Start leveling up with Hearthstone's Forged in the Barrens expansion

What you need to know

• The new Hearthstone expansion Forged in the Barrens was unlocked today.
• Announced at BlizzConline, the set is focused on heroes of the Horde.
• The set features a new mechanic that makes cards more powerful when played later in a game.

A little more than a month after it was announced at BlizzConline, Hearthstone's latest expansion Forged in the Barrens was unlocked today and is making one of the best Android games even better.

The set is focused on the zone in Warcraft that serves as the primary leveling area for Horde characters. It's part of a theme of leveling up that runs throughout the Year of the Gryphon, which is bringing the biggest shakeup to the CCG since the game launched in 2014.

The shift started on March 25 with the launch of the new Classic format, where the cards are limited to the list that was available when the game was first released. The leaderboards for the new format also went live today. Players who login now will receive a free Golden Classic Card Pack.

Forged in the Barrens brings with it a new Core Set comprising a mix of new and returning cards from previous sets. That means that competitive strategies will be wildly shifting. If you want to see some of the new cards in action, check out the card reveal video featuring streamer RegisKillbin, community manager Chris Sierra, and game designer Liv Breeden released on March 22.

Big changes will continue on April 6, when Hearthstone will release Book of Mercenaries Rokara. The single-player story mode in the vein of the Book of Heroes content will be the first in a semi-monthly series that will introduce 10 new Mercenary characters.