Hearthstone

Patch 24.4.3 is a data-only client patch, scheduled for October 13, that includes the following updates and bug fixes:

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: The meta is relatively stable right now, with just a few outliers. Our goal with this patch is to reduce frustration and give weaker decks a bit more breathing room by reducing the overall power level of Hunter.

The one notable outlier that is not getting changed, but which we are keeping a close eye on, is Prince Renathal. He is powerful and popular, but we don’t want this patch to completely shake up the meta, because we have something fun coming in Patch 24.6 and we want to see how Renathal performs in the next expansion before making changes to him.

The following cards have been adjusted down in power:

Theotar, the Mad Duke

• Old: Costs 4
• New: Costs 5

Dev Comment: Theotar is a defining card in the current meta. He plays an important role in giving players agency against powerful late-game plays, but he can also be very frustrating to lose to. We don’t want him to be one of the most popular cards in the next expansion, and our goal with this change is to lower his playrate across all ranks. If his playrate doesn’t drop significantly with this change, we’ll evaluate further changes at the next opportunity.

Stag Spirit Wildseed

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

Bear Spirit Wildseed

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

Harpoon Gun

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

Dev Comment: Hunter has been the most popular and arguably the most powerful class in the game for some time, especially in lower ranks. These changes are meant to address some of the sharper play patterns this class is capable of, while simultaneously lowering the overall class power level.

The above craftable cards, as well as Spirit Poacher, Stag Charge, Wild Spirits, and Ara’lon will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 24.4.3.

Battlegrounds Updates

Dev Comment: This is a smaller update, as we’ve spread our recent changes across the last few hotfix patches. Battlegrounds players should expect a bigger Battlegrounds update with the next major patch, Patch 24.6.

Hero Update

Fungalmancer Flurgl – Gone Fishing

• Old: Passive: After you sell 4 minions, get a random Murloc.
• New: Passive: After you sell 5 minions, get a random Murloc.
• Fungalmancer Flurgl has been moved from Armor Tier 1 (0 Armor) to Armor Tier 4 (4-7 Armor)

Quest Reward Update

The Smoking Gun

• Old: Your minions have +5 Attack.
• New: Your minions have +4 Attack.
• The Smoking Gun is now easier to earn.

Minion Updates

Nether Drake

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 0 Attack, 4 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 1 Attack, 5 Health

Twilight Emissary

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

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Dark Force Malygos was not able to be claimed or equipped.

Patch 24.4, launching on September 27, includes the new Murder at Castle Nathria Mini-Set, a returning Battlegrounds Hero, several Mercenaries updates, and more!

Maw and Disorder Mini-Set Commences on September 27

Sylvanas has been accused and must stand trial before the Jailer! Get all the Accusations, new synergies, and courtroom characters in this Mini-Set of 35 all-new cards to add to your collection. Get them in Murder at Castle Nathria packs, or as a complete 66-card* Mini-Set. Get the Normal version in-game for 1500 Runestones or 2000 Gold, or get the all-Golden version for $69.99 or 7000 Runestones.

* 4 Legendary cards (x1), 1 Epic card (x2), 14 Rare cards (x2), and 16 Common cards (x2)

Battlegrounds Updates

General Updates

• Another Hidden Body has been returned to the Quest Reward pool. Its animation has also been sped up.
• Another Hidden Body has been made more difficult to earn.
• When creating a private lobby, players can now invite friends of their invited friends.

Returning Hero

Sylvanas Windrunner (Armor Tier 1)

• Reclaimed Souls
  • [1 Gold] Give +2/+1 to your minions that died last combat.

This new hero will be available in all lobbies for two weeks after patch launch.

New Cosmetic: Legendary Battlegrounds Boards

Introducing Legendary Battlegrounds Boards! Legendary Boards have six different visuals one for during the recruit phase and one for the combat phase, as well as special modifiers for when you are in the Top 4, when you are on a winstreak, when you are at low Health, and when you land a big hit! Experience the whole range of Legendary animations with the new Murloc Hideaway Legendary Battlegrounds Board, available starting October 11.

Mercenaries Updates

General Updates

• C’Thun can now be earned through all normal methods.
• New Keyword: Charge! Characters with Charge immediately Attack a chosen target when summoned. This is like Rush except that Rush characters Attack a random enemy character when summoned while Charge lets you choose.

New Mercenaries

Murloc Holmes (Legendary Protector)

• Murloc – 13/87 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Hot on the Case 5: (Fire - Speed 9) Gain +5 Attack and Attack an enemy. It takes Critical Damage after it acts next turn.
  • Elementary! 5: (Nature - Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give a friendly character Divine Shield. If they lose it this turn, they gain +5/+10 and Attack the enemies opposite them.
  • And the Killer Is! 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Deal 16 damage to an enemy. Make a prediction for a bonus.
    • First to Arrive 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. If it acted first this turn, deal 16 more and they act last next turn.
    • Last on the Scene 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. If it acts last in combat, deal 10 damage to all enemies.
    • Obviously the Murderer 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. After it destroys two Mercs, it takes 80 damage.
• Equipment:
  • Trusty Sidekick 4: Battlecry: Summon a 12/30 Watfin (Beast) who Attacks enemies who damage your Murloc Holmes.
  • Paid Up Front 4: Battlecry: Gain +4/+4 and this Merc’s Abilities Refresh (1).
  • Suspect Everyone 4: Passive: After an enemy casts a 4, 5, or 6 Speed Ability, deal 8 damage to them.

Ysera (Legendary Fighter)

• Dragon – 8/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Verdant Breath 5: (Nature - Speed 5) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. Restore that much Health to another friendly Dragon.
  • Emerald Dream 5: (Nature - Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Choose a Dream card to cast.
    • Emerald Drake 5: (Dragon) 25/20. Rush.
    • Ysera Awakens 5: (Nature) Deal 20 damage to all enemies and 5 damage to all other friendly characters.
    • Nightmare 5: (Shadow) Give a character +30 Attack, at the end of each turn they take 20 damage.
  • Emerald Oracle 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Choose One:
    • Restore 20 Health to a character. Your Mercs’ abilities are (5) Speed faster this turn.
    • Restore 20 Health to a friendly Merc and return it to the bench.
• Equipment:
  • Ysera’s Vengeance 4: Verdant Breath deals 5 more damage.
  • Dream Infusion 4: Passive: After one of your characters dies, restore 7 Health to your Dragons.
  • Emerald Majesty 4: Ysera Awakens also restores 15 Health to this Merc.

Bwonsamdi (Epic Fighter)

• Troll – 3/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Soul Subjugation 5: (Shadow - Speed 9) Deal 28 damage. Deals 3 less damage for each time this was damaged this turn.
  • Irrefusable Offer 5: (Shadow - Speed 1) Choose one of Bwonsamdi’s Deals. Increase the Cooldown of this ability by 1.
    • Deal of Time: All abilities with initial Speeds of (5) or faster are (5) Speed slower next turn. All others are (5) Speed faster.
    • Deal of Vanity: Gain +5 Health. All enemy abilities this turn target this (if possible).
    • Deal of Fear: This takes no damage this turn. Return all Mercs to the Bench at the end of the turn.
  • Binding Contract 5: (Shadow - Speed 2, Cooldown 2) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. If this Merc dies this turn, deal 90 more.
• Equipment:
  • Arena Contender 4: Battlecry: This Merc’s abilities Refresh (2). Deathrattle: Your abilities Refresh (2).
  • New Client 4: Resurrect one of your Mercs that died this game, with 24 Health remaining.
  • Spirit of the Dead 4: Passive: After one of your characters dies, restore 7 Health to your Trolls.

Korrak the Bloodrager (Legendary Caster)

• Troll – 11/60 Maxed Stats
• Deathrattle: Destroy a random Minion. This Merc returns to life with their Health.
• Abilities:
  • Mounting Anger 5: (Speed 5) Gain +5 Attack this turn and Attack an enemy. (Increases by +3 after use).
  • Eat the Dead 5: (Speed 4) Gain +8 Health. Health gain increases by +8 each time a character dies. Resets after use.
  • Blood Rage 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 2) Distribute 20 damage to random enemies. (Increased by this Merc’s missing Health).
• Equipment:
  • Winterax Strong 4: Mounting Anger increases by an additional +4 Attack after use.
  • Honor Bound 4: Eat the Dead only increases when a friendly character dies, but increases by an extra +12.
  • The Everliving 4: Blood Rage gains: “Deathblow: Restore 20 Health.”

Archimonde (Epic Caster)

• Demon – 10/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Finger of Death 5: (Fel - Speed 4) Deal 12 damage. Gain +3 Fel Damage.
  • Rain of Chaos 5: (Fel - Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 18 to all enemies. Your Fel abilities are (3) Speed faster next turn.
  • Doomfire 5: (Fel - Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give all enemies +5 Fel Weakness this turn. Deal 10 damage to them after they act.
• Equipment:
  • Edict of Argus 4: Doomfire’s Fel Weakness is permanent.
  • Archimonde’s Gold Coin 4: After a Demon dies, restore 10 Health to all friendly Demons.
  • The Infernal Codex 4: Finger of Death gains “Deathblow: Gain +4 Fel Damage.”

Prince Malchezaar (Rare Protector)

• Demon – 12/79 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Party Crasher 5: (Speed 3) Attack an enemy. If it is a Protector, it takes 10 more damage this turn.
  • Check Your Weapons 5: (Fel - Speed 5) Deal 18 damage to the highest Attack enemy. If it is a Fighter, its Attack is permanently halved, rounded up.
  • All Realities 5: (Shadow - Speed 3, Cooldown 2) Deal 25 damage to the next enemy who acts this turn. If it’s a Caster, set its remaining Health to 5, instead.
• Equipment:
  • Flying Axes 4: Passive: +15 Health. Battlecry: Change a random enemy Merc’s Role to Protector.
  • Parrying Blade 4: Battlecry: Permanently reduce enemy Protectors’ and Casters’ Attack by 10.
  • Three Moves Ahead 4: Passive: Enemy Casters’ Abilities are (2) Speed slower.

Neeru Fireblade (Rare Caster)

• Orc – 9/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Command Demon 5: (Fel - Speed 5) Summon a Wild Imp 5. Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Your Imps will target it this turn, if able.
    • Wild Imp 5: (Demon) 5/15. At the end of the turn, deal 12 Fel damage to a random enemy.
  • Burning Blade Portal 5: (Fel - Speed 5, Cooldown 2) At the end of your turn, fill your board with Wild Imps 5.
  • Imp-losion 5: (Fel - Speed 6, Cooldown 2) Destroy a friendly Imp. Deal 10 damage plus its Attack and Health to a random enemy 3 times.
• Equipment:
  • Jumbo Imps 4: Wild Imp has +15 Health.
  • Combustible Imps 4: Wild Imp has “Deathrattle: Deal 12 Fel damage to a random enemy.”
  • Demon Armor 4: Passive: Your Demons have “Immune while Attacking.”

Nemsy Necrofizzle (Rare Caster)

• Gnome – 9/70 Maxed Stats
• Battlecry: Summon a 10/25 Boggy Elemental with Taunt.
• Abilities:
  • Boggy Blast 5: (Nature - Speed 7) Deal 15 damage. Summon a 10/25 Boggy with Taunt. If you already have Boggy, give it +15 Health instead.
  • Erupting Fungus 5: (Nature - Speed 4) Choose a friendly character. After it survives damage this turn, it deals 18 damage to a random enemy.
  • Bogonomics 5: (Nature - Speed 3) Give a friendly character +5/+10 and Taunt. If you have Boggy, give it +5/+5.
• Equipment:
  • Bog Moss 4: Boggy gains “Adjacent characters take 7 less damage.”
  • Fishing Lure 4: Boggy gains +10 Health and “After this is attacked, Attack a random enemy.”
  • “Fresh” Peaches 4: Boggy gains “At the end of the turn, give your Taunt characters +12 Health.”

