We dropped a mountain of information about all the exciting changes to Hearthstone alongside today’s patch notes! When you’ve finished reading about the Demon Hunter, check out the rest of what we’ve got going on:

The Year of the Phoenix introduces Hearthstone’s first new class since launch: the Demon Hunter! Embracing chaotic soul magic and fel energy, the fearsome Demon Hunter features an in-your-face playstyle, cutting down foes with weapons and claws, or crushing them with enormous Demon minions.

Demon Claws, the class’s Hero Power, is a one mana-cost boost to the Demon Hunter’s Attack, designed around robust synergies with its class cards. The low mana cost of Demon Claws allows it to fit fluidly into curves, giving the Demon Hunter a unique gameplay feel.

Mix and match Hero Attack buffs with weapons to trigger mighty attacking-related effects. Slice into enemy minions, using your own health as a resource. You’ll find the class lacks in direct sources of healing, but instead relies on smaller chip heals via Lifesteal.

Illidan Stormrage, the newest playable Hero in Hearthstone, embodies the Demon Hunter’s class identity. He’s an aggressive attacker who leads his fel-infused forces into the fray. While other Heroes may buff and heal their minions, Illidan instead fuels himself with their souls when they fall in combat, taking vengeance upon his enemies.

In addition to being aggressive attackers, Demon Hunters can control the battlefield with their fel magic, benefiting from the souls of their sacrificed Illidari allies, and finding devious ways to deploy massive demons to the battlefield far earlier than expected.

The Demon Hunter also introduces a new class-specific keyword, Outcast. Outcast cards have impactful bonuses when played from the left or right-most position in your hand. With a bit of careful thought and turn-planning, Outcast cards can shift the tides of a match.

The Demon Hunter will enter the fray on April 2 with a new prologue campaign consisting of four story-focused single-player missions, which retell Illidan Stormrage’s origin story from his perspective in the Hearthstone universe.

Players will earn the Demon Hunter upon completing the prologue and will receive, for free, all 10 Demon Hunter Basic cards, a 20-card Demon Hunter Initiate set (belonging to the Year of the Dragon for rotation purposes), and a pre-built Demon Hunter deck list—so long as they have an open deck slot. Starting with Ashes of Outland, 15 new Demon Hunter cards will be released with each future expansion in the Year of the Phoenix.

After the prologue has been completed, the Demon Hunter will officially unlock on April 7!

Visit the card library to see all the Demon Hunter cards revealed today and check back as we’ll be updating the library with new cards as they’re revealed.

The Betrayer in Battlegrounds

To cap things off, we’re excited to announce that Illidan Stormrage will make his way into Battlegrounds on March 26!

[Passive] Start of Combat: Your left and right-most minions attack immediately.

Ashes of Outland is available for pre-purchase now from the in-game and Battle.net web shop! Check out the official announcement for more information.