Blizzard just posted patch notes for 28.6 which launches today. The patch should be live on PC shortly and then on mobile devices within the next couple of hours. Here’s a summary of what’s coming.
- Whizbang’s Workshop – The next Hearthstone expansion is called Whizbang’s Workshop and it drops on March 19. Learn more about it in the expansion announcement post.
- Early Access Epics – Players will probably get pissed about it, and honestly – rightfully so. It looks like pre-purchasing the next expansion will give you early access to two copies of Corridor Sleeper cards. Of course, the card will be available to all players once the expansion launches… but that’s over a month from now. If the card turns out to be powerful and played in competitive decks, it’s basically the first time when Hearthstone is truly “P2W”. That’s horrible and I really hope that Blizzard backs away from this decision. We’ll cover the situation in details later this week.
- 13 Free Cards – Log in to get a total of 13 free unique cards. On top of the 12 cards already announced yesterday (Harth Stonebrew + Gifts), we also get a regular X.6 patch expansion “teaser” card – Colifero the Artist.
- Big Battlegrounds Update – Battlegrounds is getting a hefty update. Quests are returning (probably once again temporarily), we have 7 new minions, 13 new Tavern Spells, as well as a lot of other card updates.
- 10th Anniversary In-Game Event – From February 27 to March 19, you will be able to obtain Golden versions of all of the Gift cards, as well as a new cosmetic Birthday Coin. Additionally, players will be able to obtain a special 10th Anniversary Card Back from March 11 (it’s not mentioned in the patch notes, but it was announced before).
- New Twist Format – “Fast Forward” – Twist returns in March with a new format, giving players a crash course in Hearthstone’s history. The format starts on March 1 with only Legacy (old Basic + Classic) cards available. Then on March 2 Curse of Naxxramas adventure is added. Then on March 3 we get Goblins vs Gnomes. And so on, and so on, with a new set every day. It’s an amazing idea, but I wonder whether players will be interested because the mode will be very inaccessible for people who don’t have a full Wild collection ready. Plus the extremely fast-changing meta will mean that you have to build or find new decks every day, which is very hard even for experienced players (for example, I doubt that I will be able to keep up and add new decks, doubly so because we’ll probably be in the middle of the reveal season then). After the March format, the Twist mode will be once again paused for April.
- Bug Fixes & Game Improvements – Just like every patch, we’re also getting a bunch of bug fixes and smaller game improvements. Probably the biggest news is that Hearthstone entered the final phase of the modular download project on mobile. Now you can choose whether you want to download Battlegrounds or not – for players who only plays the base game and not BG it will be a big deal as it will save them a lot of space.
Also be sure to check out the Year of the Pegasus announcement if you haven’t yet – it contains some more news not covered in this post. Check out the full 28.6 patch notes below:
Patch 28.6, launching today, introduces Hearthstone’s next expansion, Whizbang’s Workshop, brings Quests back to Battlegrounds, and kicks off 10-year anniversary celebrations throughout the Tavern!
Pre-Purchase Whizbang’s Workshop, Get Early Access Epics
Find your new favorite toy in Hearthstone’s next expansion, Whizbang’s Workshop, coming March 19! Whizbang is opening up the doors to his world-famous workshop—the place where all of Azeroth’s greatest toys are made. He’s got Wind-Up Toys, Miniatures, and nonstop nostalgia. Find a new favorite toy or build your own—you can make all your wishes come true in Whizbang’s Workship!
Whizbang’s Workshop has 145 all-new collectible cards. You can learn more about what’s in store in the Whizbang’s Workshop Announcement Blog. Two pre-purchase options are available now so you can be first in line once the expansion launches.
But wait, what’s that? Whizbang has a special surprise: each pre-purchase bundle comes with two copies of the Early Access Epic card, Corridor Sleeper.* You won’t want to sleep on this deal!
* 2 copies of Corridor Sleeper are included in each pre-purchase bundle and are playable immediately upon purchase. Early access period lasts from time of purchase until the launch of Whizbang’s Workshop on March 19. Once Whizbang’s Workshop launches, Corridor Sleeper can be disenchanted, crafted, and obtained through all other normal means.
