Hearthstone 26.0.4 Patch Notes – Death Knight Discovery Changes, Constructed, Battlegrounds & Duels Balance Changes + Bug Fixes

Patch 26.0.4 is going live right now! It was already teased two days ago (on Tuesday), but while we knew what cards (or Buddies in case of Battlegrounds) will get affected, we didn’t know the exact changes.

One of the changes is also systemic instead of affecting any particular card. Death Knight class can no longer Discover or randomly generate triple-rune cards. Not only triple of the same rune, but any mix of the runes too – as long as it requires 3 runes, it can’t be Discovered (Climactic Necrotic Explosion was already removed from the pool earlier, but it would also be affected by those rule change).

An extra note – the change only works when you Discover/generate it from a random pool of cards. If you discover from a smaller, already determined pool like a player’s hand or deck (e.g. Identity Theft), then Triple rune cards will still be discoverable. The change only affects adding cards “from outside of the game”. Those cards include cards that summon other cards (The Scourge can no longer summon triple rune cards) or let’s say play other spells (Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron or the likes will no longer play triple rune cards).

On top of those, we have tons of other changes. Only 3 Constructed nerfs, but also whopping 25 buffs! While I don’t expect every one of them to land, at least some should affect the meta. Other game modes also got a fair share of changes – both Battlegrounds and Duels should be refreshed by the patch.

It’s a data-only patch so it should land on mobile devices at the same time as on PC.

Check out full patch notes below:

Patch 26.0.4 is a data-only patch that includes bug fixes and balance updates to Standard, Wild, Battlegrounds, and Duels!

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: Overall, we’re pretty happy with meta diversity and power in Standard right now. There are a few outliers that we’re looking to reign in with this patch, but the bigger focus is on raising the power level of some of the new Festival of Legends cards and archetypes, so that they can compete with the stronger stuff and people can feel better about trying out these fun new strategies.

System Update

All Death Knight cards with any three-rune requirements (Frost-Frost-Frost, Blood-Frost-Unholy, etc.) are now removed from all Discover pools and random generation effects.

Dev Comment: Death Knight is very strong as a class right now, and this change weakens the class across the board. We’ve also received a lot of feedback that one of the more frustrating parts of playing against Death Knights is when they are able to generate additional copies of their powerful triple-rune cards—particularly when the card is one the deck didn’t have access to in deckbuilding.

Card Updates

The following cards have been adjusted to be less powerful:

Rowdy Fan

• Old: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +4 Attack while this is alive.
• New: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +3 Attack while this is alive.
• Dev Comment: Rowdy fan has gotten a lot of attention in combination with Lady S’Theno, a powerful combo at high levels of play. But even outside of that combo, it’s a card that is just a bit too efficient at its rate in a wide variety of decks.

Overseer Frigidara

• Old: 5 Attack, 6 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 6 Health
• Dev Comment: Death Knight has several strong decks, and Frost Death Knight stands out as the strongest of the bunch. We wanted to shave a bit more power off it by bringing one of its best cards more in line with the rest of the deck.

Twig of the World Tree

• Old: Deathrattle: Gain 10 Mana Crystals.
• New: Deathrattle: Refresh your Mana Crystals.
• Dev Comment: Twig of the World Tree is the best card in a really good deck leading to some frustrating play experiences in Wild right now. The interaction between Twig of the World Tree and Sphere of Sapience didn’t exist when Twig was first printed, so this change is to curb this card’s power level and bring it back closer to the original play pattern.

Rowdy Fan and Twig of the World Tree will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 26.0.4. Overseer Frigidara is a Core Set card, so it can’t be crafted or disenchanted.

The following cards have been adjusted to be more powerful:

Rock Master Voone

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Verse Riff

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [1 Mana]

Bridge Riff

• Old: [6 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Power Slider

• Old: 1 Attack, 2 Health
• New: 2 Attack, 3 Health

Shield Block

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Frightened Flunky

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

Thori’belore

• Old: Rush. Deathrattle: Go Dormant. Cast a Fire spell to revive Thori-belore! (Revives 2 times.)
• New: Rush. Deathrattle: Go Dormant. Cast a Fire spell to revive Thori-belore!

Dev Comment: Warrior had two major themes this expansion, menagerie and riffs, and neither of them landed at the level we were hoping for at launch. We’re buffing these Festival of Legends cards to give those themes a chance. We’re also buffing some older cards to help support the class generally. Shield Block is a card we now hope can become a definitional, powerful card that represents what Warrior is about. We’ll continue to monitor the class after these adjustments to determine if further changes are needed down the line.

Infinitize the Maxitude

• Old: Discover a spell. Finale: Return this to your hand at end of turn.
• New: Discover a spell. Reduce its Cost by (1). Finale: Return this to your hand at end of turn.

