Hearthstone

The 19.6 patch brings pre-purchase for Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Forged in the Barrens, along with balance updates for Battlegrounds, Duels, and one card in Standard—High Abbess Alura.

Standard Balance Update

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Dev Comment: High Abbess Alura is going to 5 mana in order to push out the swing turns she enables. When an individual card contains a large amount of a deck's winrate, as Alura does, it breaks the promises of a Hearthstone match. Instead of having a natural back-and-forth flow between players, games with a turn 4 Alura can create seemingly insurmountable board states too early in the match. At 5 mana, Alura's identity as a big spell buildaround card remains intact but the change will give more room for games to occur before the swing and for responses to be ready after her Spellburst trigger.

High Abbess Alura will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.6 patch goes live.

Battlegrounds Updates

• *UPDATE* Quilboar were announced as the next Battlegrounds minion type at BlizzConline! We’ll have more details to share on Quilboar in April.
• The Darkmoon Prizes Battlegrounds event has come to an end.
• Instead of checking for triples after each minion is summoned, all minions will now summon first before any triples are generated.

HERO POOL UPDATES

• Captain Hooktusk has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

• Embrace Your Rage

• Old: Start of Combat: Add a minion from your Tavern Tier to your warband. Keep it. → New: Start of Combat: Summon a minion from your Tavern Tier. Add a copy to your hand.

• Lead Explorer
  • Recruitment Map cost reverted to 3 Gold.

• Bananarama
  • Big Banana drop rate increased to 1/3.

• Prestidigitation
  • Ice Block can now only be Discovered once per game.

MINION POOL UPDATES

• Elistra the Immortal has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.

• Old: 4 Attack, 2 Health. After you play a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+1. → New: 3 Attack, 2 Health. After you play a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+2.

• Old: 1 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 1 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: 2 Attack, 5 Health. → New: 2 Attack, 6 Health.

• Old: 2 Attack, 3 Health. → New: 2 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +3 Attack. → New: Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +2 Attack permanently.

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 4]

• Old: 3 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 8 Health.

Duels Balance Updates

• Gattling Gunner has been removed from the Active Treasure pool.
• Mage Armor is now a Neutral Active Treasure (formerly Mage).

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Cost 4]

• Old: [Cost 5] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: Attack 0, Health 3. → New: Attack 1, Health 4.

• Old: Attack 4, Durability 1. → New: Attack 3, Durability 3.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 7]

Pre-Purchase Forged in the Barrens

The Barrens are the anvil upon which the Horde as we know it was founded: A literal crossroads where the tauren, trolls, and orcs came together for the first time. Heroes are made here. Perhaps you, too, shall be Forged in the Barrens!

Forged in the Barrens will launch worldwide this Spring with 135 new collectible cards! You'll be able to find the full schedule for card reveals and see which cards were announced today by visiting the card library here after the Hearthstone Deep Dive at BlizzConline. Check back frequently—the list will be updated with new cards as they’re revealed!

The Forged in the Barrens Mega Bundle includes 80 Forged in the Barrens card packs, 5 Golden Forged in the Barrens packs, two random Forged in the Barrens Golden Legendary cards, the Hamuul Runetotem Druid Hero, the Hamuul Runetotem card back, and Battlegrounds perks**!

The Forged in the Barrens Bundle includes 60 Forged in the Barrens card packs, two random Forged in the Barrens Legendary cards, and the Hamuul Runetotem card back!

PRE-PURCHASE

**Battlegrounds Perks are available upon purchase and expire at the end of the Forged in the Barrens expansion cycle.

Log-in for Shadow Hunter Vol’jin & 30 Years of Blizzard Card Back

Log into Hearthstone after the 19.6 patch goes live to receive the Shadow Hunter Vol’jin Legendary minion for free, available to play immediately!* And, to celebrate Blizzard’s 30th anniversary, all players will be able to claim the free 30 Years of Blizzard card back from the in-game shop until March 2, 2021!*

*Limit one per account.

