The Frost and The Furious

One of the things I've been waiting for in Hex, more than even running the actual dungeons, is the equipment.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to tearing through all the chests that are sitting in my inventory, sorting out all the loot and brainstorming decks.to run through the arena.  Unfortunately when the patch launched, I only had three pieces: The Mirrorblade (a Kickstarter Reward that enhance Replicator's Gambit), North Wind Chimes, and Sky Walkers (which buff Elementals obtained from rolling on Shards of Fate chests in the Wheels of Fate).  Some equipment from the Wheels, like Spark Mitts, was noticeably absent from my inventory stash, along with all the mercenaries and chests.  The chests are still accessible to roll on, but it's a weird interface problem that's crept over from pre-Frost Ring.

  

This means I have to grind the Arena a few times with a deck sans equipment.  Luckily the Arena is very doable without equipment, and a player with little more than a starter could probably finish with little problems.  Getting a perfect run and killing Uruunaz might require a little more power in your stack, and with the diversity of decks, it is definitely possible to bleed a game or two against bosses and minor opponents.  Those achievements are just required to earn you sleeves though.  To grind equipment you just need a bit of tenacity and a deck that can deal with the boss fights, preferably a fast one if you want to do it in decent time.

Arena Orc Rush
Champ: Sir Giles Rowan

4 Savage Raider

4 Ridge Raider

4 Arena Regular

4 Spark Elemental

4 Furious Taskmaster

3 Fierce Warlord

1 Goremaster

3 Zoltog

4 Ragefire

4 Crackling bolt

2 Burn

23 Ruby Shard

This probably isn't the most optimal list since I don't own a full playset of Goremaster, but the list is very strong and very aggressive.  With eight one-drops you will likely be beating for two on the first turn.  Fierce Warlord can make that three if played early as well.  There's a charge sub-theme in the deck in Spark Elemental and Crackling Bolt, allowing you to get Sir Gilas's charge power off multiple times in the match, and on turn three if need be.  Spark Elementals also take advantage of the AI's poor recognition of Swiftstrike troops, often allowing you to chunk an early rush with little push back.  Arena Regular has synergy with the additional charge cards as well, giving you extra reach if the ground gets clogged to deal damage even on otherwise dead draws.  Dealing damage off charges with the Regular will also trigger Zoltog, giving you a free Savage Raider for your troubles.

The deck also takes advantage of the buffs granted from challenges, which often grant you charges, resources, or even Arena Brawlers at the start of the match.  In one Arena run my tier four boss was Xarlox, one of the more difficult matches one can draw.  However thanks to two prior challenges, I started the game with an Arena Brawler and two additional charges.  Since the Brawler is an aggressive Orc and my charge power is meant to buff all my Orcs, this was a dream setup, and resulted in a turn-4 win for me even with him starting at 25 health.  This also ended up being my first perfect run, so in addition to ten cards and equipment I got the achievement sleeves. 

Despite the runs I've made, most of the equipment I've gotten affects cards I don't yet own, however a few of them have caught my eye as ones I'd like to build around.  One in particular is Ring of the Goodfellow, a Rare trinket that give puck the ability to look at the the top five cards of your deck whenever he deals damage.  You get to take a troop from among those cards and add it to your hand, which Puck can help you play the following turn if its cost is five or more.