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.
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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.
Why the fuck are you complaining about the stuff you are getting for free?
If you lose and die to an already dead player as Mr. Bigglesworth,
it would be basically Kel'Thuzad killing his own cat.
"NOO! A CURSE UPON YOU INTERLOPER!"
How have you not figured out how mobile App Stores do their own checks for content, age appropriateness and malware and the releases aren’t direct controlled by Blizzard?
Well, having that in mind, they can push forward the update, say, 3 hours earlier
Doesn’t work like that, Blizzard will not know how long each mobile App Store take to approve admissions. They just release the patch when it’s ready.
Menagerie changes are good and should've been made ages ago.
Murlocs remain broken in battlegrounds. Sigh.
when could i create a fireside to open my bundles cards before release day?
You can create a private gathering on playhearthstone.com. Just make it for tomorrow .
How have they not figured out how to get the patch out at the same time on mobile and PC?
Mr. Bigglesworth doesn't seem good at all. No early power (unless someone places a minion and leaves) and when it does work first minions are from someone who died really fast, which might mean weak minions.
Feel free to point out something I missed that doesn't make Kitty that useless.
It doesn't help you stay alive, you're basically playing with nothing until someone dies - which will probably be you. Just horrible.
Played the hero twice and won both (at 8.2K). You have to survive early, but once people start dying you get strong very fast. If you get to pick a golden minion you also get the discover once you play it.
I'm sure I was on the good side of luck, but it did not feel that bad. I guess it will produce a lot of 1st and 8th places.
If you go a midgame build with 1-2 strong minions and slowly transition to Murloc as the greedy people go for it and die. Take their buffed Murlocs and go Murloc yourself at top 4.
Alexstrasza requires you to get to the late game to get a big reward. Bigglesworth seems much better than Alex too since you get more than one turn of payday if you survive.
Just play anything to survive and then take all the goodies from greedy players that died early.
They made a CAT a Battlegrounds Hero. Game mode officially peaked. All down hill from here.
@xskarma Any ETA when golden animations can be shown? OutofCards is whopping you guys on content.
where is the new game mode?