Blizzard has just announced a new, big update. Patch 22.4 will launch next Tuesday, on February 15, 2022. Here’s a quick summary of what’s coming:
Onyxia’s Lair – Alterac Valley mini-set was just announced. It will contain 35 new cards, card reveals starting later today.
Diamond Vanndar – All players will get a free Diamond copy of Vanndar Stormpike to commemorate the winners of Honor event.
New Battlegrounds Heroes & Cosmetics – Battlegrounds is getting three new Heroes – Varden Dawngrasp, Rokara and Onyxia. Kael’thas, Silas and Chenvaala are also added back to the pool after they were temporarily disabled due to a bug. We’re also getting new BG cosmetics – Battlegrounds Finishers. It’s as special animation that its played when you win a round (and an even bigger one when you deal 15+ damage). Also two new Battlegrounds boards will get added to the game.
Mercenaries Update & Event – We’ve got 5 new Mercenaries, new bounties, but maybe most importantly the first ever Mercenaries event. Players will get a chain of 10 tasks, two new ones will be available each day for the first 5 days of the event. Complete all of them to earn a new Chi-Ji Epic Mercenary, Chi-Ji portrait and over 1000 Coins for the new Mercs.
Duels Update – It’s a really small update with one Signature Treasure nerf – Infinite Arcane is now 7 mana up from 5.
Arena Rotation – Arena is finally getting a new rotation. The pool of cards will include: Fractured in Alterac Valley, Onyxia’s Lair, One Night in Karazhan, Blackrock Mountain, Journey to Un’goro, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan and Descent of Dragons.
Book of Mercenaries: Bru’kan – The next chapter of Book of Mercenaries launches on February 15. It’s the penultimate chapter, so it should nearly wrap the story of Year of the Gryphon.
Bug Fixes – Just like always, we’re getting a bunch of bug fixes and QoL changes.
Check out full patch notes below:
Patch 22.4, launching on February 15, includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, Arena, the new Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, and more!
Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set Launches on February 15!
Things are heating back up after the cold of Alterac Valley! Enter Onyxia’s Lair in the Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, coming February 15! After a year of growth, our heroes are max level and ready to raid with these 35 new cards. Get them in Fractured in Alterac Valley packs, or get the entire 66-card Mini-Set* for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. For the first time ever, we are also offering the option to buy an all-Golden set of all 66 Mini-Set cards for $69.99!
* 4 Legendary Cards (x1), 1 Epic Card (x2), 14 Rare Cards (x2), and 16 Common Cards (x2).
Diamond Vanndar is On His Way!
After a hard-fought battle, the Alliance claimed victory in the Battle for Alterac Valley! To commemorate their victory, all players will receive a free Diamond copy of Vanndar Stormpike upon login. Remember, even though the battle for Alterac Valley is over, you still have until the end of the Fractured in Alterac Valley expansion cycle to complete your personal event quest chain.
Battlegrounds Updates
NEW HEROES
Varden Dawngrasp
Twice as Nice
Passive. After Bob’s Tavern is Refreshed, copy and Freeze one of his minions.
Rokara
Glory of Combat
Passive. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, give it +1 Attack permanently.
Onyxia
Broodmother
Passive. Avenge (4): Summon a 2/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately.
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the three new Heroes before they are formally released on March 1.
HERO POOL UPDATE
Kael’thas, Silas Darkmoon, and Chenvaala have been returned to the Hero Pool.
BUDDY UPDATE
Snow Elemental (Chenvaala’s Buddy)
Old: [Tavern Tier 2] →New: [Tavern Tier 3]
NEW BUDDIES
Varden’s Aquarrior (Varden Dawngrasp’s Buddy)
[Tier 2, Elemental] 3 Attack, 5 Health. “Twice as Nice” also gives the copy stats equal to your Tavern Tier.
Icesnarl the Mighty (Rokara’s Buddy)
[Tier 4, Beast] 5 Attack, 2 Health. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, gain +1 Health permanently.
