pack contains all her latest skin variants (see above) and costs 990 Gems.

- The Dehakasaurus Rex Skin Pack contains all her latest skin variants (see above) and costs 1200 Gems.

- All of the above bundles are Dynamic, which means that they will adjust their price if you have already have items that are in the bundle.

Portraits

Notes:

All Portraits are Common rarity (for loot chest purposes) and are priced at 60 Shards.

Sprays

Notes:

- All non-animated sprays are Common rarity (for loot chest purposes) and are priced at 60 shards.

Notes:

- All animated Sprays are Rare (for loot chest purposes) and are priced at 150 Shards.

The Most Amazing Board Game Ever!!!

With the new seasonal event comes a new quest line, and this year's Winterveil event comes with a board game-themed quest. Below you'll find all the info you need on the mechanics of the board game, as well each sub-quest and the rewards you receive upon its completion.

You can access your event quest game board by clicking the special event button at the top of your screen in the game client:

The board game starts with your piece on the bottom right (the red circle with the square imprint), and your task is to make it all the way around the board (moving in a clockwise direction). Clicking on the bubble with the Nexus symbol in the middle of the board starts the game by rolling a single six-sided die.

After each roll of the die, you'll move forward a number of spaces between one and six, and be given a quest from one (or both) of the card piles to the right of the screen. Every square/panel on the board will give you a random common quest card. Above, you can see that I received the "World's Cutest Assassins" quest after I rolled a 3. You must complete the active quest before you can roll again and move further on the board. Below you'll find examples of the common quest cards:

Notes:

- Completing any common quest card will give you 25 gold, as well as a board game sticker. Upon obtaining three stickers, you'll receive a free common "Toys!" loot chest. You can see your sticker/loot chest progress in the middle of the game board.

- All of the quests can be completed in vs. AI mode. This will involve fulfilling the first condition on the card. In PvP, you can complete either the first or the second option for a given quest.

- If you're looking to finish a quest as quickly/efficiently as you can, blazing through A.I. games (while fulfilling the first condition of the quest) can lead to some very quick quest completions. Below you'll find some recommended heroes and strategies if you're looking to finish a particular one ASAP. Hop into a Beginner vs. A.I. match and get rolling. To further speed up your game time, bring along a friend who's playing Sylvanas, as she facilitates securing structures/ending games with her pushing capability and structure-disabling passive.

- World's Cutest Assassins: Greymane or Valla are good choices here, they deal great AA damage and can end games pretty quickly with their structure DPS.

- Superheroic Spells: Gul'dan and Kael'thas deal excellent AoE spell damage and can sustain their own mana for extended pushes.

- Galactic Warriors: Artanis and Sonya are two of the best warriors at dealing structure damage and can end games quickly.

- Emotional Support Puppet: Kharazim is the support with the highest sustained DPS baseline, allowing you to siege pretty decently.

- They're Just Playing: An autoattacker/sustained damage dealer like Greymane or Illidan are good choices here, but the main trick is to look around the map for bots who have grouped up in a lane. They'll typically run a 1-2-2 lane setup on 3 lane maps, so wait and look for a gank when you see two or more enemy bots in a lane.

- Playtime with Porkchop: When it comes to finishing games as fast as possible, Greymane (because of his outstanding single-target damage in Worgen form) and Artanis (because of Amateur Opponent at lvl 1 and his shields as sustain) are pretty good at it. Pair up with a friend or two so you can play both of them and run through games even faster!

- Might of the Comet Knight: Remember that siege damage includes damage to minion waves, so someone who's good at farming waves of minions can get this done quickly. Greymane or Kael'Thas would be my suggestion.

- Plastic Rebel: Artanis and Sonya are some of the best at taking early mercenary camps (and healthily), so I would recommend them.

- Experienced Contributor: Here you want someone who can clear waves and soak quickly. Similar to the Siege damage quest, heroes like Greymane, Kael'thas, and Gul'dan can do good work.

Upon toppling one of the five dominos on the game board, you'll be given a "rare quest card" from the bottom pile of cards, with a corresponding reward (shown above). Each domino corresponds to a particular quest, so you'll get them in the order shown in the images above and on the game board (remember you're moving clockwise from the starting position). You do not need to land specifically on the domino to knock it over - you can move past it with your die roll and the rare quest will still trigger.

Notes:

- Just as with the common quests, all of the rare quests can be completed in vs. AI mode.

- If you're looking to finish these as quickly as possible, below you'll some strategy suggestions in Beginner vs. A.I. As mentioned in the common quest discussion above, playing with friends who are picking heroes to complement your strategy can help speed up the process even further.

- Dehakasaurus Wrecks: You really can't go wrong with the Butcher here. After you finish your quest (which will happen quickly vs. A.I.), you'll be an unstoppable takedown machine, with the only limitation being the enemy heroes' death timers!

- Salvaging the Stables: Tear through structures with Greymane's DPS or Artanis' Amateur Opponent (the level 1 talent) burst.

- Watch Your Back: Butcher is good here too, as well as Illidan, Greymane, or in general any DPS who's sticky and can chase a bit. One tactic to employ as the enemy bots' death timers increase is to stop short of dealing the finishing blow and allow them to heal back up. This will allow you to deal more hero damage in a shorter timeframe (as you don't have to wait for respawns).

- Time to Recharge: Gul'dan, Kael'thas, and Greymane are great at clearing minion waves and will get the job done here.

- Cuddle to Win: As mentioned above, when it comes to finishing games as quickly as possible, Greymane and Artanis are your go-tos!

As shown in the above image, you will still get a common quest even when you trigger a rare quest by knocking over a domino. In order to roll the die again and proceed, you must complete both quests.

In the above image, you can see that I'm about halfway through the game board. I also have 2 board game stickers (they're in the middle of the board, to the left of the purple lap counter). I'm ready to roll the die once again to move forward in the game, hopefully triggering the Valeera quest in my next roll!

In the above image, I've 'completed' the event quest! I've made a full lap around the board (as indicated by the '01' on the purple lap counter), and have received the following rewards:

However, the game isn't over! You can continue playing the board game, completing common quests (earning 25 gold and a board game sticker for each one), and making additional laps. Each lap completed awards you a rare "Toys" loot chest.

The "Toys!" event ends on the week of January the 7th. Enjoy the Holidays!