Garona Halforcen (Rare Fighter)

• Half-Orc – 10/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Smoke and Knives 5: (Shadow - Speed 8) Attack an enemy and deal 20 damage to an adjacent one. If this isn’t already a Fighter, become one and deal 26 instead.
  • Shimmering Toxin 5: (Nature – Speed 1) Gain +10 Attack. Take 12 less damage this turn. Become a Protector. (Starts off Cooldown)
  • One and the Same 5: (Cooldown 1) Discover a Lineage Ability. Combo: Become a Caster first.
    • Dev comment: When Abilities Discover an Ability, that includes the Discovered Ability’s Speed. A “Lineage Ability” is a selection from several classic Orc Abilities.
• Equipment:
  • Shadowstep 4: End of Turn: If you control another Merc, gain +4/+5 and return to the bench.
  • Halforcen Legacy 4: Battlecry: If you control another Orc, gain +3/+10. Repeat for Dranei and Human.
  • Knife of Indecision 4: Battlecry: Gain +15 Health and become Neutral.

Khadgar (Epic Caster)

• Human – 10/82 Maxed Stats
• At the end of the turn, if all three of your basic Abilities are upgraded, transform into Archmage Khadgar.
• Abilities:
  • Arcane Surge 5: (Arcane - Speed 6) Deal 16 damage. Upgrade Blizzard to Root all enemies.
  • Blizzard 5: (Frost - Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Deal 14 damage. Upgrade Hearthfire to grant +5 Attack.
  • Hearthfire 5: (Fire - Speed 2) Give your characters +12 Health. Upgrade Arcane Surge to be (2) Speed.
• Equipment:
  • Bakin’ Bacon 4: Start of Game: Upgrade Hearthfire. Khadgar gains +8 Health.
  • Bitter Chill 4: Start of Game: Upgrade Blizzard and it Refreshes (1).
  • Boon of Atiesh 4: Archmage Khadgar has an extra +3 Fire, Frost, and Arcane Damage.

Archmage Khadgar (Transformed Form)

• Human – 10/82 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Prismatic Bolt 5: (Speed 2) Deal 16 damage. Gain +1 Fire, Frost, and Arcane Damage.
  • Archmage Nova 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Cast all of Khadgar’s upgraded abilities.
  • Triune Supremacy 5: Discover one of Khadgar’s upgraded abilities.

Medivh (Legendary Protector)

• Human – 11/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Arcane Rift 5: (Arcane - Speed 5) Deal 12 damage. Your next Arcane ability this turn deals Critical Damage.
  • Mage Guard 5: (Arcane - Speed 3) Give a friendly character +15 Health and Taunt this turn. After it is Attacked this turn, it gains +3 Arcane Damage.
  • Summon Raven Familiar 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Summon a Raven Familiar with “Spell Resistance +10” and the “Birds of a Feather 5” Ability.
    • Raven Familiar: (Beast) 10/20. Spell Resistance +10.
      • Birds of a Feather 5: (Arcane - Speed 6) Deal 8 damage. (Increases by 5 when you use another Arcane ability.)
• Equipment:
  • Unstable Rune 4: Battlecry: Summon a 0/10 Arcane Ward with “Counter the first Ability used each turn.”
  • Medivh’s Locket 4: After you summon a minion, give it +4 Arcane Damage.
  • Staff of Atiesh 4: Start of Game: Give friendly Casters +5/+10.

Tess Greymane (Rare Protector)

• Human – 16/92 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Yoink! 5: (Shadow - Speed 4) Deal 15 damage. Transform into a one-time copy of the ability the target cast this turn. (if possible)
  • Moonlight Resolve! 5: (Arcane - Speed 3) Restore 25 Health. Transform into a one-time copy of the last enemy ability cast this turn. (if possible)
  • Princess Power! 5: (Cooldown 1) Discover an enemy ability. Cast 12 unique abilities this game to transform into What I’m Capable Of!
    • What I’m Capable Of!: Cast 5 random abilities you’ve cast this game at an enemy. (if possible)
• Equipment:
  • Cloak of Shadows 4: Yoink! And Moonlight Resolve! Transform permanently. Their initial effects are improved by 6.
  • Steadfast Convictions 4: Passive: +4/+8. After this deals damage to a Merc, gain Role advantage.
  • Tools of the Trade 4: Start of Game: Transform Yoink! and Moonlight Resolve! Into random single use enemy abilities. Gain +15 Health.

Genn Greymane (Epic Protector)

• Human – 12/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Blistering Bullet 5: (Fire - Speed 2) Deal 12 damage. Transform into a Worgen.
  • Spacemaker 5: (Fire - Speed 6) Deal 18 damage. Gain +3 Attack.
  • Beastly Beauty 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) 15/20 Human. Taunt. Battlecry: Give your other Humans and Worgen +4/+6.
• Equipment:
  • Blood Moon 4: Battlecry: Gain +7 Attack. Transform into Genn’s Other Form.
  • Smooth Transformation 4: End of Turn: Transform into Genn’s Other Form and gain +8 Health.
  • Gilnean Strength 4: After one of your characters casts an even-Speed ability, restore 10 Health to them.

Genn Greymane (Worgen Form) (Fighter)

• Worgen – 12/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Moonlight Strike 5: Deal damage equal to this Merc’s attack. Transform into a Human.
  • Ankle Breaker 5: Attack an enemy. It’s (5) Speed slower while this is a Human.
  • Beautiful Beast 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) 20/15 Worgen. Charge. Battlecry: Give your other Humans and Worgen +6/+4.

Aranna Starseeker (Rare Caster)

• Night Elf – 9/81 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Edge Cancel 5: (Speed 6) Gain +7 Attack this turn and Attack an enemy. If it has less Attack, return this to the bench.
  • Felodic Intonement 5: (Fel - Speed 9) Deal 22 damage to an enemy. Set its Attack to 0 until next turn.
  • Aggrobatics 5: (Fel - Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to an enemy and swap with an ally across from it. Enemy abilities targeting the Mercs swap targets (if possible).
• Equipment:
  • Unbreakable Backpack 4: Battlecry: Gain +2 Fel, Arcane, and Nature Damage. Gain +1 more for each of your other Night Elves and Demons.
  • Iambic Pentameter 4: Passive: Enemies across from this have -8 Attack.
  • Glaive Land 4: Battlecry: Gain +5 Health and Role advantage against this Merc’s current Role.

Merc Updates

Some existing mercs have been updated to incorporate the new Charge mechanic.

N’Zoth

• Spawn of N’Zoth 5
  • Old: Rush. Immune while Attacking.
  • New: Charge. Immune while Attacking.

Zar’jira, the Sea Witch

• Wavethrasher 5
  • Old: Rush. Passive: Has +10 Attack for each Frozen character.
  • New: Charge. Passive: Has +10 Attack for each Frozen character.

C’Thun

• Tentacle of C’Thun 5
  • Old: Rush. Whenever this attacks, give your C’Thun +5 Attack and Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1).
  • New: Charge. Whenever this attacks, give your C’Thun +5 Attack and Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1).
• Heart of C’Thun 4
  • Old: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun. It gains Taunt but loses Rush.
  • New: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun. It gains Taunt but loses Charge.

Warmaster Voone

• Evasive Wurm 5
  • Old: Divine Shield, Rush.
  • New: Divine Shield, Charge.

King Krush

• Devilsaur 5
  • Old: Rush.
  • New: Charge.

Old Murk-Eye

• Gigantfin
  • Old: Rush.
  • New: Charge.

New Zone and Bounties

We are welcoming the Darkmoon Troupe to Mercenaries in a brand-new Zone, spanning 11 new Bounties. We are also adding five new Bounties to the Felwood Zone, and 3 more new Bounties to the Blackrock Mountain Zone.

Duels Updates

• Maw and Disorder Mini-Set cards can now be used in building a starting deck.
• Card buckets were added and adjusted to incorporate Maw and Disorder Mini-Set cards.
• Sire Denathrius has been removed from all card buckets.

Arena Updates

On September 27, when Maw and Disorder 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
• Blackrock Mountain
• Kobolds & Catacombs
• Ashes of Outland
• Journey to Un'goro
• Rise of Shadows
• Murder at Castle Nathria (including Maw and Disorder Mini-Set)

Early Progression and Milestone Offer Updates

Apprentice (new player ranks) and low internal-rating players (colloquially called “MMR”) may now face up against AI opponents when playing on the ranked Standard ladder. This will help said players have a more fun experience while learning the game. Experienced players will not face these AI opponents, and they will have no impact on MMR, leaderboards, or legend ranks. Most players advance beyond the affected MMR range upon leaving Silver or Gold ranks.

Additionally, milestone shop offers are returning to celebrate Standard ladder progression in October. This time, some players will be offered Battle-Ready Decks as part of those offers. Upon reaching Bronze, those players will be offered a Battle-Ready Deck for their most-played class. Upon reaching Platinum, they will be offered a second Battle-Ready Deck for their second most-played class.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Necrolord Draka’s Maldraxxus Dagger now caps out at 10 mana.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where players could not play minions onto a full board, even if space was being cleared, until after animations and effects resolved.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where playing Gone Fishin’ with an empty deck did not draw a fatigue card.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where The Leviathan would sometimes summon a blank space instead of its appendage.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Deathborne did not summon a Volatile Skeleton if the minion went Dormant when killed.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Bibliomite revealed the card returned to its owner’s deck.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where if a card selected by a “Suspicious” card was transformed, opponents would be offered the new transformed card instead of the original card chosen.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug that resulted in a Flightmaster Dungar copied from an opponent getting extra effect activations.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where if the last minion to die was a Golden Summoned minion, Victim’s Specter would give a copy of that minion that granted a triple reward.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Reborn Rites persisted for an extra turn if the target was tripled by Victim’s Specter.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug that in certain edge cases could prevent minions from properly tripling.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a visual bug where Battlegrounds Rating did not appear correctly on mobile.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Training Session did not function properly with Sire Denathrius.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where the notification would not show when new Battlegrounds rewards were able to be claimed on the Battlegrounds Track.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where players were sometimes unable to edit their Party on mobile.
• [Solo Content] Fixed a bug that prevented players from entering certain solo content if they owned some portion of the solo content, but not all of it.
• [Achievements] Fixed a bug in tracking the Flower Power achievement.
• [Achievements] Fixed a bug causing the Journal notification to persist even if there were no notifications to clear.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 24.2.2, a hotfix patch scheduled for September 9, includes the following updates and bug fixes.

Standard Card Updates

Dev Comment: Our top priority this patch was to make the meta feel more stable and more diverse. For that reason, we focused primarily on making a moderate number of high-confidence changes this patch. We expect there will still be room for adjustment after this patch settles in, but we’d like to take the opportunity to see where these changes land before making further changes.

The following cards have been adjusted down in power:

Wildheart Guff

• Old: Battlecry and Hero Power granted full mana crystals.
• New: Battlecry and Hero Power grant empty mana crystals.

• Dev Comment: Ramp Druid is one of the most powerful and influential decks in the game this patch. Guff was the clear power outlier for the deck, so a change to Guff was the highest confidence change we could make. We still expect Guff to be a playable card, with an important role in these strategies, but we hope that this change will make it feel like there is more of a cost to ramping than there was previously.

Edwin, Defias Kingpin

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

• Dev Comment: There’s been a lot of attention on Edwin ever since he was buffed in the last patch—and rightfully so! Since his buff, he has been one of the most highly played and winningest cards in the game, which made him an obvious candidate for a high confidence adjustment to Rogue. When we made the initial buff, Rogue looked like it needed some help, but now that these lists have been more refined, we think Rogue will remain a player in the meta even with Edwin back at 4.

