Patch 16.6 - Balance changes - Battlegrounds - Tavern Pass and more!
On top of all the other news today, Blizzard also dropped a patch with Battleground changes, Card Balance changes, and more! Check out everything below:
Quote from BlizzardWe have a few updates in today’s patch, which you can read about below. There are also several goodies you can unlock today by pre-purchasing Ashes of Outland. But first. . .
Log in to get Kael'thas
Kael’thas Sunstrider, a Legendary neutral minion, is breaking free from Ashes of Outland and entering Hearthstone a month early! Starting March 17, all players can log in to receive* the Lord of the Blood Elves, who is playable immediately, and explore his unique power—with Kael’thas in play, every third spell each turn is free.
*Limit one per account. Must log in by June 29 to claim.
Introducing the Tavern Pass
With the release of Ashes of Outland, we’re introducing the Tavern Pass—an all-new way to access Perks for Battlegrounds. Available for $19.99 or 2500 Gold, the Tavern Pass includes four Arena Tickets and the following Battlegrounds Perks for the duration of the Ashes of Outland expansion cycle: advanced stats, visual emotes, a third and fourth hero to choose from at the start of a game, and early access to new Battlegrounds Heroes (subject to the release schedule of new Heroes).
If you currently have Battlegrounds bonus stats, choose from 3 Heroes, or visual emotes unlocked—you will get access to the equivalent new perk starting on March 26. Battlegrounds Perks earned from collecting Descent of Dragons packs (including the new perks such as choosing from 4 heroes) will expire once Ashes of Outland is released. With the introduction of the Tavern Pass, which is included in the Ashes of Outland Mega Bundle, players will no longer have to purchase card packs in order to unlock Battlegrounds Perks.
Pre-Purchase Ashes of Outland
Purchase one or both of the pre-purchase bundles available for Ashes of Outland, available in-game and on the Battle.net web shop through April 6!
Ashes of Outland Mega Bundle
The Mega Bundle includes 90 Ashes of Outland card packs, the Lady Vashj Shaman Hero, the Serpentine card back, and a random Ashes of Outland Golden Legendary card! You’ll also get 4 Arena Tickets and Descent of Dragons Battlegrounds Bonuses right away! The Battlegrounds Bonuses included in the bundle will upgrade to the Tavern Pass at the launch of Ashes of Outland.
Ashes of Outland Bundle
Includes 55 Ashes of Outland card packs, the Serpentine card back, and a random Ashes of Outland Golden Legendary card.
Card Changes
- Spiteful Summoner
- Old: Costs 7 mana → New: Costs 6 mana.
- Call of the Wild
- Old: Costs 9 mana → New: Costs 8 mana.
- Lesser Emerald Spellstone
- Old: Costs 6 mana → New: Costs 5 mana.
- Raza the Chained
- Old: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, your Hero Power costs (1) this game. → New: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, your Hero Power costs (0) this game.
- Yogg-Saron, Hope's End
- No longer stops casting when he leaves the board.
- Sludge Slurper
- Old: 1 Attack / 1 Health → New: 2 Attack / 1 Health.
Battlegrounds Hero Pool Updates
- Ragnaros, Sylvanas, and Patches have been removed from the pool.
- NEW HERO - Fungalmancer Flurgl added to the pool.
- Gone Fishing:
- [Passive] After you sell a Murloc, add a random Murloc to Bob's Tavern.
- Sir Finley Mrrglton added back to the pool.
- Adventure!:
- [Passive] At the start of the game, Discover a Hero Power.
- Professor Putricide added back to the pool.
- Rage Potion:
- [Passive] Give a friendly minion +10 Attack for the next combat only (targeted).
Battlegrounds Balance Updates
Heroes
- The Lich King
- Reborn Rites:
- [Cost 1] Give a friendly minion Reborn for next combat only. → [Cost 1] Give a friendly minion Reborn for next combat only (targeted).
- Ysera
- Dream Portal:
- [Cost 1] Refresh and add a Dragon to Bob's Tavern. → [Passive] At the start of your turn, add a Dragon to Bob's Tavern.
- Pyramad
- Brick by Brick:
- [Cost 1] Give a random friendly minion +3 Health. → [Cost 1] Give a random friendly minion +4 Health.
- Millhouse Manastorm
- Manastorm:
- [Passive] Minions cost 2 Gold. Refresh costs 2 Gold. Start with 2 Gold. → [Passive] Minions cost 2 Gold. Refresh costs 2 Gold. Start with 3 Gold.
- The Rat King
- King of Beasts, Mechs, Murlocs, Demons and Dragons:
- [Passive] Whenever you buy a Beast/Mech/Murloc/Demon/Dragon, give it +1/+1. → [Passive] Whenever you buy a Beast/Mech/Murloc/Demon/Dragon, give it +1/+2.
- Milificient Manastorm
- Tinker:
- [Passive] Mechs in Bob's Tavern have +1 Attack. → [Passive] Mechs in Bob's Tavern have +2 Attack.
- Deathwing
- ALL Will Burn!:
- [Passive] ALL minions have +3 Attack. → [Passive] ALL minions have +2 Attack.
- Reno Jackson
- Gonna Be Rich!:
- [Cost 4] Make a friendly minion Golden. (Once per game.) → [Cost 3] Make a friendly minion Golden. (Once per game.)
