Hearthstone 22.6 Patch Notes: Free Card, Battlegrounds & Mercenaries Update
Patch 22.6, launching today, paves the way for Voyage to the Sunken City, Hearthstone’s next expansion, with pre-purchase options, balance changes, and more!
Pre-Purchase Voyage to the Sunken City
Hearthstone’s next expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City, is coming on April 12! Dive right into the next Hearthstone year and the sights and sounds of the lost ancient city of Zin-Azshari. Dredge the ocean floor for sunken treasures, dodge Colossal sea creatures, and come face-to-face with the vengeful Naga.
Voyage to the Sunken City includes 135 new cards, inspired by the beautiful and terrifying mysteries of the sea. You can prepare for your voyage with two pre-purchase options, starting today!
Log in and Get Blademaster Okani for Free
Log in to Hearthstone to get your first taste of the Sunken City with the free Blademaster Okani Legendary minion! This skilled fighter knows many techniques, and can counter a spell or minion. Add him to your collection as you prepare to take on the fearsome Naga.
Battlegrounds Updates
» SYSTEM UPDATE
The Battlegrounds Armor System is back! Now that we’ve had some time with our Buddies, we’ve assessed how Buddies and Armor will interact and think it is a good time for Armor to return. At the start of this patch, these will be the armor ranges and placements:
- Tier 1 (0 Armor)
- A. F. Kay
- Bru’kan
- Cariel Roame
- Chenvaala
- Dancin’ Deryl
- Dinotamer Brann
- Elise Starseeker
- Fungalmancer Flurgl
- George the Fallen
- Guff Runetotem
- King Mukla
- Lord Barov
- Lord Jaraxxus
- Malygos
- Millificent Manastorm
- Onyxia
- Patches the Pirate
- Ragnaros the Firelord
- Tamsin Roame
- Tavish Stormpike
- Trade Prince Gallywix
- Vol’jin
- Xyrella
- Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End
- Ysera
- Tier 2 (2-5 Armor)
- Al’Akir
- Alexstrasza
- Cookie the Cook
- C’Thun
- Death Speaker Blackthorne
- Deathwing
- Kael’thas Sunstrider
- Maiev Shadowsong
- Millhouse Manastorm
- Mutanus the Devourer
- Nozdormu
- Overlord Saurfang
- Scabbs Cutterbutter
- Sir Finley Mrrgglton
- The Curator
- The Great Akazamzarak
- The Lich King
- Tickatus
- Y’Shaarj
- Zephrys, the Great
- Tier 3 (3-6 Armor)
- Arch-Villain Rafaam
- Captain Hooktusk
- Forest Warden Omu
- Greybough
- Rokara
- Silas Darkmoon
- Tier 4 (4-7 Armor)
- Captain Eudora
- Edwin VanCleef
- Kurtrus Ashfallen
- Lich Baz’hial
- Master Nguyen
- N’Zoth
- Patchwerk
- Rakanishu
- Reno Jackson
- Tier 5 (5-8 Armor)
- Drek’Thar
- Galakrond
- Galewing
- Illidan Stormrage
- Jandice Barov
- Queen Wagtoggle
- Sindragosa
- Skycap’n Kragg
- Tess Greymane
- The Rat King
- Tier 6 (6-9 Armor)
- Ambassador Faelin
- Infinite Toki
- Mr. Bigglesworth
- Pyramad
- Vanndar Stormpike
- Tier 7 (7-10 Armor)
- Aranna Starseeker
- Shudderwock
- Sneed
- Varden Dawngrasp
Just like before, we will continue to monitor gameplay after the system goes live and might end up making adjustments in future updates.
» NEW HERO
Ambassador Faelin
- Expedition Plans
- Passive. Skip your first turn. Discover a Tier 2, 4, and 6 minion to get at those Tiers.
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Hero before it is formally released on March 31.
NEW BUDDY
Submersible Chef (Ambassador Faelin’s Buddy)
- [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Add a random Tier 1, 3, and 5 minion to your hand.
UPDATED HERO
Shudderwock
- Snicker-snack
- Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]
NEW MINIONS
Swampstriker
- [Tavern Tier 1, Murloc] 1 Attack, 4 Health. After you summon a Murloc, gain +1 Attack.
Tad
- [Tavern Tier 2, Murloc] 2 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this, add another random Murloc to your hand.
Baby Krush
- [Tavern Tier 5, Beast] 7 Attack, 7 Health. Whenever this attacks, summon a 9/9 Devilsaur to attack the target first.
Friend of a Friend
- [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Discover a Buddy.