Arcane Burst (Magister Dawngrasp’s Hero Power)

• Old: Deal 2 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +2 damage.
• New: Deal 2 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +1 damage.

Nightcloak Sanctum

• Old: 3 Durability
• New: 2 Durability

• Dev Comment: Along with Druid and Rogue, Mage has been one of the most dominant classes since the last patch. Nightcloak Sanctum has been a clear outlier in the mid-stages of the game, and the scaling threat of Magister Dawngrasp’s hero power has been the dominant in the end game. These two standout cards were the most obvious targets for tuning down the deck’s power level, and should also make the class less frustrating to play against in the mid- and late game.

Defend the Dwarven District (the first stage of the Hunter Questline)

• Old: Deal damage with 2 spells.
• New: Deal damage with 3 spells.

• Dev Comment: Quest Hunter is a frustrating deck to play against and was poised to be a powerful meta contender after the changes to the other classes. This change is both to address the deck’s current state and anticipated relative power level after this patch.

Kael’thas Sinstrider

• Old: [Costs 6]
• New: [Costs 8]

• Dev Comment: Kael’thas, Brann, and Denathrius have appeared together as a package in a variety of decks. To address the specific interaction between these three cards, we felt the best solution was to add 2 more cost to the Brann-Kael’thas combo so that they can’t be played with 10 mana. We preferred to change Kael’thas over Brann because Kael’thas is being used primarily for things like this combo while Brann has other interesting use cases, too.

Smothering Starfish

• Old: [Costs 3]
• New: [Costs 4]

• Dev Comment: Smothering Starfish was living up to its name a bit too much. The goal for this card was for it to be a strong tech card, but the cost to include it in your deck was low enough that it was acting more like a staple than a tech card. While responding to specific meta forces, Starfish was also unintentionally snuffing out a variety of underrepresented decks. We think this adjustment will still allow Starfish to be used as a powerful tech option, but will make it less generically ubiquitous.

The above cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 24.2.2.

The following cards have been adjusted up in power:

School Teacher

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

• Dev Comment: When we initially changed School Teacher, it was the most played card in the game. We’re partially reverting the balance change in order to make the card feel a bit better to include in decks, while still acknowledging that its power level at launch was a bit higher than we would have liked it to be.

Alliance Bannerman

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

• Dev Comment: When we buff cards in underperforming classes, we rarely do it with the goal of immediately shooting the class to a 50% plus winrate. Our goal is to make the game more fun, something we can accomplish by bringing the class up to a level where players feel like there is something worth exploring. With the focus on high confidence changes in this patch, the change we were most confident we could give Paladin was something we’ve seen before—a reversion to a previous balance change.

Battlegrounds Updates

Armor Tier Changes

• Al’Akir, Alexstrasza, Murloc Holmes, and Patchwerk are now Armor Tier 1.
• Death Speaker Blackthorn, George the Fallen, Ini Stormcoil, Silas Darkmoon, Tamsin Roame, Vol’jin, and Xyrella are now Armor Tier 2.
• Ambassador Faelin, Cariel Roame, Deathwing, Elise Starseeker, Heistbaron Togwaggle, Lord Barov, Jandice Barov, Maiev Shadowsong, Malygos, Nozdormu, Patches the Pirate, Reno Jackson, Shudderwock, Sir Finley Mrrgglton, Sneed, and Zephrys the Great are now Armor Tier 3.
• Dancin’ Deryl, Dinotamer Brann, Queen Azshara, Ragnaros the Firelord, and Y’Shaarj are now Armor Tier 4.
• A.F. Kay, Chenvaala, Galakrond, Greybough, Illidan Stormraige, Infinite Toki, Mr. Bigglesworth, Rakanishu, Skycap’n Kragg, Tess Greymane, and The Curator are now Armor Tier 5.
• Captain Eudora is now Armor Tier 6.
• C’Thun and Tavish Stormpike are now Armor Tier 7.

Hero Changes

Toggwaggle – Perfect Crime

• Old: 9 Gold
• New: 10 Gold

Minion Changes

Nether Drake

• Old: 5 Health
• New: 4 Health

Legion Overseer

• Old: Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +2/+2.
• New: Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +2/+1.

Amber Guardian

• Old: Start of Combat: Give another friendly Dragon +3/+3 and Divine Shield.
• New: Start of Combat: Give another friendly Dragon +2/+2 and Divine Shield.

Lava Lurker

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

Party Elemental

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

Yo-Ho-Ogre

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

Quest and Quest Reward Changes

As a reminder, Quests and Quest Rewards in Battlegrounds are not static. Quests have baseline values that are adjusted game-by-game, based on several factors, including the value of the Reward they are paired with.

Quest baseline adjustments:

Track the Footprints

• Old: Have Bob’s Tavern Refreshed 10 times.
• New: Have Bob’s Tavern Refreshed 9 times.

Follow the Money

• Old: Spend 30 Gold.
• New: Spend 33 Gold.

Reenact the Murder

• Old: Have 18 friendly minions die.
• New: Have 19 friendly minions die.

Reward text adjustments:

Tiny Henchman

• Old: At the end of your turn, give +2/+2 to 3 friendly minions of Tier 3 or lower.
• New: At the end of your turn, give +3/+3 to 3 friendly minions of Tier 3 or lower.

Alter Ego

• Old: Even Tier minions in Bob’s Tavern have +6/+6. (Swaps to Odd next turn!)
• New: Even Tier minions in Bob’s Tavern have +7/+7. (Swaps to Odd next turn!)

Staff of Origination

• Old: Start of Combat: Give your minions +15/+15.
• New: Start of Combat: Give your minions +12/+12.

Reward difficulty adjustments:

• Teal Tiger Sapphire, Snicker Snacks, and Red Hand were made generally easier to earn.
• The Smoking Gun, Mirror Shield, and Stolen Gold were made generally harder to earn.

Duels Updates

Hero Power Updates

No Guts, No Glory

• Old: 1 Mana
• New: 2 Mana

War Commands

• Old: 2 Mana
• New: 3 Mana

Dino Tracking

• Old: Passive Hero Power. At the start of your turn, Discover which card you draw.
• New: [2 Mana] Discover a card from your deck.

Frost Shards

• Old: 1 Mana
• New: 2 Mana

Signature Treasure Changes

Gift of the Heart

• Old: [5 Mana] Gain 4 empty mana crystals. Allied: Druid.
• New: [6 Mana] Gain 3 empty mana crystals. Allied: Druid.

Traktamer Aelessa

• Old: 2 Mana
• New: 3 Mana

Magister Unchained

• Old: 2 Mana
• New: 3 Mana

Sr. Excavator

• Old: Draw 3 cards. Any minions you draw cost (4) less.
• New: Draw 2 cards. Any minions you draw cost (2) less.

Shadow Word: Void

• Old: 4 Mana
• New: 5 Mana

Elemental Chaos

• Old: 6 Mana
• New: 8 Mana

Green Tortollan Shell

• Old: 1 Mana
• New: 2 Mana

Safe Harbor

• Old: 2 Mana
• New: 5 Mana

Scales of Justice

• Old: 6 Mana
• New: 8 Mana

Warden’s Insight

• Old: 3 Mana
• New: 4 Mana

Marvelous Mycelium

• Old: Discover a Choose One card. It has both effects combined. Shuffle this card into your deck.
• New: Discover a Choose One card, then shuffle it into your deck. It has both effects combined. Repeat 3 times.

Passive Treasure Changes

Arctic Armor

• Old: Whenever you Freeze an enemy, gain 1 Armor.
• New: After the first time you Freeze an enemy each turn, gain 1 Armor.

Forgotten Depths

• Old: At the start of game, put 3 Colossal minions on the bottom of your deck. They cost (3) less.
• New: At the start of the game, put 2 Colossal minions on the bottom of your deck. They cost (3) less.

Wither the Weak

• Old: After you cast a Fel spell, deal 2 damage to the lowest-Health enemy.
• New: After you cast a Fel spell, deal 1 damage to the lowest-Health enemy.

Potion of Sparking

• Old: After a friendly Rush minion attacks an enemy minion, deal 1 damage to adjacent enemy minions.
• New: After a friendly Rush minion attacks an enemy minion, deal 1 damage to a random adjacent enemy minion.

Freeze Solid

• Old: Whenever damage is dealt to a Frozen enemy, double it.
• New: Whenever damage is dealt to a Frozen enemy, deal 1 more.

Glacial Downpour

• Old: At the end of your turn, summon a 3/6 Water Elemental if you’ve cast a Frost spell this turn.
• New: At the end of your turn, summon a 2/1 Ice Shard if you’ve cast a Frost spell this turn.

Special Delivery

• Old: After you play a Rush minion, summon a copy with 1 Health.
• New: After you play your first Rush minion in a turn, summon a copy with 1 Health.

Cookie’s Ladle

• Moved from Pool 1 to Pool 2.

Oops, All Spells!

• Removed from all Passive treasure pools.

Party Replacement

• Removed from all Passive treasure pools.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Battlegrounds] Added a cap to the Sort It All Out and Unmask the Culprits Quests, limiting the top-end requirements needed in order to complete the Quest.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Lich Baz’hial’s Hero Power could not be used if your hand was full.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Kael’thas’s Verdant Spheres would not give a buff if the minion was Magnetized.

Patch 24.2, launching on August 30, starts Battlegrounds Season 2! It also brings with it Mercenaries updates, bug fixes, and more.

Battlegrounds Season 2 is Here!

New Battlegrounds Track, Season Pass, and Battlegrounds Missions

On August 30, Battlegrounds Ratings will reset, and the new season of Battlegrounds will begin. With the new season, Battlegrounds will now have its own Battlegrounds Track, featuring Battlegrounds-specific Rewards you can earn as you play! This Season, the Rewards feature the anime-inspired “Magic of Azeroth” theme.

The Battlegrounds Track features tons of free Battlegrounds rewards, but you can purchase the Season Pass to immediately unlock +2 Hero Choices and the ability to earn even more rewards throughout the season. The Season Pass can be purchased in-game with Runestones, Hearthstone’s new virtual currency. Runestones can be purchased through both the in-game shop and the Battlenet web shop, once Patch 24.2 goes live. During the transition period for this first season, the Season Pass can also be purchased with money directly, either in-game or through the Battlenet web shop.

Earn your Rewards even faster by completing new Battlegrounds Missions. Battlegrounds Missions are like Battlegrounds-specific Weekly Quests that grant a lot more Battlegrounds XP. These will be offered in addition to the normal Hearthstone Daily and Weekly Quests that all players will continue to get. You get three Battlegrounds Missions per week. They can be re-rolled and they are automatically banked until the end of the Season if you don’t complete them right away.

You can learn more about the Battlegrounds Track, the Season Pass, Runestones, and Battlegrounds Missions, including everything that’s including in the Battlegrounds Track and Season Pass, in the Season 2 Announcement Blog.

New Gameplay Mechanic: Quests

Season 2 will also introduce a new game mechanic to Battlegrounds: Quests! Like the traditional Hearthstone Quests and Questlines, Battlegrounds Quests require you to meet a particular condition in order to earn a reward that will empower you for the rest of the game.

In Battlegrounds, Quests have their own unique twist. Instead of starting the game with your Quest, your Quest options will appear on turn 4 (the 6 Gold turn). And instead of getting the same Quest and Quest Reward every game, you pick them from three options at that time. You are choosing both your Quest and the Reward for completing it as a pair, so choose carefully! Once you complete your quest, you automatically receive your Reward.

