Hearthstone

Patch 23.4.3, launching June 16, includes balance changes to Standard, Battlegrounds, and Mercenaries, plus more!

Card Updates

Dev Comments: We have a lot of big Standard balance changes coming this patch (and one for Wild!) which are attempting to accomplish a few different goals. First, we want to lower the power level of the most powerful decks in the current metagame - Fel Demon Hunter and Control Warrior variants. Roughly half of the changes in this patch are balance-motivated and intended to target the winrates of these decks directly.

The rest of the changes in this patch are not primarily motivated by power level, but are instead focused on improving the play-against experience of some of the more polarizing cards in the game.

The following cards have been adjusted to have their power reduced:

Shield Shatter

• Old: Deal 5 damage to all minions. Costs (1) less for each Armor you have. → New: Deal 4 damage to all minions. Costs (1) less for each Armor you have.

Tidal Revenant

• Old: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage. Gain 8 Armor. → New: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage. Gain 5 Armor.

Nellie’s Pirate Ship (the Colossal appendage summoned by Nellie, the Great Thresher)

• Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add Nellie’s Pirate crew to your hand. They Cost (1). → New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add Nellie’s Pirate crew to your hand. They Cost (1) less.

From the Depths

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

Dev Comment: Both Charge Warrior and Control Warrior variants have been overperforming on the ladder, and trend towards higher and higher winrates the further up the ladder you climb. These decks share several key cards, and this batch of changes is intended to lower the winrates of both those archetypes. We don’t want or expect these decks to disappear entirely after the changes, but we do hope that some of the more frustrating plays that they are capable of (such as Nellie creating 1-cost Mr. Smite) will be removed or weakened going forward.

Caria Felsoul

• Old: [Costs 6] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Transform into a 6/6 copy of a Demon in your deck. → New: [Costs 7] 7 Attack, 7 Health. Battlecry: Transform into a 7/7 copy of a Demon in your deck.

Battleworn Vanguard

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

Dev Comment: Demon Hunter has been the other standout winrate class since the release of the latest mini-set. Although we’re happy to see the new and improved Xhilag making a splash, we aren’t as excited about Caria being used to cheat out a copy of Xhilag ahead of schedule. In addition to slowing down that interaction, we’ve shaving one Health off Battleworn Vanguard in order to lower the odds that it sticks early and snowballs the game.

Wildpaw Gnoll

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

Dev Comment: Rogue has been one of the most played classes in Standard, and it didn’t feel right for us to hit the other popular classes without taking a small amount of power out of Rogue. Wildpaw Gnoll has been a tricky card for us to get right, but we’re optimistic that the latest change to it will leave both the card and the class in the right place.

Lightforged Cariel

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]

Dev Comment: We are happy to see hero cards pack a late game punch for their classes, but felt like Cariel was providing that power a turn earlier than she should have been. Paladin is in a pretty healthy spot in the current metagame, and with the rest of the changes we are seeing in this patch, we expect things to stay that way.

Spitelash Siren

• Old: [Costs 4] 2 Attack, 5 Health → New: [Costs 5] 2 Attack, 6 Health

Dev Comment: Spitelash Siren is a fun and interesting card for Naga mage decks, but we felt that it was capable of effectively ending games in a way that didn’t leave enough room for counterplay. We are hoping that by moving this effect back one turn, opponents of the card will have more time to interact with the wide boards it is capable of generating.

Earthen Scales

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: Druid hasn’t been a dominant class since the mini-set, but it can still be quite frustrating to lose to. We felt Earthen Scales was doing too much for a one-mana card, and that increasing its cost by 1 the class should be a little easier to attack in the mid-game.

Lightning Bloom

• Old: Gain 2 Mana Crystals this turn only. Overload: (2). → New: Refresh 2 Mana Crystals. Overload: (2).

Dev Comment: As we tracked gameplay following the mini-set, we noticed concerns about game experiences in Wild, particularly when it comes to Big Shaman decks. These decks can sometimes ramp out big threats very early, which could make games feel like non-games. We quickly identified Lightning Bloom as the card which was creating the most problems for the format both in the short-term and long-term, so we are making an aggressive adjustment to it.

Mr. Smite

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 7]

Dev Comment: Mr. Smite is a powerful, game-ending card that doesn’t need to be quite as powerful as he is on curve. This change will hopefully make the card a little more tolerable in the mid-game, while also slowing down the various combos he is involved in.

School Teacher

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

Dev Comment: Though we’re generally happy with the kinds of gameplay that School Teacher provides, a card with a premium Battlecry effect doesn’t also need to have premium stats. We expect this card to still see plenty of play, but we hope that it won’t be quite as ubiquitous as it is now.

Any craftable versions of the cards listed above will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 23.4.3 (Core Set versions of cards that are in the Core Set, and the Golden versions of School Teacher that were given as part of the Voyage to the Sunken City Rewards Track, are not craftable).

Battlegrounds Updates

Hero Power Updates

Onyxia Broodmother – Broodmother

• Old: Avenge (4): Summon a 2/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately. → New: Avenge (4): Summon a 3/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately.

Ozumat – Tentacular

• Old: Passive. Start of Combat: Summon a 2/2 Tentacle with Taunt. (Upgrades after you sell a minion!) → New: Passive. Start of Combat: Summon a 2/2 Tentacle with Taunt. (Gains +1/+1 after you sell a minion!)

Dev Comment: This is not a functional change; this change is just for clarity.

Pyramad — Brick by Brick

• Old: [Costs 1] Give a random friendly minion +4 Health. → New: [Costs 0] Give a minion +2 Health. (Gains +1 Health each turn you don’t use this!)

Tamsin Roame — Fragrant Phylactery

• Old: Start of Combat: Destroy your lowest Health minion. Give its stats to four friendly minions. → New: Start of Combat: Destroy your lowest Health minion. Give its stats to five friendly minions.

Armor Tier Updates

The following heroes were adjusted to have more armor, and are now in the following armor tiers:

• Al’Akir, Ambassador Faelin, Galakrond, Malygos, and Vol’jin are in Armor Tier 2.
• C’Thun is in Armor Tier 3.
• Bru’kan, Edwin VanCleef, Fungalmancer Flurgl, and Queen Azshara are in Armor Tier 5.
• Deathwing, Elise Starseeker, Illidan Stormrage, Lord Jaraxxus, and Tess Greymane, are in Armor Tier 6.
• Aranna Starseeker, Cariel Roame, King Mukla, Overlord Saurfang, Rakanishu, The Curator, and The Rat King are in Armor Tier 7.

The following heroes were adjusted to have less armor, and are now in the following armor tiers:

• Alexstrasza, Death Speaker Blackthorn, Ini Stormcoil, Maiev Shadowsong, Patches the Pirate, Shudderwock, The Lich King, Trade Prince Gallywix, and Xyrella are in Armor Tier 1.
• Reno Jackson is now in Armor Tier 2.
• Dinotamer Brann is now in Armor Tier 3.

Minion Updates

Bubblette

• Old: 2 Attack, 5 Health → New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

Tarecgosa

• Old: Tavern Tier 4 → New: Tavern Tier 3

Coldlight Seer

• Old: Tavern Tier 4 → New: Tavern Tier 3

Shoal Commander

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

Waverider

• Old: Spellcraft: Give a minion +1/+1 and Windfury until next turn. → New: Spellcraft: Give a minion +2/+2 and Windfury until next turn.

Critter Wrangler

• Old: 5 Attack, 6 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+1. → New: 5 Attack, 7 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+2.

Corrupted Myrmidon

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

Tidemistress Athissa

• Old: 7 Attack, 3 Health → New: 7 Attack, 8 Health

Mercenaries Updates

Alexstrasza:

• Dragonqueen’s Gambit
  • Old: Cooldown 2 → New: Cooldown 1

The Lich King

• Death Coil
  • Old: Cooldown 1 → New: Cooldown 0

Yu’Lon:

• Jadeflame Buffet
  • Old: Cooldown 1 → New: Cooldown 0

Tidemistress Athissa:

• Wave Crush
  • Old: Speed 7 → New: Speed 6
• Riptide:
  • Old: Cooldown 1 → New: Cooldown: 0

Rexxar:

• Old: 11/72 Maxed Stats → New: 11/82 Maxed Stats

Xuen, the White Tiger

• Equalizing Strike
  • Old: Speed 7 → New: Speed 5

Captain Hooktusk

• Cutthroat Negotiation
  • Old: Speed 7 → New: Speed 2

Uther

• Blessing of Protection
  • Old: Speed 3 → New: Speed 1

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Zarjira’s Upstart Acolyte Equipment Freeze effect will no longer trigger if the entire enemy board is already Frozen. This will be a temporary fix until the effect can be updated to read “The first time a friendly character is frozen each turn, Freeze a random enemy.”
• Fixed a bug causing Reno’s Treasure Inspector Equipment to occasionally have no effect.
• Addressed miscellaneous localization issues across modes and languages.

Patch 23.4, launching on June 1, includes the all-new Throne of the Tides Mini-Set, along with updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, and more!

Throne of the Tides Mini-Set Launches on June 1!

Colossal forces are fighting for dominance deep under the sea. Fight for the Throne of the Tides in the Voyage to the Sunken City Mini-Set, coming June 1! We’ve dredged the depths of the ocean on our Voyage to the Sunken City and come up with a Mini-Set of 35 all-new cards to add to your collection. Get them in Voyage to the Sunken City packs, or as a complete 66-card Mini-Set* for $14.99 or 2000 Gold (normal version), or $69.99 (all-golden version).

Buy Now!

* 4 Legendary Cards (x1), 1 Epic Card (x2), 14 Rare Cards (x2), and 16 Common Cards (x2).

Battlegrounds Updates

New Hero

Ozumat (Armor Tier 4)

• Tentacular
  • Passive. Start of Combat: Summon a 2/2 Tentacle with Taunt. Upgrades after you sell a minion!

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Ozumat ahead of its formal release on June 15.

New Minion

Bubblette [Tavern Tier 1, Elemental]

• 2 Attack, 5 Health. After this minion takes exactly one damage, destroy it. (Pop!)

Diablo Returns!

Diablo (Armor Tier 1)

• Realm of Terror
  • Passive. Every 4 turns, ALL enemies fight the Lord of Terror and your warband for loot.

Diablo is returning to Battlegrounds for one week only, starting on June 1, as a special celebration! While he is here, Diablo will be offered in every Battlegrounds lobby. Because Diablo is a special promotional hero, he will be equally available to all players during that period. Several of Diablo’s loot has been adjusted since he last appeared in Battlegrounds:

• Sigil of Hell

• Magic Sigil of Hell

• Rare Sigil of Hell

• Unique Sigil of Hell

• Claws of Terror

• Magic Claws of Terror

• Rare Claws of Terror

• Hellfire Hooves

• Magic Hellfire Hooves

• Rare Hellfire Hooves

• Unique Hellfire Hooves

Mercenaries Updates

General Updates

• N’Zoth is now available through all normal acquisition means.
• You can now borrow a Party from your opponent in a Mercenaries friendly challenge.
• You can now copy a Mercenaries Party to build a new Party.
• A new option has been added to the Mystery nodes on Heroic Bounty maps. Whenever you land on a Mystery Treasure node, you’ll get additional rewards if you successfully complete the Bounty! But beware, much of that treasure is Cursed, and will hinder your characters throughout the rest of your run. However, every once in a while your Mystery Treasure will turn out to be straight Bonus Rewards: all the additional prizes at the end of your Bounty without the added Curse! So… are you feeling lucky?

New Limited-Time Event: Y’Shaarj

Y’Shaarj watched enviously as N’Zoth sunk its tentacles into Mercenaries, so now Y’Shaarj, too, is coming to join the Party in its own limited-time event, starting on June 7. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around the Old God Y’Shaarj. Two new event Tasks can be unlocked on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until June 21 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will get you the Y’Shaarj mercenary, a random Golden Y’Shaarj Portrait, the Diamond Y’Shaarj Portrait, and 750 total Mercenaries Coins. Humans and Pirates will be your best allies for this event!

Y’Shaarj and its Portraits will not initially be obtainable through packs or crafting. Y’Shaarj, its Portraits, and its Coins will all be obtainable through normal means in a patch after the event ends.

Claim Your Free Tyrael Mercenary!

In the immortal struggle between good and evil, it helps to have a powerful ally on your side. Bring strength and justice to your party with this free Legendary Tyrael Mercenary! Tyrael can be claimed for free in the Shop from now until the launch of Patch 24.0.

New Mercenaries

Y’Shaarj (Legendary Protector)

• Old God
• 9/85 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Defiled Attack 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Borrow 5 Attack from all friendly characters this turn. Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Repeat this.
  • Strength of Y’Shaarj 5 (Shadow): (Speed 1) Gain Taunt and take 6 less damage this turn. Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (3).
  • Rage Unbound 5 (Shadow): (Speed 2, Cooldown 10) Give all your characters +20 Attack. They Attack random enemies.
• Equipment:
  • Mark of Y’Shaarj 4: Defiled Attack borrows an extra 5 Attack.
  • Heart of Y’Shaarj 4: Passive: Whenever this Merc is Attacked, gain +5 Attack.
  • Idol of Y’Shaarj 4: Rage Unbound gives an extra +8 Attack.

Tyrael (Legendary Fighter)

• 12/75 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Divine Bladestrike 5 (Holy): (Speed 5) Attack an enemy. Holy Combo: Deal 15 damage to them.
  • Holy Judgment 5 (Holy): (Speed 5) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Holy Combo: Freeze them.
  • Angelic Protection 5 (Holy): (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Gain Taunt for 2 turns. Holy Combo: Other friendly characters take 10 less damage next turn.
• Equipment:
  • El’druin 4: Divine Bladestrike deals 5 more damage.
  • Blinding Gauntlets 4: Holy Judgment also gives the enemy -5 Attack permanently.
  • Crown of Purity 4: Passive: Your characters have +5 Fel Resistance.

Queen Azshara (Legendary Caster)

• Naga
• 8/83 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Shifting Tides 5 (Arcane): (Speed 10) Deal 18 damage. (Damage increased by +3 for each Spell School cast this game.)
  • Mage Paramount 5 (Arcane): (Speed 0, Cooldown 1) Gain +3 Spell Damage. Whenever an enemy casts a spell, +4 Resist to its Spell School this turn.
  • Vainglorious Rebuke 5 (Shadow): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to all enemies. (Damage is increased by the final speed.) This ability gets (2) Speed slower this turn whenever another ability is used.
• Equipment:
  • Xal’atath 4: Passive: Whenever you cast a Shadow ability, Restore 6 Health to your characters.
  • Tidestone of Golganneth 4: Passive: This merc has +1/+6 Health for each Naga in play or on your bench.
  • Sharas’fal, Queen’s Scepter 4: Passive: The first time this Merc dies, steal 6 health from all Characters in play and return to life.

Zar’Jira, the Sea Witch (Epic Caster)

• Naga
• 8/77 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Witch’s Curse 5 (Shadow): (Speed 4) Deal 12 damage. If it has already acted, its Attack is permanently halved, rounded up.
  • Freezing Touch 5 (Frost): (Speed 4, Cooldown 2) Freeze a character. They are Immune while Frozen. They deal 10 damage to your enemies when they lose Frozen.
  • Wavethrasher 5: (Speed 7, Cooldown 1)
    • Wavethrasher (Naga, Speed 6): 17/28. Rush. Passive: Has +10 Attack for each Frozen character.
• Equipment:
  • Serve Chilled 4: Witch’s Curse deals an additional 5 damage.
  • Upstart Acolyte 4: Passive: +20 Health. Whenever a friendly character is Frozen, Freeze a random enemy.
  • Ring of Sluggishness 4: Passive: Shadow abilities are (4) Speed slower.

Fathom-Lord Karathress (Rare Protector)

• Naga
• 12/82 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Tidal Strike 5: (Speed 6) Attack an enemy and summon a 8/16 Naga. Frost Combo: Summon another Naga.
    • Fathom Guard (Naga): 8 /16.
  • Cataclysmic Bolt 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 20 damage to the lowest health enemy.
  • Blessing of the Tides 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Gain +5 Attack for each friendly Naga. If this Merc has less than 40 Health, gain +10 Attack instead.
• Equipment:
  • Fathom Lure 4: After a friendly Fathom Guard attacks, restore 12 Health to this merc.
  • Hull Breaker 4: Cataclysmic Bolt deals 20 damage to adjacent enemies, but has +1 Cooldown.
  • Tidewalker’s Brooch 4: Blessing of the Tides affects all your Naga and summoned minions, but has +2 Cooldown.

Lady Vashj (Epic Fighter)

• Naga
• 10/75 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Electrify 5 (Nature): (Speed 5) Deal 22 Nature damage to an enemy. Damage is reduced by the current speed of their action.
  • Handmaiden’s Poison 5 (Nature): (Speed 4) Deal 5 damage to an enemy. Bleed (10).
  • Reflex Shot 5 (Fel): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 12 damage to all enemies. If they have already acted, deal Critical Damage.
• Equipment:
  • Icy Grasp 4: Passive: Your Naga take 4 less damage until they act each turn.
  • Witch’s Mantle 4: Passive: Enemies affected by Bleed receive 5 less healing.
  • Fel Cauldron 4: Reflex Shot also gains +4 Fel Damage.

