Patch 18.0.2 - Balance Changes - Kael'thas, Illucia & Battlegrounds
Blizzard announced the first Balance changes for Scholomance Academy, including some Balance changes for Battlegrounds.
Tuesday Update: Patch now LIVE.
Quote from Alec DawsonMindrender Illucia was quite strong, stronger than what we want out of cards like Mindrender Illucia (Star Student Stelina, Glide, etc.). We expected players to continue to learn how to take advantage of her, especially in the early game.
Quote from Alec DawsonKael'thas Sunstrider created too many turns that didn't feel like they should be possible. This change is aimed at eliminating some of those non-games that could occur because of his ability.
Quote from BlizzardIn the coming days we’ll be releasing a balance patch that includes a slew of Battlegrounds updates, adjustments for two minions in Standard, and handful of bug fixes.
Standard Balance Updates
Kael’thas Sunstrider
- Old: Every third spell you cast each turn costs (0). → New: Every third spell you cast each turn costs (1).
Mindrender Illucia
- Old: [Cost 2] → New: [Cost 3]
Mindrender Illucia will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks after the 18.0.2 patch goes live.
Battlegrounds Minion Updates
- Gentle Megasaur has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
- Arcane Cannon has been removed from Battlegrounds minion pool.
Rabid Saurolisk
- Old: 3 Attack, 2 Health → New: 4 Attack, 2 Health
Rat Pack
- Old: [Tier 2] → New: [Tier 3]
Pack Leader
- Old: [Tier 3] → New: [Tier 2]
Monstrous Macaw
- Old: 3 Attack, 2 Health → New: 4 Attack, 3 Health
Primalfin Lookout
- Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 4]
- Now only Discovers minions from your current Tavern Tier or below.
Nat Pagle, Extreme Angler
- Old: Overkill: Summon a 0/2 Treasure Chest. → New: After this attacks and kills a minion, add a random minion to your hand.
- Minions generated are from your Tavern Tier or below.
Mama Bear
- Old: [Tier 6] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +5/+5.→ New: [Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +4/+4.
Goldrinn, the Great Wolf
- Old: Deathrattle: Give your Beasts +4/+4. → New: Deathrattle: Give your Beasts +5/+5.
Battlegrounds Hero Updates
- Lady Vashj has been removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.
Captain Eudora
- Buried Treasure
- Old: Dig for a Golden minion! (4 Digs left.) → New: Dig for a Golden minion! (5 Digs left.)
Reno Jackson
- Gonna Be Rich!
- Old: [Cost 2] → New: [Cost 0]
The Lich King
- Reborn Rites
- Old: [Cost 1] → New: [Cost 0]
Galakrond
- Galakrond’s Greed
- Now freezes the minion added to Bob’s Tavern.
Bugs Fixes & Game Improvements
- Fixed a visual bug with Archwitch Willow’s play animation.
- Fixed a bug where Southsea Strongarm was showing incorrect art.
- Fixed a bug where casting Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron with Rattlegore on board would cause the game to freeze.
- Fixed several technical bugs that would cause the game to crash.
Murlocs have absolutely everything, huge health, POISONOUS and even divine shield, which is thankfully gone now. At least they're not always the solution now.
Only if you also removed Toxfin. Get rid of all the poison, or all the divine shield. Leaving both in would just be a mistake.
I've come around to thinking getting rid of divine shield is the better way to go. Murlocs are now an attack-skew instead of a defense-skew, and that makes them feel different from the other tribes. Dragons and Mechs have divine shields, but feel pretty different, with scaling vs deathrattles. Murlocs and Beasts have poison, again scaling vs deathrattles (mostly). Demons and Pirates only have scaling, but they've got strong midgame pressure through Ripsnarl and Soul Juggler.
I do kinda wish there was a new minion for Murlocs, though... someone who cast essentially Soul of the Murloc on all your murlocs. That'd be kinda sweet. I guess I'll miss plants more than Divine Shield... I mean, I've won a game or two with Poison/Plants when I couldn't manage to roll Divine Shield, back in the Cobalt Guardian days.
"I believe that replacing megasaur with a card that is infinitely more OP for the purpose would fix the meta and make murlocs worse."
Yes, amazing profit of 0 dust!
eh,. thats for Kaelthasn not Ilucia
No, that's every card they nerf... If you craft it, and disenchant it, your net profit is 0.
Does this mean 18.1 will be skipped ?
tecnichally, 18.0.1 will be skipped
So, it's time to craft Mindrender Illucia, and get full refund?
Yes, when the patch comes
Doesnt work like that
So you pay 1600 dust to get 1600 dust?
no a dust refund, so you can craft her now, and then dust her for the full dust value when the patch comes
Being able to dust her for full value IS the refund.
You can't just make profit out of nerfs.
yeah, thats what i said, otherwise i'd add a "without the need of dusting a card" to my replies
FINALLY! What took them so damn long?! I'm gonna miss Arcane Cannon though. That minion was fun.
It was good in the early game when your hand was 7+ mana cost cards. You played it against druid and just steal their innervate/lightning bloom and if you were lucky enough you could even waste an Overgrowth. The hand the druid got that way was unplayable.
This also means you now can't steal 8 mana cards and there are many good 8 cost cards.
Ahhh ok thanks! Missed the megasaur part. Makes sense now.
Nerfing Illucia is totally unwarranted. Shes fine and takes a high skill cap to use effectively. Instead nerf something like puzzle box which swings the game and takes no skill to use. WTF blizzard
I can't agree more, maybe try make it like cast numbers of random spells of 5 mana or less. It is still luck dependent, but at least in some range that will not swing the game totally like now. It is beyond frustrating that the advantage you have been building for the whole game destroyed and turning you into disadvantage by one card.