Some things are best left between you and your bestie. Buddies for the following heroes can’t be Discovered by Friend of a Friend: Bru’kan, Captain Hooktusk, Galewing, Jandice Barov, Kael’thas Sunstrider, King Mukla, Maiev Shadowsong, Malygos, Master Nguyen, Mutanus the Devourer, Overlord Saurfang, Silas Darkmoon, Tavish Stormpike, The Curator, The Rat King, Varden Dawngrasp, Onyxia, Queen Wagtoggle, Cookie the Cook, and Skycap’n Kragg.
» MINION POOL UPDATE
- Murloc Tidehunter, Old Murk-Eye, and Maexxna have been removed from the minion pool.
» UPDATED MINIONS
Acolyte of C’Thun
- Old: [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health.
Reanimating Rattler
- Old: [Tavern Tier 5] 7 Attack, 3 Health. → New: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 3 Health.
Strongshell Scavenger
- Old: [Tavern Tier 5] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]
Mythrax the Unraveler
- Old: At the end of your turn, gain +1/+2 for each minion type you control. → New: At the end of your turn, gain +2/+2 for each minion type you control.
Nosy Looter
- Old: 7 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 9 Attack, 8 Health.
Mercenaries Updates
» GENERAL UPDATES
- You will now be able to set different Equipment and Portrait loadouts for your different Parties using the same Mercenary; you will no longer be able to change these loadouts in the middle of a Bounty.
- When you get offered a Bounty Treasure for a Merc that already has a Treasure, you will be now offered the option to upgrade your current Treasure, instead of just keeping or replacing it.
- Chi-Ji is now available through all the normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary.
» NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT
Time’s up! Let’s do this! On March 22, Leeroy Jenkins is charging into Mercenaries with his own special event. The event consists of 10 special Tasks starring Leeroy and the Black Dragonflight! For the first five days of the event, you can get up to two event Tasks each day, but you have until April 5 to complete all 10 Tasks. Complete all 10 Tasks to get over 750 Mercenary Coins, the Leeroy Jenkins Legendary Mercenary Card, a Leeroy Jenkins Golden Portrait, and a Leeroy Jenkins Diamond Portrait. This event is not for the faint of heart! Orcs, Humans, Dragons, and Fighters will all be needed as you form your raiding parties for this event.
» NEW MERCENARIES
Leeroy Jenkins (Legendary Fighter)
- Human
- 11/69 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Wild Swing 5: (Speed 7) Gain +8 Attack for 2 turns. Attack a random enemy.
- Get Chicken 5: (Speed 2) Gain +10 Health and become Immune while Attacking next turn.
- Leeeeeroooy Jenkiiins! 5: (Speed 0, Cooldown 1) Attack all enemies, ignoring Taunt. All characters act immediately, in a random order.
- Equipment:
- Even Bigger Sword 4: Wild Swing grants an additional +8 Attack.
- Heals! 4: Passive: Restore 8 Health to this Merc whenever another one of your characters restores Health.
- Ninja-Looting 4: Passive: Gain +6 Attack whenever an enemy dies.
Vanndar Stormpike (Legendary Protector)
- Dwarf
- 13/83 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Thunder Strike 5 (Nature): (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If they survive, deal 6 damage to them and adjacent enemies. Their next ability is (1) Speed slower.
- Push Forward 5: (Speed 6) Friendly characters with Taunt gain +5 Attack and Attack an enemy.
- Avatar 5: (Speed 8) Gain +5 Attack (increased by Health lost). Attack an enemy.
- Equipment:
- The Unstoppable Force 4: Passive: +6 Attack. Can’t be Frozen.
- The Immovable Object 4: Passive: +7 Health. Taunt.
- Avatar of Stormpike 4: Avatar also restores 15 Health to friendly Dwarves.
Drek’Thar (Legendary Caster)
- Orc
- 10/73 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Blood Frenzy 5: (Speed 5) Give your Orcs +6 Attack until the end of the turn. Attack a random enemy. If you have Fel Corruption, Attack increases by +1.
- Spirit Guide 5: (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) 15 Attack, 20 Health. Battlecry: If you have Shamanism, gain Divine Shield and Rush.
- Fel Corruption 5 (Fel): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 19 damage to all enemies. Deal 5 damage to your other characters. (After a friendly Orc dies, this transforms into Shamanism 5.)
- Shamanism 5 (Nature): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Deal 19 damage to all enemies. Restore 10 Health to your characters.
- Equipment:
- Glacial Blade 4: Passive: +6 Attack. After this Merc Attacks a character, Freeze them.
- Drek’Thar’s Spellbook 4: Passive: Your characters have +5 Arcane Resistance.
- Shimmerweed Potion 4: Battlecry: Give your characters +10 Health.
Deathwing (Legendary Protector)
- Dragon
- 12/90 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Claws of Terror 5 (Fire): (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If it was damaged this turn, deal 8 damage to them.