Tidemistress Athissa (Rare Protector)

• Naga
• 8/79 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Wave Crush 5 (Frost): (Speed 7) Deal 14 damage to an enemy. If they have already acted, give them +5 Nature Weakness.
  • Riptide 5 (Nature): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. After an enemy attacks this turn, repeat this damage.
  • Captive Tides 5 (Nature): (Speed 7, Cooldown 3) Deal 20 damage to all enemies. (Increased by 7 for each other Naga you control.)
• Equipment:
  • Warlord Parjesh 4: Battlecry: Summon a 12/24 Naga with Taunt.
  • Clutching Hatred 4: Riptide deals 5 more damage.
  • Harpsicold 4: Passive: Whenever this merc takes damage, Refresh (1) on Captive Tides.

Lord Slitherspear (Rare Fighter)

• Naga
• 8/80 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Slithering Rage 5: (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. Summon a 10/18 Hungry Naga with Divine Shield and Rush.
  • You Lift Bro? 5: (Speed 5) Gain +5 Attack. If you control another Naga, gain +5 more Attack. Attack an enemy.
  • Enough of this Trash! 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 2) Destroy a summoned minion without triggering its Deathrattle. Deal its Attack to all enemies.
• Equipment:
  • Unleashed Eel 4: Hungry Naga has +5 Attack.
  • Fishy Cauldron 4: Passive: +4 Attack. This Merc always deals Critical Damage to Murlocs.
  • Sharp Idea 4: Passive: After an enemy minion is summoned, Refresh (2) Enough of this Trash!

Captain Hooktusk (Epic Caster)

• Pirate
• 10/75
• Abilities:
  • Turnabout Strike 5: (Speed 6) Gain +11 Health. Swap Roles with an enemy and Attack it.
  • Shiver their Timbers 5: (Speed 8) Deal 18 damage to an enemy. If it’s a Fighter, deal 25 damage instead. (Ability swaps to Protector after use.)
    • Shiver their Timbers 5: (Speed 8) Deal 18 damage to an enemy. If it’s a Protector, deal 25 damage instead. (Ability swaps to Caster after use.)
    • Shiver their Timbers 5: (Speed 8) Deal 18 damage to an enemy. If it’s a Caster, deal 25 damage instead. (Ability swaps to Fighter after use.)
  • Cutthroat Negotiations 5: (Speed 7) Change a Merc’s Role to Caster. Bleed (6). (Ability swaps to Fighter after use.)
    • Cutthroat Negotiations 5: (Speed 7) Change a Merc’s Role to Fighter. Bleed (6). (Ability swaps to Protector after use.)
    • Cutthroat Negotiations 5: (Speed 7) Change a Merc’s Role to Protector. Bleed (6). (Ability swaps to Caster after use.)
• Equipment:
  • Jolly Roger 4: Turnabout Strike gives +4 more Health and affects all friendly Pirates.
  • Captain’s Pride 4: Battlecry: Gain +3 Attack and become a Fighter.
  • Prop Knife 4: Cutthroat Negotiations also restores 20 Health if used on a friendly character.

Patches the Pirate (Rare Caster)

• Pirate
• 13/81 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Eye Matey 5: (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. Summon a 10/5 Pirate with Rush.
    • Patchling (Pirate): (Speed 4) 10 Attack, 5 Health. Rush.
  • Eye Cap’n 5: (Speed 9, Cooldown 1) Fill your board with 10/5 Pirates with Rush.
  • Crew the Guns 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Friendly Pirates deal 10 damage to enemies opposite them.
• Equipment:
  • Hook the Crew 4: Pirates summoned by Eye Matey and Eye Cap’n have +5 Health and are Immune while Attacking.
  • Arms Locker 4: Passive: Whenever a friendly Pirate Attacks, give it +5 Attack.
  • I’m In Charge Now! 4: Bench: After a friendly Pirate Merc dies, summon this Merc. Gain +3 Attack and Attack a random enemy.

Reno Jackson (Legendary Caster)

• Human
• 10/82 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Gatling Wand 5 (Arcane): (Speed 3) Deal 11 damage to a random target. +3 damage each time this merc takes 20 damage.
  • Dazzlin’ Flexin’ 5 (Arcane): (Speed 2) Deal 7 damage to an enemy and gain Taunt. Their next ability target this Merc (if possible).
  • That’s My Treasure! 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Restore 15-25 health to this Merc. Deal damage equal to the amount healed to a random enemy.
• Equipment:
  • Explorer’s Hat 4: Dazzlin’ Flexin’ deals 10 more damage and affects all enemies, but has +2 Cooldown.
  • We’re Rich! 4: Battlecry: If you have at least two Explorers in play, Restore 100 health to friendly characters.
  • Treasure Inspector 4: Deathrattle: Cast two random Treasure abilities.

Brann Bronzebeard (Epic Protector)

• Dwarf
• 8/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Trusty Whip 5: (Speed 5) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. Your characters gain +3 Frost Resistance.
  • Summit Campfire 5 (Fire): (Speed 3) Your characters gain +4 Frost Resistance. Your characters deal Critical Damage to enemies who have already acted this turn.
  • The Bronzebeard Spirit 5: (Speed 8, Cooldown 2) Restore 25 health. If it has acted already, they repeat their ability.
• Equipment:
  • Relic of Uldum 4: +7 Health. Your abilities give Fire Resist instead.
  • Adventurer’s Pack 4: Passive: Brann’s abilities are (3) Speed faster. Your abilities give Shadow Resist instead.
  • Extra Spirit 4: Passive: If you have them in play, Elise and Reno have +5/+12.

Elise Starseeker (Epic Fighter)

• Night Elf
• 7/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Starseeker 5 (Nature): (Speed 6) Gain +8 health and Attack an enemy. Nature Combo: Deal damage equal to your Attack, instead.
  • Guiding Path 5 (Nature): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Restore 13 health to all friendly characters. Advance the Golden Monkey one step.
  • Quest for the Golden Monkey: Advance through a series of 5 abilities to uncover the Golden Monkey! (Dev Comment: At the start of the game, this will automatically transform into the first step, Embark on the Quest! Then use each Ability to move on to the next step of the Quest.)
    • Embark on the Quest! 5: (Speed 3) Give all your characters on your battlefield and bench +5/+8.
    • Avoid the Dart Trap 5: (Speed 2) Apply Bleed (18) to all enemy characters.
    • Navigate the Jungle 5: (Speed 4) Root all enemy characters.
    • Escape the Rolling Boulder 5: (Speed 6) Deal 20 damage. Any excess damage continues to the right or left.
    • The Golden Monkey 5: Summon a 20/20 Golden Monkey. It has “Passive: Your characters have +15 Spell Damage”.
• Equipment:
  • Talon Trinket 4: Starseeker also gives +5 Attack.
  • Oasis Canteen 4: Passive: If you have Brann and Reno in play, give them +4/+4 at the end of the turn.
  • Monkey’s Paw 4: Start of Game: Advance the Quest for the Golden Monkey 2 steps. Elise has -20 Health.

Maestra (Epic Caster)

• Orc
• 10/74 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Dirty Tricks 5 (Shadow): (Speed 3) Deal 14 damage to the enemies across from this Merc.
  • Shifting Strike 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Gain +7 Attack and Attack the enemies across from this Merc. Combo: Gain role advantage first.
  • Sudden Betrayal (Shadow): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Give an enemy +15 Attack this turn. Force it to deal its Attack to its neighbors.
• Equipment:
  • Mask of the Mummy 4: Bench: After a friendly Merc dies, summon this Merc who uses Dirty Tricks 5 immediately.
  • Mask of the Mimicry 4: Bench: After a friendly Merc Attacks, swap it with this Merc who uses Shifting Strike 5 immediately.
  • Mask of Rage 4: Bench: After an enemy minion is summoned, swap your lowest Health Merc with this Merc who uses Sudden Betrayal 5 immediately.

Baine Bloodhoof (Rare Protector)

• Tauren
• 12/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Mulgore Might 5: (Speed 7) Attack an enemy and Gain +2 Healing Power. Nature Combo: Restore 15 Health to this Merc.
  • Chain Heal 5 (Nature): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Restore 20 to a friendly character. Repeat this on up to 2 damaged adjacent characters.
  • Earthmother’s Fury 5 (Nature): (Speed 10, Cooldown 2) Deal 25 to all enemies. Deathblow: Set the cooldowns on all enemy abilities to their original value.
• Equipment:
  • Totemic Mastery 4: Battlecry: Summon a 0/10 Grounding Totem.
    • Grounding Totem: 0 Attack, 10 Health. Whenever an adjacent character takes damage, this minion takes it instead.
  • Herbal Ancestry 4: Chain Heal repeats on up to three additional friendly characters, but has +1 Cooldown.
  • Chieftain’s Feather 4: Passive: +7 Health. +4 Healing Power.

Maiev Shadowsong (Legendary Protector)

• Night Elf
• 10/78 Maxed Health
• Abilities:
  • Single-Minded Pursuit 5: Gain +10 Attack and Attack an enemy. This bonus is lost if this Merc ever Attacks a different target.
  • Coup de Grâce 5: Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Restore 25 Health to this Merc and gain the Role of the enemy.
  • Imprison 5: Deal 10 damage to a Merc. Its abilities gain Cooldown equal to the number of their benched Mercs. Return it to the bench.
• Equipment:
  • Charged Glaive 4: Single-Minded Pursuit gains +5 more Attack.
  • Eye of the Watchers 4: Passive: Characters Attacked by this Merc can’t heal until this Merc leaves play.
  • Warden’s Shroud 4: Passive: Your left and right most characters take 10 less damage from Attacks.

Lorewalker Cho (Epic Caster)

• Pandaren
• 4/78 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Knowledge 5: (Speed 5) Tell the Tale of the Mogu, the Hozen, or the Saurok.
    • Tale of the Mogu 5: Summon a 15/15 Mogu with Rush and Deathblow: Gain +10/+10.
    • Tale of the Hozen 5: Summon 2 10/10 Hozen Troublemakers with “Has +3/+3 for each other friendly Hozen Troublemaker.”
    • Tale of the Saurok 5: Summon a 25/1 Saurock with Stealth and +10 Spell Resistance.
  • Patience 5: (Speed 5) Give +5/+10 to all friendly characters who have not yet acted this turn.
  • Wisdom 5: (Speed 1, Cooldown 2) Your characters deal 5 more damage this turn.
• Equipment:
  • Stash of Scrolls 4: Passive: Your minions take 8 less damage.
  • Heart of Neutrality 4: -10 Health. Battlecry: Become Neutral.
  • Cho Family Heirloom 4: Battlecry: Reduce all characters’ Attack by 20 this turn.

Yrel (Epic Fighter)

• Draenei
• 12/76 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Vindicator’s Fury 5 (Holy): (Speed 5) Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Deal 15 damage to all enemies.
  • Radiant Light 5 (Holy): (Speed 4) Gain +6/+6. When another friendly character uses a Holy ability this turn, they gain +6/+6.
  • Wrath of the Lightbound 5 (Holy): (Speed 8, Cooldown 2) Deal 10 damage to all enemies. Then deal 15 damage to all characters who have not used a Holy ability this turn.
• Equipment:
  • Hammer of the Naaru 4: Passive: When a friendly character attacks, they gain +4 Attack this turn.
  • Libram of Wisdom 4: End of Turn: If you have used 2 or more Holy abilities, gain +2 Holy Damage and +2 Healing Power.
  • Light of Karabor 4: Passive: Your characters have +5 Shadow Resistance.

New Zone and Bounties

With Patch 23.4, we’ll be delving deeper into Darkshore with three more Bounties for the Zone. We’ll also be exploring the depths of the Sunken City with 10 Bounties for the all-new Zone. There is no cow level.

Arena Updates

When Patch 23.4 launches, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible card sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Core
• The Boomsday Project
• Descent of Dragons
• Forged in the Barrens
• United in Stormwind
• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Voyage to the Sunken City (including the new Throne of the Tides Mini-Set)

Additionally, the cards Frozen Mammoth, Horn of Wrathion, and Naval Mine have been returned to the draft pool. The new Mini-Set card, Inkveil Ambusher, will be unable to be drafted.

Book of Heroes: Faelin

Despite many long years, Ambassador Faelin has never forgotten his youth in Zin-Azshari, an ancient city now in ruins at the bottom of the sea. When the opportunity to visit finally arrives, Faelin is eager to face any danger that may cross the path of his intrepid crew. But is the distant past truly as he remembered it, or did something darker lie beneath the surface all this time? This adventure can be played as three different characters. Completing all 17 missions the first time will grant the Ghost Ship card back; completing all missions with a different character will earn you a Standard pack; and completing all missions with the third character will earn you a Voyage to the Sunken City pack.

New Feature: Overcapped Decks!

Have you ever started building a deck and run out of slots before you even made it to the Neutrals? Now, when building a deck in “My Collection,” you’ll be able to add up to 50 cards as you tinker, and then trim it down to 30 when you’re done narrowing down your options. (You’ll still need to make a legal deck before playing with it). There’s no telling what you’ll brew up now that your limits are overcapped!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where the card history tile for Nellie, the Great Thresher would show which Pirates were chosen.
• Fixed a bug making it difficult to target the enemy hero on the second Barbed Nets selection.
• Fixed a bug where Pufferfist would always trigger before Defias Cannoneer. They will now trigger in the order they were played.
• Fixed a bug where if Glugg the Gulper had its stats set by an effect (like Equality), Glugg would not be able to Gulp any stats after that point.
• Fixed a bug where the card Parrrley would shuffle the opponent’s deck without stating “shuffle” in its description.
• Nagalings that have learned cards with Echo or “repeatable this turn” will now add a temporary copy of the spell to your hand.
• The Legacy card set (including cards that were specially created for Core and since removed from it) can now be obtained from Wild packs.
• Players who have special Battlegrounds Boards equipped will now always see their equipped Board whenever facing an opponent who has the Classic Battlegrounds Board equipped.
• Spellcraft spells will now be added to your hand after any wagers won by Lord Barov.
• Fixed a bug causing some players to get an error when trying to start a game with a Battlegrounds party.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to invite ineligible players (those who hadn’t completed the Battlegrounds tutorial) into a Battlegrounds party.
• Fixed a bug where if a Battlegrounds party was formed by a party leader who was playing on a mobile device, players in that party got very little or no ratings adjustments after the game.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes blocked one party member from spectating other party members after losing or conceding a Battlegrounds game.
• Fixed a bug where cards obtained by Ambassador Faelin’s Hero Power, and then obtained by another hero (like Tess, Rafaam, or Mr. Biggelsworth) would not be playable if the new owner was not at that card’s Tavern Tier.
• Fixed a bug where the Battlegrounds scoreboard was cut off on some mobile devices.
• Added keyword tooltips to several Mercenaries Abilities that were missing them.
• Corrected Mercenaries encounters that had the wrong role indicator on the Bounty map.
• Fixed a bug causing various issues with the “New!” indicators in the Mercs Collection.
• Fixed a bug that could on rare occasion cause Duels games to automatically end in a tie.
• Fixed a bug causing the Duels Treasure Stalker’s Supplies to not shuffle Improved Emergency Maneuvers into the player’s deck.
• Fixed a bug where Stormcaller Bru’kan would cast four copies of Elemental Chaos, instead of two.
• Fixed a bug where the “An Acquired Taste” Achievement did not count spells made Poisonous by Mr. Slate.
• Fixed a bug where the “Army of Azshara” Achievement did not count “All” minions as Naga.
• Several more Developer Cards have been added to the credits.
• Fixed a bug causing errors with the reconnect feature on mobile devices.
• Framerate selection will now default to a suggested framerate based on your device. Framerate selections can be adjusted in the Options menu.
• Fixed a bug causing some players to see an inaccurate “low RAM” warning on certain iOS devices.
• Misc. other performance improvements and bug fixes.

Patch 23.2.2, launching May 19, includes bug fixes and balance changes to Battlegrounds and Standard!

Card Updates

The following cards have had their power adjusted down:

Drek’Thar

• Old: Battlecry: If this costs more than every minion in your deck, summon 2 of them. → New: Battlecry: If this costs more than every minion in your deck, summon one of those minions.

Multi-Strike

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]

Dragonbane Shot

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

The above craftable cards will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 23.2.2 (the only version of Drek’Thar that is craftable is the normal, non-golden version). Any players who own Diamond Drek’Thar at the time that the patch goes live will automatically receive 3,000 Gold when they log in as a refund.

The following cards have been buffed:

Xhilag’s Stalk (part of Xhilag the Abyss)

• Old: At the end of your turn, deal 1 damage to an enemy. → New: At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to an enemy.