Bug Fixes & Miscellaneous Updates

• Fixed a bug where completed Weekly Quests would not show awarded XP on the Rewards Track without relaunching Hearthstone.
• Fixed a bug where Transfer Student would not have a unique ability on the Darkmoon Faire gameboard.
• Fixed a bugged interaction between Bright-Eyed Scout and Shenanigans.
• Fixed a bugged interaction between Holy Wrath and Shenanigans.
• Fixed a bug where Sightless Watcher’s Battlecry would not offer a second copy of Sightless Watcher if one was in your deck.
• Fixed a bug where Keywarden Ivory’s Spellburst would only give one additional spell after Discovering two spells when played with Brann Bronzebeard.
• Fixed a bug where Dreaming Drake would not retain in-deck and in-hand modifications when Corrupted.
• Fixed a bug where history tiles were not showing after activating Spellburst for Glacier Racer and Imprisoned Celestial.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where minions added to the warband via Embrace Your Rage would not be summoned by Bob’s Burgles the following recruit phase.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where three Golden Faceless Taverngoers used on the same minion would combine to form another triple.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Staking the Claim would not count Keywarden Ivory as a Discover card.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Scrapmetal Demolitionist’s card text would not update throughout a run.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Instructor Fireheart would play two voice lines simultaneously.
• Duels Signature Hunter Treasure Bow of the Beast has been renamed to Carrot on a Stick.
• The Silas Darkmoon login reward will now be granted if you own a pack from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire and go to the Open Packs menu.
• Increased the font size on mobile devices for the XP bar on the Rewards Track.
• Search results for any minion type in the Collection Manager will now include Circus Amalgam.

Book of Heroes Valeera – March 2

Retrace Valeera’s path to becoming an expert assassin in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on March 2! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Rogue pack, containing only Rogue cards from Standard!

Our next major update will include an Arena rotation and new Duels Treasures! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest releases!

The 19.4.1 patch, arriving on January 28, includes a change for Hysteria from the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, balance adjustments for Duels, and a handful of game improvements!

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: Choose a minion. It attacks random minions until it dies. → New: Choose an enemy minion. It attacks random minions until it dies.

Hysteria will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.4.1 patch goes live.

Duels Balance Updates

HERO POWER UPDATES

• Old: [Passive] After you play the left- or right-most card, gain 1 Attack this turn. → New: [Costs 1] After you play the left or right-most card in your hand, gain +1 Attack this turn.

• Old: Trigger a minion's Deathrattle. → New: Trigger a random friendly minion's Deathrattle.

SIGNATURE TREASURE UPDATES

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Beast, Costs 8]
  • Dev Comment: Turns out Bonecrusher is a silly rabbit.

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

• Now has the Dragon tag.

TREASURE POOL UPDATES

• Cannibalism has moved from Passive Treasure pool 1 to pool 2
• Sandy Surprise has been removed from the Passive Treasures pool.

Miscellaneous Updates & Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where Collection Achievement progress could get out of sync with the current contents of your collection.
  • Dev Comment: You will still never lose credit for an Achievement once it's been completed.
• Fixed a bug where Arena could fail to load for new players.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the animation for Harvest Time! would play twice.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Shadow Word: Void would summon minions based on the target minion's default Health rather than current Health remaining.
• Fixed a visual bug where notifications would persist for the Journal after completed Achievements had been claimed.

The 19.4 patch, releasing on January 21, includes the new Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, new Heroes and Minions for Battlegrounds, a Mid-Season Update for Duels, an Arena rotation, bug fixes, and more!

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW BATTLEGROUNDS HEROES

• Prize Wall [Passive]
  • Every 4 turns, Discover a Darkmoon Prize.

• Sprout It Out! [Passive]
  • Give +1/+2 and Taunt to minions you summon during combat.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to these new Heroes before they’re formally released on February 4.

NEW BATTLEGROUNDS MINIONS

• [Tier 3, Demon] 3 Attack, 3 Health
  • Battlecry: Choose a friendly Demon. Remove it to gain its stats and 3 Gold.

• [Tier 4, Demon] 6 Attack, 4 Health
  • Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon two 3/2 Imps.

MINION POOL UPDATE

• Floating Watcher has been removed from the Battlegrounds Minion pool.

The Darkmoon Races Mini-Set

Hearthstone’s first ever Mini-Set, The Darkmoon Races, features 35 unique cards—4 Legendary, 1 Epic (x2), 14 Rare (x2), and 16 Common (x2) for a total of 66 new cards that draw on familiar card mechanics from throughout the Year of the Phoenix! Collectible Darkmoon Races Mini-Set cards can be found in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs, and the entire set is available for purchase from the in-game or web shop for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. Read more about the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set here!