Many Whelps (Onyxia’s Buddy)
[Tier 2, Dragon] 4 Attack, 2 Health. Whenever you summon a Whelp, gain +2/+2 permanently.
NEW SHOP ITEMS (COSMETIC)
Bob is back with another way to add flair and personalization to the Tavern: Battlegrounds Finishers! Battlegrounds Finishers are animations that replace the default Attack animation whenever your Hero wins a round of combat.* Bob’s first Finisher, Astral Impact, is a two-stage Finisher. That means that it shows a special animation whenever your Hero wins a round and then an even bigger animation when you deal 15 or more damage to your enemy! Keep a look out for more cool Battlegrounds Finishers in the future.
In addition to the first-ever Finisher, Bob’s also bringing two new Battlegrounds Boards to choose from. On February 14, at 1 p.m. Pacific, join ninaisnoob on her YouTube channel for interviews with Cosmetics Production Lead Alicia Cornelia and Features Lead Chadd Nervig about Battlegrounds Finishers and the new boards! The Jade Gardens Battlegrounds Board, pictured above, will be available as soon as the patch launches. All other new Battlegrounds cosmetics, including the Astral Impact Finisher and the Cosmic Study Battlegrounds Board below, will become available starting on February 22.
* Battlegrounds Finishers are equipped globally, so any Hero you use will use your equipped Finisher whenever you win a round of combat. Both players will be able to see the winning player’s Finisher at the end of any round of combat.
Mercenaries Updates
NEW LIMITED TIME EVENT
Starting on February 22, Mercenaries will be hosting its first-ever limited time event! Complete a chain of 10 exciting event Tasks to harness the power of Chi-Ji, and strengthen all the August Celestials. Two new Tasks will be available on each of the first 5 days of the event, but you have until March 8 to complete all 10 Tasks. Complete all 10 Tasks to earn the Chi-Ji Epic Mercenary Card, a Chi-Ji Mercenary Portrait, and over 1000 total Mercenary Coins for the new Mercenaries! As you prepare for this event to begin, make your way through all the Alterac Valley Bounties and take special care to strengthen your Beasts and Dragons, which will be essential for some of these Tasks.
Celestial Breath 5 (Arcane): (Speed 7) Deal 19 damage to an enemy. Any excess damage continues right or left.
Starfire Blessing 5 (Arcane): (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) For two turns, gain +3 Arcane Damage and “After this Merc is damaged, deal 14 damage to a random enemy.”
Among the Stars 5 (Arcane): (Speed 1, Cooldown 1) Give an ally +13 Health and swap places with it. Enemy abilities targeting the Mercs swap targets (if possible).
Equipment:
Bottle of Infinite Stars 4: Among the Stars gives +4 more Health and also grants Health to your Dragons.
Kun-Lai Crystal 4: Among the Stars starts off Cooldown. Passive: +8 Nature Resistance.
Band of Bursting Novas 4: Battlecry: Gain +3 Arcane Damage for each of your Beasts and Dragons that has died this game.
Xuen (Epic Fighter)
Beast
9/76 Maxed Stats
Abilities:
Equalizing Stike 5: (Speed 7) Choose an enemy. Set this Merc’s Attack to 5 higher than the target and Attack them.
Pounce 5: (Speed 4) Borrow 5 Attack from all friendly characters for 2 turns. Attack an enemy.
Tiger Lightning 5 (Nature): Deal this Merc’s Attack damage to a random enemy. Deathblow: Gain +5 Attack and repeat this.
Equipment:
Spear of Xuen 4: Equalizing Stike sets this Merc’s Attack to an addition 4 higher than the target.
Celestial Chestplate 4: Pounce also steals 5 Attack from a random enemy.
Charged Gauntlets 4: Tiger Lightning gives an additional +4 Attack.