Harpoon Gun

• Old: After your hero attacks, Dredge. If it’s a Beast, reduce its Cost by (2). → New: After your hero attacks, Dredge. If it’s a Beast, reduce its Cost by (3).

Pet Collector

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

Azsharan Saber

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

Sunken Saber (generated by Azsharan Saber)

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

Blackwater Behemoth

• Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]

Whirlpool

• Old: [Costs 9] → New: [Costs 8]

Shadowcloth Needle

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Serpent Wig

• Old: Give a minion +1/+1. If you played a Naga while holding this, add a Serpent Wig into your hand. → New: Give a minion +1/+2. If you played a Naga while holding this, add a Serpent Wig into your hand.

Tooth of Nefarian

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

SI:7 Smuggler

• Old: Battlecry: Summon a random 0-Cost minion. (Improved for each other SI:7 card you have played this game). → New: Battlecry: Summon a random 1-Cost minion. (Improved for each other SI:7 card you have played this game).

Wildpaw Gnoll

• Old: [Costs 6] 3 Attack, 5 Health → New: [Costs 5] 4 Attack, 5 Health

Tess Greymane

• Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]

Hench-Clan Burglar

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

Sira’kess Cultist

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

Dragged Below

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Azsharan Scavenger

• Old: [Costs 3] 3 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Costs 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health

Sunken Scavenger (generated by Azsharan Scavenger)

• Old: [Costs 3] 3 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Costs 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health

Bloodscent Vilefin

• Old: [Costs 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Costs 3] 3 Attack, 4 Health

Battlegrounds Updates

Hero change:

Fungalmancer Flurgl (Gone Fishing hero power)

• Old: Passive: After you sell a minion, add a random Murloc to Bob’s Tavern. → New: Passive: After you sell 2 minions, add a random Murloc to Bob’s Tavern.

Hero Armor changes:

• Al’Akir, Galakrond, George the Fallen, and Malygos have been moved to Armor Tier 1.
• Death Speaker Blackthorn, Fungalmancer Flurgl, Ini Stormcoil, Lord Barov, Maiev Shadowsong, Queen Azshara, Rokara, and Tickatus have been moved to Armor Tier 2.
• Edwin VanCleef has been moved to Armor Tier 4.
• Deathwing, Elise Starseeker, and Kurtrus Ashfallen have been moved to Armor Tier 5.
• Aranna Starseeker and Skycap’n Kragg have been moved to Armor Tier 6.
• Onyxia and Queen Wagtoggle have been moved to Armor Tier 7.

Minion changes:

Snail Cavalry

• Old: 5 Attack, 2 Health → New: 4 Attack, 2 Health

Lava Lurker

• Old: 2 Attack, 5 Health → New: 2 Attack, 4 Health

Shoal Commander

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

Stormscale Siren

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, your Spellcraft minions cast their spells on themselves. → New: [Tavern Tier 5] 6 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, you cast your Spellcraft minions’ spells on them.

• Dev Comment: The effect text update is not a functional change, but just a rephrasing to make the card text better match how the effect currently functions.

Critter Wrangler

• Old: 5 Attack, 7 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+2. → New: 5 Attack, 6 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+1.

Tidemistress Athissa

• Old: 7 Attack, 8 Health. After you cast a spell, give four friendly Naga +1/+1. → New: 7 Attack, 3 Health. After you cast a spell, give three friendly Naga +1/+1.

Orgozoa, the Tender

• Old: 5 Attack, 9 Health → New: 3 Attack, 7 Health

Darkgaze Elder

• Old: After you spend 4 Gold, play a Blood Gem on four friendly Quilboar. → New: After you spend 5 Gold, play a Blood Gem on four friendly Quilboar.

Young Murk-Eye

• Old (normal): At the end of your turn, adjacent Murlocs trigger their Battlecries. → New: At the end of your turn, the Murloc to the left of this triggers its Battlecry.

• Old (golden): At the end of your turn, adjacent Murlocs trigger their Battlecries twice. → New: At the end of your turn, adjacent Murlocs trigger their Battlecries.

Duels Updates

• Removed the Dragon Affinity Passive Treasure.
  • Dev Comment: Good night, sweet prince. Til we meet again.
• Tuned the synergy rules for Emerald Goggles and Fire spell school Passive Treasures.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Improved connectivity surrounding Discover effects.
• Fixed a bug where a temporary Divine Shield from Glowscale could remove a minion’s permanent Divine Shield.
• Fixed a bug where applying a Spellcraft to a magnetic minion in Bob’s tavern then makes that buff permanent.
• Fixed a bug causing Mercenaries Portraits (mostly Rexxar Portraits) to disappear. Players who earned an additional copy of a Portrait while it was temporarily missing will receive a random Portrait from that Merc, instead (or Coins for that Merc if all Portraits are already owned).
• Updated the text in the Upgrade to Golden feature U.I. to better match functionality.
• Fixed an error that caused people who selected the “random” card back to have that function unchecked when they first logged in after Patch 23.2.

Patch 23.2, launching on May 10, includes a fresh new Battlegrounds season, Mercenaries updates, new features, bug fixes, and more!

Battlegrounds Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• The inaugural Battlegrounds season, Rise of the Naga, begins with Patch 23.2!
• Battlegrounds Ratings will be reset when the patch goes live.
• Buddies will be leaving Battlegrounds with the patch.
• The cost to upgrade to Tavern Tier 5 has been reverted to start at 9 Gold.
• Heroes with transforming Hero Powers can now see the next stage of their Hero Power by hovering over it.
• Cards and Hero Powers with the text “for the next combat” or “for the next combat only” have all been updated to read “until next turn” for text space, consistency, and accuracy. This is not a functional change.

NEW MINION TYPE AND KEYWORD

With the new season, Naga will be added to Bob’s Tavern. The spell-focused Naga will have their own unique new keyword, Spellcraft. Minions with the Spellcraft keyword grant a temporary spell each turn that tends to give a buff for the next combat. Learn more about Naga and Spellcraft in our Rise of the Naga preview blog!

For the first two weeks of the patch, Naga will be guaranteed in every lobby. Afterwards, they will go into the normal rotation of minion types in any given game. The total number of minion types available in every game won’t change with this patch—there will just be an extra minion type on the sidelines.

NEW HERO

Queen Azshara

• Azshara’s Ambition
  • Passive. When your warband reaches 30 total Attack, begin your Naga Conquest.
  • When your Naga Conquest begins, Queen Azshara transforms into Naga Queen Azshara and gets a new Hero Power, below.

Naga Queen Azshara (transformed from Queen Azshara)

• Naga Conquest
  • [1 Gold] Discover a Naga.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Hero before it is formally released on May 24.

NEW MINIONS

Mini-Myrmidon

• [Tavern Tier 1, Naga] 1 Attack, 3 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +2 Attack until next turn.

Shell Collector

• [Tavern Tier 1, Naga] 3 Attack, 1 Health. Battlecry: Add a Gold Coin to your hand.

Deep-Sea Angler

• [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +3 Health and Taunt until next turn.

Snail Cavalry

• [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 5 Attack, 2 Health. Once per Turn: After you cast a spell, gain +2 Health.

Lava Lurker

• [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 2 Attack, 5 Health. The first Spellcraft spell cast on this each turn is permanent.

Stormscale Siren

• [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 5 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, your Spellcraft minions cast their spells on themselves.

Shoal Commander

• [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +1/+1 for each friendly Naga until next turn.

Pashmar the Vengeful

• [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 4 Attack, 5 Health. Avenge (3): Get a Spellcraft spell of your Tier or lower.

Waverider

• [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 2 Attack, 8 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +1/+1 and Windfury until next turn.

Eventide Brute

• [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 5 Attack, 4 Health. After you cast a spell, gain +1/+1.

Eelbound Archer

• [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +8 Attack until next turn.

Reef Explorer

• [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Discover a minion from a minion type you don’t control.

Leeroy the Reckless

• [Tavern Tier 5] 6 Attack, 2 Health. Deathrattle: Destroy the minion that killed this.

Critter Wrangler

• [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 5 Attack, 7 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+2.

Corrupted Myrmidon

• [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Start of Combat: Double this minion’s stats.

Glowscale

• [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 4 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt. Spellcraft: Give a friendly minion Divine Shield until next turn.

Tidemistress Athissa

• [Tavern Tier 6, Naga] 7 Attack, 8 Health. After you cast a spell, give four friendly Naga +1/+1.

Orgozoa, the Tender

• [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 9 Health. Spellcraft: Discover a Naga.

Darkgaze Elder

• [Tavern Tier 6, Quilboar] 6 Attack, 7 Health. After you spend 4 Gold, play a Blood Gem on four friendly Quilboar.

Mantid Queen

• [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Poisonous. Start of Combat: For each of your minion types, gain +5/+5, Windfury, Divine Shield, or Taunt.

Young Murk-Eye

• [Tavern Tier 6, Murloc] 8 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, adjacent Murlocs trigger their Battlecries.

MINION POOL CHANGES

• Champion of Y’Shaarj, Deadly Spore, Amalgadon, Seafood Slinger, and Captain Flat Tusk have been removed from the minion pool.
• Nightmare Amalgam has been returned to the minion pool, as a Tier 3 minion.
• Bristleback Knight has been returned to the minion pool, as a 5 Attack minion.
• Dev Comment: Amalgadon was fun while it lasted, but it led to endgame warbands feeling very similar over time. Amalgadon served three different roles in design: a flexible minion for all minion types, a menagerie driver, and a chance for a comeback against opponents who have scaled stats bigger than yours. It’s time for something fresh, so we’ve distributed those roles across a few minions in this patch: Nightmare Amalgam, Mantid Queen, and Leeroy the Reckless. Additionally, this change reflects an update to our Battlegrounds design philosophy: whenever we introduce a new minion type or major system, we plan to also release other minion pool changes like these in order to keep the game fresh, no matter how you play.

ARMOR UPDATES

With Buddies leaving and an entire new minion type joining the game, most heroes are getting an updated Armor Tier in Patch 23.2.

Mercenaries Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• Vanessa VanCleef, Leeroy Jenkins, and their respective Portraits, are now available through all normal means of obtaining Mercenaries.
• A new Fatigue system has been added to the Fighting Pit. Now, after 10 turns of combat, all characters will be in Fatigue and take double damage (which means 4x damage for Critical Hits).
• The “Refresh” keyword has been updated. Instead of fully finishing a Cooldown on an Ability, Refresh will now be written as “Refresh (x)” and reduce the Cooldown of an Ability by that amount.
• Completing all Bounties in the Wintersping Zone will now unlock the first Bounty in each subsequent Zone.

NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT: N'ZOTH

When Patch 23.2 launches, the Old God N’Zoth’s influence will seep into Mercenaries with a new limited-time event. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around N’Zoth. Two new event Tasks can unlock on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until Patch 23.4 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will award you the base N’Zoth Mercenary, a random Golden N’Zoth Portrait, the N’Zoth Diamond Portrait, and over 750 total Mercenaries Coins! For the first time ever, Toki will return to her regularly-scheduled daily Tasks the day after you complete all 10 event Tasks, even if the event period isn’t over yet.

Be careful, N’Zoth’s whispers have driven many a merc to madness. You’ll need not just your wits, but also your strongest Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and, especially your Murlocs, to take this event down.

NEW MERCENARY

N’Zoth (Legendary Caster)

• Old God
• 10/80 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Spawn of N’Zoth 5: (Speed 5) 15 Attack, 15 Health. Rush. Immune while Attacking.
  • Gift of N’Zoth 5: (Speed 6) Give a Minion +5 Attack and gain control of it. It Attacks a random enemy. Old Gods’ Abilities Refresh (2).
  • Corrupted Viscera 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 5) Destroy your Minions. For each, deal damage equal to their Health to all enemies and restore 10 Health to this Merc.
• Equipment:
  • Evolving Might 4: Spawn of N’Zoth gains “Deathrattle: Give a random friendly character +5/+5.”
  • Corrupted Neurons 4: Gift of N’Zoth also gives the Minion +8 Health.
  • Eternal Torment 4: Passive: At the start of each turn deal 4 damage to all enemies.

N’Zoth and its Portraits will not initially be obtainable through packs or crafting. N’Zoth, its Portraits, and its Coins will be able to be obtained through all normal acquisition means in Patch 23.4.

MERCENARY REWORKS

Blink Fox

• Mana Blink 5 (Ability)
  • Old: Refresh your characters’ abilities. Their next ability is (5) Speed faster. → New: Your characters’ abilities Refresh (5). Their next ability is 5 Speed faster.
• Arcane Fling 5 (Ability)
  • Old: Deal 10 damage. Arcane Combo: Deal 18 damage instead. → New: Deal 13 damage to an enemy. If it has not acted yet, deal 18 instead.
• Arcane Fang 4 (Equipment)
  • Old: Arcane Fling deals 5 more damage. → New: Arcane Fling deals 7 more damage.

Robes of Rejuvenation (Anduin’s Equipment)

• Old: Passive: After a friendly Human dies. Refresh Holy Word: Salvation. → New: After a friendly Human dies, Holy Word: Salvation Refreshes (2).

Full Belly (Bounty Treasure)

• Old: Start of Game: Refresh this Merc’s abilities. → New: Start of Game: This Merc’s abilities Refresh (20).

Blitzing Legion (Rathorian’s Ability)

• Gained Fel Spell School

Terror Charge (Mannoroth’s Ability)

• Gained Fel Spell School

Howl of Terror (Mannoroth’s Ability)

• Gained Fel Spell School

Divine Assault (Tirion’s Ability)

• Gained Holy Spell School

Helm of Domination (The Lich King’s Equipment)

• Now deals Frost damage

Chilling Amulet (Varden Dawngrasp’s Equipment)

• Now deals Frost damage

NEW ZONE AND BOUNTY

The new Darkshore Zone will be added to the Bounty Board, and the first Bounty in it, Corrupted Murlocs, will be available to be unlocked with Patch 23.2. More Darkshore Bounties will be added in a later patch.

Heroic Brawliseum Returns

Update: Attention competitors! The Heroic Brawliseum is being postponed by one week. It will now start on May 25 instead of May 18!

On May 18, the Heroic Brawliseum is returning to Tavern Brawl for a week! Lock in your best Standard deck and compete for big prizes! The competition will be fierce, but top competitors will be greatly rewarded.

New Game Features

We’re happy to introduce three exciting new features with Patch 23.2! First, we’ve added the ability to send deck codes to your friends, directly from the in-game chat client. Second, we’ve added the ability to Favorite multiple card backs, so you’ll randomly get one from your selected pool at the start of the game. And finally, the much-requested “Upgrade to Golden” feature will be going live with this patch! This will let you easily and efficiently upgrade your favorite cards to Golden versions, straight from the Collection Manager.

You can learn more about these great new features, and see how they work, in our 23.2 New Features blog.

More Golden Mini-Set Options

The Forged in the Barrens (Wailing Caverns) and United in Stormwind (Deadmines) Mini-Sets will be returning to the client with Patch 23.2. For the first time ever, they will be offered in either Normal or Golden versions, just like the Fractured in Alterac Valley (Onyxia’s Lair) Mini-Set currently is. Whether you just want a taste of last year’s hit cards, or you want to bling out your collection, there’s an option for you!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where Nellie, the Great Thresher and Queen Azshara could cause disconnects under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a bug where Improved Emergency Maneuvers would have inconsistent results if it triggered off the death of a Silenced minion.
• Fixed a bug where Seek Guidance would count itself towards its own Questline progression if it was played for 2, 3, or 4 mana.
• Fixed a bug where Cloaked Huntress would not reduce the cost of Secrets that were drawn by Dun Baldar Bunker.
• Fixed a bug where Swiftscale Trickster’s Battlecry reduced the cost of the next spell by the spell’s initial cost, instead of setting the spell’s Cost to 0.
• Fixed a bug where Raid Boss Onyxia would not glow “ready” on her first turn in play.
• Fixed a bug where Hero cards were unable to be Discovered from Resizing Pouch.
• Fixed a bug where High Abbess Alura’s Spellburst effect would have no effect if a “Choose an enemy” spell was selected.
• Fixed a bug where the in-game descriptions of the free New/Returning player decks didn’t update to match the updated decklists.
• Fixed a bug where the combination of Maxwell, Mighty Steed and Brann could cause Battlegrounds Buddies to cost Gold to play.
• Fixed a bug where Sr. Tomb Diver could “Goldenize” summoned tokens that were already Golden.
• Fixed a bug where a large number of repeated Leapfrogger activations could result in a skipped Recruit phase.
• Fixed a bug where the Darkmoon Prize “Time Thief” could offer multiples of the same minion, even if there were other minion options.
• Added new Mercenaries indicators to the Collection, Upgrade screen, and Bounty Board.
• Fixed a bug where Mercenary Portraits would sometimes automatically revert to basic Portraits.
• Updated Task descriptions that did not match their functionality.
• Fixed a bug where Captain Galvangar’s “Defend the Village” Task tracked Defender Boons instead of Fighter Boons.
• Fixed a bug where the “Ambush” Ability did not give Stealth upon Deathblow.
• Fixed a bug where equipping Wrathion’s Black Dragon Scales would not update the text of the Ability to match what the Equipment says.
• Fixed a bug where opening a blank Mercenaries team could cause crashes.
• Achievements that award Reward Track XP will now display an XP scroll icon on them so you can find them more easily.
• Legendary Quests that are tied to seasonal events will now expire at the end of that event. Any old Legendary Quests that are currently in your quest log will expire on May 24.
• Fixed a bug where external iPad keyboards did not work for in-game chat.
• Miscellaneous other bug fixes, text/art corrections, and performance improvements.

