Update: Video guides added, courtesy of Old Guardian! They’re posted under text solutions for each puzzle part.
The last patch added one new thing that wasn’t in the notes. It’s a new achievement and a related card back. However, unlike other achievements, it doesn’t actually tell you what you need to do…
The achievement is called “???” and it asks players to “Solve the mysteries hidden throughout the Barrens.”. That’s all we’ve got in game itself. However, players have already managed to solve the mystery!
As it turns out, clues were in the flavor text of Mercenaries. The first one is the most “obvious” and that’s probably why it was discovered first – Scabbs Cutterbutter‘ flavor text tells you what you need to do, just not directly. After players figured that out, others were easier to discover – based on clues in flavor texts of other mercenaries. Thanks to the amazing community, we now know a full solution.
All of the parts have to be finished against Innkeeper – start a practice match with the correct deck & class against it! In order to start a match against Innkeeper, pick “Solo Adventures”, “Practice” and “Normal”. I recommend playing against Priest, since his deck is slow, but honestly, none of them should be a big problem. The order in which you finish the puzzles is not relevant – you can start with any part/class.
All images and solutions were based on the amazing community effort, mostly from the WoW Secret Finding Discord server. You can join them here!
Part 1/4 – Rogue
Your deck needs to contain Bamboozle, Plagiarize, Yoink!, Coerce and Potion of Illusion. Since they cost 12 mana in total, once you get at least two pieces in your hand, use Efficient Octo-bot + Prize Plunderer to discount them. After you get everything and discount them, play them all in a single turn. Play only those five cards and nothing else! Just make sure that there’s a minion you can Coerce, because you can’t play it on an empty board and make sure you’ll have a hand space after Potion of Illusion. When you end your turn, you should get a card that starts a puzzle. Play it at the start of your next turn.
Here’s an example deck you can use, you can definitely make a stronger one, but I’ve tried to keep it cheap so everyone could use it. If you’re missing any cards OTHER than single copies of the necessary ones listed above, you can swap them as you wish:
- Format:
- Posted By:
3,760
- 1Prize Plunderer2
- 1Yoink!2
- 2Ambush2
- 2Bamboozle2
- 2Dirty Tricks2
- 2Plagiarize2
- 2Swindle2
- 2Wicked Stab (Rank 1)2
- 3Efficient Octo-bot2
- 3Ticket Master2
- 4Assassinate2
After you do the necessary steps above, here’s how the puzzle looks like:
Now, ignore your middle and right-most minion, use only the left one. The opponent has seven cubes on the board and you need to attack them exactly the right amount of times with your left minion.
- 1st Cube – 1 time
- 2nd Cube – 2 times
- 3rd Cube – 3 times
- 4th Cube – DON’T ATTACK
- 5th Cube – DON’T ATTACK
- 6th Cube – 3 times
- 7th Cube – 2 times
After you do that, all Cubes will be set at 4 attack. Click your Hero Power to finish the puzzle.
Part 2/4 – Warrior
Once again, start the match against Innkeeper with Warrior. This time your deck needs to contain Minefield, Bulk Up, In Formation!, Feat of Strength and Shield of Honor. The rest of your deck doesn’t matter. Play all of the aforementioned cards during a single turn in any order. Play only those five cards and nothing else! This time you don’t need any discounts, just make sure that there’s a damaged minion you can play Shield of Honor on and that you don’t finish with a full hand. Ending your turn will give you an item to start a puzzle. Play it at the start of your next turn.
