Hearthstone: Mercenaries is coming this year, a new game mode (Really, more of a new game entirely) being added to Hearthstone. In Hearthstone: Mercenaries, players assemble teams of legendary characters from the Warcraft universe and play through a strategy RPG with roguelike elements. Along the way, you’ll clear maps, level up your crew, find and equip loot, and more! Today we’re going to look at a few of the characters inside Mercenaries, but first, here’s our exclusive reveal for one of the characters coming to the mode – Shadow Hunter Vol’Jin.

The Hearthstone team is being fairly secretive about the exact stat loadouts and how those look, but what we do know is that he is “a powerful caster with access to shadow magic“, along with these three parts of artwork that show how Vol’Jin progresses as he levels up and evolves through Mercenaries. At each evolution tier, your characters gain spikes in power and new abilities! Fans of World of Warcraft will know Vol’Jin well, as he’s been a major character for some time in the MMORPG.

Before we check out some of the other characters and how they look as they evolve, let’s take a peek at a map. Players work through these maps, encounter to encounter, taking on battles and sometimes finding other secrets. For instance, you may choose to hit up a resurrection tile in order to bring one of your fallen heroes back to life. Chart your course!

Now let’s look at some of the other big, legendary characters that we can level up and play with in Mercenaries. Look, it’s Ragnaros! The titanic boss of Molten Core has made his way to mercenaries, and I’m sure he’ll be punishing “insects” with his big hammer and sloshing fire around everywhere.

Next, another big raid boss that’s part of the Mercenaries core. Maybe not as high-profile as Ragnaros in the Warcraft universe, but Gruul is a big smashing force of nature that may serve as one of Mercenaries’ tanky heroes.

The next one, King Krush, may not be the highest profile Warcraft character but it’s one of the cleanest and clear evolutions that we’ve seen so far. Starting as a cute little chomper just out of an egg and transforming into a massive dinosaur lord, Krush’s artwork exemplifies the power process that Mercenaries brings to the table. Roar!

Hearthstone: Mercenaries is slated to arrive this year, and I’m excited about the prospect of a strategy RPG experience being added to the Heathstone suite.