Homecoming marks the official launch of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. It also stands as the biggest update the game has seen to date. Brand new visuals, new and revamped mechanics, more cards, and many other additions await — take a look at some of the biggest things Homecoming brings to the table.
GWENT is all about two armies clashing on the battlefields of The Witcher world. Homecoming introduces a complete visual overhaul of the board, featuring a brand new, lore-inspired design that’s unique for every faction.
Leaders are now full 3D models commanding the battlefield on your behalf. They come equipped with a powerful ability and determine how many cards in total you can exchange at the beginning of a match and between rounds.
Woodland Spirit
LeaderOrder: Boost unit in your hand by 8.
Prince Villem
HumanSpying. Deploy: Play random gold card from your deck.
Isbel of Hagge
Mage, HumanOrder
Ranged: Look at the top card from each deck. Keep one and give other to the opponent.
Black Rayla
Soldier, HumanDeploy: Damage enemy by 1 for each human you control. Reach: 2
Barnabas Beckenbauer
GnomeDeploy: Boost allied Elf, Dwarf and Dryad by 2.
Every faction has its own unique reward tree, each with several paths you can follow. Play GWENT, earn reward points, and use them to unlock resources, cards, and keg types that will serve you gameplay experience best.
Whether through powerful bonuses a card receives when placed on its preferred row, or the Reach mechanic determining how many rows a card’s ability can cover — following Homecoming, where you play your cards has much greater impact on the battle than ever.
Your army must consist of at least 25 cards, but there’s no upper limit. Each unit has a Recruit Cost which represents how powerful it can potentially be when in use, while each army has a Recruit Cap — a limit to how much power it can wield.
These powerful cards do not directly influence the score when played. They are, however, significantly more difficult to remove from the battlefield, which makes Artifacts and their abilities something the opponent has to plan for.
Orders, unlike abilities which trigger automatically when a card is played, can be activated manually, adding another layer of strategy to the game. Will you use it as soon as possible, or wait until a more opportune moment presents itself? The choice is yours.
In an effort to further balance the game, the player going first gets to exchange an additional card during mulligan and gains Tactical Advantage — an Artifact card summoned onto the board at the beginning of a match.
You will always draw 3 cards at the beginning of each round. There’s a limit of 10 cards you can have in your hand at any point, and any additional cards will be automatically discarded. This may hinder your efforts, but also offers new tactical possibilities for certain strategies.
Turns don’t end immediately after a card is sent to the battlefield anymore. With more mechanics in play, such as the new Order abilities, it’s up to you to decide whether you’re done for the turn and ready to hand over control to the opponent.
Similarly to ending turns, passing rounds has also changed. You can only pass if you didn’t use any Order or Leader abilities and didn’t play a card during that turn. However, should the number of cards in your hand reach 0 at any point in the game, you will pass automatically.