Here’s an example deck you can use, you can definitely make a stronger one, but I’ve tried to keep it cheap so everyone could use it. If you’re missing any cards OTHER than single copies of the necessary ones listed above, you can swap them as you wish:
- Format:
- Posted By:
- 1,200
- 1Athletic Studies2
- 1Execute2
- 1Slam2
- 1Stage Dive2
- 2Bulk Up2
- 2In Formation!2
- 2Minefield2
- 3Feat of Strength2
- 4Sword Eater2
- 4Warsong Outrider2
- 5Stonemaul Anchorman2
After you do the necessary steps above, here’s how the puzzle looks like:
In this puzzle, caravan (1/1 minion on the right-most side) plays the vital role. You can drag your minions around the screen and that’s exactly what you need to do to solve the puzzle. You have three Quilboar minions (1, 2, 3) and three Orc minions (4, 5, 6) – their names etc. doesn’t matter. Every time you press Hero Power, all minions TO THE RIGHT of the Caravan change sides. Here’s what you need to do in order to solve the puzzle. Be sure to follow directions carefully. When I say that you need to SEND certain minions, put them and them only on the right side of the Caravan on your side of the board and press Hero Power. When I say that you need to RETURN WITH certain minions, put them on the right side of the Caravan on the opponent’s side and press Hero Power. Now, here’s the solution:
- Send two Quilboars. Return with one Quilboar.
- Send two Quilboars. Return with one Quilboar.
- Send two Orcs. Return with one Orc & one Quilboar.
- Send two Orcs. Return with one Quilboar.
- Send two Quilboars. Return with one Quilboar.
- Send two Quilboars. Part 2 of the puzzle is finished!
Part 3/4 – Druid
Once again, start the match against Innkeeper with Druid. This time your deck needs to contain Solar Eclipse, Lunar Eclipse, Mark of the Spikeshell, Mark of the Wild, Partner Assignment and Guidance. The rest of your deck doesn’t matter. Play all of the aforementioned cards during a single turn in any order. Play only those six cards and nothing else! And make sure to pick the “get both” option from Guidance and not end up with a full hand at the end of your turn. Ending your turn will give you an item to start a puzzle. Play it at the start of your next turn.
Here’s an example deck you can use, you can definitely make a stronger one, but I’ve tried to keep it cheap so everyone could use it. If you’re missing any cards OTHER than single copies of the necessary ones listed above, you can swap them as you wish:
- Format:
- Posted By:
- 2,000
After you do the necessary steps above, here’s how the puzzle looks like:
The puzzle is kind of an invisible maze. Attacking the middle door means taking a step forward – attacking the left or right means, well, turning left or right. If the middle minion is immune, it means that you’ve encountered a wall and you have to take a turn to either side. Here’s how the full maze and the path player needs to take looks like (SOURCE):
The issue is that there are only 9 left turns you can take since the left door only has 9 health – after that, the minion will die. However, since taking three right turns is the same as taking a single left turn, the puzzle can easily be solved without using the left door at all. Here’s the solution. R means right door, M means middle door. I recommend copying the directions over to notepad and removing the ones you already took to not repeat the same step twice (thus possibly ruining the puzzle). The numbers don’t mean anything – they are just here to break the puzzle into shorter steps so you won’t get confused (and trust me, it’s very easy to get confused). If you mess anything up, you can restart the puzzle by using Hero Power.
- RRRMMRM
- MRMRRRM
- RRRMMRM
- MRRRMMR
- MRRRMMM
- MRRRMMM
- RMMRM
- MRMRRRM
- MMMMR
- MMMRM
- RRRMMRRRM
- MRMMR
- MRRRMRM
- RRRMRRRMR
- MMMMRRR
- MMMRRRM
- RMRRRMR
- MMRRRMR
- MRRRMRRRM
- RMRMRRR
- MM
Just make sure to follow directions carefully – if you did, the puzzle will be over.
Part 4/4 – Hunter
Once again, start the match against Innkeeper with Hunter. This time your deck needs to contain Quick Shot, Overwhelm, Snake Trap, Adorable Infestation and Dire Frenzy. The rest of your deck doesn’t matter. Play all of the aforementioned cards during a single turn in any order. Play only those five cards and nothing else! Ending your turn will give you an item to start a puzzle. Play it at the start of your next turn.
