The Hearthstone 18.4 patch is shaping up to be one of the most substantial Hearthstone patches in some time; not only does the patch see the introduction of Elementals as a brand-new minion type in Battlegrounds, along with well-known Elementals such as Ragnaros the Firelord, Chenvaala, and Al’Akir the Windlord being added to the Battlegrounds Heroes pool, it also sees the addition of a slew of a new Elemental-related minions like Majordomo Executus, Lieutenant Garr and Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare. In addition, Hearthstone 18.4 patch will implement a brand-new Battlegrounds ratings system, players seeing their ratings reset to 0 and a new matchmaking system update.
Card nerfs include changes to staple Turtle Mage card Tortollan Pilgrim, which will now discover an actual Spell from a player’s deck instead of a copy of it and a mana-cost increase to Guardian Animals.
The Hearthstone 18.4 patch will also see the start of the Masquerade Ball limited time event, which will introduce Halloween-themed game modes, such as Dual-Class Arena, a Rise of the Zombeasts Tavern Brawl, a Scholomance Academy Masquerade Ball Tavern Brawl and the Boss Battle Royale 3 Tavern Brawl, which will allow players to assume control of bosses such as Dr. Boom, Mother Sharaz, Cenarius, Illidan Stormrage and more.
Finally, after last month’s Jaina Proudmoore Book of Heroes solo adventure, Hunter hero Rexxar has been revealed as the focus for the next Book of Heroes mission.
Check out the full patch notes per the official Blizzard press release.
Hearthstone 18.4 patch notes
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.
New Battlegrounds Heroes
Ragnaros the Firelord
- DIE, INSECTS! [Passive]
- After you kill 20 enemy minions, get Sulfuras.
- Sulfuras [Passive]
- 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.
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!
Which component of Hearthstone 18.4 patch are you looking forward to seeing implemented most? Sound off in the comments.
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