The 18.4 patch marks the beginning of the Masquerade Ball limited-time event and includes a major Battlegrounds update that welcomes Elementals as a new minion type! Beyond that, we’ve got a new Hearthstone Book of Heroes featuring Rexxar, the return of Dual-Class Arena, Legendary Quests and rewards, new Tavern Brawls, and more!
Please note that mobile players may need to log-in again after updating to 18.4.
At the end of your turn, give your left and right-most minions +4/+4.
» Chenvaala
Avalanche [Passive]
After you play 3 Elementals, reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (2).
» Rakanishu
Tavern Lighting [Cost 2]
Give a random friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier.
» Al'Akir the Windlord
Swatting Insects [Passive]
Start of Combat: Give your left-most minion Windfury, Divine Shield, and Taunt.
Tavern Pass Pricing
Starting September 28, the price of the Tavern Pass will be reduced for the remainder of the Scholomance Academy expansion cycle! Players with the Tavern Pass will have early access to these new Heroes before they are formally released on October 13.
New Battlegrounds Minions
Elementals will always be available in the minion pool until they join the rest of the shifting minion pool in a future update.
» Sellemental
[Tier 1, Elemental] 2 Attack, 2 Health
When you sell this, add a 2/2 Elemental to your hand.
» Refreshing Anomaly
[Tier 1, Elemental] 1 Attack, 3 Health
Battlecry: Your next refresh costs (0).
» Party Elemental
[Tier 2, Elemental] 2 Attack, 2 Health
After you play an Elemental, give another friendly Elemental +1/+1.
» Molten Rock
[Tier 2, Elemental] 2 Attack, 3 Health
Taunt. After you play an Elemental, gain +1 Health.
» Stasis Elemental
[Tier 3, Elemental] 4 Attack, 4 Health
Battlecry: Add another random elemental to Bob’s Tavern and freeze it.
» Arcane Assistant
[Tier 3, Elemental] 3 Attack, 2 Health
Battlecry: Give your other Elementals +1/+1.
» Crackling Cyclone
[Tier 3, Elemental] 4 Attack, 1 Health
Divine Shield. Windfury.
» Whirlwind Tempest
[Tier 4, Elemental] 6 Attack, 6 Health
Your minions with Windfury have Mega-Windfury.
» Wildfire Elemental
[Tier 4, Elemental] 7 Attack, 3 Health
After this attacks and kills a minion, deal excess damage to a random adjacent minion.
» Deadly Spore
[Tier 4] 1 Attack, 1 Health
Poisonous.
» Majordomo Executus
[Tier 4] 6 Attack, 3 Health
At the end of your turn, give your left-most minion +1 / +1 for each Elemental you played this turn.
» Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare
[Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health
After you play an Elemental, Elementals in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1 for the rest of the game.
» Lil' Rag
[Tier 5, Elemental] 4 Attack, 4 Health
After you play an Elemental, give a random friendly minion stats equal to the Elementals tavern tier.
» Tavern Tempest
[Tier 5, Elemental] 4 Attack, 4 Health
Battlecry: Add another random Elemental to your hand.
» Lieutenant Garr
[Tier 6, Elemental] 8 Attack, 1 Health
Taunt. After you play an Elemental, gain +1 Health for each Elemental you have.
» Gentle Djinni
[Tier 6, Elemental] 6 Attack, 8 Health
Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon another random Elemental and add a copy of it to your hand.
Battlegrounds Ratings Update
External Battlegrounds ratings will be reset for all players and a new progression system will be introduced. The new system is similar to the progression system players are familiar with from our constructed Ranked mode.
Players will see their rating reset to 0, and all new players will start with 0 rating. With every Top 4 placement, players will gain rating—up to 300 per win. A player’s rating will never go below 0, and they cannot lose rating until they’ve climbed above 2000.
Here are the nuts and bolts of how the new system works:
Between 2000 and 6000 rating, every 500 rating (2500, 3000, etc.) will act as a new rating floor where you cannot lose rating.
