Patch 18.0 - Scholomance Academy, Game Improvements, Battleground Changes & Legendary Quest Chain
Blizzard just announced patch notes for Patch 18.0, which adds Scholomance Academy into the game, Game Improvements, Battleground Changes & Legendary Quest Chain.
Updated information in the cardback section.
There are some parts that weren't included in patch notes
- New weapon frames are available in-game
- There are 2 new cardbacks
- Ranked September 2020 (left) - This cardback was created in the "Cardback creation live-stream by Luke Mancini"
- Ranked October 2020 (right)
- [NEW] Cupcake cardback will apparently be available for purchase when the expansion launches next week
Quote from BlizzardToday’s 18.0 patch includes a smattering of Battlegrounds updates and game improvements. Its arrival means Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Scholomance Academy, is almost here! All Scholomance Academy cards have officially been revealed and while you can't use the new cards until they’ve unlocked on August 6, you can get a head start on building your launch day decks with our online deck builder!
Battlegrounds Updates
NEW HERO
Mr. Bigglesworth
- Kel’Thuzad’s Kitty [Passive]
- When a player dies, Discover a minion from their warband. It keeps any enchantments.
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Mr. Bigglesworth before the hero is formally released on August 13.
NEW MINIONS
Menagerie Mug
- [Tier 2] 2 Attack, 2 Health
- Battlecry: Give 3 random friendly minions of different minion types +1/+1.
Menagerie Jug
- [Tier 4] 3 Attack, 3 Health
- Battlecry: Give 3 random friendly minions of different minion types +2/+2.
REMOVED MINIONS
- Zoobot has been removed from Battlegrounds
- Menagerie Magician has been removed from Battlegrounds.
Game Improvements & Miscellaneous Updates
- Class-specific weapon frames have been added to every weapon in Hearthstone.
- Scholomance Academy cards will be added to Arena when the expansion unlocks on August 6.
- Free decks for new and returning players have been updated (recipes can be found here).*
- Returning players no longer need to complete the returning player experience to claim their free deck.
- Poisonous damage now has a special poison damage indicator and effect.
- Pressing the Hide button on mobile when making a card choice in-game will now also hide the banner that describes the choice, no longer obscuring vision of the opponent’s armor total.
- Spells created by Evocation will now disappear at the same time at the end of the turn instead of one by one.
- Target indicators will now more accurately represent an opponent’s target selection when aiming a Battlecry or targeted spell.
- Removed a delay from the damage effect for Mad Bomber and Demolisher.
- Reduced the delay between casting Plot Twist and its shuffling animation.
- Fixed a bug where Galakrond, the Tempest was showing the upgrade animation over the deck upon the fourth Invoke.
- Fixed a bug where heroes would not slot back into their portraits correctly after attacking.
- Fixed visual display issues with Deathwing’s Battlegrounds hero power.
- Battlegrounds summon speed improvements for Pack Leader and Mama Bear have been re-introduced.
* Limited one per account. A returning player is defined as one who has not logged into Hearthstone for 120 consecutive days.
Free Class Legendary & Launch Quests
Starting August 6, players will receive a random Scholomance Academy Legendary class card just for logging in, and can complete a chain of Legendary Quests to earn a total of six Scholomance Academy card packs!** Quests will be initially available on the following dates:
- August 6, 10:00 AM PT / 19:00 CEST: Play 25 Cards in Play mode to earn 2 Scholomance Academy card packs.
- August 7, 10:00 AM PT / 19:00 CEST: Play 20 Spells in any mode to earn 2 Scholomance Academy card packs.
- August 8, 10:00 AM PT / 19:00 CEST: Win 3 games any mode to earn 2 Scholomance Academy card packs.
** Limit one random Legendary class card per account. Must log in by October 27 to claim.
My bet is they announce it in a couple of months
New hero sounds pretty interesting. Lets see how often it will proc some strong card... before you die of course).
If you go for a mid-game build and use dead players' cards to pivot to late-game it can be a pretty good strat.
Probably not the best place to say this but can players be given the choice to opt out from Battleground updates all together? This will decrease the app size on mobiles for those who want it and don't care much about Battlegrounds.
Yes please
To be honest it should've been made a separate game altogether, maybe with both casual and ranked modes and something simillar to brawl.
It doesn't really feel like hearthstone unlike all other gamemodes (even adventures still feel like you're playing the same game with gimmicks, same mana, same mechanics, simillar strategy), this one is drastically different from the game itself, it's like with warcraft 3 and moba, it was created in wc3 but it felt like a totally different gamemode, therefore instead of an official gamemode in the game the HotS was made.
At least that's my opinion.