(Live Now) 24.0.3 Hearthstone Patch Notes – 5 Nerfs & 22 Buffs in Constructed, Battlegrounds Balance Changes, Duels Updates

Official patch notes for 24.0.3 update have just dropped and they’re really long. While all of the Constructed nerfs were already known (due to last week’s leak), there’s a TON of buffs that we didn’t know about, including some that are reverts of past nerfs. In fact, it’s one of the biggest balance updates in the history of Hearthstone. It looks like this time the top classes have only received a small slap on the wrist and the focus went into buffing the bottom classes instead. Let’s see how this approach works in practice.

The patch is scheduled to drop later today – if everything goes well, it should be out around 10 AM PT (19:00 CET) on PC. Keep in mind that mobile release might take a couple more hours, we’ll keep you posted. Update: The patch is live now! Looks like the patch is data-only so it’s out on mobile at the same time!

Here’s a full list of Constructed nerfs and buffs:

Nerfs

• Celestial Alignment – Now only affects the casting player.
• Stag Spirit Wildseed – Now gives a 3/2 weapon (down from 4/2).
• Snowfall Guardian – Now has 5/5 base stats and no longer gains stats for each frozen minion.
• Vile Library – No longer gives the base +1/+1 buff, only +1/+1 per Imp on board.
• Kobold Illusionist – Now costs 5 mana (up from 4).

All of those cards (or in the case of Stag Spirit, all of the cards generating it – Spirit Poacher, Stag Charge, Wild Spirits and Ara'lon) will be disenchantable for their full crafting cost for the next 2 weeks (until August 30).

Buffs

• Relic Vault – Now costs 2 mana (down from 3).
• Relic of Extinction – Now costs 1 mana (down from 2).
• Bibliomite – Now has 5/4 stats (up from 4/4).
• Magnifying Glaive – Now has 3/2 stats (up from 2/2).
• Abyssal Depths – Now costs 3 mana (down from 4).
• Battleworn Vanguard – Now has 2/2 stats (up from 2/1).
• Irebound Brute – Now costs 7 mana (down from 8).
• Legendary Invitation (The Countess) – Now costs 2 mana (down from 3).
• Stand Against Darkness – Now costs 4 mana (down from 5).
• Warhorse Trainer – Now gives your Silver Hand Recruits +2 Attack and Taunt (up from just +1 Attack).
• Promotion – Now gives your Silver Hand Recruit +3/+3 and Taunt (up from just +3/+3).
• Edwin, Defias Kingpin – Now is a 3 mana 3/3 (instead of a 4 mana 4/4).
• Sprint – Now costs 5 mana (down from 6).
• Silverleaf Poison – Now costs 1 mana (down from 2).
• Halkias – Now also has Stealth.
• Sanguine Depths – Now gives minion +2 Attack (up from +1 Attack).
• Imbued Axe – Now gives your damaged minions +1/+2 and has Infuse (2) to make it +2/+2 (instead of +1/+1 and Infuse (3) to make it +2/+2).
• Cruel Taskmaster – Now has 2/3 stats (up from 2/2).
• Tidal Revenant – Now gives 8 Armor (up from 5).
• Shield Shatter – Now deals 5 damage (up from 4 damage).
• Slam – Now costs 1 mana (down from 2 mana).
• Bash – Now costs 2 mana (down from 3 mana).

And that would be it for Constructed portion. If you want to learn more, check out Battlegrounds or Duels changes, or read dev comments, be sure to check out full patch notes below:

Patch 24.0.3, launching today, includes adjustments to Standard, Wild, Battlegrounds, and Duels, as well as a couple bug fixes!

Card Updates:

Dev Comment: The current power level of the top decks after the launch of Murder at Castle Nathria is pretty close to the level that we’d like it to be. We’re happy with decks like Imp Warlock and Control Shaman being powerful, but we’re less happy with the power level of the weakest classes. So while we did a few touches to the top decks with the goal of reducing play-against frustration, the primary goal of this patch was to elevate the classes that are struggling in the current meta.

The following cards have been adjusted down in their power:

Celestial Alignment

• Old: Set each player to 0 Mana Crystals. Set the cost of all cards in hands and decks to (1). → New:  Set your Mana Crystals to 0. Set the cost of all cards in your hand and deck to (1).

