Hearthstone: 23.2 Patch Notes: Battlegrounds & Mercenaries Updates, Heroic Brawliseum & New Game Features
Patch 23.2, launching on May 10, includes a fresh new Battlegrounds season, Mercenaries updates, new features, bug fixes, and more!
Battlegrounds Updates
» GENERAL UPDATES
- The inaugural Battlegrounds season, Rise of the Naga, begins with Patch 23.2!
- Battlegrounds Ratings will be reset when the patch goes live.
- Buddies will be leaving Battlegrounds with the patch.
- The cost to upgrade to Tavern Tier 5 has been reverted to start at 9 Gold.
- Heroes with transforming Hero Powers can now see the next stage of their Hero Power by hovering over it.
- Cards and Hero Powers with the text “for the next combat” or “for the next combat only” have all been updated to read “until next turn” for text space, consistency, and accuracy. This is not a functional change.
» NEW MINION TYPE AND KEYWORD
With the new season, Naga will be added to Bob’s Tavern. The spell-focused Naga will have their own unique new keyword, Spellcraft. Minions with the Spellcraft keyword grant a temporary spell each turn that tends to give a buff for the next combat. Learn more about Naga and Spellcraft in our Rise of the Naga preview blog!
For the first two weeks of the patch, Naga will be guaranteed in every lobby. Afterwards, they will go into the normal rotation of minion types in any given game. The total number of minion types available in every game won’t change with this patch—there will just be an extra minion type on the sidelines.
» NEW HERO
Queen Azshara
- Azshara’s Ambition
- Passive. When your warband reaches 30 total Attack, begin your Naga Conquest.
- When your Naga Conquest begins, Queen Azshara transforms into Naga Queen Azshara and gets a new Hero Power, below.
Naga Queen Azshara (transformed from Queen Azshara)
- Naga Conquest
- [1 Gold] Discover a Naga.
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Hero before it is formally released on May 24.
» NEW MINIONS
Mini-Myrmidon
- [Tavern Tier 1, Naga] 1 Attack, 3 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +2 Attack until next turn.
Shell Collector
- [Tavern Tier 1, Naga] 3 Attack, 1 Health. Battlecry: Add a Gold Coin to your hand.
Deep-Sea Angler
- [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +3 Health and Taunt until next turn.
Snail Cavalry
- [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 5 Attack, 2 Health. Once per Turn: After you cast a spell, gain +2 Health.
Lava Lurker
- [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 2 Attack, 5 Health. The first Spellcraft spell cast on this each turn is permanent.
Stormscale Siren
- [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 5 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, your Spellcraft minions cast their spells on themselves.
Shoal Commander
- [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +1/+1 for each friendly Naga until next turn.
Pashmar the Vengeful
- [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 4 Attack, 5 Health. Avenge (3): Get a Spellcraft spell of your Tier or lower.
Waverider
- [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 2 Attack, 8 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +1/+1 and Windfury until next turn.
Eventide Brute
- [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 5 Attack, 4 Health. After you cast a spell, gain +1/+1.
Eelbound Archer
- [Tavern Tier 4, Naga] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Spellcraft: Give a minion +8 Attack until next turn.
Reef Explorer
- [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Discover a minion from a minion type you don’t control.
Leeroy the Reckless
- [Tavern Tier 5] 6 Attack, 2 Health. Deathrattle: Destroy the minion that killed this.
Critter Wrangler
- [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 5 Attack, 7 Health. After you cast a Spellcraft spell on a minion, give it +2/+2.
Corrupted Myrmidon
- [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Start of Combat: Double this minion’s stats.
Glowscale
- [Tavern Tier 5, Naga] 4 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt. Spellcraft: Give a friendly minion Divine Shield until next turn.
Tidemistress Athissa
- [Tavern Tier 6, Naga] 7 Attack, 8 Health. After you cast a spell, give four friendly Naga +1/+1.
Orgozoa, the Tender
- [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 9 Health. Spellcraft: Discover a Naga.
Darkgaze Elder
- [Tavern Tier 6, Quilboar] 6 Attack, 7 Health. After you spend 4 Gold, play a Blood Gem on four friendly Quilboar.
Mantid Queen
- [Tavern Tier 6] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Poisonous. Start of Combat: For each of your minion types, gain +5/+5, Windfury, Divine Shield, or Taunt.