Patch 23.0, launching today, charts a course for Hearthstone’s latest expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City, launching April 12! The patch also includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, and Arena, as well as bug fixes and more.

Voyage to the Sunken City Sets Off on April 12!

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City, goes live on April 12! The new expansion includes 135 all-new cards, featuring the new Naga minion type, the Colossal and Dredge keyword mechanics, Sunken cards, and more! See all the new cards in the official card library today.

With the launch of the Voyage to the Sunken City comes a new Rewards Track with tons of cosmetics, XP boosts, packs, and a treasure trove of Gold! Check out our Rewards Track Refresh blog for all the details.

Enter the Year of the Hydra

When Voyage to the Sunken City goes live on April 12, we will enter the next Hearthstone Year: the Year of the Hydra! With the new Hearthstone year, cards from the Year of the Phoenix (which includes the Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansions) will rotate out of Standard. Some of the cards from the Core Set will also be replaced.

Learn more about the Core Set update and our other plans for the Year of the Hydra in the Year of the Hydra Announcement blog.

Wild Gets Wilder

Some balance changes over the years were made because cards were too powerful in Standard, even if they were not necessarily too powerful in Wild. The following cards will have their balance changes reverted on April 5 before they rotate into Wild with the launch of Voyage to the Sunken City on April 12:

• Apotheosis
• Imprisoned Scrap Imp
• Blackjack Stunner
• Scavenger’s Ingenuity
• Kael’thas Sunstrider
• Corsair Cache
• Crabrider
• Mo’arg Artificer
• Il’gynoth
• Deck of Lunacy
• Boggspine Knuckles
• Dreadlord’s Bite
• Shardshatter Mystic
• Solarian Prime (generated by Astromancer Solarian)
• Guardian Animals
• Bloodboil Brute
• Imprisoned Antaen
• Jandice Barov
• High Abess Alura
• Lorekeeper Polkelt
• Evocation
• Priestess of Fury
• Kayn Sunfury
• Cabal Acolyte

Standard players will have one week to give these cards a last hurrah while Wild players get started assimilating these newly re-strengthened cards into their format!

Diamond Drek’Thar is Here

Drek’Thar is back with a vengeance! The Alliance may have won the Battle for Alterac Valley, but this is a new day and the Horde is resilient and strong. You can show your Horde pride with the Diamond Drek’Thar Legendary card, now available in the shop. For the Horde!

Normal Drek’Thar can still be crafted or earned through Fractured in Alterac Valley packs like Vanndar or any other Legendary card. After Patch 23.0 goes live, the Honor Track event will end and anybody who did not complete the Honor Track will be able to earn Golden Drek’Thar/Golden Vanndar through an Achievement added with the patch.

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW HERO AND BUDDY

Ini Stormcoil

• MechGyver
  • Passive. After 9 friendly minions die, get a random Mech.

Sub Scrubber (Ini Stormcoil’s Buddy)

• [Tavern Tier 2, Mech] 4 Attack, 4 Health. After you play a Mech, gain +2/+2.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Hero before it is formally released on April 19.

BALANCE CHANGES

• Varden Dawngrasp’s Hero Power - Twice as Nice

​

• Old: Passive. After Bob’s Tavern is Refreshed, copy and Freeze one of his minions. → New: Passive. After Bob’s Tavern is Refreshed, copy his highest Tier minion and Freeze them both.
• Varden’s Aquarrior (Varden Dawngrasp’s Buddy)
  • Old: ‘Twice as Nice’ also gives the copy stats equal to your Tavern Tier. → New: ‘Twice as Nice’ also gives both minions stats equal to your Tavern Tier.

PRODUCT UPDATES

The products previously called “Battlegrounds Finishers” are now called “Battlegrounds Strikes.” We feel this name more accurately describes the function of the cosmetic and is better suited to Battlegrounds.

A new Battlegrounds Strike – Deep Sea Vortex is going live with Patch 23.0. There will also be a new Shipwreck Cove Battlegrounds Board at patch launch, as well as a Bundle that offers the Strike, Board, and eight new Sunken City-themed Hero skins all rolled into one!

Mercenaries Updates

TASK SYSTEM REWORK

Starting with Patch 23.0, completing one Task in a Mercenary’s Task progression will automatically move you on to the next Task in that Mercenary’s progression. You can then continue that Mercenary’s Task progression until you have completed all Tasks for that Mercenary!

The Mysterious Stranger was initially designed and intended to give you more Tasks, but since that will now mostly happen automatically, we are reducing his appearance rate. He will still appear occasionally so that you can get more Tasks if you abandon a Task or complete a Mercenary’s Task progression. You will also still be able to get random new Tasks if you leave any normal Task slots open for the daily Task refresh.

The intent of this system update is to give players more of the Tasks they want, and more Tasks overall, while allowing players to explore more engaging gameplay patterns. We hope this new system will be an improvement for players trying to progress specific Mercenaries, or anybody who is always looking for the next Task to complete. We will monitor how this new system works, and make adjustments if needed, but we are also working on an even larger Task System rework that we are hoping to share more information about later on this year.

NEW MERCENARY

Murky (Epic Fighter)

• 11/79 Maxed Stats
• Abilities
  • Slime Time 5 (Nature): (Speed 4) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. Give it Taunt until the end of next turn.
  • Bubbly Bobble 5 (Nature): (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Restore 13 Health to an adjacent Murloc. Swap places and both gain Divine Shield. Nature Combo: Repeat this.
  • Pufferfisher 5: (Speed 7, Cooldown 1)
    • (Murloc) 15 Attack, 10 Health. Deathrattle: Deal damage equal to this minion’s Attack to 3 random enemies.
• Equipment
  • Time to Krill 4: Passive: Whenever a friendly Murloc Attacks an enemy with Taunt, give them +4 Attack.
  • Slippery When Wet 4: Passive: After one of your characters loses Divine Shield or Frozen, its next ability is (3) Speed faster.
  • March of the Murlocs 4: Battlecry: Summon 2 10/10 Murlocs.

Murky is available for free as part of the Voyage to the Sunken City Rewards Track. Murky portraits are available as part of the Voyage to the Sunken City Tavern Pass. Murky and his portraits will be available for purchase in Mercenaries products after the end of the Voyage to the Sunken City expansion period.

MERCENARY BALANCE UPDATES AND REWORKS

Baron Geddon

• Old: 10/82 Maxed Stats → New: 10/86 Maxed Stats
• Molten Blade (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Heating Up deals 4 more damage. → New (Rank 4): Heating Up deals 7 more damage.

King Mukla

• Dinner Time
  • Old (Rank 5): Speed 2, Cooldown 1 → New (Rank 5): Speed 1, Cooldown 1
• Refreshing Bananas (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Bananas give an additional +4 Health. → New (Rank 4): Bananas give an additional +5 Health.
• Radioactive Bananas (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Bananas give an additional +2 Attack → New (Rank 4): Bananas give an additional +4 Attack.

Xyrella

• Atonement
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 15 damage. +3 damage each time you restore 20 Health. → New (Rank 5): Deal 20 damage. +3 damage each time you restore 20 Health.
• Robes of Purity (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Atonement requires 5 less healing to upgrade. → New: Atonement requires 10 less healing to upgrade.

Scabbs Cutterbutter

• Old: 11/77 Maxed Stats → New: 13/81 Maxed Stats
• SI:7 Contract (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Tactical Strike’s Combo effect deals 4 more damage. → New: Tactical Strike’s Combo effect deals 8 more damage.
• Honing Rod (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 1): Shadow Blade gives +4 Attack first. → New: Shadow Blade gives +10 Attack first.

Millhouse Manastorm

• Old: 6/69 Maxed Stats → 6/74 Maxed Stats
• Greater Arcane Missiles
  • Old (Rank 5): Shoot three missiles at random enemies that deal 15 damage each. → New (Rank 5): Shoot three missiles at random enemies that deal 20 damage each.
• Arcane Powder (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Arcane Explosion deals 4 more damage. → New (Rank 4): Arcane Explosion deals 5 more damage and enemies lose Stealth.

Cariel Roame

• Old: 11/78 Maxed Stats → New: 12/78 Maxed Stats
• Crusader’s Blow
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Restore 40 Health. → New: Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Restore 60 Health.
• Tome of Light (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Passive: While this Merc has Taunt, it has +8 Attack. → New (Rank 4): Passive: While this Merc has Taunt, it has +12 Attack.

Uther

• Blessing of Protection
  • Old (Rank 5): Restore 10 Health to a friendly character and give them Taunt this turn. → New (Rank 5): Restore 14 Health to a friendly character and give them Taunt this turn.
• Lightbringer (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Hammer of Justice deals 4 more damage and slows the target by (2) Speed more. → New (Rank 4): Hammer of Justice deals 6 more damage and slows the target by (2) Speed more.
• Gleaming Pauldrons (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Avenging Wrath deals 4 more damage. → New (Rank 4): Avenging Wrath deals 8 more damage.

Garrosh Hellscream

• Old: 11/84 Maxed Stats → New: 12/84 Maxed Stats
• Orcish Banner (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Battle Shout also restores 10 Health to your Orcs. → New (Rank 4): Battle Shout also restores 15 Health to your Orcs.

Captain Galvangar

• Old: 11/71 Maxed Stats → New: 11/79 Maxed Stats
• Rending Cleave
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If it has not acted this turn, apply Bleed (8) to it and adjacent enemies. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If it has not acted this turn, apply Bleed (12) to it and adjacent enemies.
• Drek’Thar’s Boon (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Fatal Strike also applies Bleed (5). → New (Rank 4): Fatal Strike also applies Bleed (10).

Wrathion

• Old: 12/73 Maxed Stats → New: 12/79 Maxed Stats
• Creeping Madness
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Next turn they must use a different ability or take 20 damage. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Next turn they must use a different ability or take 25 damage.
• Black Dragon Scales (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Tail Swipe also applies Bleed (5). → New (Rank 4): Tail Swipe also applies Bleed (10).

Vanessa Van Cleef

• Old: 10/75 Maxed Stats → New: 13/75 Maxed Stats
• Burgle Barrage
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Combo: Steal 5 Attack from them. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Combo: Steal 5 Attack from them first.
• Extra Pockets (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): After using Makeshift Weaponry, this Merc keeps up to 5 Attack. → New (Rank 4): After using Makeshift Weaponry, this Merc keeps up to 10 Attack.

Tyrande

• Arcane Salvo
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 8 damage to two random enemies. → New (Rank 5): Deal 12 damage to two random enemies. If any die, repeat this.
• Elune’s Charm (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Arcane Shot deals 5 more damage. → New (Rank 4): Arcane Shot deals 15 more damage if the enemy has already acted.

Varian Wrynn

• Splitting Strike
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Give your Humans +12 Attack. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Give your Humans +15 Attack.
• Heroic Leap
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 14 damage to an enemy. Your other Humans are permanently (1) Speed faster. → New (Rank 5): Deal 14 damage to an enemy. Your other Humans in play and bench are permanently (1) Speed faster.
• Retaliation
  • Old (Rank 5): After an enemy Attacks this turn, gain +5 Attack and Attack it. → New (Rank 5): After an enemy Attacks this turn, gain +5/+5 and Attack it.
• War Banner (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Retaliation also gives an additional +4 Attack. → New (Rank 4): Retaliation gives an additional +2/+10.

Gul’dan

• Rain of Destruction
  • Old: Speed 8, Cooldown 1 → New: Speed 8, Cooldown 0.
• Staff of Chaos (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Passive. After an Orc dies, gain +4 Fel Damage. → New (Rank 4): Passive. After an Orc or Demon dies, gain +4 Fel Damage.

Trigore

• Frenzied Attack
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If this took damage this turn, deal 12 damage to a random adjacent enemy. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If this took damage this turn, deal 16 damage to a random adjacent enemy.
• Backlash
  • Old (Rank 5): The next time an enemy damages an adjacent ally, gain +5 Attack and deal this Merc’s Attack damage to them. → New (Rank 5): Gain +5 Attack. Each time an enemy damages an adjacent ally this turn, deal this Merc’s Attack damage to them.

Sneed

• Old: 7/77 Maxed Stats → New: 9/77 Maxed Stats
• Activate Saw
  • Old (Rank 5): Gain +6 Attack for 2 turns. Attack a random enemy. → New (Rank 5): Gain +9 Attack for 2 turns. Attack a random enemy.
• Skull Dust (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Bzzz!!! Gains Bleed (5). → New (Rank 4): Bzzz!!! Gains Bleed (10).
• Extra Blades (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Sneed starts with Activate Blades active for 1 turn. → New (Rank 4): Battlecry: Start with Activate Saw 5 active for 2 turns.

Edwin, Defias Kingpin

• Assassin’s Blade
  • Old (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If it hasn’t acted yet this turn, gain +5 Health and Attack it again. → New (Rank 5): Attack an enemy. If it hasn’t acted yet this turn, gain +10 Health and Attack it again.
• Kingpin’s Bounty
  • Old: Speed 4, Cooldown 2. → New: Speed 4, Cooldown 1.
• Black Flag (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Passive: Adjacent Pirates are (4) Speed faster. → New (Rank 4): Passive: Your other Pirates are (4) Speed faster.
• Even Shares (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Kingpin’s Bounty restores 10 more Health and affects all friendly characters. → New (Rank 4): Kingpin’s County restores 15 more Health and affects all friendly characters.

Thrall

• Lightning Storm
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 10 damage to all enemies. → New (Rank 5): Deal 10 damage to all enemies. They lose Stealth.

Mannoroth

• Howl of Terror
  • Old (Rank 5): Reduce the Attack of all enemies by 15 this turn. → New (Rank 5): Reduce the Attack of all enemies by 15 this turn. They lose Stealth.

Ragnaros

• DIE, INSECTS
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 22 damage to a random enemy. Deathblow: Repeat this. → New (Rank 5): Deal 22 damage to a random enemy. It loses Stealth. Deathblow: Repeat this.

Warmaster Voone

• Axe Throw
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 8 damage to an enemy and one of its neighbors. → New (Rank 5): Deal 10 damage to an enemy and one of its neighbors. They lose Stealth.

Varden Dawngrasp

• Flurry
  • Old (Rank 5): Deal 6 damage to 3 random enemy Mercs. They are (2) Speed slower next turn. → New (Rank 5): Shoot three missiles at random enemies that deal 7 damage each and slow for (2) Speed next turn.
• Chilling Amulet (Equipment)
  • Old (Rank 4): Deathrattle: Deal 8 damage to all enemies. Freeze a random enemy until the end of next turn. → New (Rank 4): Deathrattle: Deal 14 damage to all enemies and Freeze a random enemy.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES

• While on a Bounty, the Campfire node will now work with one click instead of requiring it be selected and then entered.
• Vaelstrasz’s Bounty rewards will now be able to grant Murky Coins instead of Lady Anacondra Coins.
• Multiple stacks of Bleed will now be combined into a total Bleed count that can be reduced by healing, instead of erased entirely.
• Bleed damage will no longer be able to deal Critical damage.
• Adjusted Mercenary card display and screen space for better Ability previews.

Duels Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• On April 5, the current Duels season will end, ratings will be reset to 0, and ongoing runs will be concluded.
• Also on April 5, both the League of Explorers and the Saviors of Uldum expansions will be added to the eligible card pools for deckbuilding, buckets, and Discover effects.
• Voyage to the Sunken City will be added to card buckets and Discover effects with the patch on April 5, but will not be able to be used in initial deckbuilding until the set launches on April 12.
• All Core Set cards that are rotating out of the Core Set will be banned from April 5 until the Core Set updates on April 12. Core Set cards that will remain in the Core Set after the update will still be playable, as will any non-Core versions of any rotating cards that are eligible from another set. Learn more about the Core Set update in the Year of the Hydra blog.
• The new heroes listed below will be available on April 5, with the new Duels season.
• You will now be able to select from 5 different heroes at the start of a run, instead of 4.

NEW HEROES

The League of Explorers have come to Duels! Each of the four members of the league is a special dual-class hero that combines two different classes in fun and interesting ways. Reno Jackson is a Mage/Rogue, Sir Finley is a Paladin/Shaman, Elise Starseeker is a Druid/Priest, and Brann Bronzebeard is a Hunter/Warrior. When you pick one of those heroes, you’ll have access to cards from both their classes in creating your starter deck and picking your buckets.

