In advance of today’s “Whispers of the Old Gods” expansion release in Hearthstone, Blizzard released a patch with a quite a few changes to the game. First and foremost, the expansion brings Standard and Wild formats to the games, as we’ve previously discussed. Those modes will be active at some point today, with the start of Hearthstone‘s Year of the Kraken. Other changes include changes to various classic cards, updates to the Friendly Challenge menu, new Deck Recipes, and much more.
Some of the key changes include:
- Friendly Challenge menu has been updated. Starting April 26, you can challenge friends to Standard, Wild, or Tavern Brawl games.
- The guaranteed pack from Arena Runs will now always be from the most recently released expansion. Additionally, you are slightly more likely to receive a second card pack from a different Standard set.
- The “Sorry” emote has been replaced with a new “Wow” emote. Wow!
- Resolved various issues with AI behavior and gameplay.
- Fixed various audio, graphical, and UI issues.
As mentioned above, some classic cards have received some pretty big changes, a.k.a. nerfs, in advance of the expansion release. The first time you login to the game after updating, you’ll be greeted with a screen showing all the nerfs. We’ve listed them below for you as well.
- Ancient of Lore – Now draws 1 card instead of 2
- Force of Nature – Mana cost decreased from 6 to 5, Treants no longer have Charge and no longer die at the end of the turn
- Keeper of the Grove – Health reduced from 4 to 2
- Ironbeak Owl – Mana cost increased from 2 to 3
- Big Game Hunter – Mana cost increased from 3 to 5
- Hunter’s Mark – Mana cost increased from 0 to 1
- Blade Flurry – Mana cost increased from 2 to 4 and only affects Minions
- Knife Juggler – Attack reduced from 3 to 2
- Leper Gnome – Attack reduced from 2 to 1
- Arcane Golem – Health increased from 2 to 4, no longer has Charge
- Molten Giant – Mana cost increased from 20 to 25
- Master of Disguise – Stealth granted by this card now only lasts until the start of the next turn
You can view the full details of and reasoning behind the card changes listed above on Blizzard’s Hearthstone blog. Don’t forget to check out how to get your 13 free “Whispers of the Old Gods” card packs, and let us know what you’re looking forward to the most in the newest Hearthstone expansion.
[button link=”http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20097359/hearthstone-patch-notes-50012574-whispers-of-the-old-gods-4-24-2016″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Blizzard (Patch Notes)[/button][button link=”http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20097355/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Blizzard (Card Changes)[/button]
