Blizzard just posted full notes for the patch 29.0.3 teased 2 days ago. The patch is scheduled to launch later today – if everything goes right, it should be in 1 hour (10 AM PT / 18:00 CET). It’s a mid-sized update, mostly focusing on Constructed nerfs after Whizbang’s Workshop release, but also containing some Battlegrounds balance changes and bug fixes.
Here’s a full list of Constructed changes:
Nerfs:
- Tigress Plushy now costs 4 mana (previously 3 mana).
- Deputization Aura now gives +1 Attack and Lifesteal (previously +3 Attack and Lifesteal).
- Shroomscavate now costs 2 mana (previously 3 mana), but no longer gives Windfury.
- Awakening Tremors now gives you three 3/1 Worms (previously 4/1 Worms).
- Thrall's Gift now offers Lightning Storm as one of the options (previously Lightning Bolt).
- Aftershocks now costs 5 mana (previously 4 mana).
- Odyn, Prime Designate now costs 9 mana (previously 8 mana).
- Zilliax Deluxe 3000‘s Ticking Module (Costs 1 less for each minion in play) now costs 5 mana (previously 4 mana).
Buffs:
- Sky Mother Aviana now costs 5 mana (previously 6 mana).
- Frost Lich Cross-Stitch now costs 4 mana (previously 5 mana) and deals 3 damage (previously 4 damage). It still summons Water Elemental.
The patch also includes quite a lot of changes to Battlegrounds Quests and Minions and a few bug fixes.
Check out full patch notes below:
Patch 29.0.3, launching today, includes the following balance changes to Standard and Battlegrounds.
Hearthstone Updates
Dev Comment: We hope you’re enjoying Whizbang’s Workshop so far! We’ve seen you experimenting with lots of new cards and archetypes across most classes—and finding a few outliers. This patch is mostly to weaken those outliers and to offer a couple higher-confidence buffs based on early data.
The following cards have been adjusted to be weaker:
Tigress Plushy
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [4 Mana]
Deputization Aura
- Old: Your left-most minion has +3 Attack and Lifesteal. Lasts 3 turns.
- New: Your left-most minion has +1 Attack and Lifesteal. Lasts 3 turns.
Shroomscavate
- Old: [3 Mana] Give a minion Windfury and Divine Shield. Excavate a Treasure.
- New: [2 Mana] Give a minion Divine Shield. Excavate a Treasure.
Dev Comment: Paladin is the biggest power outlier since launch, with lots of damage from hand and healing. We like the overall play pattern of the deck, but we’re making these adjustments to tone down those two overperforming aspects of it.
Awakening Tremors
- Old: Get three 4/1 Worms. They cost (1).
- New: Get three 3/1 Worms. They cost (1).
Dev Comment: Hunter is another class that has overperformed in the early meta. Awakening Tremors is a card that has been played in almost all Hunter decks for some time now, and which can make for some really early snowballs. Shaving a little power from it should help keep other decks from falling too far behind as early as turns 1-2.
Thrall’s Gift
- Old: Discover a temporary Lightning Bolt, Hex, or Bloodlust.
- New: Discover a temporary Lightning Storm, Hex, or Bloodlust.
Dev Comment: Nature Shaman is primarily a sentiment outlier, with access to a lot of damage very early in the game. However, it’s also expected to get a better matchup spread after the other changes being made in this patch. This change removes some of that burst damage and redundancy in the deck. We think Lightning Storm is another good and flavorful option for Thrall’s Gift, weakening this specific deck, but offering options to other Shaman decks that weren’t there before.
Aftershocks
- Old: [4 Mana]
- New: [5 Mana]
Odyn, Prime Designate
- Old: [8 Mana]
- New: [9 Mana]
Dev Comment: Warrior is another class that is looking very strong in the early meta, and which is likely to get even stronger after the other changes in this patch. Aftershocks combined with Acolyte of Pain to let Warrior draw too quickly through its deck for its powerful late-game cards. We’re making these changes to make that endgame a little slower and less consistent.
Zilliax Deluxe 3000 (Ticking Module)
- Old: [4 Mana]
- New: [5 Mana]
Dev Comment: The reception to Zilliax Deluxe 3000 has been just about… perfection. We love all the different variations people are trying, but Ticking Module was proving to be a bit too efficient. We hope this change will bring this Zilliax more into line with overall power level and also encourage more continued Zilliax variety.
