I was anticipating ToT for a while and ti finally dropped. I didn’t expect big out of it, but I expected ti to be fun and bring fresh ideas to the table. Did it do that? Yes and no. Let’s get into this.
First off, variety.
The bosses are various and it’s basicalyl the same dungeon run we’re accustomed to. Now there’s special cards from each duel-class you play you can choose to put in your deck. (Admittedly some are blatantly better.) and that’s a cool feature. I played Finley to the entire first wing and half of the second (in boss health.) and it was around the same as any dungeon run would be.
Fun factor.
ToT ranks lower than DH for me. I just don’t dig the atmosphere of either wing and the treasures seem to be less exciting this time around. Card buckets seem downgraded as well for no reason. It just seems that power level is decreased and less insane combos can happen. That was a big selling point of Dungeon Runs (at least to me) and some of that element is gone. Otherwise, the final bosses are creative and the new bosses are whatever. I found them to be boring, as they’d fill their board easily and I still wouldn’t die. It was ust boring to take like 8 damage a turn until I drew a card they’d just kill and kill their board doing. I also find the AI to be just as bad as last time, purposely throwing games, even in Heroic. Not very good.
Power level.
The power level is very inconsistent here. The bosses hero powers seem alright but the hero’s hero powers are amazing. In Finely’s case, better than most, if not all boss hero powers (not counting final bosses.) His first summons a 2/1 Amalgam, which is fine. Second, is 1 mana, Discover a Shaman/Paladin card, Overload 1. The last, is 2 mana give a Minion Windfury and Divine Shield.
The middle one is good but the last one is off the charts strong. To give any minion Windfury and Divine Shield. It really messes with power balance when it’s the blatantly better option. I also had a nasty combo with the 2nd one with the Spade treasure, 1 mana, discover 3 copies of a card, they all cost 2 less. It made the game a joke. So much so, I beat the entire first boss in one run, which really took away any intimidating factor not only there but going forward. Knowing my deck can be equipped to outlast 300 health isn’t fair. Which brings me to my next point, what happened to custom boss cards? As far as I know, Vish only has normal murlocs and it makes him weak. It’s really bland to just see a long murloc deck we already fight in Standard. Some treasures are so much better and it makes the game boring. DH’s were more exciting. The buckets were also better. In ToT the buckets are terrible and filled with bad cards. Barely any synergy can be gotten from them.
Overall, new ideas aren’t enough to make ToT better. I’m going to play the rest of it of course, but that’s it. They brought some new ideas to the table but are overshadowed by gaps in power level with the player and mostly the same thing we’re accustomed to.
Blizzard, I hope you retire Dungeon Run’s after this. I’m sure there’s new ideas to explore and you’ve perfected it with Heist, let’s keep it that way. Don’t make this more stale than it is, and let ToT be the last.
And people, stop complaining about refunds or wanting your money back. You should’ve known what you were getting into before you bought it, and if you were hesitant, should’ve played the first chapter first before you bought. You knew what you were buying, own up to it.