Buy Now!

Duels Updates

The Duels Mid-Season Update will add 10 new Hero Powers, 25 new Signature Treasures (5 of which are Dual-Class), 4 new Passive Treasures, and 2 new Active Treasures on January 21! Heroic and Casual ratings will reset with the 19.4 patch, and new Achievements will become available for you to complete. Read more about the Duels Mid-Season Update here!

Dev Comment: There is a known issue where the countdown timer at the bottom of the Duels start screen is incorrect. Duels ratings will reset with the 19.4 patch on January 21.

Arena Rotation

When the 19.4 patch is released on January 21, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

• Darkmoon Races Mini-Set
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Ashes of Outland
• Demon Hunter Initiate
• The Boomsday Project
• Journey to Un'goro
• One Night in Karazhan
• Basic
• Classic

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Argent Braggart would not retain stat buffs when tripled.
• Fixed a bug where Malevolent Strike would not discount itself when created by Deck of Lunacy.
• Fixed a bug where losing control of a minion immediately when it comes into play (such as playing Silas Darkmoon on an empty board) would not correctly Corrupt cards in hand.
• Fixed a bug where the ‘created by’ tag on generated cards was showing up as ‘UNKNOWN ENTITY’ when played.
• Fixed a bug where Glinda Crowskin would not grant Echo to cards modified by Deck of Chaos.
• Fixed a visual bug where transforming a Dormant minion could make it appear to retain buffs while Dormant.
• Fixed a visual bug where Corrupted minions appeared to respawn on the board after being destroyed.
• Fixed a visual bug where viewing progress for quests such as Open the Waygate would no longer highlight cards in hand that did not start in your deck.
• Fixed a visual bug where Zombeasts in play only displayed card text for the first beast selection when using the Build-A-Beast Hero Power.
• Passive Treasures offered between matches in Duels should now present more options that are better suited for the class you're playing.

Coming February 2 - Book of Heroes Anduin

Raised with the expectation he would follow in his father’s footsteps, Prince Anduin has instead forged his own way through the grace of the Light. He learned to wield holy magic as well as a sword, making him a unique figure among the royalty of Azeroth. Thus armed, Anduin has embarked on numerous adventures as far away as the storied realm of Pandaria and as close as the decaying ruins of Lordaeron.

Follow Anduin’s journey in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on February 2! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Priest Pack, containing only Priest cards from Standard!

We’ve got a small balance patch with a few big changes planned for release this Friday, January 8!

Standard Balance Updates

Edwin VanCleef

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]
  • Dev Comment (Updated): The last few weeks have been the best Edwin has ever performed as an individual card (the highest win rate card in multiple Rogue archetypes). Alongside cards like Foxy Fraud and Shadowstep, the frequency of early 8/8 or 10/10 Edwin VanCleefs reached a point we are no longer comfortable with. Edwin's mana cost is increasing by 1 to weaken some of the powerful openings at Rogue's disposal. We were planning on rotating Edwin out of Standard in a few months (still are, more info on that soon!), but want to evaluate how the rest of Rogue's kit performs without this very powerful iteration of Edwin. Cards like Foxy Fraud, Swindle, and Prize Plunderer are important pieces for future expansions and card interactions, so we'll be keeping close tabs on how they perform with the influx of new cards and Edwin's nerf.

Boggspine Knuckles

• Old: 4 Attack → New: 3 Attack
  • Dev Comment: We're lowering the attack on Boggspine Knuckles in order to cut into the fluidity of Evolve Shaman, increasing the required investment of playing a 5-mana weapon without a free Dread Corsair, and reduce the overall damage output the deck is capable of over multiple weapon charges. This change lowers the amount of explosive plays available to Evolve Shaman and should create an overall healthier meta.

Edwin VanCleef and Boggspine Knuckles will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.2.1 patch goes live.

Battlegrounds Balance Update

Elistra the Immortal

• Old: 7 Attack, 7 Health → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where Infinite Toki’s Temporal Tavern would not function correctly with the New Recruit Darkmoon Prize.
• Fixed a bug where Ysera’s Dream Portal, when used with the New Recruit Darkmoon Prize, would not offer a Dragon when Bob’s Tavern is full.