For the first time ever, the new hero powers and signature treasures can be unlocked either by playing Duels or by unlocking those same hero powers and treasures in the Saviors of Uldum solo content: Tombs of Terror. Any hero powers or signature treasures that were already unlocked in Tombs of Terror will automatically be unlocked in Duels. Players who previously purchased Tombs of Terror can access it in the “Solo Adventures” Mode. Players who do not already own the Tombs of Terror can purchase that content from the Wild section of the in-game and web shops.

Reno Jackson has three new hero powers that you can unlock as you play:

• Amateur Mage
  • [Costs 2] Deal 1 damage. Combo: Deal 2 instead.
• “Relicologist”
  • [Costs 1] Your next spell this turn has Spell Damage +2.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 cards that cost 3 or less.
• Arcane Craftiness
  • [Costs 2] Fire two missiles that deal 1 damage each. If any minion dies, repeat this.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Use your hero power 30 times.

Reno Jackson also has 6 signature treasures that you can unlock as you play:

• Reno’s Lucky Hat
  • [2 Mana Spell] Give a minion +2/+2 and Spell Damage +2.
• Reno’s Crafty Lasso
  • [2 Mana Weapon] 3 Attack, 2 Durability. After your hero attacks, copy a card from your opponent’s hand.
• Reno’s Magical Torch
  • [2 Mana Spell] Deal 4 damage. Combo: Shuffle a copy of this into your deck that deals 2 more damage.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from Saviors of Uldum.
• Sr. Tomb Diver
  • [4 Mana Minion] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: If you played 5 Secrets this game, your Hero Power becomes ‘Discover a Treasure’.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from The Sunken City.
• Lei Flamepaw
  • [4 Mana Minion] 2 Attack, 6 Health. After your first spell each turn, cast it again (on the same target).
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from Saviors of Uldum.
• The Gatling Wand
  • [5 Mana Spell] Deal 3 damage split randomly among all enemy minions (improves for each spell you’ve cast this game).
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from The Sunken City.

Sir Finley has three new hero powers that you can unlock as you play:

• New “Recruits”
  • [Costs 2] Summon a 2/2 Amalgam Explorer.
• Bubble Blower
  • [Costs 1] Discover a Shaman or Paladin minion with Battlecry. Overload: (1).
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Battlecry cards.
• Power Up!
  • [Costs 2] Give a minion Divine Shield and Windfury.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 20 Dredge cards.

Sir Finley also has 6 signature treasures that you can unlock as you play:

• Finley’s Pith Helmet
  • [2 Mana Spell] Give all friendly minions +2 Health. Shuffle this card into your deck.
• Maxwell, Mighty Steed
  • [5 Mana Minion] 3 Attack, 5 Health. Rush. Reborn. Has +2 Attack for each other minion on the battlefield.
• Truesilver Lance
  • [5 Mana Weapon] 3 Attack, 1 Durability. Lifesteal. After you Overload, gain +1 Durability.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from Saviors of Uldum.
• Sr. Scout
  • [5 Mana Minion] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Rush, Windfury. At the end of your turn, deal 6 damage to a random enemy minion.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from The Sunken City.
• Karl the Lost
  • [8 Mana Minion] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Summon six Silver Hand Recruits and give all friendly minions Taunt and Divine Shield.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from Saviors of Uldum.
• Scales of Justice
  • [5 Mana Spell] Transform all minions into 1/1 Murlocs. Fill your hand with random Murlocs that cost (1).
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from The Sunken City.

Elise Starseeker has three new hero powers that you can unlock as you play:

• Elise’s Might
  • [Costs 2] Choose One: +2 Attack this turn; or Gain 2 Armor.
• Druidic Teaching
  • [Costs 2] Restore 2 Health, then draw a card if the target is at full Health.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 40 spells.
• Starseeker
  • [Passive] After you cast 3 spells in a turn, add a ‘Moonfire’ to your hand.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Attack 10 times with your hero.

Elise Starseeker also has 6 signature treasures that you can unlock as you play:

• Starseeker’s Tools
  • [4 Mana Spell] Discover a minion and a spell. They cost (2) less.
• Elise’s Machete
  • [5 Mana Weapon] 3 Attack, 3 Durability. After your hero attacks, summon two 2/2 Treants. Give them Rush.
• Addarah
  • [7 Mana Minion] 3 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Shuffle all enemy minions into your deck.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from Saviors of Uldum.
• Sr. Navigator
  • [5 Mana Minion] 2 Attack, 10 Health. Whenever you target this minion with a spell that costs (2) or more, add a copy of the spell to your hand.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from The Sunken City.
• Academic Research
  • [3 Mana Spell] Start of Game: Draw this. Gain 1 Mana Crystal. (Upgrades each time a friendly minion dies).
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from Saviors of Uldum.
• Staff of Renewal
  • [10 Mana Spell] Resurrect 5 friendly minions with the highest Cost. Give them Taunt.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from The Sunken City.

Brann Bronzebeard has three new hero powers that you can unlock as you play:

• Spread Shot
  • [Costs 2]: Deal 1 damage, then 1 damage to the enemy hero.
• Well Equipped
  • [Costs 2]: Equip a random weapon and set its Durability to 1.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 15 weapons.
• Dino Tracking
  • [Passive]: At the start of your turn, Discover which card you draw.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Discover 30 times.

Brann Bronzebeard also has 6 signature treasures that you can unlock as you play:

• Ol’ Faithful
  • [3 Cost Weapon] 4 Attack, 2 Durability. After your hero attacks, deal 1 damage to all enemies.
• Brann’s Saddle
  • [3 Cost Spell] Give a friendly Beast +3/+3 and ‘Deathrattle: Give Brann’s Saddle to another friendly Beast.’
• Titan-Forged Grapnel
  • [4 Cost Spell] Destroy 2 random enemy minions. Gain Armor equal to their combined Attack.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from Saviors of Uldum.
• Sr. Excavator
  • [5 Cost Minion] 3 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Draw 3 cards. Any minions you draw cost (4) less.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class minions from The Sunken City.
• Flo Slatebrand
  • [6 Cost Minion] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry and Deathrattle: Add a random Treasure to your hand.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from Saviors of Uldum.
• Brann’s Epic Egg
  • [7 Cost Minion] 0 Attack, 3 Health. After this takes damage, summon King Krush.
  • Duels-only unlock criteria: Play 25 Class spells from The Sunken City.

NEW PASSIVE TREASURES

• Edge of Dredge—Pool 1
  • After you Dredge, draw a card and shuffle your deck.
• Coil Casting—Pool 1
  • After you play your first Naga each turn, add a random 1-Cost spell to your hand.
• Optimized Polarity—Pool 1
  • After you play your first Non-Magnetic Mech each turn, add a random (1) mana Mech with Magnetic to your hand.
• Beckoning Bicorn—Pool 1
  • After you play your first Pirate each turn, summon a Patches the Pirate.
• Cookie’s Ladle—Pool 1
  • After you play your first Murloc each turn, draw a Murloc.
• Forgotten Depths—Pool 1
  • At the start of game, put 3 Colossal minions on the bottom of your deck. They cost (3) less.

TREASURE UPDATES

For the Alliance and For the Horde

• The unlock criteria for these two signature treasures have been removed.
• Dev Comment: Okay, 200 was a bit much, wannit?

Traktamer Aelessa

• Old: 2 Attack, 3 Health → New: 2 Attack, 5 Health

Mo’arg Outcast

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Marvelous Mycelium

• Old: Discover a Choose One card. Choose One cards and powers have both effects combined until end of turn. → New: Discover two Choose One cards. They have both effects combined. Shuffle this card into your deck.

Slate’s Syringe

• Old: Steal up to 3 Attack and Health from an enemy minion. Give those stats to a random friendly Beast. → New: Steal up to 4 Attack and Health from an enemy minion. Give those stats to a random friendly Beast.

Britz Blazebucket

• Old: After you play a spell, summon a random minion of the same Cost. It dies when it takes damage. → New: After you play a spell, summon two random minions of the same Cost that die when they take damage.

Drocomurchanicas

• Old: Deathrattle: Draw a Dragon, Murloc, and Mech. They cost (2) less. → New: Deathrattle: Draw a Dragon, Murloc, and Mech. They cost (3) less.
• Dev Comment: Oh wow! Menagerie got better with this!

Humble Blessings

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Su Leadfoot

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Ace in the Hole

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Scion of the Deep

• Old: [Costs 3] 2 Attack, 2 Health → New: [Costs 2] 2 Attack, 4 Health

Joras Thuldoom

• Old: Whenever your Health changes on your turn, summon a copy of this minion. → New: Rush. Whenever your Health changes on your turn, summon a copy of this minion.

Droplet of Insanity

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

Gift of the Old Gods

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 4]

Binding Chains

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Moonbeast

• Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health. Your Eclipse spells cost (0). → New: 4 Attack, 6 Health. At the end of your turn, add a random Eclipse spell to your hand. Your Eclipse spells cost (0).

Zukara the Wild

• Old: 3 Attack, 5 Health. → New: 3 Attack, 6 Health.

Collector’s Ire

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]
• Dev Comment: More buffs to Menagerie!

Flame Waves

• Old: At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to all enemies for each Fire spell you’ve cast this turn. → New: At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to all enemy minions for each Fire spell you’ve cast this turn.
• Dev Comment: Hey, you know who you are, yes, you, look what you made me do to my boy.

Scepter of Summoning

• Moved from Treasure Pool 2 to Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare

HERO POWER UPDATES

Vile Concoction (Infiltrator Lilian’s Hero Power)

• Old: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: Also give it Stealth for 1 turn. → New: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: Also give it +1/+1 and Stealth for 1 turn.

BUCKET UPDATES

• The Menagerie bucket has been removed.
  • Dev Comment: Nooooo! How could we do this right when we give it buffs?!
• New buckets have been added for Voyage to the Sunken City archetypes.

Arena Updates

When the expansion unlocks on April 12, ongoing Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible pool of card sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Core
• League of Explorers
• Whispers of the Old Gods
• The Grand Tournament
• United in Stormwind
• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Voyage to the Sunken City

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Added a Recently Completed Achievements U.I. that will make it easier to claim your Achievements.
• In order to avoid a negative play experience with Radiance of Azshara, Unstable Evolution has had its effect updated to function like it has the Echo keyword (meaning that copies after the first copy can’t Cost less than 1). Its text will be updated to add the Echo keyword in a future update. As a result of this change, Unstable Evolution will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 23.0 patch goes live.
• Fixed a bug where Kurtrus, Demon-Render would not upgrade if the attack did not cause damage (such as attacking into a Divine Shield or a Bulwark of Azzinoth).
• Fixed a bug where Breath of Dreams did not grant a mana crystal if you had 10 or more mana with Wildheart Guff.
• Fixed a bug where Ancient Reflections copied over “while damaged” effects if the original target was damaged.
• Increased Wax Rager’s death limit from 8 to 51 for instances where it would die multiple times from one effect, from cards like Perpetual Flame and Spammy Arcanist.
• Solar Eclipse has had its wording updated. This is not an update to the card’s function.
• Fixed a bug where the “refund” search term did not work in German.
• Fixed a bug causing some languages to be unable to see the text of the Tavern Brawl chalkboard.
• Fixed a bug causing occasional de-syncs in Battlegrounds, resulting in players and/or spectators seeing different results from the same battle.
• Fixed a visual bug where Mercenaries crafting costs sometimes appeared to cost double.
• Fixed a visual bug where Mercenaries’ Tasks appeared as “Task 1” on the Mysterious Stanger node.
• Fixed a bug where the Positive Equilibrium treasure did not grant the Nature and Fire Damage bonuses listed.
• Fixed a bug that allowed Chi-Ji’s Flamehearth Brooch to activate even if Chi-Ji was on the Bench.
• Fixed a bug where if Wrathion died while in dragon form, he would not count as having died for future Bounty encounters or for purposes of ensuring enough play has passed to count as a win in the Fighting Pit.
• Fixed a bug where Wrathion’s Task 10 did not track if he was in dragon form.
• Updated Rokara’s Tribal Fortitude Task to be based on damage dealt by Tribal Warfare, so that it can be completed as written.
• Fixed a bug where Elemental Chaos in Duels was not affected by Spell Damage or Professor Slate.
• Misc. other performance enhancements and bug fixes to make your seat comfier around the hearth.

Patch 22.6, launching today, paves the way for Voyage to the Sunken City, Hearthstone’s next expansion, with pre-purchase options, balance changes, and more!

Pre-Purchase Voyage to the Sunken City

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City, is coming on April 12! Dive right into the next Hearthstone year and the sights and sounds of the lost ancient city of Zin-Azshari. Dredge the ocean floor for sunken treasures, dodge Colossal sea creatures, and come face-to-face with the vengeful Naga.

Voyage to the Sunken City includes 135 new cards, inspired by the beautiful and terrifying mysteries of the sea. You can prepare for your voyage with two pre-purchase options, starting today!

Pre-purchase

Log in and Get Blademaster Okani for Free

Log in to Hearthstone to get your first taste of the Sunken City with the free Blademaster Okani Legendary minion! This skilled fighter knows many techniques, and can counter a spell or minion. Add him to your collection as you prepare to take on the fearsome Naga.

Battlegrounds Updates

SYSTEM UPDATE

The Battlegrounds Armor System is back! Now that we’ve had some time with our Buddies, we’ve assessed how Buddies and Armor will interact and think it is a good time for Armor to return. At the start of this patch, these will be the armor ranges and placements:

Just like before, we will continue to monitor gameplay after the system goes live and might end up making adjustments in future updates.

NEW HERO

• Expedition Plans
  • Passive. Skip your first turn. Discover a Tier 2, 4, and 6 minion to get at those Tiers.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Hero before it is formally released on March 31.

NEW BUDDY

• [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Add a random Tier 1, 3, and 5 minion to your hand.

UPDATED HERO

• Snicker-snack
  • Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

NEW MINIONS

• [Tavern Tier 1, Murloc] 1 Attack, 4 Health. After you summon a Murloc, gain +1 Attack.

• [Tavern Tier 2, Murloc] 2 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this, add another random Murloc to your hand.

• [Tavern Tier 5, Beast] 7 Attack, 7 Health. Whenever this attacks, summon a 9/9 Devilsaur to attack the target first.

• [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Discover a Buddy.

  • Some things are best left between you and your bestie. Buddies for the following heroes can’t be Discovered by Friend of a Friend: Bru’kan, Captain Hooktusk, Galewing, Jandice Barov, Kael’thas Sunstrider, King Mukla, Maiev Shadowsong, Malygos, Master Nguyen, Mutanus the Devourer, Overlord Saurfang, Silas Darkmoon, Tavish Stormpike, The Curator, The Rat King, Varden Dawngrasp, Onyxia, Queen Wagtoggle, Cookie the Cook, and Skycap’n Kragg.

MINION POOL UPDATE

• Murloc Tidehunter, Old Murk-Eye, and Maexxna have been removed from the minion pool.

UPDATED MINIONS

• Old: [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: [Tavern Tier 5] 7 Attack, 3 Health. → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: [Tavern Tier 5] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: At the end of your turn, gain +1/+2 for each minion type you control. → New: At the end of your turn, gain +2/+2 for each minion type you control.

• Old: 7 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 9 Attack, 8 Health.

Mercenaries Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• You will now be able to set different Equipment and Portrait loadouts for your different Parties using the same Mercenary; you will no longer be able to change these loadouts in the middle of a Bounty.
• When you get offered a Bounty Treasure for a Merc that already has a Treasure, you will be now offered the option to upgrade your current Treasure, instead of just keeping or replacing it.
• Chi-Ji is now available through all the normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary.

NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT

Time’s up! Let’s do this! On March 22, Leeroy Jenkins is charging into Mercenaries with his own special event. The event consists of 10 special Tasks starring Leeroy and the Black Dragonflight! For the first five days of the event, you can get up to two event Tasks each day, but you have until April 5 to complete all 10 Tasks. Complete all 10 Tasks to get over 750 Mercenary Coins, the Leeroy Jenkins Legendary Mercenary Card, a Leeroy Jenkins Golden Portrait, and a Leeroy Jenkins Diamond Portrait. This event is not for the faint of heart! Orcs, Humans, Dragons, and Fighters will all be needed as you form your raiding parties for this event.

NEW MERCENARIES

• Human
• 11/69 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Wild Swing 5: (Speed 7) Gain +8 Attack for 2 turns. Attack a random enemy.
  • Get Chicken 5: (Speed 2) Gain +10 Health and become Immune while Attacking next turn.
  • Leeeeeroooy Jenkiiins! 5: (Speed 0, Cooldown 1) Attack all enemies, ignoring Taunt. All characters act immediately, in a random order.
• Equipment:
  • Even Bigger Sword 4: Wild Swing grants an additional +8 Attack.
  • Heals! 4: Passive: Restore 8 Health to this Merc whenever another one of your characters restores Health.
  • Ninja-Looting 4: Passive: Gain +6 Attack whenever an enemy dies.