Audiosplitter

• Old: [3 Mana] 4 Attack, 3 Health
• New: [2 Mana] 3 Attack, 2 Health

Spitelash Siren

• Old: [5 Mana] 2 Attack, 6 Health
• New: [4 Mana] 2 Attack, 5 Health

Arcane Artificer

• Old: 1 Attack, 2 Health
• New: 1 Attack, 3 Health

Dev Comment: Mage got two major focuses in Festival of Legends: Light Show and DJ Manastorm. Audio Splitter and Infinitize the Maxitude can both fit into those decks, and others, so we hope these changes can help open up the class. As for the reversion to Spitelash Siren, what more can we say other than, “Naga, Spell, Naga…”

Stranglethorn Heart

• Old: [10 Mana]
• New: [8 Mana]

Halduron Brightwing

• Old: Battlecry: Give all Arcane spells in your deck Spell Damage +1.
• New: Battlecry: Give all Arcane spells in your hand and deck Spell Damage +1.

Dev Comment: Like Infinitize the Maxitude, Stranglethorn Heart is underperforming. We’re giving them both buffs because we want these Legendary spells to feel better to open and play. We’re also buffing Halduron to give some help to the Arcane Hunter package that has never had a chance to shine.

Jazz Bass

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

Altered Chord

• Old: Lifesteal. Deal 5 damage to a minion. Costs (3) less if you’re Overloaded.
• New: Lifesteal. Deal 6 damage to a minion. Costs (3) less if you’re Overloaded.

Flow Rider

• Old: [2 Mana] 3 Attack, 2 Health
• New: [1 Mana] 2 Attack, 1 Health

Lightning Storm

• Old: Overload (2)
• New: Overload (1)

Dev Comment: The new Overload Shaman deck has not performed where we wanted or expected it to, so we’re giving it help with all these changes. This change to Lightning Storm also puts it better in line with the other current 3-4 Cost AoE spells.

Crescendo

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Crazed Conductor

• Old: [5 Mana] 4 Attack, 5 Health
• New: [4 Mana] 3 Attack, 4 Health

Siphon Soul

• Old: [5 Mana]
• New: [4 Mana]

Dev Comment: Warlock is one of the weakest classes in the game right now, so we’re giving it some buffs to its new Fatigue package. We’re also bumping up Siphon Soul, which we think should help the class a little more generally.

Record Scratcher

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

MC Blingtron

• Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 5 Attack, 5 Health

Dev Comment: Rogue has some good decks right now, especially at higher levels. We didn’t want to further strengthen those existing decks, but we did want to give them some more options from their Festival of Legends set.

Holy Nova

• Old: [4 Mana] Deal 2 damage to all enemies. Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters.
• New: [3 Mana] Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions. Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters.

Dev Comment: Right now, Priest has some powerful aggressive strategies. This adjustment is to make its other decks—control and Overheal—more enticing. While some players were hoping for more Overheal support in this patch, Overheal is an evergreen mechanic that we hope and expect to evolve over time, including through additional future card drops, instead of just adjustments to our first batch.

Kiri, Chosen of Elune

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Death Blossom Whomper

• Old: [6 Mana] 7 Attack, 6 Health
• New: [5 Mana] 6 Attack, 5 Health

Dev Comment: Druid is one of the classes that has seen a lot of new Festival of Legends cards see play, and we’re pretty happy with where its expansion set has landed. We’re taking this opportunity to set a higher bar for the Core Set and to encourage more of the cool Deathrattle support the class got from Murder at Castle Nathria.

Battlegrounds Updates

Armor Adjustments

Heroes getting less Armor

• Chenvaala, C’Thun, Ini Stormcoil, Lady Vashj, Lord Jaraxxus, Millificent Manastorm, and Patches the Pirate all now have 5 Armor at lower ranks, but their Armor did not change at higher ranks.
• Silas Darkmoon now has 7 Armor at higher ranks, but his Armor has been increased to 12 Armor at lower ranks.
• Hesitbaron Togwaggle now has 10 Armor.
• Aranna Starseeker now has 10 Armor at higher ranks, but her Armor has been increased to 14 at lower ranks.
• Tess Greymane now has 12 Armor at higher ranks, but her Armor has been increased to 18 at lower ranks.

Heroes getting more Armor

• Teron Gorefiend now has 10 Armor at lower ranks and 15 Armor at higher ranks.
• Silas Darkmoon now has 12 Armor at lower ranks, but his Armor has been decreased to 7 at higher ranks.
• Infinite Toki now has 13 Armor.
• Aranna Starseeker now has 14 Armor at lower ranks, but her Armor has been reduced to 10 at higher ranks.
• Captain Hooktusk, Vol’jin, and Xyrella now have 15 Armor at lower ranks, but their Armor did not change at higher ranks.
• Tavish Stormpike now has 15 Armor at higher ranks, but his Armor did not change at lower ranks.
• Tamsin Roame now has 16 Armor.
• Queen Wagtoggle now has 16 Armor at lower ranks, but her Armor did not change at higher ranks.
• Illidan Stormrage now has 17 Armor.
• Zephrys, the Great now has 18 Armor at lower ranks and 13 Armor at higher ranks.
• Tess Greymane now has 18 Armor at lower ranks, but had her Armor reduced to 12 at higher ranks.
• Deathwing now has 18 Armor at lower ranks and 14 Armor at higher ranks.
• Ozumat now has 19 Armor.
• Lord Barov now has 19 Armor at lower ranks, but his Armor did not change at higher ranks.
• Kurtrus Ashfallen now has 20 Armor at lower ranks and 15 Armor at higher ranks.