There are about 13 different Quest options and 24 different Reward options that are available in any given game (certain Quests and Rewards are blocked from particular lobbies or Heroes to prevent unwanted synergies).

The Quest options represent the baseline requirements you will need to complete in order to receive your Reward (subject to some adjustments, discussed below):

• Invite the Guests: Buy 7 minions.
• Dust for Prints: Add 15 cards to your hand.
• Cry for Help: Play 6 Battlecry minions.
• Witness Protection: Have a friendly Taunt minion be attacked 8 times.
• Exhume the Bones: Trigger 6 friendly Deathrattles.
• Track the Footprints: Have Bob’s Tavern Refresh 10 times.
• Assemble a Lineup: Summon 14 minions.
• Unmask the Culprit: Lose or tie 3 combats.
• Find the Murder Weapon: Increase a minion’s stats 15 times.
• Reenact the Murder: Have 18 friendly minions die.
• Sort It All Out: Order your minions from lowest to highest Attack for 4 combats.
• Follow the Money: Spend 25 Gold.
• Unlikely Duo: Play 5 minions from a minion type or another minion type.*
  * In-game, this will choose two minion types that are legal for that game and list them. For example, “Play 5 Beasts or Demons.”

These are the types of Rewards you can earn for completing your Quests:

• Snicker Snacks: At the end of your turn, 2 friendly minions trigger their Battlecries.
• Stolen Gold: Start of Combat: Make your left and right-most minions Golden.
• Evil Twin: Start of Combat: Summon a copy of your highest-Health minion.
• Ritual Dagger: After a friendly Deathrattle minion dies, give it +4/+4 permanently.
• Anima Bribe: After you sell a minion, give its stats to a minion in Bob’s Tavern.
• Devils in the Details: End of Turn: Your left and right-most minions consume a minion in Bob’s Tavern.
• The Smoking Gun: Your minions have +5 Attack.
• Cooked Book: After you buy a minion, give it +1/+1 and upgrade this.
• Mirror Shield: After each Refresh, give a minion in Bob’s Tavern +4/+4 and Divine Shield.
• Secret Sinstone: After you Discover a card, get an extra copy of it.
• Ghastly Mask: Add ‘[a random “end of turn minion”]’ to your hand. Your end of turn effects trigger twice.
• Theotar’s Parasol: At the end of your turn, give your right-most minion Stealth until next turn and +8 Health.
• Teal Tiger Sapphire: Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1 for each time it was Refreshed this turn.
• Red Hand: At the start of your turn, give a minion in your hand +12/+12.
• Victim’s Specter: After each combat, get a plain copy of the last friendly minion that died.
• Hidden Body: Discover a minion of your Tavern Tier. (Can be earned endlessly!)
• Tiny Henchman: At the end of your turn, give +2/+2 to 3 friendly minions of Tier 3 or below.
• Yogg-tastic Tasties: At the start of your turn, spin the Wheel of Yogg-Saron.
• Wondrous Wisdomball: Occasionally gives helpful Refreshes.
• Staff of Origination: Start of Combat: Give your minions +15/+15.
• Alter Ego: Even Tier minions in Bob’s Tavern have +6/+6 (Swaps to Odd next turn!)
• The Friends Along the Way: At the start of your turn, get 2 random [random minion type].
• Pilfered Lamps: You only need 2 copies of a minion to make it Golden.
• Menagerie Mayham: At the end of your turn, give your minions +1 Attack for each friendly minion type.

The Quests and Rewards are randomly paired together. The numbers in these Quests vary based on which Reward they are paired with, based on how juicy the Reward is. The less powerful Rewards will make your Quest easier to complete and the more powerful Rewards will make the Quest harder to complete. There are also small adjustments based on your hero’s Armor Tier (slightly harder for heroes with less Armor, slightly easier for heroes with more Armor).

Battlegrounds Quests will last until the end of Season 2. You can learn more about Battlegrounds Quests and Quest Rewards in the Battlegrounds Quests Mechanic blog.

General Updates

• Turn 4 (the 6 Gold turn) will have its turn time slightly extended to account for the new Quest mechanic.
• Players can now exceed 10 Gold when selling minions or otherwise gaining Gold during the shop phase. The start-of-turn maximum is still 10 Gold.
• Battlegrounds-exclusive Weekly Quests (like “Finish Top 4 in Battlegrounds”) have been removed from the general Weekly Quests rotation and converted into Battlegrounds Missions. Other Daily and Weekly Quests that can be completed across Modes can still be completed in Battlegrounds or other Modes.
• Celebrate Season 2 with a chain of three Legendary Quests that award new Battlegrounds cosmetics.

New Heroes

Murloc Holmes (Armor Tier 2)

• Detective For Hire
  • [0 Gold] Look at 2 minions. Guess which one your next opponent had last combat for a Coin.

Sire Denathrius (Armor Tier 1)

• Whodunnit
  • Passive. At the start of the game, choose one of two Quests.
  • Dev Comment: This is in addition to the Quest that all players automatically get. Sire Denathrius can have two Quests at once.

These two new heroes will be offered in every lobby for the first two weeks following the patch.

Hero Updates

Rakinishu (Tavern Lightning)

• Old: [2 Gold] Give a friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier. → New: [1 Gold] Give a minion stats equal to its Tavern Tier.
• Moved to Armor Tier 3.

Patchwerk (All Patched Up)

• Old: Passive. Start with 55 Health instead of 40. → New: Passive. Start with 60 Health instead of 40.
• Moved to Armor Tier 2.

Vanndarr Stormpike (Lead the Stormpikes)

• Redesigned: Passive. Avenge (2): Give your minions +1 Health permanently.
• Moved to Armor Tier 1.

Drek’Thar (Lead the Frostwolves)

• Redesigned: Passive. Avenge (3): Give your minions +1 Attack permanently.
• Moved to Armor Tier 2.

Aranna Starseeker (Spectral Sight)

• Bob’s Tavern will now always replenish to 7 minions, such as after buying a minion.

Fungalmancer Flurgl (Gone Fishing)

• Redesigned: Passive. After you sell 4 minions, get a random Murloc.
• Moved to Armor Tier 2.

Skycap’n Kragg (Piggy Bank)

• No text change, but the piggy bank can now store over 10 Gold.

Galewing

• (Westfall) Old: Passive. In 1 turn, give your left-most minion +2 Attack. → New: Passive. In 1 turn, give your left-most minion +2/+1.
• (Eastern Plaguelands) Old: Passive. In 5 turns, your next Tavern Tier upgrade costs (5) less. → New: Passive. In 5 turns, your next Tavern Tier upgrade costs (6) less.

New Minions

Picky Eater [Tavern Tier 1, Demon]

• 1 Attack, 1 Health. Battlecry: Consume a random minion in Bob’s Tavern to gain its stats.

Mind Muck [Tavern Tier 2, Demon]

• 3 Attack, 2 Health. Battlecry: Choose a friendly Demon. It consumes a minion in Bob’s Tavern to gain its stats.
• Dev Comment: The consumed minion is randomly chosen.

Piggyback Imp [Tavern Tier 2, Demon]

• 4 Attack, 1 Health. Deathrattle: Summon a 4/1 Imp.

Nether Drake [Tavern Tier 2, Dragon]

• 0 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, give your Dragons +1 Attack.

Amber Guardian [Tavern Tier 3, Dragon]

• 3 Attack, 2 Health. Start of Combat: Give another friendly Dragon +3/+3 and Divine Shield.

Legion Overseer [Tavern Tier 3, Demon]

• 4 Attack, 4 Health. Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +2/+2.

First Mate Pip [Tavern Tier 3, Pirate]

• 5 Attack, 4 Health. You only need 2 of these to make a Golden copy.

Treasure-Seeker Elise [Tier 4]

• 5 Attack, 5 Health. After you Refresh 5 times, find the Golden Monkey.
  • Golden Monkey [Tavern Tier 1] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt.
  • Dev Comment: When the Golden Monkey is “found,” it appears in Bob’s Tavern. The Golden Monkey is always Golden and gives you a Triple reward when played.

Rendle the Mistermind [Tavern Tier 4]

• 4 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, steal the highest Tier minion from Bob’s Tavern.

Tortollan Blue Shell [Tavern Tier 5]

• 4 Attack, 7 Health. If you lost your last combat, this minion sells for 5 Gold.

Tea Master Theotar [Tavern Tier 6]

• 6 Attack, 6 Health. After you play a minion with no minion type, give 3 friendly minions of different types +2/+2.

Minion Updates

• Toxfin is returned to the minion pool.
• Kooky Chemist, Steward of Time, Bublette, Silverback Patriarch, Icky Imp, Nathrezim Overseer, Soul Devourer, Briny Bootlegger, Shifter Zerus, Cobalt Scalebane, Witchwing Nestmatron, Mythrax the Unraveler, and SI:Sefin have all been removed from the minion pool.
• Impulsive Trickster
  • Old: [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health
• Imprisoner
  • Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health
• Drakonid Enforcer
  • Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 7 Health

Mercenaries Updates

General Updates

• Murky and its portraits can now be obtained through all normal methods.

Merc Updates

King Krush

• Apex Predator 5
  • Old: Attack the lowest Health enemy minion. Deathblow: Repeat this. → New: Attack the lowest Health enemy minion. Deathblow: Gain +5 Health and repeat this.
  • In addition to this effect change, the Ability will now be Speed 5 at all levels.

Cariel Roame

• Crusader’s Blow is now Holy.

Deathwing

• Claws of Terror 5
  • Old: Attack an enemy. If it was damaged this turn, deal 8 damage to them. → New: Attack an enemy. If it was damaged this turn, deal 8 damage to it and its neighbors.
• Heart of Unliving 4
  • Old: Claws of Terror deals 5 more damage and affects adjacent enemies. → New: Claws of Terror deals 5 more damage.

Yrel

• Maxed Health
  • Old: 76 → New: 88
• Radiant Light
  • Old: Speed 4 → New: Speed 2

Blink Fox

• Maxed Stats
  • Old: 11/84 → New: 14/92
• Arcane Fling 5
  • Old: Deal 13 damage to an enemy. If it has not acted yet, deal 18 instead. → New: Deal 17 damage to an enemy. If it has not acted yet, deal 22 instead.

Rexxar

• Animal Companion (All Ranks)
  • Old: Cooldown 1 → New: Cooldown 0
• Explosive Shot 5
  • Old: Deal 16 Damage to an enemy and 8 to adjacent ones. → New: Deal 20 Damage to an enemy and 12 to adjacent ones.
• Huntsman’s Rifle 4
  • Old: Explosive Shot deals 4 more damage. → New: Passive: At the start of each turn, deal 10 damage to all enemies if you’ve summoned all 3 Animal Companions this game.

Fathom-Lord Karathress

• Cataclysmic Bolt 5
  • Old: Deal 20 damage to the lowest health enemy. → New: Deal 22 damage to the lowest health enemy.

Cornelius Roame

• Martial Mastery is now Holy

Wild Heroic Brawliseum Returning on September 14

Heroic Brawliseum is returning on September 14, and this time it is taking a walk on the Wild side! Get your best Wild deck together, because for one week you can face stiff competition to earn top prizes! It won’t be easy, but the victors will be greatly rewarded.

Introducing Runestones

Runestones are Hearthstone’s new virtual currency. You can purchase Runestones with money and then use them just like you would use money for almost all Hearthstone products, across all modes. The costs of products aren’t changing, their prices are just being converted to Runestones. One benefit of this changes is that it allows us to offer smaller-scale items in the shop, like individual Skins or Battlegrounds Emotes, that would previously have had to have been bundled together with other items.