Young Murk-Eye
- [Tavern Tier 6, Murloc] 8 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, adjacent Murlocs trigger their Battlecries.
» MINION POOL CHANGES
- Champion of Y’Shaarj, Deadly Spore, Amalgadon, Seafood Slinger, and Captain Flat Tusk have been removed from the minion pool.
- Nightmare Amalgam has been returned to the minion pool, as a Tier 3 minion.
- Bristleback Knight has been returned to the minion pool, as a 5 Attack minion.
- Dev Comment: Amalgadon was fun while it lasted, but it led to endgame warbands feeling very similar over time. Amalgadon served three different roles in design: a flexible minion for all minion types, a menagerie driver, and a chance for a comeback against opponents who have scaled stats bigger than yours. It’s time for something fresh, so we’ve distributed those roles across a few minions in this patch: Nightmare Amalgam, Mantid Queen, and Leeroy the Reckless. Additionally, this change reflects an update to our Battlegrounds design philosophy: whenever we introduce a new minion type or major system, we plan to also release other minion pool changes like these in order to keep the game fresh, no matter how you play.
» ARMOR UPDATES
With Buddies leaving and an entire new minion type joining the game, most heroes are getting an updated Armor Tier in Patch 23.2.
- Arch-Villain Rafaam
- Captain Hooktusk
- Cookie the Cook
- Dancin’ Deryl
- Forest Warden Omu
- Fungalmancer Flurgl
- Galewing
- Ini Stormcoil
- Lord Barov
- Maiev Shadowsong
- Master Nguyen
- Millhouse Manastorm
- Mutanus the Devourer
- Queen Azshara
- Scabbs Cutterbutter
- Vol’jin
- Ysera
- Al’Akir
- Ambassador Faelin
- C’Thun
- George the Fallen
- Jandice Barov
- Kurtrus Ashfallen
- Malygos
- N’Zoth
- Patches the Pirate
- Sir Finley Mrrgglton
- The Great Akazamzarak
- The Lich King
- Trade Prince Gallywix
- Varden
- Xyrella
- Bru’kan
- Death Speaker Blackthorn
- Edwin VanCleef
- Millificent Manastorm
- Ragnaros the Firelord
- Shudderwock
- Silas Darkmoon
- Tavish Stormpike
- Tess Greymane
- Tickatus
- Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End
- Deathwing
- Dinotamer Brann
- Galakrond
- Greybough
- Kael’thas Sunstrider
- King Mukla
- Nozdormu
- Reno Jackson
- Sindragosa
- Zephrys, the Great
- Alexstrasza
- Aranna
- Captain Eudora
- Illidan Stormrage
- Lord Jaraxxus
- Mr. Bigglesworth
- Onyxia
- Patchwerk
- Rokara
- Skycap’n Kragg
- Y’Shaarj
- Cariel Roame
- Chenvaala
- Elise Starseeker
- Infinite Toki
- Overlord Saurfang
- Queen Wagtoggle
- Rakanishu
- Tamsin Roame
- The Curator
- The Rat King
- A.F. Kay
- Drek’Thar
- Guff Runetotem
- Lich Baz’hial
- Pyramad
- Sneed
- Vanndar
Mercenaries Updates
» GENERAL UPDATES
- Vanessa VanCleef, Leeroy Jenkins, and their respective Portraits, are now available through all normal means of obtaining Mercenaries.
- A new Fatigue system has been added to the Fighting Pit. Now, after 10 turns of combat, all characters will be in Fatigue and take double damage (which means 4x damage for Critical Hits).
- The “Refresh” keyword has been updated. Instead of fully finishing a Cooldown on an Ability, Refresh will now be written as “Refresh (x)” and reduce the Cooldown of an Ability by that amount.
- Completing all Bounties in the Wintersping Zone will now unlock the first Bounty in each subsequent Zone.
» NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT: N'ZOTH
When Patch 23.2 launches, the Old God N’Zoth’s influence will seep into Mercenaries with a new limited-time event. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around N’Zoth. Two new event Tasks can unlock on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until Patch 23.4 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will award you the base N’Zoth Mercenary, a random Golden N’Zoth Portrait, the N’Zoth Diamond Portrait, and over 750 total Mercenaries Coins! For the first time ever, Toki will return to her regularly-scheduled daily Tasks the day after you complete all 10 event Tasks, even if the event period isn’t over yet.