Log in and Get Thirteen Cards for Free!
Log in to Hearthstone now to start the 10-year anniversary celebration with thirteen free cards! First, each of the 11 classes has brought a “Gift” card that lets you Discover an iconic spell from their class.
That’s not all! After 10 years of cheering you on, Harth himself is joining the fray! Play him and he replaces your hand with one of thirteen random 8-card iconic Hearthstone hands (one hand for each class, with the exception of Death Knight, which has one for each Rune).
And last, but not least, start your tour of Whizbang’s Workshop with the free Colifero the Artist Legendary minion! This talented artist paints over your whole board as copies of the minion he draws.
All 13 of these rewards are available upon login starting in Patch 28.6. After Patch 29.6, all the above login rewards will be granted upon opening your first Whizbang’s Workshop pack instead of upon logging in. Limit one copy of each login reward per account.
In-Game Event: 10 Year Anniversary
From February 27 to March 19, kick the party up a notch with an in-game event! Complete event quests to earn event XP and progress along a special event rewards track. Complete the Event Rewards Track to earn Golden versions of all the “Gift” cards, plus a special Birthday Coin.
Twist Seasonal Update: Fast Forward
This March, take a walk through Hearthstone history in Twist! On the first day of the season, only Legacy will be in the card pool. On the next day, Hearthstone’s first infusion of cards, Curse of Naxxramas, will be added to the card pool. The next day: Goblins vs Gnomes. Each day, the next infusion of cards will be added until we’ve fast forwarded through the entire history of Hearthstone (through Showdown in the Badlands)!
Demon Hunter and Death Knight will be unlocked in the Mode with the set that corresponds to their first appearance in Hearthstone. Starting in Patch 28.6, Whizbang the Wonderful will temporarily function in the same way he did at launch (decklists from The Boomsday Project). He’ll be reverted in a major patch after the Fast Forward Twist season ends. After the March season, the Twist Mode will be paused again for the April season.
Battlegrounds Updates
Quests are back in Battlegrounds again! From Patch 28.6 until the next Battlegrounds Season, Battlegrounds Quests will be in every game. As a reminder, Battlegrounds Quests are special tasks that guide your gameplay throughout your game. On turn 4, you’ll be offered a choice from three Quest-Reward pairs that will tell you what you need to do in order to progress your Quest and your Reward for completing it. How will Tavern Spells guide you on your Quest?
New and Returning Quests*
- Fill the Cauldron
- Cast 9 spells.
- Unlikely Duo
- Play 5 <minion type> or <minion type>.
- Invite the Guests
- Buy 6 minions.
- Dust for Prints
- Add 20 cards to your hand.
- Cry for Help
- Play 4 Battlecry minions.
- Exhume the Bones
- Trigger 7 friendly Deathrattles.
- Assemble a Lineup
- Summon 17 minions.
- Find the Murder Weapon
- Increase a friendly minion’s stats 14 times.
- Reenact the Murder
- Have 19 friendly minions die.
- Sort it All Out
- Order your minions from lowest to highest Attack for 4 combats.
- Follow the Money
- Spend 33 Gold.
- Hire an Investigator
- End your turn with unspent Gold 3 times.
- Crack the Case
- Have friendly minions attack 12 times.
- Pressure the Authorities
- Get your warband to 35 total Attack.
- Round Up the Suspects
- Destroy 18 enemy minions.
* Fill the Cauldron is new, the rest are returning. Track the Footprints and Burn the Evidence have not been returned to the Quest pool from last time Quests were in the game. The requirements listed here are the Quest baseline values. Quest baseline requirements are modified by several factors (including, primarily, the Reward they are paired with), so actual Quest requirements vary from game to game.
New and Returning Rewards*
- Beyond the Mirage
- Tavern spells cost (1) less.
- Temporal Tampering
- Your Tavern spells cast twice.
- Splitting Scroll
- Whenever you buy a Tavern spell that costs (3) or more, get an extra copy of it.
- Cycle of Energy
- Avenge (4): Get a random Tavern spell.