Updated Leaderboards

Hearthstone leaderboards are getting an update! The leaderboards for Standard, Wild, Classic, Battlegrounds, and Mercenaries will now have live updates (currently, they refresh in intervals of 5-10 minutes). All leaderboards will also now select from Season number (like Battlegrounds currently does), instead of a month and year. Finally, there’s no longer a limit to how many people can be shown on those leaderboards. For Standard, Wild, and Classic, this means that all Legend-rank players will be listed. You’re all leaderboard finishers in our book!

Feature Update: In-Game Reporting

In-game player reporting is now live for all players. You can now report friends, current opponents, and past opponents from the friends list menu. Grounds for reporting include inappropriate names, inappropriate chats, and inappropriate gameplay. Now we can all work together to make sure the tavern is a safe and inviting place for everybody to play!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Improved in-game messaging capabilities.
• Fixed a bug where Relic of Dimensions did not draw from the top of your deck.
• Fixed a bug where Demolition Renovator did not function on mobile.
• Fixed a bug where Front Lines did not trigger if either player’s board was already full.
• Fixed a bug where Party Crasher would “use up” the attack of a Rush minion that survived the crash.
• Fixed a bug where Sinful Brand would not trigger if the minion died from the damage.
• Fixed a bug where Sunken Scavenger was incorrectly counted as an “Imp.”
• Fixed a bug where Imprisoned Scrap Imp was not counted as an “Imp.”
• Fixed a bug where Suspicious Usher would retain any damage done to minions copied.
• Fixed a bug where Dispose of the Evidence showed the shuffled card in the history tile. You can now dispose the evidence without exposing the evidence.
• Fixed a bug where Sinstone Graveyard summoned its minions to the far left side of your board, instead of directly to its right.
• Fixed a bug where the Infuse sound effect did not play when an Infuse counter was incremented.
• Fixed a bug where Locations did not play their entry sounds when played.
• Fixed a bug where Location activation visual effects were not seen by opponents.
• Updated the text on Cloak of Shadows to more accurately describe how it works.
• Spammy Arcanist’s effect will now count Bubbler dying from 1 damage in order to continue spamming.
• The Relics of the Deep Battlegrounds Hero Power can no longer be used when you already have a full hand.
• Updated Trigore’s Task 9 criteria.
• Fixed a bug preventing the Efficient Octo Sought achievement from being able to be completed.
• Fixed a bug where Herald of Shadow did not count for the Harold Who? achievement.
• Updated the wording on the One of the Classic Blunders achievement to match its function.
• Fixed visual bugs with the Reveler Kael’thas and Venthyr Liadrin Hero Skin animations.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 24.0.3, launching today, includes adjustments to Standard, Wild, Battlegrounds, and Duels, as well as a couple bug fixes!

Card Updates:

Dev Comment: The current power level of the top decks after the launch of Murder at Castle Nathria is pretty close to the level that we’d like it to be. We’re happy with decks like Imp Warlock and Control Shaman being powerful, but we’re less happy with the power level of the weakest classes. So while we did a few touches to the top decks with the goal of reducing play-against frustration, the primary goal of this patch was to elevate the classes that are struggling in the current meta.

The following cards have been adjusted down in their power:

Celestial Alignment

• Old: Set each player to 0 Mana Crystals. Set the cost of all cards in hands and decks to (1). → New: Set your Mana Crystals to 0. Set the cost of all cards in your hand and deck to (1).

Dev Comment: We hear you. Alignment has been a frustrating card to play against for a while now and has remained that way after the release of Murder at Castle Nathria, even if it is not a balance outlier. This change is targeted at removing as much of that frustration as possible while still retaining the primary effect for players who enjoy the big turns it can allow.

Stag Spirit Wildseed

• Old: Dormant for 3 turns. When this awakens, equip a 4/2 Greatbow. → New: Dormant for 3 turns. When this awakens, equip a 3/2 Greatbow.

Dev Comment: The Wildseed package has been a fun addition to Hunter, but Stag Spirit Wildseed has been putting out more face damage than we intended. We hope Wildseeds will remain a key part of Hunter decks going forward, but will be a little less ubiquitous across all Hunter archetypes.

Snowfall Guardian

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Freeze all other minions. Gain +1/+1 for each Frozen minion. → New: 5 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: Freeze all other minions.

Dev Comment: Control Shaman has been one of the most dominant decks since the expansion launch. A big part of their power comes from their ability to repeatedly freeze enemy boards while also pressuring their life totals, thanks to Snowfall Guardian. We hope that by removing the pressure this card applies, it will be less difficult for players to navigate.

Vile Library

• Old: Give a friendly minion +1/+1. Repeat for each Imp you control. → New: Give a minion +1/+1 for each Imp you control.

Dev Comment: We’re happy to see that Imp Warlock has been one of the top performing decks in this expansion, but a little bit too much of its power is coming from the burst damage this single card allows. We’re lightly touching Vile Library because we don’t want it to go away, we just want to bring the deck more in line with the other decks in the meta.

Kobold Illusionist

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Dev Comments: Big Rogue has developed into a powerhouse that too consistently summons powerful minions too early in the game for players to meaningfully interact with. We’re adding a mana cost to Kobold Illusionist to slow the deck down and break up some of its consistency.

The above craftable cards, as well as Spirit Poacher, Stag Charge, Wild Spirits, and Ara’lon will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 24.0.3.

The following cards have been adjusted up in their power:

Relic Vault

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Relic of Extinction

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Dev Comment: Relics are a fun and flavorful new archetype from Murder at Castle Nathria, but they haven’t had their chance to shine. We’re hoping that a couple buffs will make these cards easier to squeeze into turns and make the whole package feel better to try in a variety of decks.

Bibliomite

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

Magnifying Glaive

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

Dev Comment: We were a little too safe on the numbers for the new Aggro Demon Hunter cards. We hope these buffs will make the low-hand-size deck a little more appealing!

Abyssal Depths

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Battleworn Vanguard

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

Irebound Brute

• Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]

Dev Comment: Demon Hunter has been struggling in a big way this expansion. We felt that changes to new cards alone might not be enough to bring the power level of this class in line with the rest of this meta. So we’re buffing a few older cards to help bridge the gap. We’re hoping that Abyssal Depths can now function as a powerful tool for a variety of Demon Hunter decks, new and old alike. The reverts to Battleworn Vanguard and Irebound Brute should make them more attractive options for the class. Broot me dood!

Legendary Invitation (generated by The Countess)

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: As the big reward for the Pure Paladin archetype, the Countess wasn’t, well, rewarding enough. This change should make her feel better in decks that are willing to pay the cost of cutting all Neutral cards.

Stand Against Darkness

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

Warhorse Trainer

• Old: Your Silver Hand Recruits Have +1 Attack. → New: Your Silver Hand Recruits have +2 Attack and Taunt.

Promotion

• Old: Give a Silver Hand Recruit +3/+3. → New: Give a Silver Hand Recruit +3/+3 and Taunt.

Dev Comment: The new Silver Hand archetype has come up much shorter than we hoped it would. Cards like Stand Against Darkness and Warhorse Trainer were simply not at the power level of modern Hearthstone, so we're buffing them up to see what they can do in this new age. To top it off, Promotion now comes with a raise!

Edwin, Defias Kingpin

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

Sprint

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

Silverleaf Poison

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Halkias

• Old: Deathrattle: If you control a Secret, store Halkias' soul inside of it. It resummons Halkias when triggered. → New: Stealth. Deathrattle: Store Halkias's soul inside of a friendly Secret. It resummons Halkias when triggered.

Dev Comment: Card draw has traditionally been one of Rogue’s strengths, but it doesn’t feel like a strength in the current meta. The buffs to Edwin, Sprint, and Silverleaf Poison are all made with the intention of reinforcing card draw as a strength of the class. Miracle Rogue has not been overperforming in power, but we are aware it can win in frustrating ways, so we’ll be keeping an eye on how it develops following these buffs. We also wanted to show a little love to the new secret package. We’re starting with a buff to Halkias that makes him feel better to play, but we may revisit this package later if it needs additional support.

Sanguine Depths

• Old: Deal 1 damage to a minion and give it +1 Attack. → New: Deal 1 damage to a minion and give it +2 Attack.

Imbued Axe

• Old: After your hero attacks, give your damaged minions +1/+1. Infuse (3): +2/+2 instead. → New: After your hero attacks, give your damaged minions +1/+2. Infuse (2): +2/+2 instead.

Cruel Taskmaster

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

Dev Comment: Along with Demon Hunter, Warrior has been struggling this expansion. A big part of that is that their new Enrage Warrior archetype hasn’t been nearly as powerful as we’d hoped it to be. These three buffs are targeted at improving the Enrage Warrior archetype, which we hope to see become a player in the metagame.

Tidal Revenant

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

Shield Shatter:

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

Slam:

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Bash:

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: We may have been a little over zealous when we were addressing Control Warrior in the last balance patch. We’re correcting that here. We’re also giving them a couple new tools in Slam and Bash, which might even make their way into non-control Warrior lists.

Battlegrounds Updates

• Lich Baz’hial has been moved to Armor Tier 1
• Dancin’ Deryl, Deathwing, Elise Starseeker, Guff Runetotem, and Sneed have been moved to Armor Tier 2

Hero Changes

Lich Baz’hial

• Old: Take 2 damage and add a Gold coin to your hand. → New: Take 4 damage. Gain 2 Gold this turn only.

Guff Runetotem

• Old: Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +3/+2. → New: Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+2.

Deathwing

• Old: Passive: Give ALL minions +2 Attack. → New: Passive: Give ALL minions +3 Attack.

Kael’thas Sunstrider

• Old: Every third minion you buy gets +2/+2. → New: Every third minion you play gets +2/+2.

Elise Starseeker

• Old: When you upgrade Bob’s Tavern get a ‘Recruitment Map’. → New: [Costs 1] Discover a minion from your Tavern Tier. Costs (1) more after each use.

Sneed

• Old: Give a minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion from a lower Tavern Tier.” → New: Give a minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion from a Tavern Tier lower.”

• Dev Comment: This is only a clarifying text change, not a functional change.

Minion Changes

• Lieutenant Garr and Grease Bot have been returned to the minion pool.

Grease Bot

• Old: Divine Shield. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +3/+2 permanently. → New: After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+2 permanently.

Lil’ Rag

• Old: [Tavern Tier 6] → New: [Tavern Tier 5]

Gentle Djinni

• Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon another random Elemental and add a copy of it to your hand. → New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add another random Elemental to your hand and summon a copy of it.

• Dev Comment: This means that you will now receive the copy of the Elemental in your hand, even if you can’t summon it.

Evolving Chromawing

• Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health. After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, gain +1/+1 for each friendly Dragon. → New: 1 Attack, 4 Health. After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, gain +1 Attack for each friendly Dragon.

Great Deal (Darkmoon Prize)

• Old: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (6). → New: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (5).

Duels Updates

• Brittle Bones now only triggers if an enemy minion is destroyed with a spell.
• Killmox, the Banished One is now counted as an Imp.
• Darius Crowley’s “Fire!” hero power reduced from 2 mana to 1 mana.
• Darius Crowley’s “Fire at Thee!” hero power reduced from 3 mana to 2 mana.
• Darius Crowley’s “Grizzled Reinforcement” signature treasure reduced from 6 mana to 5 mana.

Bug Fixes

• Corrected the text on two of Brightwing’s Mercenary Abilities.
• Removed Duels Achievements based on heroes not in the game.

Patch 24.0, launching tomorrow, sets the stage for Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria, launching August 2! This patch also includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, and Arena, as well as bug fixes and more.

Murder at Castle Nathria Launches on August 2!