Be careful, N’Zoth’s whispers have driven many a merc to madness. You’ll need not just your wits, but also your strongest Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and, especially your Murlocs, to take this event down.
» NEW MERCENARY
N’Zoth (Legendary Caster)
- Old God
- 10/80 Maxed Stats
- Abilities:
- Spawn of N’Zoth 5: (Speed 5) 15 Attack, 15 Health. Rush. Immune while Attacking.
- Gift of N’Zoth 5: (Speed 6) Give a Minion +5 Attack and gain control of it. It Attacks a random enemy. Old Gods’ Abilities Refresh (2).
- Corrupted Viscera 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 5) Destroy your Minions. For each, deal damage equal to their Health to all enemies and restore 10 Health to this Merc.
- Equipment:
- Evolving Might 4: Spawn of N’Zoth gains “Deathrattle: Give a random friendly character +5/+5.”
- Corrupted Neurons 4: Gift of N’Zoth also gives the Minion +8 Health.
- Eternal Torment 4: Passive: At the start of each turn deal 4 damage to all enemies.
N’Zoth and its Portraits will not initially be obtainable through packs or crafting. N’Zoth, its Portraits, and its Coins will be able to be obtained through all normal acquisition means in Patch 23.4.
MERCENARY REWORKS
Blink Fox
- Mana Blink 5 (Ability)
- Old: Refresh your characters’ abilities. Their next ability is (5) Speed faster. → New: Your characters’ abilities Refresh (5). Their next ability is 5 Speed faster.
- Arcane Fling 5 (Ability)
- Old: Deal 10 damage. Arcane Combo: Deal 18 damage instead. → New: Deal 13 damage to an enemy. If it has not acted yet, deal 18 instead.
- Arcane Fang 4 (Equipment)
- Old: Arcane Fling deals 5 more damage. → New: Arcane Fling deals 7 more damage.
Robes of Rejuvenation (Anduin’s Equipment)
- Old: Passive: After a friendly Human dies. Refresh Holy Word: Salvation. → New: After a friendly Human dies, Holy Word: Salvation Refreshes (2).
Full Belly (Bounty Treasure)
- Old: Start of Game: Refresh this Merc’s abilities. → New: Start of Game: This Merc’s abilities Refresh (20).
Blitzing Legion (Rathorian’s Ability)
- Gained Fel Spell School
Terror Charge (Mannoroth’s Ability)
- Gained Fel Spell School
Howl of Terror (Mannoroth’s Ability)
- Gained Fel Spell School
Divine Assault (Tirion’s Ability)
- Gained Holy Spell School
Helm of Domination (The Lich King’s Equipment)
- Now deals Frost damage
Chilling Amulet (Varden Dawngrasp’s Equipment)
- Now deals Frost damage
» NEW ZONE AND BOUNTY
The new Darkshore Zone will be added to the Bounty Board, and the first Bounty in it, Corrupted Murlocs, will be available to be unlocked with Patch 23.2. More Darkshore Bounties will be added in a later patch.
Heroic Brawliseum Returns
On May 18, the Heroic Brawliseum is returning to Tavern Brawl for a week! Lock in your best Standard deck and compete for big prizes! The competition will be fierce, but top competitors will be greatly rewarded.
New Game Features
In the year of the Hydra, Hearthstone is focusing on improving existing game experiences and building a better, more player-friendly game client. With that in mind, we’re happy to share that three exciting new features will be coming to Hearthstone as soon as Patch 23.2!
» Upgrade to Golden
The long-awaited feature is now here! Fans of Golden cards will now have the option of Upgrading their normal cards into Golden versions, in addition to the original option of crafting Golden versions from scratch. The Arcane Dust cost to Upgrade a card is the difference between its base cost and the Golden cost. That means that you get the full dust value of any of your cards you decide to Upgrade! Now fans of Golden cards have an option to easily and efficiently bling out their favorite cards.
Developer Comment: We’re thrilled to get this feature out there and see how you all enjoy it. We wanted it to be a smooth and convenient experience, without getting in the way of the normal crafting flow. We knew from the start that we wanted this to be more than just a convenience feature; since it gives you the full dust value for any normal card you Upgrade, it’s also cheaper now to turn your normal cards Golden, making it more enticing for players to enjoy that attractive option!