Niuzao (Rare Protector)
Beast
10/80 Maxed Stats
Abilities:
Headbutt 5: (Speed 7) Attack an enemy. If it has higher Attack than this Merc, deal 16 damage to it instead.
Bullish Fortitude 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Gain Taunt and your other characters take 5 less damage for 2 turns.
Blessing of the Ox 5 (Arcane): (Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Each time a friendly character is damaged this turn, give them Divine Shield.
Equipment:
Bullish Belt 4: Bullish Fortitude reduces damage taken by 5 more, but has +1 Cooldown.
Helm of Niuzao 4: Passive: -2/+16. After an enemy Attack this Merc, deal 5 damage to them.
Talisman of the Ox 4: Passive: After a friendly character loses Divine Shield, this Merc gains +6 Health.
Yu’lon (Rare Protector)
Dragon
8/85 Maxed Stats
Abilities:
Jade Gust 5 (Nature): (Speed 10) Deal 20 damage to an enemy. If they Attacked this turn, deal 40 damage instead.
Jadeflame Buffet 5 (Fire): (Speed 1, Cooldown 1) Block Taunt and Stealth on all other characters for 2 turns. Give your characters +10 Health.
Enveloping Mist 5 (Nature): (Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Gain Taunt and +3 Nature Damage. Repeat for each other friendly Dragon.
Equipment:
Jadefire Spear 4: Jadeflame Buffet gives an additional +5 Health.
Serpent Pendant 4: Enveloping Mist gives an additional +3 Nature Damage.
Pearl of Yu’lon 4: Passive: Your other Dragons take 4 less damage.
Chi-Ji (Epic Caster)
Beast
7/79 Maxed Stats
Abilities:
Blazing Song 5 (Fire): (Speed 3) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Gain +3 Heal Power.
Inspiring Song 5 (Fire): (Speed 4) Restore 10 Health to all friendly characters.
Firestorm 5 (Fire): (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Deal 5 damage to all enemies, and restore 5 Health to all allies. (Increased by Healing Power.)
Equipment:
Blazing Band 4: Blazing Song deals 4 more damage and gives an additional +2 Heal Power.
Staff of Chi-Ji 4: Inspiring Song restores 10 more Health.
Flameheart Crystal 4: Passive: After a friendly Beast is healed, give them +5 Health.
Long’xin, Xuen, Niuzao, and Yu-lon will all be available through all normal ways of acquiring a Mercenary, starting on February 15. Chi-Ji will be earned exclusively through the Chi-Ji 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 Alterac Valley Zone:
Rotimer
Ichman
Balinda Stonehearth
Ivus
Vanndar Stormpike
Kazakus
The Vanndar Stormpike and Kazakus Bounties will be added to the game after the conclusion of the Chi-Ji event. All other Bounties will be added on February 15, with the launch of the patch.
Duels Update
Infinite Arcane has been increased from 5 Mana to 7 Mana.
Arena Rotation
When Patch 22.4 launches on February 15, ongoing Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible card sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:
The shaman Bru’kan of the Darkspear clan has done his best to prepare the young Horde mercenaries for the battle ahead, but now the moment has come. The shattered naaru has reformed and its power has resurrected the vengeful warlock Tamsin Roame as a lich! Can Bru’kan tap into the elemental energies of Alterac Valley and summon Lokholar the Ice Lord to end the war and stop Tamsin? Find out when Book of Mercenaries Bru’kan launches on February 15. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will award 1 Shaman pack, containing only Shaman cards from Standard.
Bug Fixes & Game Improvements
There will now be a confirmation prompt when you attempt to concede a game before you would get quest progress for that game (like “Play 3 Games” Quests and the Alterac Valley Honor Quests). We have also loosened the requirements on counting those types of Quests.
When playing Maestra of the Masquerade, the premium level of Hero Powers will now match the premium level of the Hero (for instance, if you have a Golden Hero, your Hero Power will now be Golden, too), making for much better disguises.
A duplicate uncraftable version of Shadow Bolt will no longer appear in the Collection Manager.