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria, goes live on August 2! The new expansion includes 135 all-new cards, featuring 10 Legendary suspect minions, the new Infuse keyword, the all-new Location card type, and more! See all the new cards in the official card library today and don’t forget to get your pre-purchase bundle before the expansion launches.

With the launch of Murder at Castle Nathria comes a new Rewards Track with tons of cosmetics, XP boosts, packs, and a huge infusion of Gold! Check out our Rewards Track Refresh blog for all the details.

Battlegrounds Updates

New Emotes!

Starting with Patch 24.0, all players will have access to the base Battlegrounds Emotes. Players will also be able to obtain special Emotes that they can equip over the base emotes in their Battlegrounds Collection. The first set of Battlegrounds Emotes – Mystery Mayhem, will be a collection of Nathria and murder-mystery themed emotes that will be available one week after the expansion goes live! Whether you’re sweating like a suspect or casually sipping on some tea, it’s got just the emote for you.

New Hero

Heistbaron Togwaggle (Armor Tier 1)

• The Perfect Crime
  • [9 Gold] Steal all minions in Bob’s Tavern. Each turn, your next Hero Power costs (1) less.
  • Dev Comment: At the end of each Recruit phase, the cost of your next Hero Power will reduce by 1 automatically. Each time you use Togwaggle’s Hero Power, its cost resets to the original 9 Gold cost and starts the cycle over again.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Heistbaron Togwaggle ahead of his formal release on August 9.

Hero Updates

• The Lich King, Sneed, and Edwin VanCleef can now all target minions in Bob’s Tavern as well as friendly minions. (Effects that are not “for one turn” effects will carry over to the next Recruit phase if you Freeze that minion in the Tavern).

Minion Updates

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

• Evolving Chromawing has been reworked and returned to the minion pool.
  • Evolving Chromawing [Tavern Tier 1, Dragon]
  • 1 Attack, 1 Health. After you Upgrade your Tavern Tier, gain +1/+1 for each friendly Dragon.

​

Mercenaries Updates

New Limited-Time Event: C’Thun

Sensing that its Old God brethren had awakened, the ancient one C’Thun has emerged from its prison to begin its own assault on Mercenaries! Defend your Village and tame the final Old God in this limited-time event, starting on August 16. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around the Old God C’Thun. Two new event Tasks can be unlocked on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until September 6 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will get you the C’Thun Mercenary, a random Golden C’Thun Portrait, the Diamond C’Thun Portrait, and 700 Mercenary Coins! Dragons and Protectors will be important for protecting your Village from C’Thun’s wrath.

New Mercenaries

C’Thun (Legendary Fighter)

• Old God
• 10/85 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Mind Flay 5 (Shadow): (Speed 7) Deal this Merc’s Attack damage to an enemy. Deathblow: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun.
  • Tentacle of C’Thun 5 (Old God): (Speed 5) 5 Attack, 15 Health. Rush. Whenever this attacks, give your C’Thun +5 Attack and Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1).
  • Mask of C’Thun 5 (Shadow): (Speed 4, Cooldown 10) Deal this Merc’s Attack damage to all enemies. Deathblow: Restore 20 Health to friendly Old Gods.
• Equipment:
  • Heart of C’Thun 4: Battlecry: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun. It gains Taunt, but loses Rush.
  • Maw of C’Thun 4: Battlecry: Gain +4 Attack. Destroy a random enemy Minion.
  • Body of C’Thun 4: Bench: Gain +5/+10 after you summon an Old God.

Sir Finley (Epic Protector)

• Murloc
• 11/78 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Adventure Awaits 5 (Nature): (Speed 6) Gain +8 Health and Attack an enemy. If your opponent has fewer characters, gain Divine Shield first.
  • Murlocology 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Discover a dilapidated Murloc Ability.
    • Dev Comment: This is a pool of Abilities from all existing Murloc Mercs when Finley is released.
  • Lead the Charge 5 (Holy): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give a friendly character +12 Attack and Divine Shield. Give your Murlocs +5 Attack.
• Equipment:
  • Maxwell, Mighty Steed 4: Your Murlocs have +10 Health. Your Explorers have +6 Attack.
  • Exploring Monocle 4: Passive: Lead the Charge also gives Explorers Attack.
  • Finley’s Pith Helmet 4: Passive: After a friendly character loses Divine Shield, deal 10 damage to a random enemy.

C’Thun, Sir Finley, and their respective Portraits, will not initially be obtainable through packs or crafting. C’Thun and its Portraits are part of the C’Thun event. Sir Finley will be awarded for free to all players on the Murder at Castle Nathria Rewards Track, and his Portraits can be earned by players who have the Tavern Pass. C’Thun and its Portraits will be obtainable through normal means in a patch after its event ends. Sir Finley and its Portraits will be obtainable through normal means in a patch after the 24.0 expansion cycle ends. Tyrael, Yogg-Saron, and their respective Portraits, are now available through all normal means.

Merc Updates

Brann Bronzebeard

• Summit Campfire 5
  • Old: Gain +4 Frost Resistance. Your characters deal Critical Damage to enemies whom have already acted. → New: Gain +5 Frost Resistance. This turn, enemies who have acted take Critical Damage.
  • Dev Comment: In addition to being reworded and giving +1 more Frost Resistance, Summit Campfire has had some bugs addressed that prevented its full effect from working. Now, when the effect triggers, enemies who have already acted will take Critical Damage and any enemies who act after this effect goes will take Critical Damage for the rest of the turn; if Brann dies, all enemies already impacted will stay impacted, but no additional enemies will be afflicted.
• Extra Spirit 4
  • Old: Passive: If you have them in play, Elise and Reno have +5/+12. → New: Passive: Your Explorers have +5/+12.

Elise Starseeker

• Oasis Canteen 4
  • Old: Passive: If you have Brann and Reno in play, give them +4/+4 at the end of turn. → New: Passive: Give your explorers +4/+4 at the end of each turn.

Reno Jackson

• We’re Rich 4
  • Old: Battlecry: If you have at least two Explorers in play, Restore 100 health to friendly characters. → New: Battlecry: If you control two other Explorers, restore 100 health to your characters.
• Treasure Inspector 4
  • Old: Deathrattle: Cast two random abilities. → New: Cast a random one of Reno’s Looted Powers! Twice!

Wrathion

• Old: 12/79 Maxed Stats → New: 12/84 Maxed Stats
• Creeping Madness
  • Old: Speed 8 → New: Speed 4
• Tail Swipe 5
  • Old: Deal 20 damage, randomly to the left or right-most enemy. → New: Deal 15 damage to an enemy. Deal 5 damage to all enemies to the left or right of it.

Drek’Thar

• Old: 10/73 Maxed Stats → New: 10/81 Maxed Stats
• Spirit Guide
  • Old: Cooldown 1. Battlecry: If you have Shamanism, gain Divine Shield and Rush. → New: Cooldown 0. Taunt. Battlecry: If you have Shamanism, gain Divine Shield and Rush.

Brightwing

• Dev Comment: Brightwing’s fantasy of swapping between bench and battlefield struggled because of randomness. We decided to strengthen her kit overall and reduce the randomness in it so players could direct her effects and choose what she swaps with.
• Old: 7/77 Maxed Stats → New: 8/88 Maxed Stats
• Faerie Breath 5
  • Old: Deal 10 damage. Give a random friendly Merc on your bench +3/+5. → New: Deal 12 damage. Give the lowest health Merc on your bench +3/+10.
• Phase Shift 5
  • Old: Restore 25 Health to this Merc and swap it with the highest health Merc on your bench. → New: Restore 25 Health to this Merc. If you control another Merc, return this to your bench.
    • The Cooldown is now 1 for all levels of this Ability.
• Brightwing’s Ring 4
  • Old: Phase Shift restores 25 more Health. → New: Bench: After a Merc dies, summon this and cast Faerie Breath 5 at a random enemy immediately.
• Brightwing’s Necklace 4
  • Old: Faerie Breath gives an additional +5 Health. → New: Battlecry: Give your lowest health Merc on your Bench +15 Health.

Lady Anacondra

• Dev Comment: Lady Anacondra always felt like a Merc that needed her Equipment just to get her Abilities to baseline levels. So we baked two of the Equipment effects into her Abilities and updated those Equipment with new Viper-summoning effects so that more players can experience that part of her kit.
• Old: 8/76 Maxed Stats → New: 9/84 Maxed Stats
• Serpent’s Bite 5
  • Old: Deal 6 damage. At the end of this turn, it takes 6 damage. → New: Deal 12 damage. At the end of this turn, it takes 12 damage.
• Mend Beast 5
  • Old: Restore 15 Health to a character. If it’s a Beast, also give it +15 Health. → New: Restore 15 Health to a character and this Merc. If it’s a Beast, also give it +15 Health.
• Toxic Venom 4
  • Old: Serpent’s Bite deals 4 more damage. → New: After you cast 3 Nature abilities, summon a 0/15 Nightmare Viper. (3 left!)
• Signet of the Wilds 4
  • Old: Mend Beast restores Health to Lady Anacondra as well. → New: Battlecry: Summon a 0/15 Nightmare Viper.

Morgl the Oracle

• Dev Comment: Morgle always wanted to be the healer for the Murloc party, but unfortunately other characters provided more value. We’ve redesigned his healing to give him the tools to be the Murloc healer he always wanted to be.
• Old: 9/83 Maxed Stats → New: 10/93 Maxed Stats
• Murloc Missile 5
  • Old: Deal 10 damage. Give your Murlocs +5 Health. → New: Deal 14 damage. Give your Murlocs +6 Health.
• Healing Wave 5
  • Old: Cooldown 1. Restore 15 Health. If the target hasn’t acted yet, restore 30 Health instead. → New: Cooldown 0. Restore 15 Health to a character and 10 Health to your Murlocs.
• Dousing Rod 4
  • Old: Healing Wave restores 10 more Health. → New: Passive: After one of your Murlocs takes 20 or more damage in a single hit, restore 8 Health to it.

Guff Runetotem

• Dev Comments: Guff always relied on Bramblethorn Totem to keep Living Brambles’ damage up. We built that damage into Living Brambles to give him more Equipment options, including a new option as a backline character with the Bramblethorn Totem rework.
• Old: 10/80 Maxed Stats → New: 12/91 Maxed Stats
• Living Brambles 5
  • Old: Deal 10 damage. Nature Combo: Repeat this. → New: Deal 14 damage. Nature Combo: Repeat this.
• Bramblethorn Totem 4
  • Old: Living Brambles deals 4 more damage. → New: Battlecry: Restore 20 health to your characters.

Garrosh Hellscream

• Mak’Gora 5
  • Old: Attack an enemy. It Attacks this Merc back. → New: Take 5 less damage this turn. Attack an enemy. It Attacks back.
  • Additionally, Mak’Gora is now Speed 5 at all levels.

The Lich King

• Old: 13/88 Maxed Stats → New: 14/92 Maxed Stats
• Frostbite is now Speed 5 at all levels.

Cookie, the Cook

• Cookie’s Cooking 5
  • Old: Bleed (5) to all enemies. Restore 5 Health to friendly Murlocs and Pirates. → New: Bleed (10) to all enemies. Restore 10 Health to friendly Murlocs and Pirates.
  • Dev Comment: Cookie was the first playable Merc that we designed with the Bleed effect. At the time, we thought it would be a good idea to allow Bleed to scale with Spell Damage. We’ve decided that Bleed shouldn’t be increased by Spell Damage buffs, so we’ve adjusted the base power of the Ability to compensate for that change.

Zar’jira, the Sea Witch

• Old: 8/77 Maxed Stats → New: 9/86 Maxed Stats
• Upstart Acolyte 4
  • Old: Passive: +20 Health. Whenever a friendly character is Frozen, Freeze a random enemy. → New: Passive: +20 Health. The first time a friendly character is Frozen each turn, Freeze a random enemy.