Dev Comment: We hear you. Alignment has been a frustrating card to play against for a while now and has remained that way after the release of Murder at Castle Nathria, even if it is not a balance outlier. This change is targeted at removing as much of that frustration as possible while still retaining the primary effect for players who enjoy the big turns it can allow.

Stag Spirit Wildseed

• Old: Dormant for 3 turns. When this awakens, equip a 4/2 Greatbow. → New: Dormant for 3 turns. When this awakens, equip a 3/2 Greatbow.

Dev Comment: The Wildseed package has been a fun addition to Hunter, but Stag Spirit Wildseed has been putting out more face damage than we intended. We hope Wildseeds will remain a key part of Hunter decks going forward, but will be a little less ubiquitous across all Hunter archetypes.

Snowfall Guardian

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Freeze all other minions. Gain +1/+1 for each Frozen minion. → New: 5 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: Freeze all other minions.

Dev Comment: Control Shaman has been one of the most dominant decks since the expansion launch. A big part of their power comes from their ability to repeatedly freeze enemy boards while also pressuring their life totals, thanks to Snowfall Guardian. We hope that by removing the pressure this card applies, it will be less difficult for players to navigate.

Vile Library

• Old: Give a friendly minion +1/+1. Repeat for each Imp you control. → New: Give a minion +1/+1 for each Imp you control.

Dev Comment: We’re happy to see that Imp Warlock has been one of the top performing decks in this expansion, but a little bit too much of its power is coming from the burst damage this single card allows. We’re lightly touching Vile Library because we don’t want it to go away, we just want to bring the deck more in line with the other decks in the meta.

Kobold Illusionist

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Dev Comments: Big Rogue has developed into a powerhouse that too consistently summons powerful minions too early in the game for players to meaningfully interact with. We’re adding a mana cost to Kobold Illusionist to slow the deck down and break up some of its consistency.

The above craftable cards, as well as Spirit Poacher, Stag Charge, Wild Spirits, and Ara’lon will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 24.0.3.

The following cards have been adjusted up in their power:

Relic Vault

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Relic of Extinction

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Dev Comment: Relics are a fun and flavorful new archetype from Murder at Castle Nathria, but they haven’t had their chance to shine. We’re hoping that a couple buffs will make these cards easier to squeeze into turns and make the whole package feel better to try in a variety of decks.

Bibliomite

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health → New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

Magnifying Glaive

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Durability → New: 3 Attack, 2 Durability

Dev Comment: We were a little too safe on the numbers for the new Aggro Demon Hunter cards. We hope these buffs will make the low-hand-size deck a little more appealing!

Abyssal Depths

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

Battleworn Vanguard

• Old: 2 Attack, 1 Health → New: 2 Attack, 2 Health

Irebound Brute

• Old: [Costs 8] →  New: [Costs 7]

Dev Comment: Demon Hunter has been struggling in a big way this expansion. We felt that changes to new cards alone might not be enough to bring the power level of this class in line with the rest of this meta. So we’re buffing a few older cards to help bridge the gap. We’re hoping that Abyssal Depths can now function as a powerful tool for a variety of Demon Hunter decks, new and old alike. The reverts to Battleworn Vanguard and Irebound Brute should make them more attractive options for the class. Broot me dood!

Legendary Invitation (generated by The Countess)

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: As the big reward for the Pure Paladin archetype, the Countess wasn’t, well, rewarding enough. This change should make her feel better in decks that are willing to pay the cost of cutting all Neutral cards.

Stand Against Darkness

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

Warhorse Trainer

• Old: Your Silver Hand Recruits Have +1 Attack. → New: Your Silver Hand Recruits have +2 Attack and Taunt.

Promotion

• Old: Give a Silver Hand Recruit +3/+3. → New: Give a Silver Hand Recruit +3/+3 and Taunt.

Dev Comment: The new Silver Hand archetype has come up much shorter than we hoped it would. Cards like Stand Against Darkness and Warhorse Trainer were simply not at the power level of modern Hearthstone, so we’re buffing them up to see what they can do in this new age. To top it off, Promotion now comes with a raise!

Edwin, Defias Kingpin

• Old: [Costs 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Costs 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health

Sprint

• Old: [Costs 6] →  New: [Costs 5]

Silverleaf Poison

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Halkias

• Old: Deathrattle: If you control a Secret, store Halkias’ soul inside of it. It resummons Halkias when triggered. → New: Stealth. Deathrattle: Store Halkias’s soul inside of a friendly Secret. It resummons Halkias when triggered.