The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 29.0.3.
The following cards have been adjusted to be stronger:
Dev Comment: We don’t usually make buffs this early in a meta, but this time we were able to see a couple buff targets even in the very early data. We’ll keep an eye on these changes and look out for more opportunities in our next balance window, when we’ll have more data to inform these types of changes.
Sky Mother Aviana
- Old: [6 Mana]
- New: [5 Mana]
Frost Lich Cross-Stitch
- Old: [5 Mana] Deal 4 damage to a character. If it dies, summon a 3/6 Water Elemental that Freezes.
- New: [4 Mana] Deal 3 damage to a character. If it dies, summon a 3/6 Water Elemental that Freezes.
Battlegrounds Updates
Quest and Quest Reward Updates
The following Quests have been made easier to complete, but can no longer be paired with low-requirement Quest Rewards:
- Follow the Money
- Pressure the Authorities
- Dev Comment: These changes should reduce the frequency of Quest-Reward pairs that feel too easy or too difficult to complete.
The following Quests have been removed from the Quest Pool:
- Exhume the Bones
- Sort it All Out
- Dev Comment: These Quests had too many situations where they were either very difficult or trivially easy based on your early board, rather than the Reward they were paired with. Removing these two from the Quest Pool will make Quest-Reward pairings smoother and more consistent across games.
The following Quest Rewards have been made easier to earn:
- Splitting Scroll
- Gift of the Golden Kobold
- Temporal Tampering
- Anima Bribe
- Cooked Book
- Wondrous Wisdomball
- Boom Squad
- Bloodsoaked Tome
The following Quest Rewards have been made harder to earn:
- Sinfall Medallion
- Stable Amalgamation
- Tumbling Disaster
- Turbulent Tombs
- Gilnean War Horn
The following Quest Rewards have had their effects updated:
Sinfall Medallion
- Old: After you play a minion, give 2 other friendly minions of its Tier +2/+2.
- New: After you play a minion, give 2 other friendly minions of its Tier +4/+4.
Minion Updates
Moroes, Steward of Death
- Old: 5/1. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +1/+5.
- New: 5/2. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +2/+5.
Felboar
- Old: [Tier 6] 3/8
- New: [Tier 5] 2/6
Tichondrius
- Old: 4/4. After your hero takes damage, give your other Demons +1/+1.
- New: 3/3. After your hero takes damage, give your Demons +1/+1.
Living Azerite
- Old: [Tier 4] 4/4
- New: [Tier 3] 3/3
Wildfire Elemental
- Old: [Tier 3] 6/3
- New: [Tier 4] 8/4
Bream Counter
- Old: 5/5. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +3/+3.
- New: 6/6. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +2/+2.
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Shudderblock couldn’t deal damage to the enemy hero if played and then its effect was not consumed.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Warsong Wrangler could buff the King Krush hero skin. You can’t wrangle the King!
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where there were different versions of Air Elemental in Core and Journey to Un’Goro. Now, both versions will have 3 Attack.
- [Battlegrounds] Cloning Conch will remain removed from the Tavern Spell pool with this patch.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Turbulent Tombs, Gilnean War Horn, Secret Culprit, and Ghastly Mask had the wrong completion difficulty modifiers (sometimes making them too easy to complete, sometimes making them too hard to complete).
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Free-Flying Feathermane’s effect could trigger during the Recruit phase.
- [Progression] Fixed a bug where the “destroy Jepetto Joymancer” condition didn’t progress the Toymaker’s Trouble Event Quest.
- [General] Fixed various localization issues across languages.
For Aviana, since the synergy with Summer Flowerchild is lost. I think this is actually a nerf. (if there is someone who had a deck for it)
Shroomscavate make no sense, it would be better make the card shaman only (and remove divine shield), and switch another excavate card for shaman, for example the nature one that make 8 damage to a minion (and in this case give a random friendly minion divine shield).
I’m happy that Shroomscavate has no longer windfury. However the way it’s changed it doesn’t feel like a dual-class card anymore. Why not give it evolve or rush instead.