Here’s an example deck you can use, you can definitely make a stronger one, but I’ve tried to keep it cheap so everyone could use it. If you’re missing any cards OTHER than single copies of the necessary ones listed above, you can swap them as you wish:
- Format:
- Posted By:
- 1,080
After you do the necessary steps above, here’s how the puzzle looks like:
In order to solve the puzzle, you need to do some trading. Minions on your side of the board want to buy things and offer you gold, while the ones on the opposing side sell things. The goal is to provide all the items minions on your side of the board want to buy. You start with 10 gold – in order to trade items, you have to drag them onto a minion you want to buy from or sell to. After doing some trading, you will get many more resources, which work in the same way – drag them into a minion to buy/sell. For example – in order to buy Elixir of Vigor, drag the Gold from your hand onto Master Swordsmith. Then you can drag those Elixirs onto Darkshire Alchemist to trade them for Linen Bandages. You always trade for maximum amount, you can’t e.g. trade for only one and save the rest.
Here’s a full list of steps you need to do in order to get through the puzzle. ORDER IS IMPORTANT! In case you mess anything up, you can always restart the puzzle by clicking on your Hero Power (but since it takes so long, I recommend dragging your resources carefully). Be sure to check whether your values match the ones posted between stages – if they don’t, just restart. Once you make a mistake, there’s no easy way to fix it.
- Buy 3x Elixir of Vigor (Master Swordsmith) and 1x Iron Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Elixirs for Linen Bandages (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Bandages for 1x Jade Locket (Balloon Merchant)
- Sell Jade Locket for 11g (Silver Hand Knight)
- Buy 3x Elixir (Master Swordsmith) and 2x Iron Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Elixir for Linen Bandages (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell 3x Bandage for 13g (Violet Apprentice)
- Buy 4x Elixir (Master Swordsmith)
- Trade Elixir for Bandages (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Bandages for a Cute Doll (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Sell Doll for 18g (Bloodsail Corsair)
- Sell 3x Dagger for 6g (to Darnassus Aspirant)
- Buy 25x Iron Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade 21x Dagger for 3x Loyal Pet Whistle (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Sell 3x Whistle for 22g (Defender of Argus)
- Buy 22x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade 24 daggers for 2x Gnomish Shield (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell 2x Shield for 25g (Windspeaker)
- Buy 12x Stormwind Cheddar (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Sell 10x Cheddar for 25g (Bloodsail Corsair)
- Buy 26x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade 28x Dagger for 4x Whistle (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Trade 4x Whistle for 2x Sapphire Wand (Armor Vendor)
- Trade 2x Wand for 1x Gilneas Dagger (Shady Dealer)
- Sell Gilneas Dagger for 70g (To Darnassus Aspirant)
At this point the first stage is completed, you have 70 Gold and 2x Stormwind Cheddar
- With 70g, buy 2x Arcane Scroll (Shady Dealer), 1x Captivating Pipe (Darkshire Alchemist), 4x Hand Axe (Barrens Blacksmith), and a Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Sell 2x Scroll for 70g (Defender of Argus)
- Buy 6x Pipes (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell 4x Pipes for 50g (to Darnassus Aspirant)
- Buy 4x Pipes (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade 6x Pipes for 2x Ruby Crown (Master Swordsmith)
- Buy 3x Elixir (Master Swordsmith), and 1x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Sell Crowns for 72g (Silver Hand Knight)
- Buy 36x Hand Axe (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Trade Axes for 10x Goblin Fishing Pole (Master Swordsmith)
- Sell 2x Fishing Pole for 18g (Dalaran Mage)
- Buy 9x Axe (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Trade Axes for 2x Fishing Pole (Master Swordsmith)
- Sell 10 Fishing Poles for 120g (to Bloodsail Corsair)
At this point, the second stage is achieved. You have 120 Gold, 2x Cheddar, 1x Axe, 3x Elixir, 1x Pipes and 2x Dagger
- Spend 120g on 120x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Daggers for 10 Shields (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell 7 Shields for 60g (to Defender of Argus)