Happy Feast of Winter Veil! The 19.2 patch, releasing on December 15, welcomes the Old Gods to Battlegrounds as new Heroes along with 10 new minions and the addition of a limited-time Darkmoon Prizes system! The patch also features balance updates for Standard and Duels, a new Book of Heroes for both Garrosh and Uther, game improvements, and more!

As a thank you for being part of our community, we’re also rewarding all players with 5 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs and 500 gold just for logging in after the 19.2 patch has been released!*

*All rewards will only be granted once per account. Must log in before January 18, 2021.

Battlegrounds Updates

With this new Battlegrounds season, we will be resetting all players' external rating to 0. For more information about our Battlegrounds rating system read our Dev Insights blog! Ratings will be reset once per expansion. Please note that your rating will not visibly reset until you've played at least one Battlegrounds game.

DARKMOON PRIZES

We’re introducing a new limited-time mechanic—Darkmoon Prizes! Every four turns you’ll Discover a Darkmoon Prize and add it to your hand. As the game progresses, you’ll be offered increasingly powerful Darkmoon Prizes to play with. From immediately impactful buffs to game-lasting effects, Darkmoon Prizes will add a new twist to every Battlegrounds match for the next two months!

[click to enlarge]

Dev Comment: Only one player can Discover Ice Block on Prize Turn 3, but it can also be created by Big Winner.

NEW HEROES

• Saturday C’Thuns! [Costs 2]
  • At end of turn, give a friendly minion +1/+1. Repeat 0 Times. (Upgrades after each use!)

• Avatar of N’Zoth [Passive]
  • Start the game with a 1/1 Fish that gains all your Deathrattles in combat.

• Embrace your Rage [Costs 2]
  • Start of Combat: Add a minion from your Tavern Tier to your warband. Keep it.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to these new Heroes before they’re formally released on December 29.

HERO POOL UPDATES

• Galakrond has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton has returned to the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
• The Great Akazamzarak has returned to the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
  • Competitive Spirit has been added to The Great Akazamzarak’s Secret pool.

• Come One, Come All!
  • Increased overall chances of getting tickets after turn 1.

• Three Wishes
  • Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Pirate Parrrrty!
  • Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

NEW MINIONS

• [Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health
  • Reborn. Taunt.

• [Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health
  • Taunt. Whenever this is attacked, give adjacent minions +1/+1.

• [Tier 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health
  • Deathrattle: Add a Gold Coin to your hand.

• [Tier 3] 4 Attack, 5 Health
  • Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +3 Attack.

• [Tier 4, Demon] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • After you summon a Demon, gain +1/+1 permanently.

• [Tier 4] 5 Attack, 5 Health
  • After a friendly minion with Taunt dies, give its neighbors +2/+2.

• [Tier 4] 2 Attack, 2 Health
  • Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, gain +1/+1 permanently.

• [Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • Battlecry: Choose a minion in Bob’s Tavern. Transform into a plain copy of it.

• [Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • At the end of your turn, gain +1/+2 for each minion type you control.

• [Tier 6] 7 Attack, 7 Health
  • Divine Shield. Reborn. Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, this gets attacked instead.

MINION POOL UPDATES

• Righteous Protector has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• The Beast has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• Crowd Favorite has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• Shifter Zerus has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: 3 Attack, 2 Durability → New: 2 Attack, 2 Durability

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

All craftable cards listed above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.2 patch goes live.

Duels Balance Updates

• Reduced the number of unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Epic cards required for unlocking Hero Power #2 for each class from 10 to 5.
• Reduced the number of unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards required for unlocking Signature Treasure #2 for each class from 100 to 90.
• Reduced the number of unique Scholomance Academy Epic cards required for unlocking Signature Treasure #3 for each class from 20 to 15.
• Updated wording of criteria for Hero Powers and Signature Treasures to better reflect unlock requirements.

• Removed Battlecry from Shadowshell Informant.