» Share Deck Codes in Chat
Now you can easily share deck codes through the in-game chat! Send your friend a deck code and they’ll be able to quickly copy it directly from chat into their deckbuilder. Show off your cool homebrew or grab the latest tech from ladder with ease as you fill up both your friends list and your deck slots.
Developer Comment: Deck codes were one of the largest convenience improvements ever added to the game, but actually sharing those deck codes in-game was always rough. We set out to solve that issue and make this powerful sharing tool an even better experience.
» Favorite Multiple Card Backs
Lastly, you will be able to Favorite multiple card backs, instead of just one. This means that in each game you will randomly equip a card back from those you favorited. With so many great card backs now in the game, how could you choose just one?! Since card back settings are now saved on a deck-by-deck basis, out-of-match things like pack opening will use whatever settings you most recently selected.
Developer Comment: So many amazing card backs have been added to the game over the years, we felt like we needed to find some middle ground between picking one card back and picking randomly from your whole collection. Finding the exact user experience to solve this was a challenge that we’re looking forward to hearing player feedback on!
These are just the first of several quality-of-life improvements that we’re excited to develop this year. We’re working on tons of cool new features, including some that we hope to share very soon. Keep an eye out for more updates, and let us know if there are any features that you’d like to see added to the client.
More Golden Mini-Set Options
The Forged in the Barrens (Wailing Caverns) and United in Stormwind (Deadmines) Mini-Sets will be returning to the client with Patch 23.2. For the first time ever, they will be offered in either Normal or Golden versions, just like the Fractured in Alterac Valley (Onyxia’s Lair) Mini-Set currently is. Whether you just want a taste of last year’s hit cards, or you want to bling out your collection, there’s an option for you!
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
- Fixed a bug where Nellie, the Great Thresher and Queen Azshara could cause disconnects under certain circumstances.
- Fixed a bug where Improved Emergency Maneuvers would have inconsistent results if it triggered off the death of a Silenced minion.
- Fixed a bug where Seek Guidance would count itself towards its own Questline progression if it was played for 2, 3, or 4 mana.
- Fixed a bug where Cloaked Huntress would not reduce the cost of Secrets that were drawn by Dun Baldar Bunker.
- Fixed a bug where Swiftscale Trickster’s Battlecry reduced the cost of the next spell by the spell’s initial cost, instead of setting the spell’s Cost to 0.
- Fixed a bug where Raid Boss Onyxia would not glow “ready” on her first turn in play.
- Fixed a bug where Hero cards were unable to be Discovered from Resizing Pouch.
- Fixed a bug where High Abbess Alura’s Spellburst effect would have no effect if a “Choose an enemy” spell was selected.
- Fixed a bug where the in-game descriptions of the free New/Returning player decks didn’t update to match the updated decklists.
- Fixed a bug where the combination of Maxwell, Mighty Steed and Brann could cause Battlegrounds Buddies to cost Gold to play.
- Fixed a bug where Sr. Tomb Diver could “Goldenize” summoned tokens that were already Golden.
- Fixed a bug where a large number of repeated Leapfrogger activations could result in a skipped Recruit phase.
- Fixed a bug where the Darkmoon Prize “Time Thief” could offer multiples of the same minion, even if there were other minion options.
- Added new Mercenaries indicators to the Collection, Upgrade screen, and Bounty Board.
- Fixed a bug where Mercenary Portraits would sometimes automatically revert to basic Portraits.
- Updated Task descriptions that did not match their functionality.
- Fixed a bug where Captain Galvangar’s “Defend the Village” Task tracked Defender Boons instead of Fighter Boons.
- Fixed a bug where the “Ambush” Ability did not give Stealth upon Deathblow.
- Fixed a bug where equipping Wrathion’s Black Dragon Scales would not update the text of the Ability to match what the Equipment says.
- Fixed a bug where opening a blank Mercenaries team could cause crashes.
- Achievements that award Reward Track XP will now display an XP scroll icon on them so you can find them more easily.
- Legendary Quests that are tied to seasonal events will now expire at the end of that event. Any old Legendary Quests that are currently in your quest log will expire on May 24.
- Fixed a bug where external iPad keyboards did not work for in-game chat.
- Miscellaneous other bug fixes, text/art corrections, and performance improvements.
Sources: 23.2 Patch Notes & New Features Coming Soon! Blog Posts
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