- Elementium Armor 5: (Speed 1) Gain Taunt this turn. After being Attacked this turn, summon a 12/15 Elementium Terror with Bleed (3).
- Destroy All Life 5 (Fire): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to all characters. If any die, repeat this.
- Equipment:
- Heart of Unliving 4: Claws of Terror deals 5 more damage and affects adjacent enemies.
- Resolve of Undying 4: Passive: Restore 10 Health to this Merc after a friendly Elementium Terror is destroyed.
- Demon Soul 4: Passive: +4 Fel Damage. Whenever an enemy Dragon minion is summoned, gain control of it.
Onyxia (Epic Caster)
- Dragon
- 10/70 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Insolent Mortals 5: (Speed 4) Attack an enemy. If they have Taunt, first gain +6 Attack and then block Taunt on them this turn.
- Deep Breath 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Restore 15 Health to this Merc. Next turn, gain that much Fire Damage for 1 turn.
- Cleanse The Nest 5 (Fire): (Speed 8, Cooldown 1) Deal 15 damage to all enemies. Deathblow: Summon a 12/12 Onyxian Whelp.
- Equipment:
- Razor Sharp Claws 4: Insolent Mortals gives an additional +8 Attack.
- Deeper Breath 4: Deep Breath restores 5 more Health and is (1) Speed slower.
- Broodmother’s Rage 4 (Fire): Passive: When another friendly Dragon is destroyed, deal 7 damage to all enemies.
Nefarion (Rare Fighter)
- Dragon
- 15/75 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Drakonid Rush 5: (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. Summon a 12/12 Dragon which also Attacks them.
- Chromatic Infusion 5 (Shadow): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Choose a friendly Dragon. They steal 5 Attack from each other Dragon and restore that much Health.
- Shadowflame 5 (Shadow): (Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Each of your Dragons deals 15 damage to the characters opposite them.
- Equipment:
- Experimental Subjects 4: Drakonid gains +8 Attack and Divine Shield.
- Chromatic Dragonflight 4: Start of Game: Give your Dragons +6 Attack.
- Spare Parts! 4: Passive: After a Dragon dies, restore 10 Health to friendly Dragons.
Kazakus, the Golem Shaper (Rare Caster)
- Troll
- 10/75 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Shadow Claws 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Deal 6 damage to a random enemy. Repeat for each of your Golems destroyed this game.
- Build-A-Golem 5 (Shadow): (Speed 4) Choose a Golem. Summon it.
- Harder 5: Summon a 20/20 Superior Golem with Taunt.
- Better 5: Summon 2 8/8 Greater Golems with Divine Shield.
- Faster 5: Summon 3 6/6 Lesser Golems with Rush.
- True Shape 5 (Shadow): (Speed 8) Become a Dragon. Destroy your Golems and gain their stats. (Transforms into Reshape 5.)
- Reshape 5 (Shadow): (Speed 6) Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Recreate them as a Golem with 14 Health.
- Equipment:
- Mageroyal 4: Shadow Claws deals 4 more damage.
- Kingsblood 4: Passive: Your Golems are (4) Speed faster.
- Wildvine 4: Battlecry: Give friendly characters +4/+4.
These new Mercenaries, except for Leeroy Jenkins, will all be available through all normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary, starting on March 17. Leeroy will be earned exclusively through the Leeroy event until it is made available through the normal means of acquiring Mercenaries in the next major patch after the event is over.
» NEW BOUNTIES
Six new Bounties will also be added to the new Onyxia’s Lair zone:
- Smolderwing
- Dragonbone Golem
- SI:7 Smuggler
- Onyxia
- Undead Onyxia
- Mi’da Pure Void (unlocked after the Leeroy Jenkins event)
All new Bounties, except for the Mi’da Pure Void Bounty, will be unlocked with the patch. The Mi’da Pure Void Bounty will be unlocked after the conclusion of the Leeroy Jenkins event.
Book of Mercenaries—Dawngrasp
The Battle for Alterac Valley is over. Friends and foes have fallen. The mage Varden Dawngrasp of Quel’Thalas now has the difficult task of keeping the peace between the mercenaries long enough to stop the dragons and save the world! No big deal. Can they lead the raid against Onyxia and Kazakusan, restore the fallen naaru, and save Xyrella’s daughter? Find out when Book of Mercenaries—Dawngrasp, the final chapter, launches on March 15th. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Mage pack, containing only Mage cards from Standard.
Special Dwarf Skins Legendary Quest Chain
Once the patch launches, you’ll be able to complete a Legendary Quest chain awarding cosmetic skins for some of your favorite Hearthstone Dwarves. Complete this 5-part Legendary Quest chain to get three Tavish Hunter Skins, a Brann Battlegrounds Skin, and a Golden Vanndar Legendary Mercenary Portrait!