- Buy 60x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Daggers for Shields (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Shields for 2x Tiger Amulet (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Sell Tiger Amulets for 114g (Silver Hand Knight)
- Buy 57x Healing Potion (Baloon Merchant)
- Trade Healing Potions for 14x Golden Goblet (Armor Vendor)
- Sell 7x Golden Goblets for 65g (Windspeaker)
- Buy 21x Elixir (Master Swordsmith) and 1x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant)
- Trade 20x Elixir for 1x Angry Crystal (Shady Dealer)
- Sell 1x Crystal for 60g (Dalaran Mage)
- Buy 30x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant)
- Trade Healing Potions for 8x Golden Goblet (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Golden Goblets for 5x Alliance Mace (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell 5x Alliance Maces for 125g (Darnassus Aspirant)
- Buy 41x Elixir (Master Swordsmith)
- Trade Elixirs for 45x Bandage (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Bandages for 9x Doll (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Sell 9x Doll for 166g (to Violet Apprentice)
At this time, the third stage is achieved. You have 168 Gold, 2x Cheddar, 2x Dagger, 1x Axe and 1x Pipes
- Buy 84x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant)
- Trade Potions for 21x Golden Goblet (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Goblets for 7x Alliance Mace (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Maces for 7x Everburning Candle (Master Swordsmith)
- Sell Everburning Candles for 180g (Windspeaker)
- Buy 60x Elixir (Master Swordsmith)
- Trade Elixirs for 60x Bandage (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Bandages for 12x Cute Doll (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Trade Dolls for 4x Draught of Angels (Balloon Merchant)
- Sell Draught of Angels for 204 gold (Defender of Argus)
- Buy 102x Stormwind Cheddar (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Trade Cheddar for 8x Potion of Night (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell Potions of Night for 240g (Bloodsail Corsair)
At this time, the fourth stage is reached. You have 240 Gold, 2x Dagger, 1x Axe and 1x Pipes
- Buy 120x Healing Potion (Baloon Merchant)
- Trade Healing Potions for 30x Golden Goblet (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Goblets for 3x Sphere of Wisdom (Shady Dealer)
- Sell Sphere of Wisdoms for 205g (Dalaran Mage)
- Buy 68x Elixir (Master Swordsmith)
- Trade Elixirs for 7x Shadowy Gem (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Sell Shadowy Gems for 166g (Darnassus Aspirant)
- Buy Elixirs of Vigor (Master Swordsmith) and 1x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant).
- Trade Elixir of Vigors for 3x Angry Crystal (Shady Dealer)
- Sell Angry Crystals for 150g (Violet Apprentice)
- Buy 6x Arcane Scrolls (Shady Dealer)
- Sell Scrolls for 138g (Dalaran Mage)
- Buy 138x Dagger (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Daggers for 20x Loyal Pet Whistle (Drakkari Enchanter)
- Trade Whistles for 10x Sapphire Wand (Armor Vendor)
- Sell Wands for 125g (Silver Hand Knight)
- Buy 11x Pipe (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Pipes for 4x Ruby Crown (Master Swordsmith)
- Sell Crowns for 92g (Bloodsail Corsair)
At this point, the fifth stage is reached, you have 96 Gold, 1x Axe, 1x Healing Potion
- Buy 48x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant)
- Trade Healing Potions for 12x Golden Goblet (Armor Vendor)
- Trade Goblets for 4x Alliance Mace (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell Maces for 70g (Windspeaker)
- Buy 6x Pipes (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Sell Pipes for 42g (Silver Hand Knight)
- Buy 15x Elixir of Vigor (Master Swordsmith)
- Trade Elixirs for 15x Bandage (Darkshire Alchemist)
- Trade Bandages for 3x Doll (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Trade Dolls for 1x Draught of Angels (Balloon Merchant)
- Sell Draught of Angels for 30g (Violet Apprentice)
- Buy 10x Elixir (Master Swordsmith)
- Sell 10x Elixir for 15g (Windspeaker)
- Buy 8x Hand Axe (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Sell Axes for 10g (Dalaran Mage)
- Buy 5x Hand Axe (Barrens Blacksmith)
- Trade Axes for 4x Very Nice Hat (Shady Dealer)
- Sell Hats for 14g (Violet Apprentice)
- Buy 7x Healing Potion (Balloon Merchant)
- Sell Healing Potions for 10g (Defender of Argus)
- Press Hero Power. Done! Be sure to Hero Power and not End Turn, because Ending Turn will reset you!