Minions
- Savannah Highmane
- Old: Tavern Tier 5 → New: Tavern Tier 4.
- Herald of Flame
- Old: 4 Health → New: 6 Health.
- Golden Old: 8 Health → Golden New: 12 Health.
- Steward of Time
- Old: 2 Attack → New: 3 Attack.
- Golden Old: 4 Attack → Golden New: 6 Attack.
- Kalecgos, Arcane Aspect
- Old: 2 Attack / 8 Health → New: 4 Attack / 12 Health.
- Golden Old: 4 Attack / 16 Health → Golden New: 8 Attack / 24 Health.
- Nathrezim Overseer
- Old: 4 Health → New: 3 Health.
- Golden Old: 8 Health → New: 6 Health.
- Twilight Emissary
- Old: Tavern Tier 5, 6 Attack / 8 Health, Battlecry: Give a friendly Dragon +3/+3 → New: Tavern Tier 3, 4 Attack / 4 Health, Battlecry: Give a friendly Dragon +2/+2.
- Golden Old: 12 Attack / 16 Health, Battlecry: Give a friendly Dragon +6/+6 → Golden New: 8 Attack / 8 Health, Battlecry: Give a friendly Dragon +4/+4.
- Transformation animations when playing a minion from hand will be sped up during the Recruit Phase, cutting down on the amount of time players are left waiting for animations to resolve.
Updates Planned for March 26
- Dr. Boom, Mad Genius
- Old: Cost 9 mana → New: Cost 7 mana.
- Giggling Inventor
- Old: Cost 7 mana → New: Cost 6 mana.
- Raiding Party
- Old: Cost 4 mana → New: Cost 3 mana.
- Reckless Experimenter
- Old: Deathrattle minions you play cost (3) less, but die at end of turn. (Cost can't be reduced below 1.) → New: Deathrattle minions you play cost (3) less, but die at end of turn.
- Card Pack Changes, Hall of Fame, Priest Update, updated returning player experience, and free deck for new and returning players - Read more here.
- Illidan Stormrage enters Battlegrounds.
- Wingmen:
- [Passive] Start of Combat: Your left and right-most minions attack immediately.
The new Ranked system kicks off on April 1! You can read more about it here. Follow us on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest.
FYI Ysera rocks now in battlegrounds..a guaranteed dragon every turn is dope..first game with her and finishing 1st
Everything was fine except until I read Tavern Pass, Battlegrounds was a fun mode and it's not pressed on ranked in normal mode. It will be very boring just choosing between 2 heroes for those who want to play differently.
Don't unnerf the Reckless experimenter, it will allow for OTK with SNIP SNAP to return with just 2 card for 5 mana (having any mech surviving on the board). You can add a mass dispell or any silence cards to easily get through taunts. Also Raza priest was OP in wild before it got nerfed. This will be OP again for sure.
Echo cards were all changed in the snipsnap nerf patch. Now no echo cards can be reduced to 0 mana.
Reverting Reckless experimenter will be fine
Wait a minute, Yogg is back to his glorious broken nonsensical self? I've waited for this day!!!! Thank you
so if we craft before march 26 dr.boom we get back the dust? :D
No you only get dust back on nerfs
and what about the priest hall of fame cards?
Y'know what is nice about Battlegrounds?
Just being able to play a game mode without feeling any pressure to rank up for rewards and having everyone on an even playing field without spending money
They are taking it in the complete wrong direction...
Awwwwhhhh yeeeaaaahhhh Machine Gun Priest and our lord and savior is back baby!
If they do it how they did pre-release BG, then it's just a temporary leg up over everyone else. Back then, pre-ordering let you play before others could and also gave you more choices than others had. Once the expansion released, it was fair game assuming people met the pack goals displayed within the BG interface. Dont worry dood.
THEY STILL DIDN'T CHANGE COBALT AND RAT PACK?!?
What the frickity frack Blizzard? Even a dumb monkey could've seen those cards needed a change. Even with Deathwing being nerfed to +2 attack, I could still see Rat Pack being a big problem - maybe not enough for it to carry to tier 6 now, but a single minion getting 5 attacks of at least 3 damage as early as tier 2 is a big deal. But Cobalt has been a problem since about the start of battlegrounds, so to not change it is baffling.
Here is what is stated:
"players will no longer have to purchase card packs in order to unlock Battlegrounds Perks."
It could definitely mean either but if you have to purchase the pass then the verb should have been "able." I am thinking that if you are no longer able to unlock perks by purchasing cards that it would have been made clear. It reads like a definite positive and I am sure that they are supporting us players who don't/can't spend much or any.
I cant believe shaman is getting yet another skin. Why shaman?
But on the other hand, if you DO play regular HS (but don't want to pay real money and/or preorder) then you're down 25 packs worth of gold. How much gold did the perks used to cost in card packs last time around? Did you have to buy 25? If so then this is a pretty strong negative for those people
It needed 30 packs when Battlegrounds launched for the current perks
yeah, but you got the perks on top of the 30 packs. Now it seems that you'd need to pay 2500 gold for the perks alone
Yes, very true. Now you'll just be 25 packs down for getting 2 extra heroes to choose from. Not gamebreaking, but I undestand that they wanted to monetize this mode.
I wont be getting the pass. 2 choices are enough for me when im only playing BGs for fun at around 6.5k rating
nice
Any update on android?