Below 6500 rating, players will earn a small bonus to their rating gains at the end of each match, which will in turn make for a faster climb.
Rating losses will remain consistent.
Matchmaking will now be done based on the player’s invisible internal rating, which we’ve been tracking since Battlegrounds launched. Internal ratings for players will not be reset and will not be affected by the above modifications to external ratings. When your external rating is lower than your internal rating, you will gain rating faster. Read more about the ratings update in our Dev Insights blog!
Please note that your rating will not visibly reset until you’ve played at least one Battlegrounds game!
Card Balance Updates
» Tortollan Pilgrim
Old: Battlecry: Discover a copy of a spell in your deck and cast it with random targets. → New: Battlecry: Discover a spell in your deck and cast it with random targets.
» Guardian Animals
Old: [Cost 7] → New: [Cost 8]
Tortollan Pilgrim and Guardian Animals will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 18.4 patch goes live.
Bug Fixes & Game Improvements
Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Micro Mummy would cause a crash when tripled. Micro Mummy has returned to the Battlegrounds minion pool.
Collection manager pages can now be scrolled with a mouse wheel on Mac and PC.
Galakrond will no longer lose its partially invoked status when being shuffled back into your deck from hand.
The mana reduction from Nature Studies is now cleared if the spell is countered.
Golden Sightless Watcher’s history tile now correctly shows the gold/non-gold status of the discover options, rather than forcing them to all be gold.
Mystical Mirage now restores your original hand correctly at the end of the turn when double cast from cards like Electra Stormsurge.
Dual-Class Arena
We’re giving all players one free Arena ticket to celebrate the return of Dual-Class Arena! When you start an Arena run during the Masquerade Ball event, you’ll choose a Hero before choosing a Hero Power from a different class. Card offerings will feature cards from BOTH classes, in addition to neutral cards!
October 7 – Masquerade Ball Tavern Brawl
Grab a costume, it’s time to dance! When you play a minion in this Tavern Brawl, it transforms into a minion that costs (2) more. When that minion dies, the original minion is revealed and re-joins the fight!
October 13 – Hearthstone Book of Heroes: Rexxar
Journey with Rexxar in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes and find true heroism in the heart of the wild! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Hunter Pack, containing only Hunter cards from Standard!
October 14 – Boss Battle Royale 3 Tavern Brawl
Dress up as big bad bosses from past battles and crash the party! The Boss Battle Royale 3 Tavern Brawl features 10 playable bosses, each sporting a unique Hero Power.
Playable bosses:
Dr. Boom
Mother Sharaz
White King
Cenarius
Baduu Prime
Kriziki the Winged
Lich Baz’hial
Rotwing
Hagatha the Vengeful
Illidan Stormrage
Complete Legendary Quests
Starting September 29, players can complete a chain of Legendary Quests to earn a total of 9 card packs! Quests will be initially available on the following dates:
September 29, 10:00 AM PT: Play Dual-Class Arena to earn 1 Scholomance Academy pack, 1 Ashes of Outland pack, and 1 Year of the Dragon pack.
October 6, 10:00 AM PT: Play 50 cards in any mode to earn 1 Scholomance Academy pack, 1 Decent of Dragons pack, and 1 Year of the Dragon pack.
October 13, 10:00 AM PT: Defeat Leoroxx in Hearthstone Book of Heroes: Rexxar to earn 1 Scholomance Academy pack, 1 Saviors of Uldum pack, and 1 Year of the Dragon pack.
Complete a Secret Quest
After a thorough examination of garments in our lost and found cupboard, Transfer Student has embarked on a laborious journey to find the perfect costume for the Masquerade Ball! We’ve identified an itinerary in the dormitory that outlines an intention to visit Dalaran, Uldum, Dragonblight, and the Black Temple. Scribbled on the back is mention of playing Rexxar’s tale in Hearthstone Book of Heroes, and at least one match in both Battlegrounds and Arena.
Retrace their steps and you’ll be rewarded with two golden copies of Transfer Student! Good luck!