Finish
For each puzzle completed (in any order), you get 1/4 progress on the achievement. After you finish all of them, you should be able to get into achievements and claim yours, giving you a shiny, new card back (Mysteries of the Phoenix) and 100 Achievement Points.
To be honest – I never expected those secret puzzles to be so difficult. I thought it will be more like unlocking the Golden version of Transfer Student (a few easy steps). However, the community from all around the world delivered – we had people from every part of the glove solving those puzzles. Massive shout-out to WoW Secret Finding Discord server – every breakthrough was posted there in mere minutes from discovering, things were translated from Korean and Chinese very quickly, and they themselves managed to solve some of the puzzles! Great job, everyone!
Thanks for the guide! Worked great!
Unfortunately, I was clued into this late, and as of time of writing, it is Alterac Valley. The last puzzle is now bugged, and after all steps are completed and everyone’s quests are satisfied, it it does not let you end it. I did three successful tries (that is, completed all the steps correctly), twice clicking the hero power at the end as directed, and for the middle try I also tried clicking end turn. Nothing works, it always resets. Oh, well.
Hard to fathom tracking down all these details to the right conclusions. Crowdsourcing still does better than algorithms at intricate problem solving. Thanks for sharing the Phoenix.
Thanks for the guide. Worked perfectly.
I’m shocked at how difficult and time consuming these puzzles were! There is absolutely zero chance of figuring this out independently.
The card back is pretty cool, but I know that everyone who has it used a guide. Getting the cardback is more of an exercise in googling + time commitment than a puzzle solving achievement.
Hearthstone community is too smart ! thank you to everyone who put effort in solving this
For number 4, one person on earth wrote a script to brute-force this nonsense and absolutely everyone who wants the card-back is just following these instructions. What a completely pointless endeavour.
Worked like a charm, thanks for the information, and HUGE thanks to all who contributed to solving this!
Keep Talking and Nobody Explode!
After all that, I feel compelled to use this card back for a long time! Although my personal favorites are still Secret Level and 30 Years of Blizzard, both of which were easy to get.
On the first puzzle (Rogue), my left minion didn’t always get highlighted as being able to attack. I don’t know if anyone else sees that bug. So the first time I did the puzzle, I ended the turn after attacking each minion, and I died. Then I tried again, attacking with it even when it wasn’t highlighted, and it worked. To save other people from making the same mistake, you never want to hit end turn on that puzzle (or any of the other puzzles I think).
Done. Thank You! OMG, Crazy job!
Dzięki Stonekeep!
Nie ma sprawy 🙂
Who created these puzzles is a madman lol. I mean the first puzzle is a math problem, the second is a variant of the classic shepherd which must cross on the opposite side with wolf, sheep and cabbage….. but the other 2 are crazy.
An invisible maze and the last one some sort of “economy trading game” like a broker of wall street.
Honor to those who got there first and thanks.
got it THANK YOU!
Is anyone else having trouble with the hunter challenge? The first time I did it step by step and nothing happened (I hit the button and not the “end turn”) then I tried again and used all the required cards and it didn’t give me the item to start the puzzle.
Sorry to hear that. Did you make sure that you gave everything to everyone? You should be left with 10g and nothing else at the end.
As for the second issue – it usually occurs when players play another card during their turn besides the necessary ones. But if you’re doing it right and it doesn’t give you… maybe it thinks that you’ve already finished the puzzle? Hard to say :/
The people who solved that first should get a lifetime subscription for Hearthstone in general.
Seriously. Who on earth is able to solve such a complex puzzle in such a short time? o.0
I didn’t even get the first ‘easy’ clue (Scabs’ flavour text). And look at that maze ….