- Tumbling Disaster
- Whenever you summon a minion in combat, give it +1/+1. Avenge (4): Upgrade this permanently.
- Double-Headed Reward
- The first time you buy a card each turn, get an extra copy of it.
- Gift of the Golden Kobold
- After you Refresh 5 times, make the highest Tier minion in the Tavern Golden.
- Secret Culprit
- Get <a particular Tier 7 minion>.
- Open Auditions
- At the start of your turn, Discover a Buddy.
- Stash of the Scribe
- At the start of each turn, get 3 random Tavern spells.
- Stable Amalgamation
- Avenge (7): When you have space, summon a 50/50 Amalgam.
- Snicker Snacks
- At the end of your turn, 2 friendly minions trigger their Battlecries.
- Stolen Gold
- Start of Combat: Make your left and right-most minions Golden.
- Evil Twin
- Start of Combat: Summon a copy of your highest-Health minion.
- Ritual Dagger
- After a friendly Deathrattle minion dies, give it +4/+4 permanently.
- Anima Bribe
- After you sell a minion, give its stats to a minion in the Tavern.
- Devils in the Details
- At the end of your turn, your left and right-most minions consume a minion in the Tavern to gain its stats.
- The Smoking Gun
- Your minions have +4 Attack.
- Cooked Book
- After you buy a minion, give it +1/+1 and upgrade this.
- Mirror Shield
- After each Refresh, give a minion in the Tavern +4/+4 and Divine Shield.
- Secret Sinstone
- After you Discover a card, get an extra copy of it.
- Ghastly Mask
- Add <a particular “end of turn” minion> to your hand. Your end of turn effects trigger an extra time.
- Theotar’s Parasol
- At the end of your turn, give your right-most minion Stealth until next turn and +8 Health.
- Red Hand
- At the start of your turn, give a minion in your hand +12/+12.
- Victim’s Specter
- After each combat, get a copy of the last friendly minion that died.
- Another Hidden Body
- Discover a minion of your Tier. (Can be earned endlessly!)
- Alter Ego
- Even Tier minions in the Tavern have +7/+7. (Swaps to Odd next turn!)
- The Friends Along the Way
- At the start of your turn, get two random <particular minion type>.
- Menagerie Mayhem
- At the end of your turn, give your minions +1/+1 for each different friendly minion type.
- Pilfered Lamps
- You only need 2 copies of a minion to make it Golden.
- Yogg-tastic Tasties
- At the start of your turn, spin the Wheel of Yogg-Saron.
- Wondrous Wisdomball
- Occasionally gives helpful Refreshes.
- Essence of Zerus
- At the end of your turn, get a ‘Shifter Zerus’ which transforms into random minions.
- Hidden Treasure Vault
- At the start of your turn, gain 1 Gold. (Upgrades each turn!)
- Ethereal Evidence
- At the start of every turn, choose from 2 new Rewards.
- The Golden Hammer
- Spellcraft: Make a friendly minion Golden until next turn.
- Sinfall Medallion
- After you play a minion, give 2 other friendly minions of its Tier +2/+2.
- Kidnap Sack
- Spellcraft: Choose a non-Golden card. Move it to your hand.
- Enhance-a-matic
- At the start of your turn, get an Enhanced Part that gives +5/+5 and a random bonus. <Taunt, Windfury, Divine Shield, or Reborn>
- Partner in Crime
- Get your Golden Buddy.
- Ice Sickle
- Avenge (1): Give a minion in your hand +4 Attack.
- Soul Pact
- After you play a minion, give other minions of the same type +1/+1.
- Sturdy Shard
- At the end of your turn, give your minions without Taunt +1/+2 for each Taunt minion you control.
- Doppelganger’s Locket
- After each combat, Discover a non-Golden minion from your last opponent’s warband. It keeps enchantments.
- Timeline Acceleration
- At the start of your turn, get two Accelerators that transform a minion into one from a Tier higher.
- Invigorating Conch
- When you buy a minion, give its stats to a random friendly minion.
- Boom Squad
- Avenge (3): Deal 10 damage to the highest Health enemy minion.