Uther

• Dev Comment: Uther has always struggled to find a place on the Holy team focusing on Anduin and Velen. We think this is a flavorful change and we hope this change will bring more role diversity to Holy compositions. Uther now has the distinction of being the first Protector to deal Holy damage. For justice!
• Old: Caster → New: Protector
• Old: 11/82 Maxed Stats → New: 12/91 Maxed Stats
• Hammer of Justice 5
  • Old: Deal 12 damage to a character. Its next ability is (3) Speed slower. → New: Deal 15 damage to an enemy. Its next ability is (3) Speed slower.

King Krush

• Old: 12/73 Maxed Stats → New: 12/76 Maxed Stats
• Devilsaur 5
  • Old: Cooldown 1 → New: Cooldown 0

Kurtrus Ashfallen

• Old: 14/74 Maxed Stats → New: 14/77 Maxed Stats

Tavish Stormpike

• Old: 7/83 Maxed Stats → New: 8/86 Maxed Stats

Lord Jaraxxus

• Old: 10/81 Maxed Stats → New: 12/83 Maxed Stats

Mannoroth

• Old: 11/78 Maxed Stats → New: 13/84 Maxed Stats

Tamsin Roame

• Old: 9/84 Maxed Stats → New: 10/87 Maxed Stats

Warmaster Voone

• Old: 9/82 Maxed Stats → New: 10/90 Maxed Stats

Rokara

• Old: 10/76 Maxed Stats → New: 10/79 Maxed Stats

Ragnaros

• Old: 9/69 Maxed Stats → New: 10/75 Maxed Stats

Antonidas

• Old: 6/73 Maxed Stats → New: 7/76 Maxed Stats

Vanessa Van Cleef

• Dev Comment: Originally, the fantasy of Vanessa was that she’d steal a bunch of attack and then get a big payoff with Makeshift Weaponry. In practice, however, spending all your Stolen Attack was too high a cost. It also meant that Makeshift Weaponry was a dead Ability on her first turn. We’ve increased its base power, reworked the Extra Pockets synergy, and made the downside less punishing, so we increased the speed to 7 to compensate for those buffs.
• Old: 13/75 Maxed Stats → New: 13/86 Maxed Stats
• Makeshift Weaponry 5
  • Old: Speed 3. Spend Stolen Attack to deal that much damage to all enemies. → New: Speed 7. Deal 12 damage to all enemies. (Improved by Stolen Attack)
• Extra Pockets 4
  • Old: After using Makeshift Weaponry, this Merc keeps up to 10 Attack. → New: Battlecry: Steal 4 attack from an enemy opposite this.

Niuzao

• Old: 10/80 Maxed Stats → New: 10/87 Maxed Stats

Vanndar

• Old: 13/83 Maxed Stats → New: 13/86 Maxed Stats

Deathwing

• Old: 12/90 Maxed Stats → New: 14/94 Maxed Stats

Onyxia

• Old: 10/70 Maxed Stats → New: 11/75 Maxed Stats
• Broodmother’s Rage 4
  • Old: Passive: When another friendly Dragon is destroyed, deal 7 damage to all enemies. → New: Passive: When another friendly Dragon is destroyed, deal 7 Fire damage to all enemies.
  • Dev Comment: This Equipment was already dealing Fire damage, so this is just a wording update to clarify the effect.

Lady Vashj

• Old: 10/75 Maxed Stats → New: 12/81 Maxed Stats

Captain Hooktusk

• Old: 10/75 Maxed Stats → New: 13/83 Maxed Stats

Trigore the Lasher

• Backlash 5
  • Old: Gain +5 Attack. Each time an enemy damages an adjacent ally this turn, deal this Merc’s Attack damage to them. → New: Gain +5 Attack. After an enemy damage an adjacent ally this turn, deal this Merc’s Attack damage to them.
  • Dev Comment: This is not a functional change to Trigore, just a wording update. We also fixed a bug so that Trigore no longer hits after Trigore is functionally dead and no longer hits enemies who are functionally dead.

Murky

• Old: 11/79 Maxed Stats → New: 11/80 Maxed Stats
• Marching Murlocs (Summoned by the March of the Murlocs Equipment)
  • Old: Speed 5 → New: Speed 4

Duels Updates

General Updates

• On July 26, the current Duels season will end, ratings will be reset, and ongoing runs will be concluded.
• The Witchwood and Murder at Castle Nathria expansions are coming to Duels!
• The Witchwood will be fully usable in Duels on July 26. Murder at Castle Nathria will be added to card buckets and Discover effects with Patch 24.0 on July 26, but those cards will not be able to be used in initial deckbuilding until they are released on August 2.
• The new hero (below) will be available with the patch launch on July 26.
• All hero powers and signature treasures are now available for all heroes, for all players, no matter what. No more unlock requirements!

New Hero

Darius Crowley

• Hero Powers
  • Fire!
    • [2 Mana] Fire your Cannons! If they kill any minions, refresh this.
  • Fire Away!
    • [2 Mana] Fire your Cannons! Give your minions +1 Attack.
  • Fire at Thee!
    • [3 Mana] Fire your Cannons twice!
• Signature Treasures
  • Safe Harbor
    • [2 Mana Spell] Choose a minion and put it into your hand. It costs (0).
  • Grizzled Reinforcement
    • [6 Mana Minion] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Summon an extra Cannon.
  • Tuskarr Raider
    • [4 Mana Minion-Pirate] 3 Attack, 9 Health. Rush. After this minion attacks, fire your Cannons.
  • Seabreaker Goliath
    • [10 Mana Minion-Pirate] 15 Attack, 15 Health. Costs (1) less for each time you’ve fired your Cannons.
  • Deck Swabbie
    • [3 Mana Minion] 1 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, fire your Cannons!
  • Draconic Munition
    • [1 Mana Spell] For the rest of the game, your cannons deal 1 extra damage.

New Passive Treasures

• Location, Location, Location! [Pool 1]
  • Passive. Start the game with a Location of your class in play.
• Be Our Guest [Pool 1]
  • Passive. At the start of the game, shuffle 3 Legendary Invitations into your deck.
• Brittle Bones [Pool 2]
  • Passive. After you destroy a minion with a spell, summon a Volatile Skeleton.
• Ring of Haste [Pool 2 Ultra Rare]
  • Passive. Every third minion you cast each turn costs (1).

Card Pool Changes

• The following cards have been banned from deck creation: Twig of the World Tree, Genn Greymane, Baku the Mooneater, Prince Renathal, Open the Waygate, Blackwald Pixie, Seek Guidance
• The following card is no longer banned from deck creation: Lightning Bloom.
• The following card has been removed from the passive treasure pool: Plaguebringer.

Balance Changes

• Bubble Blower [Hero Power]
  • Old: 1 Mana → New: 0 Mana
• Demon Blood [Hero Power]
  • Old: Give a random Demon in your hand +2/+1. → New: Give a random Demon in your hand +2/+2.
• Marvelous Mycelium
  • Old: Discover two Choose One cards. They have both effects combined. Shuffle this card into your deck. → New: Discover a Choose One card. It has both effects combined. Shuffle this card into your deck.
• Flames of the Kirin Tor
  • Old: Passive After you cast your first Fire spell in a turn, add a Fireball to your hand. → New: Passive After you cast your first Fire spell in a turn, add a random Fire spell to your hand.
• Sr. Excavator
  • Old: 5 Mana → New: 6 Mana
• Ol’ Faithful
  • Old: 4 Mana → New: 5 Mana
• Titan-Forged Grapnel
  • Old: 4 Mana → New: 5 Mana
• Stalking Pride
  • Old: 7 Mana → New: 5 Mana
• Magister Unchained
  • Old: 1 Mana → New: 2 Mana
• Tempest’s Fury
  • Old: 3 Attack → New: 2 Attack

Arena Updates

On August 2, when Murder at Castle Nathria 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
One Night in Karazhan
Saviors of Uldum
Rastakahn’s Rumble
Scholomance Academy
Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
Murder at Castle Nathria

New Feature: Multiple Favorite/Random Hero Skins

Players can now favorite multiple heroes from the same class in the Hearthstone Collection Manager. If a deck has no specific hero assigned to it, a random hero will be used each game. By default, the random hero is pulled from your pool of favorites, but you can also opt into total randomness by unchecking the “Favorites Only” toggle on a deck, expanding the pool to all eligible heroes you own, just like with card backs. The “Favorites Only” toggle starts checked, but if you decide to uncheck it, we leave it unchecked for future decks you create.

Updated Returning Player Experience

It is once again an amazing time to come back to Hearthstone! The quest rewards and free deck offered to Returning Players are no longer limited to once per account. Anyone who has been gone from the game for 120+ days will receive the Returning Player rewards, even if they've gotten them before! Let your friends know!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• You can now hold down the Spacebar to continuously open packs.
• Uncraftable cards will no longer show up when searching “refund” in the Collection Manager.
• Fixed a visual bug where the filter in the Collection Manager would appear blank on some devices.
• Fixed a visual bug with the 1000 wins animation.
• Fixed a bug preventing Drakonid Operative’s effect from triggering.
• Fixed a bug where if you attack a minion and then play Multi-Strike, you are unable to then attack the enemy hero.
• Fixed a bug where Eureka! summoning a Colossal minion that had its cost reduced would result in the Colossal minion summoning double the appendages.
• Fixed a bug causing some players to get stuck in the Mercenaries tutorial.
• Fixed a bug sometimes causing error messages after getting a new Mercenary.
• Fixed a bug where players would sometimes upgrade a Mercenary’s Ability or Equipment and the upgrade wouldn’t take effect.
• Improved the appearance of tooltips, addressing issues such as lengthy tooltips getting cut off in Mercenaries.
• Weakened and slowed down the Doppelgangster encounter.
• Fixed bugs and wording issues with various Mercenaries Abilities, Equipment, and Treasures.
• Fixed a Duels bug preventing deck codes from working with Neutral heroes.
• Improved shop lag and performance issues.
• Fixed bugs preventing the “Harold Who” and the “Killamari” Achievements from tracking.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 23.6, launching today, sets the stage for Murder at Castle Nathria, Hearthstone’s next expansion! The patch also includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Arena, and more.

Pre-Purchase Murder at Castle Nathria

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria, is coming on August 2! This anima-Infused mystery takes place in the Shadowlands, where murder is most foul. It’s up to you, and the great detective Murloc Holmes, to scour new Location cards for clues as to which of the 10 suspects killed the great Sire Denathrius!

Murder at Castle Nathria includes 135 new cards surrounding the murder mystery and the 10 guests at the center of it. You can learn more in the Murder at Castle Nathria Announcement blog. Two pre-purchase options are available now to kickstart your inquiry once the expansion launches.

Pre-purchase

Log in and Get Prince Renathal for Free

Log in to Hearthstone now to get your first hint of what Murder at Castle Nathria holds with the free Prince Renathal Legendary minion!* This powerful noble lets you start the game at 40 life and build a 40-card deck! Add him to your collection and see what you can do when you have more space to work with.

* Limited one per account. After Patch 24.6, Prince Renathal will be granted upon opening your first Murder at Castle Nathria card pack instead of upon logging in.

Battlegrounds Updates

General Updates

• Darkmoon Prizes are back! From now until the next Battlegrounds Season, Darkmoon Prizes will appear in 25% of games. Several of the Darkmoon Prizes have been adjusted since their last appearance.
• The number of copies of each Tier 1 minion was reduced from 16 to 15.
• The following Battlegrounds Perks are being extended until the next Battlegrounds Season (instead of the next Standard expansion): Discover from 4 Heroes; Hero Early Access (if any Early Access eligible heroes are released in that time); and Advanced Stats. Visual Emotes will remain until the next Standard expansion, at which point all Battlegrounds Players will receive the base visual emotes. Stay tuned for more details on changes to Battlegrounds Perks and rewards before the next Battlegrounds season!