Note: Aranna Starseeker, Silas Darkmoon, and Tess Greymane now has less Armor at higher ranks, but more Armor at lower ranks.

Buddy Updates

Dev Comment: This is our last expected patch of this Buddies meta. Battlegrounds Season 4 is coming soon with Patch 26.2. When it does, Buddies will be removed again to make room for a massive minion shakeup. But don’t worry, we’ll see our Buddies again one day. For now, hang tight. Season 4 details are right around the corner!

Bilgewater Mogul (Trade Prince Gallywix’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3]
• New: [Tavern Tier 4]

Magnus Manastorm (Millhouse Manastorm’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4]
• New: [Tavern Tier 5]

Nightmare Ectoplasm (Mutanus the Devourer’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 3 Health. When you ‘Devour’ this, spit its stats onto 2 extra minions.
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 4 Health. When you ‘Devour’ this, spit its state onto 1 extra minion.

And the quest gained from Shady Aristocrat (Sire Denathrius’s Buddy) has again been made harder to complete.

Duels Updates

Card Pool Updates

• Sister Svalna, Linecracker, Clockwork Automaton, Elwynn Boar, and Edwin VanCleef have been banned from the eligible card pools.

Hero Power Updates

No Guts, No Glory (Warrior)

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Lichborne Might (Death Knight – Sai Shadowstorm)

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Warmaster’s Frenzy (Neutral – Drek’Thar)

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Signature Treasure Updates

Devout Blessing

• Old: Add a copy of each Deathrattle minion that died this game to your hand. Allied: Priest.
• New: Add a copy of each friendly Deathrattle minion that died after your last turn to your hand. Allied: Priest

Ace in the Hole

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Moonbeast

• Old: [3 Mana] At the end of your turn, add a random Eclipse spell to your hand. Your Eclipse spells cost (0).
• New: [4 Mana] At the end of your turn, add both Eclipse spells to your hand. Your Eclipse spells cost (0).

Collector’s Ire

• Old: [7 Mana]
• New: [6 Mana]

Gift of the Old Gods

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Reno’s Crafty Lasso

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

Sr. Excavator

• Old: [6 Mana] Battlecry: Draw 2 cards. Any minions you draw cost (2) less.
• New: [5 Mana] Battlecry: Draw 3 cards. Any minions your draw cost (2) less.

Runed Soulblade

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Treasure Pool Updates

• Ancient Reflections, Bag of Holding, and Mask of Mimicry have been temporarily removed from all Treasure Pools.
• Royal Gift and Location, Location, Location have been moved to Treasure Pool 2.

Passive Treasure Updates

Eerie Stone

• Old: After you destroy a minion with a Shadow spell, add a copy of that minion to your hand. Reduce its Cost by (2).
• New: After you destroy an enemy minion with a Shadow spell, add a copy of that minion to your hand. It costs (2) less.

Brittle Bones

• Old: After you destroy an enemy minion with a spell, summon a Volatile Skeleton.
• New: After you cast a spell that kills an enemy, summon a 2/2 Volatile Skeleton.

Avenging Armaments

• Old: After a friendly minion loses its Divine Shield, give it +2/+2.
• New: After a friendly minion loses its Divine Shield, give it +2/+1.

Righteous Reserves

• Old: After you play a minion with Divine Shield, give a random friendly minion Divine Shield.
• New: After you play your first Divine Shield minion each turn, give a random friendly minion Divine Shield.

Mummy Magic

• Old: After you play a Deathrattle minion, give it Reborn.
• New: After you play your first Deathrattle minion each turn, give it Reborn.

Endurance Training

• Old: Your Taunt minions cost (3) less, but not less than (2).
• New: Your Taunt minions cost (2) less, but not less than (2).

Arctic Armor

• Old: After the first time you Freeze an enemy each turn, gain 1 Armor.
• New: After the first time you Freeze an enemy each turn, gain 2 Armor.

Edge of Dredge

• Old: After you Dredge, draw a card and shuffle your deck.
• New: After the first time you Dredge each turn, draw a card.

Unholy Gift

• Old: At the start of the game, shuffle 5 Death Knight cards into your deck.
• New: At the start of the game, shuffle 5 Lich King cards into your deck.
• Dev Comment: Unholy Gift and Rune Helmet now use the updated version of Obliterate.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Arcanite Ripper’s effect was not improving when damage and healing occurred at the same time (such as hitting yourself with Cheaty Anklebiter’s effect).
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Screaming Banshee did not work property when healing and taking damage at the same time (such as while attacking your Ashbringer into an enemy minion).
• [Duels] Added missing Festival of Legends and Rastakhan’s Rumble cards to Discover pools.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where one version of Crimson Clergy was banned while the other version was not.
• [Collection] Corrected in-collection “how to obtain” descriptions for various products.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where the first phase of the *Melomaniacal Laughter* achievement granted Battlegrounds Track XP instead of Rewards XP.
• [Localization] Fixed various localization issues.

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