- Divine Armor
- At the end of your turn, give the left-most minion in your hand +6/+6 and Divine Shield.
- Map of the Unknown
- After you play a minion of a type you don’t control, give a friendly minion of each type +2/+2.
- Bloodsoaked Tome
- Minions in the Tavern cost 2 Gold.
- Scepter of Guidance
- The Tavern always offers 2 <a particular minion type> when Refreshed.
- Endless Blood Moon
- Your Blood Gems give an extra +1/+1. At the start of your turn, add two to your hand.
- Turbulent Tombs
- Add <a particular Deathrattle minion> to your hand. Your Deathrattles trigger an extra time.
- Gilnean War Horn
- Add <a particular Battlecry minion> to your hand. Your Battlecries trigger an extra time.
* Volatile Venom and Tiny Henchmen have not been returned to the Rewards pool. All new Rewards (those at the top of this list) will appear twice as frequently for a limited time after launch.
New Minions
Eagill [Tier 3, Murloc/Beast]
- 7/1. Battlecry: Give another random friendly minion and a minion in your hand +2/+3.
Vengeful Slitherer [Tier 3, Naga/Undead]
- 5/1. Spellcraft: Give your minions +1 Health until next turn. Any that die next combat gain it permanently!
Saloon Dancer [Tier 4]
- 4/5. Taunt. Whenever you cast a Tavern spell, give another friendly minion +3/+3.
Augmented Laborer [Tier 5, Mech/Demon]
- 1/6. Avenge (4): Get a random Mecha-Demon.
Felboar [Tier 6, Quilboar/Demon]
- 1/4. After you cast 3 spells, consume a minion in the Tavern to gain its stats.
Deadstomper [Tier 6, Undead/Beast]
- 2/6. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +3 Attack.
- Dev Comment: This is a minion-type update to Felstomper (and a corresponding art update, too).
Whirling Lass-o-Matic [Tier 6, Mech]
- 9/2. Divine Shield. Windfury. Whenever this attacks, get a random Tavern spell.
Minion Updates
Yrel [Tier 2]
- 1/4. After this attacks, give a friendly minion of each type +1/+2.
Rendle the Mistermind [Tier 4]
- 4/5. At the end of your turn, steal the highest Tier card from the Tavern.
Utility Drone [Tier 4, Mech]
- 3/4. At the end of your turn, give your minions +1/+1 for each Magnetization they have.
Scrap Scraper [Tier 5, Mech]
- 6/5. Deathrattle: Get a random Magnetic Mech.
Blazing Skyfin [Tier 2, Dragon/Murloc]
- 1/3. After you trigger a Battlecry, gain +1/+1.
Peckish Feldrake [Tier 4, Demon/Dragon]
- Regular: 0/1. Battlecry: Consume 3 minions in the Tavern to gain their stats.
- Golden: 0/2. Battlecry: Consume 3 minions in the Tavern to gain double their stats.
- Dev comment: This is just an update to the Golden version.
New Tavern Spells
Fluidity [Tier 3, 1 Gold]
- Swap a friendly non-Golden minion with a random one in the Tavern.
Toxic Tumbleweed [Tier 4, 2 Gold]
- Start of Combat: Summon a 1/1 Tumbling Assassin with Venomous. It attacks immediately.
Channel the Devourer [Tier 6, 4 Gold]
- Remove a minion. Give its stats to a random friendly minion.
Scavenge for Parts [Tier 4, 4 Gold]
- At the end of your turn, get a random Magnetic minion. Lasts 3 turns.
- Only offered in Mech games.
Cloning Conch [Tier 5, 5 Gold]
- Get a copy of a Murloc in your hand.
- Only offered in Murloc games.
Guzzle the Goop [Tier 4, 4 Gold]
- At the end of your turn, give your Dragons +4 Attack. Lasts 3 turns.
- Only offered in Dragon games.
Boon of Beetles [Tier 4, 2 Gold]
- Start of Combat: Give your minions “Deathrattle: Summon a 2/2 Beetle.”
- Only offered in Beast games.
Butchering [Tier 4, 2 Gold]
- Destroy a friendly Undead. Your Undead have extra Attack equal to its Tier this game.