Acquiring any Portrait of a Mercenary unlocks use of that Mercenary with that Portrait. In special cases like this where you might get a special Portrait before the base Portrait for that Mercenary, you will only be able to play with your special Portrait, and you will still be able to receive the base Portrait from Mercenaries products. If you already own this Vanndar Portrait when you earn it from this Quest, you will receive 100 Legendary Vanndar Coins, instead.
Bug Fixes & Game Improvements
- Added the ability to play cards directly from your “mini-hand” on mobile, instead of first needing to tap to enlarge your hand.
- The Hunter Questline will no longer be progressed if the Hunter is damaged by a Cast When Drawn card that their opponent shuffled into the Hunter’s deck (such as Bombs or Agonies).
- Full-Blown Evil can now be played when there are no enemy minions for it to hit.
- Fixed a bug where Whelp Bonker was counted as a Whelp by Raid Boss Onyxia.
- Fixed a bug where Xyrella, the Devout’s Battlecry would not count Deathrattle minions that were Silenced before they died.
- Fixed a bug where Pride Seeker’s discount would not be consumed if the card played was a Choose One minion that transformed into a different minion when played.
- Fixed a bug where Pathmaker was creating game history tiles every turn while you had a Choose One card in hand.
- Fixed a bug where Cult Neophyte was increasing the cost of a Need for Greed that was drawn that turn.
- Fixed a bug where Tamsin’s Phylactery would not grant Rustwix Envoy’s Deathrattle effect.
- Fixed a bug where if you discovered a Ranked card from Palm Reading (such as Condemn), and the spelled ranked up, the spell would not get the Palm Reading discount.
- Fixed a bug where if Improved Ice Trap was played before Ice Trap, both would trigger off the same spell. Now, whichever is played first will trigger and the version played second will be saved for the next spell.
- Fixed a bug where Sir Finley and Sir Finley of the Sands’s effects could not be copied by Brilliant Macaw.
- Fixed a bug where Pilfered Power would sometimes refresh Mana Crystals instead of giving empty Mana Crystals when played with over 10 Mana Crystals.
- Fixed a bug where Unexpected Results did not account for temporary Spell Damage buffs.
- Friendly Wager, Saturday C’Thuns, I’ll Take That, and Spirit Swap hero powers will no longer be able to be triggered multiple times by Sous Chef and Elder Taggawag Buddies.
- Fixed a visual bug where minions stolen by the Loyal Henchman Buddy would sometimes show as Golden, but function like the plain copies they were supposed to be.
- Fixed a bug causing visual issues with Aranna Starseeker’s Buddy Meter the turn she transforms.
- Mercenaries event-locked Bounties will now include a “Coming Soon” message when selected.
- Updated Chi-Ji and Yu’lon’s Task 17s to both better match their respective Abilities.
- Fixed a bug where special event Tasks that required you to beat a Bounty with at least 3 Mercs of a particular type would not count if you reached the boss of that Bounty with less than that number of Mercs still alive.
- Fixed a bug where Balinda Stonehearth’s Frost Burn would not count as an Ability of either version’s spell school.
- Fixed a bug causing the Mercenaries Training Grounds search function to be unresponsive on tablet devices.
- Corrected a visual bug where Eudora’s “Prepare the Cannons” Ability stated a Cannon with 5 Attack would be summoned, instead of 0 Attack.
- Fixed a bug where Sinestra’s Wracking Swipe would activate off her own being a Dragon instead of checking for other Dragons.
- Fixed a bug where Gruul’s Dragonclaw Fist gave the wrong buff while an enemy Dragon was present.
- Fixed a bug where Edwin’s Assisted Strike Ability did not respect Taunt.
- Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Duels achievements from tracking properly.
- Fixed a bug where the Warden’s Insight Duels Treasure did not refill all your mana if your maximum mana was more than 10.
- Fixed a bug where if Transfer Student was in your starting Duels deck, its effect would not update with each Board.
- Fixed a bug causing players to get stuck in Tombs of Terror if they choose the Sr. Tomb Diver Signature Treasure.
- The Floor is Lava and Spiked Arms will now give their Attack buff first and then deal their damage, to be consistent with cards like Inner Rage and Cruel Taskmaster.
- Added missing Mini-Set achievements for Rogue and Demon Hunter.
- The mysterious achievement that was added in 22.4, but could not be completed at that time, can now be completed.
- Fixed a bug with the “Future So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades” achievement where it was not tracking properly.
- Fixed a bug causing “phantom” achievement notifications.
- Fixed a bug causing the Collection Manager “NEW” tag to refresh after each time logging back into the client.
- Misc. other bug fixes, text improvements, and performance upgrades.
Source: PlayHearthstone
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