Hearthstone 29.4.2 Patch Notes – Balance Changes, Weekly Quest Updates, Bug Fixes

Blizzard just posted patch notes for 29.4.2. The update is coming later today (most likely around 10 AM PT / 19:00 CET). Since it’s a data-only patch, the mobile release should happen at the same time as the PC.

The patch is pretty huge, with a ton of balance changes, as well as the long-awaited Weekly Quest changes.

When it comes to Constructed balance changes, here’s what’s coming:

• Showdown! – Now costs 3 mana (previously 2 mana).
• Molten Giant – Now costs 22 mana (previously 20 mana).
• Thirsty Drifter – Now costs 7 mana (previously 6 mana).

As for the Weekly Quests – Blizzard opens with a short message from the Game Director Tyler Bielman. Apparently, the data confirms that new Weekly Quests “didn’t do their job of rewarding you for your time playing the game”. Who would have thought? The good news is that they changed the worst offenders, so “win 10 games” Quests, alongside a couple of others. In fact, two of the Quests changed in this patch are now objectively better than before all of this mess (and while “Play 10 games” is a sidegrade to “Win 5 games”, I also consider it more player-friendly). XP gain isn’t changing, so the extra XP we got in Patch 29.2 is staying. We’ll have a separate article analyzing the current state of Weekly Quests, but my first reaction is that if Blizzard released them in that way there would basically be no player complaints.

Find out more, including the changes to Weekly Quests, in the blog post below:

Patch 29.4.2, launching today, brings the following balance changes, Weekly Quest updates, and more!

Weekly Quest Updates

Before the Weekly Quests changed in Patch 29.2, we didn’t adequately communicate the changes that were coming, or our reasoning for them. That’s something we’ll keep improving on.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been listening to your experiences and looking at our data, and it’s clear that the new Weekly Quests didn’t do their job of rewarding you for your time playing the game. Going forward, we want to strike a much better balance between your time spent in Hearthstone and the rewards given by Weekly Quests.

So we’re making some more updates in this patch, reducing the requirements on the Weekly Quests that seem to be blocking player progression for many of you, while leaving the increased XP where it is. We hope these new changes will still reward you more while keeping Weekly Quests an attainable and fun goal for all players. We look forward to seeing how this iteration works out. Please keep the feedback coming! Thanks for playing, and we’ll see you in the Tavern.

– Tyler Bielman, Game Director

Win Games of Ranked

• Old: Win 10 games of Ranked Hearthstone.
• New: Play 10 games of Ranked Hearthstone.

Win Games of Arena, Tavern Brawl, or Battlegrounds

• Old: Win 10 games of Arena, Tavern Brawl, or Battlegrounds.
• New: Play 5 games of Arena, Tavern Brawl, or Battlegrounds.

Play Miniaturize or Mini cards

• Old: Play 32 Miniaturize or Mini cards.
• New: Play 10 Miniaturize or Mini cards.

Spend Mana

• Old: Spend 750 Mana.
• New: Spend 650 Mana.

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: It’s early after the launch of the Dr. Boom’s Incredible Inventions Mini-Set and the metagame is still developing, so we’re making just a few balance adjustments in this patch, aimed at addressing early outlier decks. All three of the target decks are a little too good at flooding the board too early and too efficiently. The Molten Giant change slows Warlock down slightly and also makes the play pattern a bit more dangerous, allowing more room for a counterswing. Showdown is an enabler for Zilliax, Sea Giant, and Prismatic Beam in Paladin, so we think it could be less efficient for that deck. Finally, Thirsty Drifter is another strong swarming card, particularly at higher levels of play, and our data indicates that deck would likely trend upwards if we didn’t adjust it here, too. 

Showdown

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Thirsty Drifter

• Old: [6 Mana]
• New: [7 Mana]

Molten Giant

• Old: [20 Mana]
• New: [22 Mana]

The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 29.4.2. (Core Set versions of cards can’t be crafted or disenchanted; access the craftable version of Molten Giant by selecting the “Legacy” filter in the Collection).

Battlegrounds Updates

Minion Pool Changes

The following minions have been removed from the minion pool:

• Kindly Grandmother
• Sly Raptor
• Gentle Djinni

The following minions have been added to the minion pool:

• Manasaber
• Rat Pack
• Lil’ Rag (with updates, see below)

Battlegrounds Card Changes

Rylak Metalhead

• Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Trigger the Battlecry of the minion to the left of this.
• New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Trigger the Battlecry of an adjacent minion. 
• Dev Comment: If there are Battlecry minions on both sides of Rylak, it will randomly trigger one. This is primarily a quality-of-life change after lots of reports from players frustrated that they or their Duos partner accidentally put Rylak in the wrong position and got no effect. 

Pokey Thornmantle

• Old: 4/5. At the end of your turn, your Blood Gems give an extra +1/+1 this game.
• New: 6/7. At the start of your turn, your Blood Gems give an extra +1/+1 this game.

Party Elemental

• Old: 4/2. After you play an Elemental, give a friendly Elemental other than it +1/+1.
• New: 3/2. After you play an Elemental, give a friendly Elemental other than it +2/+1. 