• Dwarf
• 13/83 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Thunder Strike 5 (Nature): (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If they survive, deal 6 damage to them and adjacent enemies. Their next ability is (1) Speed slower.
  • Push Forward 5: (Speed 6) Friendly characters with Taunt gain +5 Attack and Attack an enemy.
  • Avatar 5: (Speed 8) Gain +5 Attack (increased by Health lost). Attack an enemy.
• Equipment:
  • The Unstoppable Force 4: Passive: +6 Attack. Can’t be Frozen.
  • The Immovable Object 4: Passive: +7 Health. Taunt.
  • Avatar of Stormpike 4: Avatar also restores 15 Health to friendly Dwarves.

• Orc
• 10/73 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Blood Frenzy 5: (Speed 5) Give your Orcs +6 Attack until the end of the turn. Attack a random enemy. If you have Fel Corruption, Attack increases by +1.
  • Spirit Guide 5: (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) 15 Attack, 20 Health. Battlecry: If you have Shamanism, gain Divine Shield and Rush.
  • Fel Corruption 5 (Fel): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 19 damage to all enemies. Deal 5 damage to your other characters. (After a friendly Orc dies, this transforms into Shamanism 5.)
    • Shamanism 5 (Nature): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 19 damage to all enemies. Restore 10 Health to your characters.
• Equipment:
  • Glacial Blade 4: Passive: +6 Attack. After this Merc Attacks a character, Freeze them.
  • Drek’Thar’s Spellbook 4: Passive: Your characters have +5 Arcane Resistance.
  • Shimmerweed Potion 4: Battlecry: Give your characters +10 Health.

• Dragon
• 12/90 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Claws of Terror 5 (Fire): (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If it was damaged this turn, deal 8 damage to them.
  • Elementium Armor 5: (Speed 1) Gain Taunt this turn. After being Attacked this turn, summon a 12/15 Elementium Terror with Bleed (3).
  • Destroy All Life 5 (Fire): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to all characters. If any die, repeat this.
• Equipment:
  • Heart of Unliving 4: Claws of Terror deals 5 more damage and affects adjacent enemies.
  • Resolve of Undying 4: Passive: Restore 10 Health to this Merc after a friendly Elementium Terror is destroyed.
  • Demon Soul 4: Passive: +4 Fel Damage. Whenever an enemy Dragon minion is summoned, gain control of it.

• Dragon
• 10/70 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Insolent Mortals 5: (Speed 4) Attack an enemy. If they have Taunt, first gain +6 Attack and then block Taunt on them this turn.
  • Deep Breath 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Restore 15 Health to this Merc. Next turn, gain that much Fire Damage for 1 turn.
  • Cleanse The Nest 5 (Fire): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Deal 15 damage to all enemies. Deathblow: Summon a 12/12 Onyxian Whelp.
• Equipment:
  • Razor Sharp Claws 4: Insolent Mortals gives an additional +8 Attack.
  • Deeper Breath 4: Deep Breath restores 5 more Health and is (1) Speed slower.
  • Broodmother’s Rage 4 (Fire): Passive: When another friendly Dragon is destroyed, deal 7 damage to all enemies.

• Dragon
• 15/75 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Drakonid Rush 5: (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. Summon a 12/12 Dragon which also Attacks them.
  • Chromatic Infusion 5 (Shadow): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Choose a friendly Dragon. They steal 5 Attack from each other Dragon and restore that much Health.
  • Shadowflame 5 (Shadow): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Each of your Dragons deals 15 damage to the characters opposite them.
• Equipment:
  • Experimental Subjects 4: Drakonid gains +8 Attack and Divine Shield.
  • Chromatic Dragonflight 4: Start of Game: Give your Dragons +6 Attack.
  • Spare Parts! 4: Passive: After a Dragon dies, restore 10 Health to friendly Dragons.

• Troll
• 10/75 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Shadow Claws 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Deal 6 damage to a random enemy. Repeat for each of your Golems destroyed this game.
  • Build-A-Golem 5 (Shadow): (Speed 4) Choose a Golem. Summon it.
    • Harder 5: Summon a 20/20 Superior Golem with Taunt.
    • Better 5: Summon 2 8/8 Greater Golems with Divine Shield.
    • Faster 5: Summon 3 6/6 Lesser Golems with Rush.
  • True Shape 5 (Shadow): (Speed 8) Become a Dragon. Destroy your Golems and gain their stats. (Transforms into Reshape 5.)
    • Reshape 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Recreate them as a Golem with 14 Health.
• Equipment:
  • Mageroyal 4: Shadow Claws deals 4 more damage.
  • Kingsblood 4: Passive: Your Golems are (4) Speed faster.
  • Wildvine 4: Battlecry: Give friendly characters +4/+4.

These new Mercenaries, except for Leeroy Jenkins, will all be available through all normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary, starting on March 17. Leeroy will be earned exclusively through the Leeroy event until it is made available through the normal means of acquiring Mercenaries in the next major patch after the event is over.

NEW BOUNTIES

Six new Bounties will also be added to the new Onyxia’s Lair zone:

• Smolderwing
• Dragonbone Golem
• SI:7 Smuggler
• Onyxia
• Undead Onyxia
• Mi’da Pure Void (unlocked after the Leeroy Jenkins event)

All new Bounties, except for the Mi’da Pure Void Bounty, will be unlocked with the patch. The Mi’da Pure Void Bounty will be unlocked after the conclusion of the Leeroy Jenkins event.

Book of Mercenaries—Dawngrasp

The Battle for Alterac Valley is over. Friends and foes have fallen. The mage Varden Dawngrasp of Quel’Thalas now has the difficult task of keeping the peace between the mercenaries long enough to stop the dragons and save the world! No big deal. Can they lead the raid against Onyxia and Kazakusan, restore the fallen naaru, and save Xyrella’s daughter? Find out when Book of Mercenaries—Dawngrasp, the final chapter, launches on March 17th. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Mage pack, containing only Mage cards from Standard.

Special Dwarf Skins Legendary Quest Chain

Once the patch launches, you’ll be able to complete a Legendary Quest chain awarding cosmetic skins for some of your favorite Hearthstone Dwarves. Complete this 5-part Legendary Quest chain to get three Tavish Hunter Skins, a Brann Battlegrounds Skin, and a Golden Vanndar Legendary Mercenary Portrait!

Acquiring any Portrait of a Mercenary unlocks use of that Mercenary with that Portrait. In special cases like this where you might get a special Portrait before the base Portrait for that Mercenary, you will only be able to play with your special Portrait, and you will still be able to receive the base Portrait from Mercenaries products. If you already own this Vanndar Portrait when you earn it from this Quest, you will receive 100 Legendary Vanndar Coins, instead.

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Added the ability to play cards directly from your “mini-hand” on mobile, instead of first needing to tap to enlarge your hand.
• The Hunter Questline will no longer be progressed if the Hunter is damaged by a Cast When Drawn card that their opponent shuffled into the Hunter’s deck (such as Bombs or Agonies).
• Full-Blown Evil can now be played when there are no enemy minions for it to hit.
• Fixed a bug where Whelp Bonker was counted as a Whelp by Raid Boss Onyxia.
• Fixed a bug where Xyrella, the Devout’s Battlecry would not count Deathrattle minions that were Silenced before they died.
• Fixed a bug where Pride Seeker’s discount would not be consumed if the card played was a Choose One minion that transformed into a different minion when played.
• Fixed a bug where Pathmaker was creating game history tiles every turn while you had a Choose One card in hand.
• Fixed a bug where Cult Neophyte was increasing the cost of a Need for Greed that was drawn that turn.
• Fixed a bug where Tamsin’s Phylactery would not grant Rustwix Envoy’s Deathrattle effect.
• Fixed a bug where if you discovered a Ranked card from Palm Reading (such as Condemn), and the spelled ranked up, the spell would not get the Palm Reading discount.
• Fixed a bug where if Improved Ice Trap was played before Ice Trap, both would trigger off the same spell. Now, whichever is played first will trigger and the version played second will be saved for the next spell.
• Fixed a bug where Sir Finley and Sir Finley of the Sands’s effects could not be copied by Brilliant Macaw.
• Fixed a bug where Pilfered Power would sometimes refresh Mana Crystals instead of giving empty Mana Crystals when played with over 10 Mana Crystals.
• Fixed a bug where Unexpected Results did not account for temporary Spell Damage buffs.
• Friendly Wager, Saturday C’Thuns, I’ll Take That, and Spirit Swap hero powers will no longer be able to be triggered multiple times by Sous Chef and Elder Taggawag Buddies.
• Fixed a visual bug where minions stolen by the Loyal Henchman Buddy would sometimes show as Golden, but function like the plain copies they were supposed to be.
• Fixed a bug causing visual issues with Aranna Starseeker’s Buddy Meter the turn she transforms.
• Mercenaries event-locked Bounties will now include a “Coming Soon” message when selected.
• Updated Chi-Ji and Yu’lon’s Task 17s to both better match their respective Abilities.
• Fixed a bug where special event Tasks that required you to beat a Bounty with at least 3 Mercs of a particular type would not count if you reached the boss of that Bounty with less than that number of Mercs still alive.
• Fixed a bug where Balinda Stonehearth’s Frost Burn would not count as an Ability of either version’s spell school.
• Fixed a bug causing the Mercenaries Training Grounds search function to be unresponsive on tablet devices.
• Corrected a visual bug where Eudora’s “Prepare the Cannons” Ability stated a Cannon with 5 Attack would be summoned, instead of 0 Attack.
• Fixed a bug where Sinestra’s Wracking Swipe would activate off her own being a Dragon instead of checking for other Dragons.
• Fixed a bug where Gruul’s Dragonclaw Fist gave the wrong buff while an enemy Dragon was present.
• Fixed a bug where Edwin’s Assisted Strike Ability did not respect Taunt.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Duels achievements from tracking properly.
• Fixed a bug where the Warden’s Insight Duels Treasure did not refill all your mana if your maximum mana was more than 10.
• Fixed a bug where if Transfer Student was in your starting Duels deck, its effect would not update with each Board.
• Fixed a bug causing players to get stuck in Tombs of Terror if they choose the Sr. Tomb Diver Signature Treasure.
• The Floor is Lava and Spiked Arms will now give their Attack buff first and then deal their damage, to be consistent with cards like Inner Rage and Cruel Taskmaster.
• Added missing Mini-Set achievements for Rogue and Demon Hunter.
• The mysterious achievement that was added in 22.4, but could not be completed at that time, can now be completed.
• Fixed a bug with the “Future So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades” achievement where it was not tracking properly.
• Fixed a bug causing “phantom” achievement notifications.
• Fixed a bug causing the Collection Manager “NEW” tag to refresh after each time logging back into the client.
• Misc. other bug fixes, text improvements, and performance upgrades.

Patch 22.4, launching on February 15, includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, Arena, the new Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, and more!

Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set Launches on February 15!

Things are heating back up after the cold of Alterac Valley! Enter Onyxia’s Lair in the Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, coming February 15! After a year of growth, our heroes are max level and ready to raid with these 35 new cards. Get them in Fractured in Alterac Valley packs, or get the entire 66-card Mini-Set* for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. For the first time ever, we are also offering the option to buy an all-Golden set of all 66 Mini-Set cards for $69.99!

Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set card reveals start today! Follow twitter.com/PlayHearthstone to catch reveals over the next few days and check out the new cards on the card library afterwards!

* 4 Legendary Cards (x1), 1 Epic Card (x2), 14 Rare Cards (x2), and 16 Common Cards (x2).

Diamond Vanndar is On His Way!

After a hard-fought battle, the Alliance claimed victory in the Battle for Alterac Valley! To commemorate their victory, all players will receive a free Diamond copy of [[Vanndar Stormpike]] upon login. Remember, even though the battle for Alterac Valley is over, you still have until the end of the Fractured in Alterac Valley expansion cycle to complete your personal event quest chain.

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW HEROES

• Twice as Nice
  • Passive. After Bob’s Tavern is Refreshed, copy and Freeze one of his minions.

• Glory of Combat
  • Passive. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, give it +1 Attack permanently.

• Broodmother
  • Passive. Avenge (4): Summon a 2/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the three new Heroes before they are formally released on March 1.

HERO POOL UPDATE

• Kael'thas, Silas Darkmoon, and Chenvaala have been returned to the Hero Pool.

BUDDY UPDATE

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

NEW BUDDIES

• [Tier 2, Elemental] 3 Attack, 5 Health. “Twice as Nice” also gives the copy stats equal to your Tavern Tier.

• [Tier 4, Beast] 5 Attack, 2 Health. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, gain +1 Health permanently.

• [Tier 2, Dragon] 4 Attack, 2 Health. Whenever you summon a Whelp, gain +2/+2 permanently.

NEW SHOP ITEMS (COSMETIC)

Bob is back with another way to add flair and personalization to the Tavern: Battlegrounds Finishers! Battlegrounds Finishers are animations that replace the default Attack animation whenever your Hero wins a round of combat.* Bob’s first Finisher, Astral Impact, is a two-stage Finisher. That means that it shows a special animation whenever your Hero wins a round and then an even bigger animation when you deal 15 or more damage to your enemy! Keep a look out for more cool Battlegrounds Finishers in the future.

In addition to the first-ever Finisher, Bob’s also bringing two new Battlegrounds Boards to choose from. On February 14, at 1 p.m. Pacific, join ninaisnoob on her YouTube channel for interviews with Cosmetics Production Lead Alicia Cornelia and Features Lead Chadd Nervig about Battlegrounds Finishers and the new boards! The Jade Gardens Battlegrounds Board, pictured above, will be available as soon as the patch launches. All other new Battlegrounds cosmetics, including the Astral Impact Finisher and the Cosmic Study Battlegrounds Board below, will become available starting on February 22.

* Battlegrounds Finishers are equipped globally, so any Hero you use will use your equipped Finisher whenever you win a round of combat. Both players will be able to see the winning player’s Finisher at the end of any round of combat.

Mercenaries Updates

NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT

Starting on February 22, Mercenaries will be hosting its first-ever limited time event! Complete a chain of 10 exciting event Tasks to harness the power of Chi-Ji, and strengthen all the August Celestials. Two new Tasks will be available on each of the first 5 days of the event, but you have until March 8 to complete all 10 Tasks. Complete all 10 Tasks to earn the Chi-Ji Epic Mercenary Card, a Chi-Ji Mercenary Portrait, and over 1000 total Mercenary Coins for the new Mercenaries! As you prepare for this event to begin, make your way through all the Alterac Valley Bounties and take special care to strengthen your Beasts and Dragons, which will be essential for some of these Tasks.

NEW MERCENARIES

Long’xin (Legendary Caster)

• Dragon
• 6/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Celestial Breath 5 (Arcane): (Speed 7) Deal 19 damage to an enemy. Any excess damage continues right or left.
  • Starfire Blessing 5 (Arcane): (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) For two turns, gain +3 Arcane Damage and “After this Merc is damaged, deal 14 damage to a random enemy.”
  • Among the Stars 5 (Arcane): (Speed 1, Cooldown 1) Give an ally +13 Health and swap places with it. Enemy abilities targeting the Mercs swap targets (if possible).
• Equipment:
  • Bottle of Infinite Stars 4: Among the Stars gives +4 more Health and also grants Health to your Dragons.
  • Kun-Lai Crystal 4: Among the Stars starts off Cooldown. Passive: +8 Nature Resistance.
  • Band of Bursting Novas 4: Battlecry: Gain +3 Arcane Damage for each of your Beasts and Dragons that has died this game.

Xuen (Epic Fighter)

• Beast
• 9/76 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Equalizing Stike 5: (Speed 7) Choose an enemy. Set this Merc’s Attack to 5 higher than the target and Attack them.
  • Pounce 5: (Speed 4) Borrow 5 Attack from all friendly characters for 2 turns. Attack an enemy.
  • Tiger Lightning 5 (Nature): Deal this Merc’s Attack damage to a random enemy. Deathblow: Gain +5 Attack and repeat this.
• Equipment:
  • Spear of Xuen 4: Equalizing Stike sets this Merc’s Attack to an addition 4 higher than the target.
  • Celestial Chestplate 4: Pounce also steals 5 Attack from a random enemy.
  • Charged Gauntlets 4: Tiger Lightning gives an additional +4 Attack.

Niuzao (Rare Protector)

• Beast
• 10/80 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Headbutt 5: (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If it has higher Attack than this Merc, deal 16 damage to it instead.
  • Bullish Fortitude 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Gain Taunt and your other characters take 5 less damage for 2 turns.
  • Blessing of the Ox 5 (Arcane): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Each time a friendly character is damaged this turn, give them Divine Shield.
• Equipment:
  • Bullish Belt 4: Bullish Fortitude reduces damage taken by 5 more, but has +1 Cooldown.
  • Helm of Niuzao 4: Passive: -2/+16. After an enemy Attack this Merc, deal 5 damage to them.
  • Talisman of the Ox 4: Passive: After a friendly character loses Divine Shield, this Merc gains +6 Health.