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: Rush. Lifesteal. This minion has +2/+2 for each card you discarded this game. If this minion is discarded, return it to your hand. → New: Rush. Lifesteal. This minion has +1/+1 for each card you discarded this game. If this minion is discarded, return it to your hand.
  • Dev Comment: Turns out Killmox was a Killjoy…moved to +1/+1.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

Rewards & Progression Updates

We’re making several major changes to the new progression system in the 19.2 patch:

• Reducing the amount of experience needed to reach certain levels on the Rewards Track.
  • Reduced total required XP for completing the Rewards Track by 37,000 XP.
• Adjusting a variety of Daily and Weekly Quests that feel unrewarding or too difficult.
  • Removed ‘Finish an Arena run with 4 or more wins’ Quest.
  • Removed ‘Play an Old God Legendary from the Darkmoon Faire 10 times’ Quest.
  • Adjusted ‘Play 50 Corrupt cards’ Quest to now read ‘Play 30 Corrupt cards’.
  • Adjusted ‘Win 7 games of Ranked Play mode’ to ‘Win 5 games of Ranked Play mode’.
  • Adjusted ‘Finish in top 2 in Battlegrounds’ to ‘Finish in top 4 in Battlegrounds’
  • Adjusted ‘Deal 2,000 damage to enemy minions in Battlegrounds’ to ‘Deal 1,500 damage to enemy minions in Battlegrounds’
  • Adjusted ‘Play two 10 cost cards’ to ‘Play one 10 cost card’
  • Adjusted ‘Play 20 Murlocs’ to ‘Play 10 Murlocs’
  • Adjusted ‘Play 6 Weapons’ to ‘Play 4 Weapons’
  • Adjusted all 800 XP Daily Quests to award 900 XP.
  • Adjusted applicable quests to count progress from Tavern Brawls and Battlegrounds.
• Adding more rewards to certain levels of the Rewards Track and expanding the Rewards Track levels above level 50.
  • Added 50 additional Gold each to levels 27 and 30. Players who hit these milestones before the 19.2 patch will be compensated in a future update.
  • Expanded levels 51-150 to a maximum level of 350 and adjusted each level after level 50 to require 1/3 as much XP and reward 50 Gold.

For more, you can find our full update on the Rewards Track here. After these changes are implemented, your existing earned XP value will be retained, so upon your next login you will likely see additional progress through multiple levels. Please ensure that you review your rewards after updating to the 19.2 patch to see what you can now claim.

Dev Comment: Removed quests will need to be rerolled or completed. For the quests that have their requirements reduced in 19.2, if you already have progress on that quest at or above the new quota to complete, the quest will not automatically complete. You’ll need to advance that quest requirement by one for it to complete.

Winter Veil Quests

Winter Veil is underway! Get into the holiday spirit by completing a Legendary Quest chain that rewards a total of 4 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs! These two quests will appear one at a time on your Quest Log and will not override any of your other quests.

Book of Heroes Garrosh

Follow Garrosh’s journey to becoming the Warlord of the Warsong clan in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on December 16! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Warrior Pack, containing only Warrior cards from Standard!

Book of Heroes Uther

Then, on January 5, protect the weak, bring justice to the unjust, and vanquish evil! Defeating all 8 bosses in Uther’s Book of Heroes will reward 1 Paladin Pack, containing only Paladin cards from Standard! Dev Comment: The Achievement for completing Book of Heroes Uther is missing. This is a known issue that will be fixed in a future update.

Miscellaneous Updates & Game Improvements

• We’ve updated our minimum spec requirement for mobile devices to 2GB of memory. Mobile devices with fewer than 2GB will no longer be supported. Please see our recommended and minimum configurations for Hearthstone here for additional information.
• Fixed some slow animation issues with various minions in Battlegrounds, most notably when refreshing Bob's Tavern with Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare in play.
• Fixed a bug where locked mana crystals were not displaying correctly after disconnecting and reconnecting to a match.
• Fixed a bug where certain sound effects would continuously play after disconnecting and reconnecting to a match.
• Fixed a bug where Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate’s Wheel of Fate could disconnect players.
• Fixed a bug where Oh My Yogg would not properly generate spells created by Twinspells.
• Fixed a bug where the targeting arrow for Battlecry minions was not working properly on mobile devices.
• Fixed a bug where targeting arrows could appear on the Victory or Defeat screens.

Tomorrow’s 19.0 patch includes an all-new progression system, several game improvements, and some updates to Battlegrounds. Its arrival means Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, is almost here! All Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards have officially been revealed, and while you can’t use the new cards until they’ve unlocked on November 17, you can get a head start on building your launch day decks with our online deck builder!

Duels Updates

Duels: Season One also begins on November 17, but tomorrow’s patch grants Duels: Early Access to everyone, introduces Whispers of the Old Gods to the pool of eligible sets, and adds Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards to loot buckets! Once Duels: Season One begins, you’ll be able to add Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards to your starter deck as well! You can learn more about Duels in our announcement blog here.