New Hero

Lady Vashj (Armor Tier 1)

• Relics of the Deep
  • [1 Gold] Discover a Spellcraft spell of your Tier or lower. Passive: Your first one each turn is permanent.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Lady Vashj ahead of her formal release on July 11.

Hero Updates

Bigglesworth

• Bigglesworth’s Hero Power will now give a Consolation Coin whenever a player dies with no minions.

Cariel Roame

• Conviction now targets more minions at each rank: two random friendly at Rank 1; four random friendly minions at Rank 2; and all friendly minions at Rank 3.

Drek’Thar

• Old: Choose a friendly minion. It copies the Attack of your highest Attack minion until next turn. → New: Choose a minion. It copies the Attack of the highest Attack minion until next turn.

• Dev Comment: Drek’Thar and Vanndar now can target and can copy from any minion, including minions in Bob’s Tavern.

Guff Runetotem

• Old: Armor Tier 7 → New: Armor Tier 4
• Old: [1 Gold] Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +1/+1. → New: [2 Gold] Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +3/+2.

Overlord Saurfang

• Old: Give +2 Attack to the next minion you buy this turn. (Upgrades each turn!) → New: Give +2 Attack to the next minion you buy. (Upgrades each turn!)

• Dev Comment: The effect now carries over between turns.

Sindragosa

• Old: Freeze a minion in Bob’s Tavern. Frozen minions get +2/+1 each turn. → New: Freeze a minion in Bob’s Tavern. Passive: At the end of your turn, Frozen minions get +2/+1.

• Dev Comment: This is not a functional change. This is just to more clearly distinguish the active from the passive parts of the Hero Power.

Sneed

• Old: Armor Tier 7 → New: Armor Tier 1
• Old: [2 Gold] Give a friendly minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion of the same Tavern Tier.” → New: [1 Gold] Give a friendly minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion of a lower Tavern Tier.”

Vanndar

• Old: Choose a friendly minion. It copies the Health of your highest Health minion until next turn. → New: Choose a minion. It copies the Health of the highest Health minion until next turn.

Y’Shaarj

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

• Dev Comment: This means that the minion will be added to your hand even if there is no board space to summon it.

New Minions

Tavern Tipper [Tavern Tier 1]

• 2 Attack, 2 Health. If you have any unspent Gold at the end of your turn, gain +1/+2.

Silverback Patriarch [Tavern Tier 1, Beast]

• 1 Attack, 4 Health. Taunt.

Sparring Partner [Tavern Tier 2]

• 3 Attack, 2 Taunt. Battlecry: Give a minion Taunt.

Kooky Chemist [Tavern Tier 2]

• 4 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry: Swap the Attack and Health of a minion.

Yrel [Tavern Tier 2]

• 1 Attack, 5 Health. After this attacks, give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+2.

Atramedes [Tavern Tier 4, Dragon]

• 3 Attack, 6 Health. Whenever this attacks, deal 3 damage to the target and its neighbors.

Wargear [Tavern Tier 4, Mech]

• 5 Attack, 5 Health. Magnetic.

Tunnel Blaster [Tavern Tier 4]

• 3 Attack, 7 Health. Taunt. Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to all minions.

Uther, the Lightbringer [Tavern Tier 6]

• 5 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Set a minion’s Attack and Health to 15.

Minion Pool Updates

• Shifter Zerus and Iron Sensei have been returned to the minion pool.
• Acolyte of C’Thun, Menagerie Mug, Unstable Ghoul, Budding Greenthumb, Screwjank Clunker, Prestor’s Pyrospawn, Defender of Argus, and Mechano-Egg have all been removed from the minion pool.

Minion Updates

Bannerboar

• Old: 1 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on adjacent Quilboar. → New: 1 Attack, 3 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on adjacent minions.

Annihilan Battlemaster

• Old: 3 Attack → New: 5 Attack

Soul Devourer

• Old: Battlecry: Choose a friendly Demon. Remove it to gain its stats and 3 Gold. → New: Battlecry: Consume a friendly Demon to gain its stats and 3 Gold.

• Developer Comment: This is not a functional change. This change is only to make the text better match existing effects.

Grease Bot

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 6 Health. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +1/+1 permanently. → New: [Tavern Tier 6] 4 Attack, 7 Health. Divine Shield. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +3/+2 permanently.

New and Updated Darkmoon Prizes

Several Darkmoon Prizes have been updated since they last appeared in Battlegrounds:

The Good Stuff

• Old: Give minions in Bob’s Tavern +2 Health for the rest of the game. → New: Give minions in Bob’s Tavern +1 Attack for the rest of the game.

I’m Still Just a Rat in a Cage

• Old: Double a minion’s Attack. → New: Give a minion +2 Attack, then double its Attack.

Great Deal

• Old: For the rest of the game, reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (3) at the end of your turn. → New: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (6).

The Bouncer

• Old: Give a friendly minion +5/+5 and Taunt. → New: Give a friendly minion +6/+6 and Taunt.

B.A.N.A.N.A.S.

• Bananas now have a 50% chance to be a Big Banana (no change to card textbox).

Additionally, Big Banana has been removed from the Darkmoon Faire Prize pool, and two new prizes have been added:

Banana Bunch (Prize turn 1):

• Add 2 Bananas to your hand.

• Dev Comment: These Bananas have a 50% chance to be Big Bananas as well.

Mindflayer Goggles (Prize turn 3):

• Steal all minions in Bob’s Tavern. Then Refresh it.

Finally, players who are in the bottom half of the scoreboard are no longer more likely to get better Prizes.

Mercenaries Updates

Login Now to Get Three Free Portraits!

Any player who has completed the Mercenaries tutorial* will receive special Portraits for Tyrande Whisperwind, Millhouse Manastorm, and Xyrella! These Portraits are a thank you to everyone who has tried out Mercenaries since its launch. We know that you’ve all been eagerly waiting to see what major changes we’ve been working on this year, including what you’ll be able to do with your excess coins.

Later this year, we’ll be adding a system that will let you exchange some of your excess coins for random coins for a Merc you own but haven’t yet Maxed. We’re also still working on the end-game content that was hinted to in the Year of the Hydra announcement, including a way to use excess coins to add power and personalized traits to your Maxed Mercs, all of which we still expect a bit further down the line.

It has taken us a little longer than we’d hoped to implement these systems, but we wanted to let you know we have a clear plan on our goals for these projects, we are actively working on them, and they are coming. We consider this to be our highest priority in Mercenaries development; we just need some more time to make sure it’s done correctly.

* This is a one-time award for accounts that have already completed the Mercenaries tutorial when Patch 23.6 launches. Those players will automatically have these portraits added to their Collection. These Portraits may become available to other players through other means at a later time.

New Limited-Time Event: Yogg-Saron

The Old Gods continue their onslaught as Yogg-Saron turns its many maws towards Mercenaries. You will be able to take on MADNESS itself in this limited-time event, starting on June 30. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around the Old God Yogg-Saron. Two new event Tasks can be unlocked on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until July 15 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will get you the Yogg-Saron Mercenary, a random Golden Yogg-Saron Portrait, the Diamond Yogg-Saron Portrait, and 700 Mercenary Coins! Naga, Casters, and a couple of Night Elves will be integral in this battle.

New Mercenary:

Yogg-Saron (Legendary Caster)

• Old God
• 10/80 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Lunatic Gaze 5 (Shadow): (Speed 2) Deal 15 damage to an enemy, or restore 15 Health to a friendly character. Randomly swap the Speeds of their Abilities.
  • Mind Yoggle 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Give a friendly character +5 Attack this turn. They Attack a random enemy. Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1) for each Attack so far this turn.
  • Oh My Yogg 5 (Shadow): (Speed 15, Cooldown 15) Randomly use 5 other Abilities from Mercs in play with random targets.
• Equipment:
  • Piercing Gaze 4: Lunatic Gaze does an extra 5 damage.
  • Lash of Hysteria 4: Mind Yoggle gives an extra +5 Attack.
  • Awakening Roar 4: Battlecry: Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (4).

Yogg-Saron coins have replaced Garrosh Hellscream Coins as the reward for the Garrosh Hellscream Bounty (in the Sunken City Zone). Yogg-Saron and its Portraits will not initially be obtainable through packs or crafting. Yogg-Saron and its Portraits all be obtainable through normal means in a patch after the event ends. Y’Shaarj and its Portraits can now be obtained through all normal means.

Arena Updates

When Patch 23.6 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
• Taverns of Time

Wait. Rewind. What was that last one?

That’s Right, Taverns of Time Returns to Arena!

The Arena-only set, Taverns of Time, is returning to Arena with several adjustments to update the set for the game’s current state. Murozond has been removed from the set—he can’t be trusted messing with time, honestly—and many of the set’s other 28 cards have had their costs or stats adjusted.

The Fire Festival is Back

Starting on June 30, join in a special Fire Festival chain of seven Legendary Quests! Complete all seven Quests to earn a Standard Packs, a Card Pack for each of Fractured at Alterac Valley, Voyage to the Sunken City, and Murder at Castle Nathria, a Mercenaries Pack, a Battlegrounds hero skin, and a Warrior hero skin.

New Features—Expanded Recent Players List and In-Game Reporting

Recent players capabilities have been expanded and improved in the friends list. Now, there will be a dedicated section at the top of your friends list that includes last opponent, former friends, new friends, your current opponent, and more.

Additionally, we’re happy to share that player-reporting will soon be added to the in-game friends list menu! You’ll be able to report players from the recent players list (including your current opponent) or from your friends list. Grounds for reporting will include inappropriate names, inappropriate chats, and inappropriate gameplay. We’re putting the finishing touches on this feature, so you’ll see hints of it in the game with this patch, and it’ll become available soon!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• Artist credits have been added to additional art pieces.
• Fixed a bug causing deck changes to not carry over when made between different devices and/or while making changes offline.
• Fixed a bug where Brilliant Macaw copied Gigafin’s Deathrattle with its Battlecry.
• Fixed a bug where Glowscale’s Spellcraft’s temporary Divine Shield could remove a minion’s permanent Divine Shield.
• Lowered the requirements for Y’Shaarj’s Tasks 3 and 10.
• Fixed a bug causing “Complete a Bounty at Level 30” Tasks to sometimes not complete as written.
• Fixed a bug preventing all “kill two enemies in one turn” Tasks from tracking.
• Fixed various bugs with Diamond Portrait voicelines.
• Fixed a bug where the Heroic Queen Azshara Bounty did not unlock after the completion of the normal Fish of N’Zoth Bounty.
• Fixed a bug preventing Queen Azshara’s Bleed and Freeze Abilities from working in her Bounty Boss encounter.
• Fixed various text, visual, and functional bugs with several Mercenaries Abilities, including bugs with Maiev’s Imprison Ability and Queen Azshara’s Mage Paramount Ability.
• Fixed a bug where the Ice Block Talisman Equipment would trigger even if the owner had Divine Shield that would have protected it.
• Fixed a bug with the removal of Stealth if all characters have Stealth.
• Fixed a bug in Duels where Brann’s Dino Tracking Hero Power could cause disconnects.
• Fixed a bug where Zephrys’s Lamp caused the client to crash in the Tombs of Terror.
• Added deck copying functionality to Duels. Fixed a bug preventing deck codes from working with certain heroes.
• Miscellaneous other performance improvements, text updates, and bug fixes.

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.