Yu’lon (Rare Protector)

• Dragon
• 8/85 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Jade Gust 5 (Nature): (Speed 10) Deal 20 damage to an enemy. If they Attacked this turn, deal 40 damage instead.
  • Jadeflame Buffet 5 (Fire): (Speed 1, Cooldown 1) Block Taunt and Stealth on all other characters for 2 turns. Give your characters +10 Health.
  • [Updated] Enveloping Mist 5 (Nature): (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Gain Taunt this turn and +3 Nature Damage. Repeat for each other friendly Dragon.
• Equipment:
  • Jadefire Spear 4: Jadeflame Buffet gives an additional +5 Health.
  • Serpent Pendant 4: Enveloping Mist gives an additional +3 Nature Damage.
  • Pearl of Yu’lon 4: Passive: Your other Dragons take 4 less damage.

Chi-Ji (Epic Caster)

• Beast
• 7/79 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Blazing Song 5 (Fire): (Speed 3) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Gain +3 Heal Power.
  • Inspiring Song 5 (Fire): (Speed 4) Restore 10 Health to all friendly characters.
  • Firestorm 5 (Fire): (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Deal 5 damage to all enemies, and restore 5 Health to all allies. (Increased by Healing Power.)
• Equipment:
  • Blazing Band 4: Blazing Song deals 4 more damage and gives an additional +2 Heal Power.
  • Staff of Chi-Ji 4: Inspiring Song restores 10 more Health.
  • Flameheart Crystal 4: Passive: After a friendly Beast is healed, give them +5 Health.

Long’xin, Xuen, Niuzao, and Yu-lon will all be available through all normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary, starting on February 15. Chi-Ji will be earned exclusively through the Chi-Ji event until it is made available through the normal means of acquiring Mercenaries in the next major patch after the event is over.

NEW BOUNTIES

Six new Bounties will also be added to the Alterac Valley Zone:

• Rotimer
• Ichman
• Balinda Stonehearth
• Ivus
• Vanndar Stormpike
• Kazakus

The Vanndar Stormpike and Kazakus Bounties will be added to the game after the conclusion of the Chi-Ji event. All other Bounties will be added on February 15, with the launch of the patch.

Duels Update

• Infinite Arcane has been increased from 5 Mana to 7 Mana.

Arena Rotation

When Patch 22.4 launches on February 15, ongoing Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible card sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Fractured in Alterac Valley Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set
• One Night in Karazhan
• Blackrock Mountain
• Journey to Un’goro
• Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
• Descent of Dragons
• Core

Book of Mercenaries—Bru’kan

The shaman Bru’kan of the Darkspear clan has done his best to prepare the young Horde mercenaries for the battle ahead, but now the moment has come. The shattered naaru has reformed and its power has resurrected the vengeful warlock Tamsin Roame as a lich! Can Bru’kan tap into the elemental energies of Alterac Valley and summon Lokholar the Ice Lord to end the war and stop Tamsin? Find out when Book of Mercenaries Bru’kan launches on February 15. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will award 1 Shaman pack, containing only Shaman cards from Standard.

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• There will now be a confirmation prompt when you attempt to concede a game before you would get quest progress for that game (like “Play 3 Games” Quests and the Alterac Valley Honor Quests). We have also loosened the requirements on counting those types of Quests.
• When playing Maestra of the Masquerade, the premium level of Hero Powers will now match the premium level of the Hero (for instance, if you have a Golden Hero, your Hero Power will now be Golden, too), making for much better disguises.
• A duplicate uncraftable version of Shadow Bolt will no longer appear in the Collection Manager.
• Fixed a bug where Saidan the Scarlet could still get double-buffs from his effect, even after being Silenced.
• Fixed a bug where certain Mana Ramp cards would not grant Mana Crystals if you played Wildheart Guff and had between 10 and 20 Mana Crystals.
• Fixed a bug where playing Paralytic Poison on Kingsbane would cause the “Immune when attacking” effect to carry over onto any other weapons equipped during the game.
• Fixed a bug where the Daio Chan Valeera Hero Skin would block Baku the Mooneater’s effect from upgrading the player’s Hero Power.
• Fixed a bug where Lost in the Park (Druid’s Questline) would not progress the first time that Attack is gained after equipping Sphere of Sapience.
• Updated the priority of several Cast When Drawn cards (including Fel Rift, Bleed, and Olgra, Mankrik’s Wife) to match that of cards like Soul Shards. One result of this change is that Runed Mithril Rod will now consistently discount the next card drawn after any Cast When Drawn card that activates Rod’s effect, instead of the Cast When Drawn card itself.
• Fixed a bug in Battlegrounds causing Baby N’Zoth and Brann Bronzebeard to give an extra activation.
• Fixed a bug where Baby Elekk would not trigger for a same-statted minion if the same-statted minion’s stats changed when played (such as when another minion is giving an aura stat-buff for that type of minion).
• Updated the text of all Mercenary Task 7s from “Defeat 2 Heroic Bosses” to “Complete 2 Heroic Bounties.”
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to place Mercenaries they do not own into the Training Grounds, causing some players to get locked out of the Training Grounds.
• Fixed a visual bug causing Mercenaries Equipment Unlocks to show as one Task earlier than the actual unlock Tasks.
• Fixed a bug where Anduin’s Task 11 was tracking Damage instead of Healing.
• Fixed a bug where characters with Windfury could attack through Freeze.
• Fixed a bug where Vanessa VanCleef’s Shifting Satchels Ability was respecting Taunt even though it’s a ranged Ability.
• The stats of Eudora’s Cannons will now show on Prepare the Cannons and Primed Armaments.
• Fixed a bug that blocked some players from entering Duels if a previous Duels run ended prematurely.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes blocked the win/loss record from showing in Duels and Arena.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes changed a player’s Favorited Card Back in a Friend Challenge.
• Fixed a bug that prevented certain Card Backs from remaining marked as Favorited after logging out.
• The Immoveable Object has finally been moved! Fixed a bug preventing the “You Are Not Worthy” achievement from tracking progress.
• Misc. other performance improvements, bug fixes, and visual issues.

Patch 22.2.2, launching today, includes balance changes for Battlegrounds and Duels, along with a handful of bug fixes.

Battlegrounds Updates

MINION POOL CHANGE

• Archdruid Hamuul has been removed from the minion pool.

BUDDY CHANGES

• Old: Deathrattle: Deal 4 damage to a random enemy minion. Repeat for each of your Mechs that died this combat. → New: Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to a random enemy minion for each of your Mechs that died this combat.

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] “Wingmen” also gives “Immune while Attacking” for one attack only. → New: [Tavern Tier 3] Your first minion that attacks has “Immune while Attacking” for one attack only.

• Old: At the end of your turn, give your Tavern Tier 3 minions +1/+1. → New: At the end of your turn, give your Tavern Tier 3 minions +1/+2.

• Old: At the end of your turn, give three random friendly minions +1/+1. → New: At the end of your turn, give five random friendly minions +1/+1.

• Old: Battlecry: Discover a Darkmoon Prize from the most recent Prize turn. → New: Battlecry: Discover a Darkmoon Prize from the next Prize turn.

• Old: After you play a minion, add a Battlecry minion to Bob’s Tavern. → New: After you play a minion, add a Battlecry minion to Bob’s Tavern. Give it +2/+2.
• [Golden version] Old: After you play a minion, add two Battlecry minions to Bob’s Tavern. → New: After you play a minion, add a Battlecry minion to Bob’s Tavern. Give it +4/+4.

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 2 Attack, 3 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 7 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 3] 2 Attack, 2 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 6 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: 7 Attack, 5 Health → New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

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

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

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

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] → New: [Tavern Tier 3]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 8 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 1 Attack, 6 Health

• Old: 5 Attack, 2 Health → New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 5 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 4 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 4 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 2]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 7 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 5 Health

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 7 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 4 Attack, 1 Health

• Old: 7 Attack, 6 Health → New: 9 Attack, 7 Health

Duels Updates

• Battle Totem, Disks of Legend, and Totem of the Dead were are all moved from Treasure Pool 2 to Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare (for real this time).

• Old: Reduce the cost of Neutral minions in your hand that cost (4) or more by (2). → New: Reduce the cost of two Neutral minions in your hand that cost (4) or more by (2).

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Lowered the difficulty of the Snowclaw, High Justice Grimstone, Captain Galvangar, Lokholar the Ice Lord, and Drek’Thar Heroic Bounties, and both Normal and Heroic versions of the Louis Philips Bounty.
• Increased the maximum number of Bladestorm activations from 30 to 50.
• Fixed a bug where Golden Kil’rek would always give two copies of the same Demon when its Deathrattle was triggered.
• Fixed a bug where Spirit of Air’s Deathrattle would sometimes apply to enemy minions.

We’re in the process of deploying a hotfix that includes some balance changes for Battlegrounds and Duels, and a handful of bug fixes.

Developer’s Note: Because this is a hotfix change, the changes will not show correctly while hovering over the minions in the shop, on the hero select screen, or when hovering over the Buddy Meter. This will be corrected in a future update.

Hero Changes

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4

Minion Changes

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 6 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 3] 2 Attack, 4 Health

Duels Updates

• All Together Now was moved from Treasure Pool 1 to Treasure Pool 2.
• Battle Totem, Disks of Legend, and Totem of the Dead were are all moved from Treasure Pool 2 to Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where your opponent playing a Choose One card while holding a Pathmaker would cause a floating card to remain on your screen.
• Fixed a bug where Arfus would sometimes summon Reborn minions, instead of the properly resurrected 1 Health minions, when combined with Khadgar.
• Fixed a bug where certain Buddies’ on-play voicelines would not play in certain circumstances.
• Made progress on a bug where players were locked out of the Mercenaries Training Grounds. While a permanent solution is planned for Patch 22.4, restarting Hearthstone should now allow you to access the Training Grounds again if you were locked out.
• Fixed a bug where Duels achievements were not properly tracking runs.
• Fixed a bug where Duels Health totals did not match the Health totals intended for run progress.

Patch 22.2, launching on January 25, includes a massive Battlegrounds update, tons of Duels changes, balance changes for Standard and Wild, a new building to the Mercenaries Village, bug fixes, and more!

Card Updates

The following cards have been adjusted down in power level:

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]
  • Dev Comment: Rogue has seen significant increases in playrate and winrate since the last patch, and Scabbs is a pretty clear outlier in terms of power. We expect this change to make a fairly large impact in the strength of Rogue archetypes across the board.

• Old: [Costs 5] 4 Attack, 5 Health → New: [Costs 6] 3 Attack, 5 Health
  • Dev Comment: Wildpaw Gnoll was intended to be a strong payoff for Maestra of the Masquerade’s fun effect, but it has been overperforming in this role—even in decks that don’t have dedicated Burgle strategies. We’re adjusting Gnoll to both come down a bit later, as a slightly smaller threat when it does.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]
  • Dev Comment: We’re happy with Poison Rogue when it’s a niche player in the metagame, but the current playrate of the archetype is much higher than intended. Cloak of Shadows also combined with Shadowcrafter Scabbs for frustrating play experiences. Reducing the power levels of both these pieces should bring Poison Rogue’s overall power level back in line.

• Create a Distraction (the second part of the Questline)
  • Old: Questline: Play 2 Pirates. Reward: Deal 2 damage to a random enemy twice. New: Questline: Play 3 Pirates. Reward: Deal 2 damage to a random enemy twice.
  • Dev Comment: Pirate Warrior is not a power outlier at the highest ranks of play, but it is overperforming at many of the lower ranks of play. Going from 7 total Pirates to 8 total will promote deck diversity in the Bronze through Diamond ranks.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]
  • Dev Comment: When combo Mages play Incanter’s Flow on an early turn, they can assemble their game winning combo at a very fast rate. Similar to our goals for combo-based decks in the previous patch, pushing Incanter’s Flow up a Mana will slow down combo Mages by a turn or two, giving slower strategies a better chance to thrive in the overall meta.

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]
• Old: Twinspell Deal 1 damage. → New: Twinspell Deal 2 damage.
  • Dev Comment: The Rapid Fire and Sorcerer’s Apprentice changes are targeted at some of the strongest decks in the current Wild metagame, to improve the long-term, overall health of the format. Both of these balance adjustments are aimed at decks with extremely efficient from-hand damage, which puts big constraints on which strategies can find success in Wild. By removing power here, the format should open up for a few more viable archetypes to see play, and for the Wild format to slightly slow down overall.

The cards listed above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 22.2 patch goes live.

The following card has been adjusted up in power level:

• Old: [5 Armor] → New: [10 Armor]
  • Dev Comment: Rokara is one of the less viable Hero cards right now. We want each class to have exciting play options, so we’re increasing her Armor to give her more leeway in swinging into high-Attack minions, and to better synergize with some of Warrior's Armor-focused cards.

Battlegrounds Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• Battlegrounds Buddies are here! Learn more about the new Battlegrounds Buddy System below.
• The Battlegrounds Armor System will be deactivated while we try out the new Buddy System. As of now, we plan to re-activate the Armor System in a later patch once we’ve reassessed the power levels of the Heroes with their new Buddies.
• Hero selection has also been temporarily extended by 10 seconds (to a total of 70 seconds) while players learn the new Buddy System.
• The Cost to upgrade to Tavern Tier 5 has been increased by 2 Gold. Its Cost now starts at 11 Gold.
• On January 25, the current Battlegrounds season will end, ratings will be reset to zero, and the new season will begin.

NEW BUDDY SYSTEM

Every battle’s better with a buddy! In this patch, we’ll be introducing a new Battlegrounds Buddy System! A Battlegrounds Buddy is a special minion that’s unique to each Hero, designed to synergize with that Hero’s gameplan.

Buddies are played like normal minions, but they can’t be bought from the shop. Instead, every Hero has a “Buddy Meter” that fills up during the combat phase whenever you: enter combat, deal damage to enemies, pop Divine Shields, or win or tie a combat phase. You also get a small bonus each turn for how many minions you have at the start of combat. Buddies are earned at three different rates, with those at lower Tavern Tiers being earned more quickly than those at higher Tavern Tiers. Finally, there’s a limit to how much a Buddy Meter can be filled in a given round, so that no Buddy runs away with the game.

The Buddy Meter has two sections. Fill the first section to get 1 copy of your Hero’s Buddy added to your hand. Fill the second section to get 2 more copies! After both sections have been filled, the Buddy Meter breaks and is no longer available for the rest of the match (regardless of whether you tripled your Buddy or sold any copies off along the way).

You can meet all 75 Battlegrounds Buddies by clicking on their corresponding Hero here!

NEW HEROES

• Embrace the Elements [Costs 0]
  • Choose an Element. Start of Combat: Call upon that Element.
    • Fire Invocation – Start of Combat: Double your left-most minion’s Attack.
    • Lightning Invocation – Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to 5 random enemy minions.
    • Earth Invocation – Start of Combat: Give 4 friendly minions “Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Elemental.”
    • Water Invocation – Start of Combat: Give your right-most minion +3 Health and Taunt.

• Lead the Frostwolves [Costs 0]
  • Choose a friendly minion. It copies the Attack of your highest Attack minion for next combat only.

• Lead the Stormpikes [Costs 0]
  • Choose a friendly minion. It copies the Health of your highest Health minion for next combat only.

• Deadeye [Costs 0]
  • Take aim! Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to your target. (Upgrades each turn!)
    • Aim Left! – Passive. Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to the left-most enemy minion.
    • Aim Low! – Passive. Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to the lowest Health enemy minion.
    • Aim High! – Passive. Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to the highest Health enemy minion.
    • Aim Right! – Passive. Start of Combat: Deal 1 damage to the right-most enemy minion.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the four new Heroes before they are formally released on February 8.

HERO UPDATES

• Odds for Tier 6 Dragons are no longer reduced.

• Bob’s Tavern no longer counts as being Refreshed at the start of turn if no new minions are added.

• Hero power now reads: “Give a minion Divine Shield.”
• Developer Note: This allows you to target shop minions as well as your minions.

Kael’thas, Silas Darkmoon, and Chenvaala will be temporarily disabled when the 22.2 patch launches, while we address a bug found late in testing. They will be added back into the Hero Pool in a future update.

MINION UPDATE

• Text now reads: “Battlecry: Gain +1 Health for each Health your Hero is missing.”
• Developer Note: This text change more accurately describes how the card currently works (specifically, in games where the Hero had Armor at some point). This is not a functional change to the card.

Mercenaries Updates

VILLAGE UPDATE

The Training Grounds (previously announced as the “Training Hall”) has come to Mercenaries! The Training Grounds is a new space for your Village that allows your Mercenaries to passively gain experience as you do Bounties with your other Mercs, play other game Modes, or even while you sleep! Just enter the Training Grounds, select a Mercenary you want to train, and leave them there for as long as you want. Check in on them periodically to claim their accrued experience and see how they’re doing, or pull them out when you think they’re ready to start joining you on your adventures!

The Training Grounds costs 100 Gold to create (with one slot for training) and 200 Gold to upgrade (to a total of two training slots).