- Only offered in Undead games.
Suspicious Stimulant [Tier 3, 2 Gold]
- Freeze a minion in the Tavern. If it’s Frozen at the end of this turn, double its stats.
- Only offered in Elemental games.
Spitescale Special [Tier 3, 2 Gold]
- Get 3 random Spellcraft spells.
- Only offered in Naga games.
Corrupted Cupcakes [Tier 5, 3 Gold]
- Choose a friendly Demon. It consumes all minions in the Tavern to gain their stats.
- Only offered in Demon games.
Plunder Seeker [Tier 4, 6 Gold]
- Steal a random card from the Tavern. Repeat for each friendly Pirate.
- Only offered in Pirate games.
Gem Confiscation [Tier 4, 1 Gold]
- Play 2 Blood Gems on a friendly minion. It steals all Blood Gems from its neighbors.
- Only offered in Quilboar games.
Card Pool Updates
14 minions have been removed from the minion pool:
- Fairy Tale Caroler
- Transmuted Bramblewitch
- Observer of Myths
- Scourfin
- Withered Spearhide
- Relentless Mur’ghoul
- Mecha-Jaraxxus
- Imposing Percussionist
- Octosari, Wrap God
- Niuzao
- Bejeweled Duelist
- Trembling Trolley
- Adaptable Barricade
- Necrolyte
6 minions have been returned to the minion pool:
- Thorncaller
- Crackling Cyclone
- Yrel
- Rendle the Mistermind
- Tortollan Blue Shell
- Mantid Queen
2 Tavern Spells have been removed from the spell pool:
- Jaws of Fate
- Buddy Up
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
- [General] We have now completed the final phase of our modular download project for mobile devices. Players will now be able to selectively download Battlegrounds or remove it from their device through the download manager.
- [Hearthstone] Updated Eroded Sediment’s textbox to indicate that it can Discover from any class.
- [Hearthstone] School Teacher has gotten its teaching credential and can now teach Nagalings how to play Heat Wave and Misfire.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where The Primus’s Runes of Frost Ability’s effect is still active if first the card it applied to is Countered.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where a stolen Mirage would continue to turn into minions from the original owner’s deck, instead of the new controller’s deck, until played.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Mirage wouldn’t return to your hand if the minion played from it was a Dormant minion.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Thirsty Drifter’s cost would go back up if a 1-cost minion was returned to hand.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Shadow of Demise didn’t activate Quickdraw effects.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Crabatoa’s buff wouldn’t apply to a Claw after the Claw had its stats set to a particular number.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where attacks by Ogre-Gang Outlaw that are redirected to the Hero wouldn’t trigger “when your hero is attacked” Secrets—that would be illegal.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Deputization Aura didn’t apply to minions that were dying (relevant for cards like Spurfang that have Deathrattles based on their Attack at death).
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Spurfang didn’t summon anything if its Attack was over 10.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Shadowtouched Kvaldir’s effect would apply to all end of turn healing effects on the turn played, instead of just the first one to trigger.
- [Hearthstone] Raid Boss Onyxia has finally accepted Starlight Whelp as a Whelp.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Mutanus, the Devourer’s stat buff wouldn’t account for the eaten minion’s stat adjustments while in hand.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Cenarion Hold’s effect could be used up by a Choose One Hero Power.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where cards would lose their art under certain conditions, like when returned to hand.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where the Crafty Clash Legendary Strike could cause game freezes.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where using Chef’s Choice on an “All” minion could give a minion with no minion type.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Mama Bear’s effect was triggered if a Beast was rolled from Infinite Toki’s Hero Power.
- [Modes] Fixed a bug where Gift of the Old Gods didn’t Corrupt certain specific Corrupt cards.
- [Achievements] Fixed a bug where the Consecutive Calamity Achievement didn’t count “All” type minions.
- [Shop] Fixed a bug where Battlegrounds Hero Powers weren’t showing in portrait purchase screens.
- [Cosmetics] Fixed various bugs with skins’ emote texts.
- [Progression] Various bug fixes and improvements within the New Player Progression.
- Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.