Tomorrow’s patch will also add a new unlockable Hero Power and two Signature Treasures for each class in Duels, which you can obtain by owning Scholomance Academy and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards. Check out our Pre-Release blog to learn how you can open Madness at the Darkmoon Faire packs early!

Battlegrounds Hero Pool Updates

• Queen Wagtoggle has been removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

Silas Darkmoon

• Come One, Come All! [Passive]
  • Darkmoon Tickets are in the Tavern! Get 3 to Discover a minion from your Tavern Tier.
  • Random minions in Bob’s Tavern will have Darkmoon Tickets. Buy three of these minions to Discover a minion from your current Tavern Tier.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Silas Darkmoon before the hero is formally released on December 1.

Progression & Rewards Revamp

The 19.0 patch adds an entirely new progression system to the Tavern! In what is Hearthstone’s biggest systems update ever, the progression revamp includes four major parts:

• The addition of an Achievements System that tracks your in-game accomplishments.
• A central Rewards Track for all earnable rewards outside of Ranked play.
• A Quest Revamp that supports daily and weekly quests.
• An updated Profile Page with player info, ranks, and stats.

You’ll be able to access each of these pages by clicking on a new Journal icon that will replace the Quest Log on the main menu. You can read the full breakdown for each part of the progression revamp here. We’ve got a few additional details to share on the progression update today:

• Quests – Quests can be completed in Casual, Ranked, Arena, and Duels. Certain quests may also point you to Battlegrounds or Tavern Brawls. Quests can also be completed in the Friendly Challenge variants of any of these modes.
• Achievements – Achievements are broken up into categories and subcategories. As you’d expect, the Game Modes and Adventures categories can only be completed within their specified modes. The more general Progression and Gameplay categories can be completed in Ranked, Arena, and Duels modes.
  • Dev comment: There is a known issue that sometimes causes Collection Achievements to appear to have incorrect progress—this will be fixed in an upcoming patch. When that happens, Collection Achievements will update to the correct progress, but no Achievements will be taken away.
• Reward XP – You can earn XP just for playing the game in most game modes. This includes Casual, Ranked, Arena, Duels, Battlegrounds, Tavern Brawls, and Adventures. Friendly Challenge variants of these modes do not give XP.

We’re investigating an issue which may impact minimum spec mobile devices (those with fewer than 2GB of memory) on this patch which may result in degraded performance. This behavior may be triggered by accessing the new in-game Journal. We’re advising players to exit and relaunch Hearthstone if they encounter these issues.

Tavern Pass

The Rewards Track includes a free track for all players, and a paid track that can be unlocked with the Tavern Pass, which will be available for purchase for $19.99. Purchasing the Tavern Pass at any point during the expansion will immediately grant the Golden Silas Darkmoon Legendary minion, a 10% XP Boost that lasts for the duration of the expansion, and all items up to your current level on the paid track. You’ll earn an additional XP Boost as you progress with the Tavern Pass during the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion, in addition to the Annhylde Alternate Warrior Hero and Card Back, three Jaina Hero Skins, three Thrall Hero Skins, and one of Hearthstone’s first-ever collectible Cosmetic Coins!

Battlegrounds Perks

Battlegrounds Perks will be available as a standalone purchase on November 17, separate from the Tavern Pass, for $14.99 or 2000 gold. Battlegrounds Perks will allow you to pick from 4 Heroes at the start of a Battlegrounds match and grants advanced stats, visual emotes, and early access to new Heroes! Battlegrounds Perks are also included in the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Mega Bundle.

Game Improvements & Miscellaneous Updates

• Hovering over the opponent’s Mana tooltip will now display a count of their Overloaded Mana Crystals. The friendly Mana tooltip has also been updated to display a count.
• Drustvar Horror will now randomly pick one option for Runic Carvings instead of casting both.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Golden cards would appear as normal cards.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the Best Runs counter was being unintentionally reset.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Heroes were not playing their voice line when selected for a run.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Book of the Dead was not counting enemy minions that had died.
• Fixed a bug where Dormant minions would not consume discounts provided from Studies.
• Fixed a bug where the arrow for targeted Hero Powers in Battlegrounds would begin offscreen.
• Fixed a bug where emotes would overlap with the post-game victory or defeat screen.
• Fixed a bug where portraits shown in history tiles were inconsistently sized between devices.
• Free decks for new and returning players have been updated (recipes can be found here).*
• Card text for Corrupting Mist and Chaos Gazer have been reworded to avoid confusion with the new Corrupt keyword. Functionality of both cards remain the same.