NEW MERCENARIES

• Human
• 10/73 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Flame Dart 5 (Fire): (Speed 3) Deal 10 damage. Give them +3 Frost Weakness.
  • Frost Dart 5 (Frost): (Speed 4) Deal 12 damage. Give them +3 Fire Weakness.
  • Frost Burn 5: (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 11 damage to all enemies. Either gain +3 Frost Damage or +3 Fire Damage.
• Equipment:
  • Lesser Fire Elemental 4: Battlecry: Summon a 10/15 Lesser Fire Elemental that applies +3 Fire Weakness to characters it damages.
  • Lesser Water Elemental 4: Battlecry: Summon a 10/15 Lesser Water Elemental that Freezes characters it damages.
  • Stormpike’s Salvation 4: Passive: At the end of each turn, give all your characters +5 Health.

• Orc
• 11/71 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Rending Cleave 5: (Speed 5) Attack an enemy. If it has not acted this turn, apply Bleed (8) to it and adjacent enemies.
  • Fatal Strike 5: (Speed 3) Deal 8 damage to an enemy. It can’t heal for 2 turns.
  • Frightening Shout 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to all enemies. If they have acted, the ability they used gains +3 Cooldown.
• Equipment:
  • Fury of the Frost Wolf 4: Passive: Friendly characters have +5 Attack.
  • Drek’Thar’s Boom 4: Fatal Strike also applies Bleed (5).
  • Deafening Howl 4: Frightening Shout deals 5 more damage.

• Human
• 12/73 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Creeping Madness 5 (Fel): (Speed 8) Attack an enemy. Next turn they must use a different Ability or take 20 damage.
  • Tail Swipe 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Deal 20 damage, randomly to the left or right-most enemy.
  • True Form 5: (Speed 3, Cooldown 2) Become a Dragon. Gain +0 Health. (Health increased by damage dealt by this Merc). (Transform into Fel Reign 5).
    • Fel Reign 5 (Fel): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Deal 3 damage to all enemies. Repeat 4 times. (Starts off cooldown.)
• Equipment:
  • Chimera of Fear 4: Creeping Madness makes the enemy (4) Speed slower.
  • Black Dragon Scales 4: Tail Swipe also applies Bleed (5).
  • Horn of Wrathion 4: True Form has no cooldown and also grants +6 Attack.

• Elemental
• 9/82 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Hail Storm 5 (Frost): (Speed 5) Deal 3 damage to a random enemy. Repeat 5 times.
  • Frost Shock 5 (Frost): (Speed 9) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Their next ability gives them +5 Frost Weakness for that turn.
  • Snowball 5 (Frost): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage. Damage increases by +5 every time another Frost ability is cast. Resets after use.
• Equipment:
  • Icy Focus 4: Hail Storm repeats 4 more times.
  • Frigid Winds 4: Passive: After an enemy acts, gain +4 Frost damage until the end of the turn.
  • Shroud of the Ice Lord 4: Passive: Friendly Elementals have +20 Health.

• Dragon
• 13/75 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Wracking Swipe 5: (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. If you control another Dragon, apply Bleed (10).
  • Mana Barrier 5 (Arcane): (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Restore 50 Health to a Dragon, its next ability is (3) Speed slower.
  • Twilight Extinction 5 (Shadow): (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Restore 20 Health to this Merc. At the end of next turn, deal 30 damage to all enemies.
• Equipment:
  • Hooked Talons 4: Wracking Swipe applies an additional Bleed (5).
  • Mana Brooch 4: Mana Barrier restores 10 more Health and reduces damage taken by 5 this turn.
  • Shard of Woe 4: Twilight Extinction restores 20 more Health and deals 10 more damage, but has +1 Cooldown.

EQUIPMENT UPDATE

For the five new Mercenaries introduced in this patch, their third Equipment will be earned by completing a specific Heroic Bounty while that Mercenary is in your Party. The Heroic Bounty needed for each Mercenary will be listed under the Equipment’s unlock criteria. This change will not be retroactive, but our current plan is to use this new system for upcoming Mercenaries in future patches. We will monitor how the new system ends up working in this patch and make adjustments if needed.

NEW BOUNTIES

A new Zone is coming to Mercenaries: Alterac Valley! The Battle for Alterac Valley has spilled over into Mercenaries, bringing with it six new Bounties:

• Ravak Grimtotem
• Louis Philips
• Captain Galvanger
• Popsicooler
• Drek’Thar
• Lokholar the Ice Lord

Dodge Stormpike bullets and Frostwolf fangs on this mammoth hunt for those sweet, sweet prizes.

Duels Updates

GENERAL UPDATES

• On January 25, the current Duels season will end, rankings will be reset, and a new season will begin.
• Duels Achievements will be updated to be hero-specific, instead of class-specific. Various in-game text will be updated to mention hero names instead of classes.
• New card buckets will be added to better support the new heroes.
• [NEW] Pool 2 Treasure offerings will now be more synergistic with your deck.

[NEW] CARD POOL CHANGES

• Embrace the Shadow, Ignite, and Korrak the Bloodrager have been banned from deck construction.

NEW HEROES

The battle for Alterac Valley rages on with Vanndar Stormpike and Drek’Thar joining Duels! They will be Hearthstone’s first Neutral Heroes, with special Treasures that allow them to ally with one of the classes in their faction! If they ally with one of their faction’s classes, they will be changed from Neutral to the Allied class for deckbuilding and throughout the run. Each also has one signature treasure that keeps them Neutral for the run, but gives them a taste of all their faction’s classes!

Drek’Thar has 3 new hero powers that you can unlock as you play:

• Warmaster’s Frenzy [Costs 2]
  • Deal 1 damage to ALL minions. Honorable Kill: Gain +1 Attack this turn.

• Harness the Elements [Costs 1]
  • Draw a spell. Reduce its Cost by (1).
  • Unlock criteria: Play 40 spells that cost 3 or more.

• War Commands [Costs 2]
  • Draw a Neutral minion that costs (3) or less. It costs (0) this turn.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 60 Neutral minions that cost 3 or less.

Drek’Thar also has 6 new signature treasures that you can unlock as you play:

• Valorous Display
  • 6 mana Spell. Discover a weapon and equip it, then destroy all minions. Allied: Warrior.

• Elemental Chaos
  • 6 mana Spell. Call upon the power of all four Elements! Allied: Shaman.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 20 Battlecry minions.

• Pact of the Lich
  • 4 mana Spell. Shuffle 5 Fel Rifts into your deck. Draw 3 cards. Allied: Warlock.
    • Fel Rifts: [3 Mana Fel Spell] Casts When Drawn Summon a 3/3 Dread Imp.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 25 Fire spells.

• Magister Unchained
  • 1 mana Spell. Until the end of your turn, after you cast a spell, draw a spell. Allied: Mage.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 50 Frost spells.

• Gift of the Heart
  • 5 mana Spell. Gain 4 empty Mana Crystals. Allied: Druid.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 25 cards with Honorable Kill.

• For the Horde!
  • 1 mana Spell. Start of Game: Draw this. Shuffle 15 Tradeable spells into your deck that Discover a spell from the Horde.
    • Power of the Horde: [0 Mana Spell] Tradeable. Discover a spell from the Horde. (Druid, Mage, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior).
  • Unlock criteria: Play 200 Neutral minions from the Year of the Gryphon.

Vanndar Stormpike has 3 new hero powers you can unlock as you play:

• Promote! [Costs 1]
  • Give a minion +1/+1 and Rush, Poisonous, Taunt, Windfury, Divine Shield, or Stealth.

• Send in the Scout [Costs 2]
  • Summon a 2/2 SI:7 Scout.
    • SI:7 Scout: [1 Mana 2/2 Minion] Deathrattle: Add a random card to your hand (from your opponent’s class).
  • Unlock criteria: Play 40 Deathrattle minions.

• Battle Tactics [Costs 2]
  • Reduce the cost of Neutral minions that cost (4) or more in your hand by (2).
  • Unlock criteria: Play 60 Neutral minions that cost 4 or more.

Vanndar Stormpike also has 6 new signature treasures you can unlock as you play:

• Forge in Light
  • 6 mana Spell. Give all minions in your hand +3/+3 and Divine Shield. Allied: Paladin.

• Spymaster’s Gambit
  • 7 mana Spell. Summon copies of each minion in your hand and give them Stealth. Allied: Rogue.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 20 Tradeable cards.

• Stalker’s Supplies
  • 3 mana Spell. Shuffle each Improved Secret into your deck. Allied: Hunter.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 25 Secrets.

• Rending Ambush
  • 6 mana Spell. Summon the left and right-most minions from your hand. They attack random enemy minions. Allied: Demon Hunter.
  • Unlock criteria: Attack 30 times with your hero.

• Devout Blessings
  • 4 mana Spell. Add a copy of each friendly Deathrattle minion that died this game to your hand. Allied: Priest.
  • Unlock criteria: Play 50 cards with Deathrattle.

• For the Alliance!
  • 1 mana Spell. Start of Game: Draw this. Shuffle 15 Tradeable spells into your deck that Discover a spell from the Alliance.
    • Stand as One: [0 Mana Spell] Tradeable. Discover a spell from the Alliance. (Demon Hunter, Paladin, Hunter, Priest, and Rogue).
  • Unlock criteria: Play 200 Neutral minions from the Year of the Gryphon.

HERO CHANGES

• Removed from the Hero Pool.
• Dev Comment: Diablo has been defeated in Duels, but can a Prime Evil ever be so easily vanquished?! We expect Diablo to return one day, it’s only a question of time, and he may have one more trick for you when he does. . .

• Old: [Costs 0] → New: [Costs 1]

NEW PASSIVE TREASURES

• After you play a Legendary minion, add a random Legendary minion to your hand.

• After you play your first minion each turn, add a 1/1 copy of it to your hand. It costs (1).

• After you cast an Arcane spell, transform a random enemy minion into a 1/1 Sheep.

• After you cast a Holy spell, summon an Ancient Guardian with stats equal to its Cost.

• After you cast your first Fire spell in a turn, add a Fireball to your hand.

• Whenever a Neutral minion dies on your turn, gain 1 Mana Crystal for that turn only.

• After you summon a Dragon, shuffle a Dream Portal into your deck that summons a Dragon when drawn.

• After you cast a spell, refresh your Hero Power.

• At the start of the game, set your Health to 10. You can only take 1 damage at a time.

• Every third spell you cast each turn costs (1).

TREASURE POOL CHANGES

• Fireshaper, Ever-changing Elixir, LOCUUUUSTS!!!, and Conduit of Storms have been removed from their respective treasure pools.
• Bag of Coins was moved from Treasure Pool 1 to Treasure Pool 2.
• Expedited Burial was moved from Treasure Pool 2 to Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.
• Expedited Burial was removed from the Hunter (Professor Slate) Treasure Pool.
• Mantle of Ignition was moved from Treasure Pool 2 to Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.
• Mantle of Ignition was removed from the Priest (Mindrender Illucia) and Warrior (Rattlegore) Treasure Pools.

TREASURE BALANCE CHANGES

• Old: [Costs 5] 6 Attack → New: [Costs 6] 5 Attack

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: Passive: After you play a Dragon, give it Deathrattle: Go Dormant. Revive in three turns. → New: Passive: After you play a Dragon, give it Deathrattle: Go Dormant. Revive in two turns.

Special Tavern Brawl—Tavish vs. Rokara

Edwin VanCleef was defeated in the Deadmines, but agents of Lady Prestor have taken the shards of naaru to Alterac Valley, where Kazakus awaits. The Alliance and the Horde mercenaries face off for the right to retrieve the shards. In this special Tavern Brawl, you play as Tavish or Rokara and select one of your mercenary companions to join you (as your Hero Power). Each combination has unique dialogue interactions that tell more of the Mercenaries story. Try them all when this Tavern Brawl launches on January 26! Your prize for your first win in this Tavern Brawl is a Standard pack, which can include cards from any set in Standard.

Book of Mercenaries—Tavish

The hunter Tavish Stormpike never wanted anything to do with his stuck up, overbearing cousin Vanndar, but fate (and the promise of loot) have brought him back to Alterac Valley. The troll Kazakus plans to restore the shattered naaru and use its power to complete a mysterious ritual. To stop him, Tavish must overcome the Frostwolves, Horde mercenaries, angry troggs, his own family, and food poisoning! Can he stomach it? Find out when Book of Mercenaries Tavish launches on February 1. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Hunter pack, containing on Hunter cards from Standard.

The Lunar New Year Celebration Starts Soon!

[Updated] Hearthstone’s annual Lunar New Year celebration is coming soon, featuring legendary quests, and more! Look for more information about the celebration in the coming weeks. In the meantime, start the celebration early with the Dancing Lion Card Back, available for free in the Shop, starting on January 25!

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Updated more individual card timings to make them match the general timing rules. The most notable update in this pass is that cards with “while damaged” effects will persist through enchantments. For example, a damaged Grommash will now have 7 Attack after a Wave of Apathy, instead of 1. In this pass, Lightborn Cariel (the final reward from the Paladin Questline, Rise to the Occasion) was also updated to now work like similarly worded cards, such as Southsea Captain, when a card like Equality is played (your Silver Hand Recruits would have 3 Health).
• [Updated] Updated Friends List rank and mode display. Your Battlegrounds medal will always be shown while in the Battlegrounds game mode now, and your Hearthstone rank for the selected format will display when in the Hearthstone game mode. While in any other mode, the friends list will display your best rank between these modes, based on a rough calculation of relative rankings.
• [NEW] There was a slight tweak to how Tradeable functions under the hood, which could cause different behavior in certain situations. Tradeable now inserts the card into the deck at a random location, then draws a different card. (Previously, it was put on the bottom of the deck first, then the draw occurred, and then finally a shuffle happened.)
• Fixed a bug where Wildpaw Gnoll would occasionally have its cost increased by cards being added to your hand.
• Fixed a bug where the demons summoned by Kurtrus, Demon-Render would not get upgraded if he attacked a minion with Divine Shield.
• Fixed a bug where Maestra of the Masquerade doubled your Armor when she revealed your true identity.
• Snowfall Guardian no longer gets the stat bonus if Living Dragonbreath prevented it from successfully Freezing any minions.
• Doubling a Flanking Maneuver (like with a Solar Eclipse) will no longer give you two 4/2 Demons per initial 4/2 Demon that dies that turn.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the game to crash after playing Bloodsworn Mercenary.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the game to crash when playing Zephrys the Great.
• Fixed a bug where Pilfered Power was limited to the player having up to 10 mana, even if the player was able to have more.
• Fixed a bug where Consume Magic lost its Shadow spell school.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused players to get stuck on a “Waiting” screen when trying play Battlegrounds as a group.
• Fixed a bug where Scabbs was a bit too stealthy and would not appear in the Battlegrounds Collections display.
• Updated the representation of Mercenary Portraits while opening Mercenary Packs to make it clearer whether you got a new Portrait versus a new Mercenary Card.
• Fixed a bug where the “Maxed Out!” celebration image was uncentered and clipped.
• Fixed a bug where if the “Challenge a Friend” quest was completed in Mercenaries, only the player who had the quest would get credit for its completion.
• Fixed a bug where Antonidas’s Searing Pendant Equipment did not add +1 Cooldown to Fireball Storm.
• Fixed a bug where the Rolling Fireball Ability did not properly calculate modifiers such as Divine Shield, Fire Resistance, Fire Weakness, or Spell Damage.
• Updated the text of Valeera’s Hidden Paths Equipment to match its function.
• Fixed a bug where Cairne’s Endurance Aura would remove Taunt in situations where it wasn’t supposed to be removed (like if it was also granted by a Boon or another effect).
• Fixed a bug where Old Murk-Eye’s Primordial Fin 4 did not grant Giantfin Divine Shield.
• Fixed a bug where Bru’kan’s Chain Lightning would overkill targets that were already dealt lethal damage. Now it will skip targets that are already functionally dead.
• Updated the text of Grommash Hellscream’s Task 12 to match its function.
• Fixed a bug where Grommash Hellscream’s Staggering Slam’s Speed reduction would not be cleared if the target’s next Ability was one that summoned a minion.
• Fixed a bug where cards on the Rewards Track were not appearing in Arena offerings.
• The Collection Manager “missing” search term will now work for non-card cosmetics. This will also work for Mercenaries, Battlegrounds Heroes, and Battlegrounds Bartenders. The functionality will be added for Battlegrounds Boards in a later patch.
• Fixed a bug that blocked players from using the term search function in the Collection Manager while building a Wild deck on mobile.
• Fixed a bug where Steel Guardian Malfurion was missing his Hero Power sound effects.
• Fixed a text issue where the level 70 Rewards Track reward’s text did not match the image or effect.
• Fixed a bug where Alterac Valley collection Achievements did not count Vanndar or Drek’Thar as being owned if they were claimed before Alterac Valley launched.
• Fixed a bug where the Gesundheit achievement was not tracking correctly.
• Fixed a bug where the Third Cousins Twice Removed achievement could not be completed as written.
• Misc. other performance improvements, bug fixes, and visual issues.