Deadstomper

• Old: 2/6
• New: 4/11 

Whirling Lass-o-Matic

• Old: 9/5
• New: 7/4 

Scrap Scraper

• Old: 5/5. Battlecry and Deathrattle: Get a random Magnetic Mech.
• New: 6/5. Deathrattle: Get a random Magnetic Mech. 

Winged Chimera

• Old: 1/5. When this takes damage, give a frliendly minion of each type +1/+1. (3 times per combat).
• New: 1/6. When this takes damage, give a friendly minion of each type +1/+1. (Twice per combat). 

Deep Blue Crooner

• Old: 4/4
• New: 2/2 

Spellbound Seafarer

• Old: 4/6. After you buy 4 cards, get a random Tavern spell.
• New: 3/5. After you buy 3 cards, get a random Tavern spell. 

Gunpowder Courier

• Old: 2/6. After you spend 5 Gold, give your Pirates +1 Attack.
• New: 1/6. After you spend 4 Gold, give your Pirates +1 Attack. 

Sister Deathwhisper

• Old: 4/10. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+3 permanently.
• New: 5/9. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give your minions +1/+3 permanently. 

Trigore the Lasher

• Old: 8/3. Whenever another friendly Beast takes damage, gain +1 Health permanently.
• New: 5/3. Whenever another friendly Beast takes damage, gain +1/+1 permanently. 

Iridescent Skyblazer

• Old: 3/8. Whenever a friendly Beast takes damage, give a friendly Beast other than it +1/+1 permanently.
• New: 3/7. Whenever a friendly Beast takes damage, give a friendly Beast other than it +1/+2 permanently. 

Murky

• Old: 6/4. Battlecry: Give a friendly Murloc +10/+10.
• New: 4/4. Battlecry: Give a friendly Murloc +4/+4 for each one you control. 

Hungering Abomination

• Old: 6/7. Avenge (1): Gain +1/+1 permanently.
• New: 4/5. Avenge (1): Gain +1/+2 permanently. 

Molten Rock

• Old: 3/2
• New: 3/3 

Flourishing Frostling

• Old: [Tier 4] 1/1. Has +1/+1 for each Elemental you played this game (wherever this is).
• New: [Tier 5] 2/1. Has +2/+1 for each Elemental you played this game (wherever this is). 

Lil’ Rag

• Old: [Tier 5] 6/6
• New: [Tier 4] 4/4 

Roaring Rallier

• Old: 3/4. Whenever a friendly Dragon attacks, give it +2/+2.
• New: 3/5. Whenever a friendly Dragon attacks, give it +2/+1. 

Amber Guardian

• Old: [Tier 3] 3/2. Start of Combat: Give another friendly Dragon +2/+2 and Divine Shield.
• New: [Tier 5] 7/7. Start of Combat: Give another friendly Dragon +7/+7 and Divine Shield. 

Timecap’n Hooktail

• Old: 2/5
• New: 1/4 

Impulsive Trickster

• Old: 2/3
• New: 3/3 

Oozeling Gladiator

• Old: 1/2
• New: 2/2 

Wrath Weaver

• Old: 1/3
• New: 1/4 

Backstage Security

• Old: At the start of your turn, deal 1 damage to your hero.
• New: Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to your hero. 

Fire Dancer

• Old: 5/2
• New: 6/3 

Defiant Shipwright

• Old: Whenever this gains Attack, gain +1 Health.
• New: Whenever this gains Attack, gain +1 Health permanently. 
• Dev Comment: This means it will now keep Health gained with this effect during combat. 

Fiery Felblood

• Old: 3/2
• New: 2/1 

Underhanded Dealer

• Old: 4/4
• New: 6/6 

Bream Counter

• Old: 5/5. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +3/+2.
• New: 4/4. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +3/+3. 

King Bagurgle

• Old: [Tier 5] 6/3. Battlecry: Give your other Murlocs +3/+3.
• New: [Tier 4] 5/3. Battlecry: Give your other Murlocs +2/+2.

Cloning Conch

• Old: [Tier 5]
• New: [Tier 4] 

Dreamer’s Embrace

• Old: [Tier 4]
• New: [Tier 5] 

Scavenge for Parts

• Old: [2 Gold]
• New: [3 Gold] 

Plunder Seeker

• Old: Steal a random card from the Tavern. Repeat for each friendly Pirate.
• New: Steal a random card from the Tavern for each Pirate you control. 

Duos-Only Card Changes

Orc-estra Conductor

• Old: 4/2. Battlecry: Give a minion +2/+1. (Upgraded for each Orc-estra your team has played this game).
• New: 4/4. Battlecry: Give a minion +2/+2. (Upgraded for each Orc-estra your team has played this game). 

Man’ari Messenger

• Old: [Tier 4] 8/5
• New: [Tier 5] 9/6 

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Battlegrounds] Removed Drakkari Embalmer from the Professor Putricide Hero Power pool due to an undesired interaction.
• [Collection] Fixed a bug where Standardized Pack wasn’t showing under the “NEW” tab in the Collection.

Source