Yeah, it’s crazy. Stuff like the Druid’s maze or Hunter’s shop would take me weeks to figure out (if I would find out how to activate them in the first place), and people did it in mere hours.
The only easy one was Warrior, tbh. With some trial and error I would easily do it myself. Rogue – maybe too, but just by dumb luck (and I think that’s how it was first done – someone brute-forced it, haha). But the last two… damn.
Big Up to this awesome community!!! The puzzles are insane even when following step by step. Thank you 🙂
Wow that was tough. Especially those last two. I had a fun time trying to generate potion of illusion in rogue, since I didn’t have it in my collection. Thanks a lot for putting this guide together. It was easy to read and follow.
Big applause to those who figure out the puzzle map on the 3rd Mystery. I for once can only shake my head and gasp in awe that they not only figure out the correct way, but also draw the ENTIRE map.
That’s a full dedication right there.
Pity that the rewards not really fulfilling. Because honestly, this kind of secrets must have worth much more than a mere cardback. But that’s just me.
Not just you. A card back for this hardly seems “worth it”. I mean its a nice marker that you completed it, but that’s all. If it was me I would include a random classic legendary. New players get a incentive to play classic and old players get dust. But what do I know.
Not including “actual” rewards in stuff like that is on purpose. You have some crazy achievements in WoW that only give you a title (titles could be sort of equivalent of HS’s card backs – just a bit harder to get) or some cosmetic stuff. Even in HS you have very, very difficult achievements that don’t really give you anything outside of Achievement Points (which are useless right now). But we have people who hunt every single one of them just for the sake of doing it.
If you give actual rewards for those, players will feel “forced” to do them, since they have a tangible reward to work towards. If you don’t – it’s just for fun. No one has to do it, no one feels forced to do it, but they still get something extra if they do it.
Lots of people solve puzzles for fun and no rewards at all. For example, there were tons of people who don’t even play Hearthstone at all solving them on the Discord channel. That’s why I think that card back is a good reward – you don’t feel like you did all of that for nothing, but then again no one will feel like they have to go through it to build their collection.
From my perspective, I had so much fun trying to help solve those as much as I can. Of course my help wasn’t great, I mostly focused on spreading the word and keeping everyone updated (since that’s my job), but it was one of the most fun experiences I had in HS in a long time. I would do all of it even if there was no reward at all! But that might just be me.
FYI apparently you can play all the right cards but if you have used octobot enough and play extra cards as well it won’t work.
For the first challenge that is.
using Galakrond is also a good way to cheat down the costs
The Google Sheet has [Violet Apprentice – Draught of *A*ngels – DO*H*] which is obviously wrong – there is a “DOA” next to Defender of Argus that would fit. If someone could inform whoever is in charge of the sheet, maybe it will help something.
Stupid blizzard, i can’t run practice mode.
Just a small tip for people trying to solve the last one – you can actually quit the game and continue later as long as you don’t concede 😀
Good to know, thanks
Did rogue puzzle once, got the spell, but inkeeper killed me right after it. Can’t seem to get the spell anymore.
Hehe, so the puzzles are this crazy, no chance to just casually stumble upon them then and solve them.
I think it might be the drums on top of the barrens hut/house at the top right of the barrens map. If you hit the 5 different drums, the hordes will wake up being angry. Maybe if you hit it in the correct order, you might get a secret and then there will be an achievement unlock?
That’s a good idea! ????
of course it is a great idea but I wonder that “has not anybody tried this until now?”
This is just my theory, but I think it might be the drums on top of the barrens hut/house at the top right of the barrens map. If you hit the 5 different drums, the hordes will wake up being angry. Maybe if you hit it in the correct order, you might get a secret and then there will be an achievement unlock?
Probably have it where we need to finish unique challenges that will appear later on or it could be a collect all the barrens cards which everyone knows requires money.????????
It’s not collecting all the Barrens cards. I can assure you.
Well, I just hope it doesn’t involve winning anything related to winning in ranked mode.