Dev Comment: Card draw has traditionally been one of Rogue’s strengths, but it doesn’t feel like a strength in the current meta. The buffs to Edwin, Sprint, and Silverleaf Poison are all made with the intention of reinforcing card draw as a strength of the class. Miracle Rogue has not been overperforming in power, but we are aware it can win in frustrating ways, so we’ll be keeping an eye on how it develops following these buffs. We also wanted to show a little love to the new secret package. We’re starting with a buff to Halkias that makes him feel better to play, but we may revisit this package later if it needs additional support.

Sanguine Depths

• Old: Deal 1 damage to a minion and give it +1 Attack. → New: Deal 1 damage to a minion and give it +2 Attack.

Imbued Axe

• Old: After your hero attacks, give your damaged minions +1/+1. Infuse (3): +2/+2 instead. → New: After your hero attacks, give your damaged minions +1/+2. Infuse (2): +2/+2 instead.

Cruel Taskmaster

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health →  New: 2 Attack, 3 Health

Dev Comment: Along with Demon Hunter, Warrior has been struggling this expansion. A big part of that is that their new Enrage Warrior archetype hasn’t been nearly as powerful as we’d hoped it to be. These three buffs are targeted at improving the Enrage Warrior archetype, which we hope to see become a player in the metagame.

Tidal Revenant

• Old: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage. Gain 5 Armor. → New: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage. Gain 8 Armor.

Shield Shatter:

• Old: Deal 4 damage to all minions. Costs (1) less for each Armor you have. → New: Deal 5 damage to all minions. Costs (1) less for each Armor you have.

Slam:

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Bash:

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: We may have been a little over zealous when we were addressing Control Warrior in the last balance patch. We’re correcting that here. We’re also giving them a couple new tools in Slam and Bash, which might even make their way into non-control Warrior lists.

Battlegrounds Updates

• Lich Baz’hial has been moved to Armor Tier 1
• Dancin’ Deryl, Deathwing, Elise Starseeker, Guff Runetotem, and Sneed have been moved to Armor Tier 2

Hero Changes

Lich Baz’hial

• Old: Take 2 damage and add a Gold coin to your hand. → New: Take 4 damage. Gain 2 Gold this turn only.

Guff Runetotem

• Old: Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +3/+2. → New: Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+2.

Deathwing

• Old: Passive: Give ALL minions +2 Attack. → New: Passive: Give ALL minions +3 Attack.

Kael’thas Sunstrider

• Old: Every third minion you buy gets +2/+2. → New: Every third minion you play gets +2/+2.

Elise Starseeker

• Old: When you upgrade Bob’s Tavern get a ‘Recruitment Map’. → New: [Costs 1] Discover a minion from your Tavern Tier. Costs (1) more after each use.

Sneed

• Old: Give a minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion from a lower Tavern Tier.” → New: Give a minion: “Deathrattle: Summon a random minion from a Tavern Tier lower.”

• Dev Comment: This is only a clarifying text change, not a functional change.

Minion Changes

• Lieutenant Garr and Grease Bot have been returned to the minion pool.

Grease Bot

• Old: Divine Shield. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +3/+2 permanently. → New: After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+2 permanently.

Lil’ Rag

• Old: [Tavern Tier 6] → New: [Tavern Tier 5]

Gentle Djinni

• Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon another random Elemental and add a copy of it to your hand. → New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add another random Elemental to your hand and summon a copy of it.

• Dev Comment: This means that you will now receive the copy of the Elemental in your hand, even if you can’t summon it.

Evolving Chromawing

• Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health. After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, gain +1/+1 for each friendly Dragon. →  New: 1 Attack, 4 Health. After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, gain +1 Attack for each friendly Dragon.

Great Deal (Darkmoon Prize)

• Old: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (6). → New: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (5).

Duels Updates

• Brittle Bones now only triggers if an enemy minion is destroyed with a spell.
• Killmox, the Banished One is now counted as an Imp.
• Darius Crowley’s “Fire!” hero power reduced from 2 mana to 1 mana.
• Darius Crowley’s “Fire at Thee!” hero power reduced from 3 mana to 2 mana.
• Darius Crowley’s “Grizzled Reinforcement” signature treasure reduced from 6 mana to 5 mana.

Bug Fixes

• Corrected the text on two of Brightwing’s Mercenary Abilities.
• Removed Duels Achievements based on heroes not in the game.

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