Fixed a bug where Saidan the Scarlet could still get double-buffs from his effect, even after being Silenced.
Fixed a bug where certain Mana Ramp cards would not grant Mana Crystals if you played Wildheart Guff and had between 10 and 20 Mana Crystals.
Fixed a bug where playing Paralytic Poison on Kingsbane would cause the “Immune when attacking” effect to carry over onto any other weapons equipped during the game.
Fixed a bug where the Daio Chan Valeera Hero Skin would block Baku the Mooneater’s effect from upgrading the player’s Hero Power.
Fixed a bug where Lost in the Park (Druid’s Questline) would not progress the first time that Attack is gained after equipping Sphere of Sapience.
Updated the priority of several Cast When Drawn cards (including Fel Rift, Bleed, and Olgra, Mankrik’s Wife) to match that of cards like Soul Shards. One result of this change is that Runed Mithril Rod will now consistently discount the next card drawn after any Cast When Drawn card that activates Rod’s effect, instead of the Cast When Drawn card itself.
Fixed a bug in Battlegrounds causing Baby N’Zoth and Brann Bronzebeard to give an extra activation.
Fixed a bug where Baby Elekk would not trigger for a same-statted minion if the same-statted minion’s stats changed when played (such as when another minion is giving an aura stat-buff for that type of minion).
Updated the text of all Mercenary Task 7s from “Defeat 2 Heroic Bosses” to “Complete 2 Heroic Bounties.”
Fixed a bug that allowed players to place Mercenaries they do not own into the Training Grounds, causing some players to get locked out of the Training Grounds.
Fixed a visual bug causing Mercenaries Equipment Unlocks to show as one Task earlier than the actual unlock Tasks.
Fixed a bug where Anduin’s Task 11 was tracking Damage instead of Healing.
Fixed a bug where characters with Windfury could attack through Freeze.
Fixed a bug where Vanessa VanCleef’s Shifting Satchels Ability was respecting Taunt even though it’s a ranged Ability.
The stats of Eudora’s Cannons will now show on Prepare the Cannons and Primed Armaments.
Fixed a bug that blocked some players from entering Duels if a previous Duels run ended prematurely.
Fixed a bug that sometimes blocked the win/loss record from showing in Duels and Arena.
Fixed a bug that sometimes changed a player’s Favorited Card Back in a Friend Challenge.
Fixed a bug that prevented certain Card Backs from remaining marked as Favorited after logging out.
The Immoveable Object has finally been moved! Fixed a bug preventing the “You Are Not Worthy” achievement from tracking progress.
Misc. other performance improvements, bug fixes, and visual issues.
A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.
15th. Yep. Called it.
1.5 months to go is still okay-ish.
Between next expansion announcement, new year roadmap and teaser, I bet we have 1 month in between. I just hope they push the Core set better.
Tbf this doesn’t add more animations, it just replaces the currently existing one with a different one. There’s already a “damage dealing” animation in Battlegrounds, those will just look fancier.
15th. Yep. Called it.
1.5 months to go is still okay-ish.
Between next expansion announcement, new year roadmap and teaser, I bet we have 1 month in between. I just hope they push the Core set better.
“Fixed a bug that blocked some players from entering Duels if a previous Duels run ended prematurely.”
Do I get it right that mean the infamous Duels bug when you stuck on the reward screen and can’t do anything?
And, just to mention, the Immovable Object achievement still not in the list 🙁
I don’t know if you’re joking or what. But Paladin achievement bug fixes is right there on the list.
No, I am not joking, I am a complete idiot.
It is definitely there. Somehow slipped my attention. Shame on me 🙁
Players: “Animations make battlegrounds impossible to play at times, please remove them”
Blizzard: “Sooo, we heard you BG guys wanted more animations…”
Tbf this doesn’t add more animations, it just replaces the currently existing one with a different one. There’s already a “damage dealing” animation in Battlegrounds, those will just look fancier.