* Limit one per account. A returning player is defined as one who has not logged into Hearthstone for 120 consecutive days

November 17 - Arena Rotation

When Madness at the Darkmoon Faire launches on November 17, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Demon Hunter Initiate
• Ashes of Outland
• Galakrond's Awakening
• Whispers of the Old Gods
• Basic
• Classic

We’re planning to release a sizable balance patch for Duels and Battlegrounds tomorrow! You can read the full details below.

Duels Balance Updates

• Ratings change dialog at the end of a run will now be more impressed with your number of wins.

Active Treasures

• Mr. Bigglesworth has been removed from the active Treasures pool.
  • Dev Comment: Mr. Bigglesworth was a very bad kitty and snuck into the pool, he has now been removed and is being dried off.

• Old: 6 Health → New: 4 Health

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 0]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

• Old: [Costs 11] → New: [Costs 10]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

Passive Treasures

• Old: On your first turn you have 2 Mana Crystals. → New: On your first two turns you have 1 extra Mana Crystal.

Demon Hunter

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Rogue

• Old: Give your weapon +2/+1. Combo: Also give it Poisonous. → New: Give your weapon +2/+2. Combo: Also give it Poisonous.

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Shaman

• Old: Summon a random Totem. If you’re Overloaded, summon a non-basic Totem as well. → New: Summon a random Totem. If you’re Overloaded, summon a non-basic Totem instead.

Warlock

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Warrior

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Battlegrounds Hero Updates

• Nefarian has been removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

• Wax Warband
  • Old: Give a friendly minion of each type +2 Attack. → New: Give a friendly minion of each type +2/+1.

• Menagerist
  • Old: Start the game with a 1/1 Amalgam with all minion types. → New: Start the game with a 1/2 Amalgam with all minion types.

• Trash for Treasure
  • Old: [Cost 0] Remove a friendly minion. Get a random one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: [Cost 1] Remove a friendly minion. Discover a random one from a Tavern Tier lower.

• A Tale of Kings
  • Old: Whenever you buy a minion of a specific type, give it +1/+2. Swaps type each turn. → New: Whenever you buy a minion of a specific type, give it +2/+2. Swaps type each turn.

• Tavern Lighting
  • Old: Give a random friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier. → New: Give a friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier (targeted).

• Boon of Light
  • Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

• Dream Portal
  • Old: At the start of your turn, add a Dragon to Bob's Tavern. → New: Bob always offers an extra Dragon whenever the Tavern is refreshed.

• Prestidigitation
  • Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]
  • Effigy removed from Secret pool.

*11/5 Update: The Great Akazamzarak has been temporarily removed from the Hero Pool due to some unintended interactions. We’re planning for The Great Akazamzarak to return in a future update.

Galakrond

• Galakrond’s Greed
  • Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 0]
  • No longer Freezes.

• Bob’s Burgles
  • Old: Refresh Bob’s Tavern with minions from your last opponent’s warband. → New: Refresh Bob’s Tavern with your last opponent’s warband.

• Lead Explorer
  • Recruitment Map now costs 2 (down from 3).

• Friendly Wager
  • Now gives your gold back on ties (1 gold refunded).

Battlegrounds Minion Updates

• Elementals will no longer be a minion type in every match.

• Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health. → New: 1 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: [Tier 3] 2 Attack, 8 Health. → New: [Tier 2] 2 Attack, 5 Health.

• Old: [Tier 4] → New: [Tier 3]

• Old: [Tier 4] 5 Attack, 4 Health. → New: [Tier 3] 4 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 5 Health.

• Old: At the end of your turn, give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+1. → New: At the end of your turn, give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+2.

• Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 6]

• Old: 8 Attack, 1 Health. → New: 5 Attack, 1 Health.

• Old: 6 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +1/+1. → New: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +2/+1.

• Old: Battlecry: For each different minion type you have, Adapt randomly. → New: Battlecry: For each different minion type you have among other minions, Adapt randomly.