Some new changes are coming to Arena in patch 10.4 according to this new Hearthstone Designer Insights video with Kris Zierhut.
Each Arena pick will be shown by relative power level rather than all of the same rarity. This means you can see commons, rares, and epics together. Legendaries will still be shown in threes. Picks 1, 10, 20, and 30 will still be Rare or better, but they’ve disabled the boost to seeing cards from the recent expansion (temporarily).
They’ve decreased the chance to see cards of below average value. Cards of different rarities still have approximately the same chance to be shown previously, but now they can be shown alongside other rarities.
Arena Exclusives from BlizzCon coming in the new patch! One card for each class!
Official Blizzard Post
Here’s a quick recap of the upcoming Arena changes:
- Each Arena pick in a draft will feature three cards of relatively equal power level, but different rarities.
- Picks one, 10, 20, and 30 will continue to have a guaranteed Rare quality card or better.
- The increased chance to see cards from the most recent expansion has been temporarily disabled in Update 10.4.
- The new Arena cards that were decided on at BlizzCon will also be added in Update 10.4 for a limited time.
- All cards that are excluded from the Arena draft pool remain unchanged.
- Other existing Arena rules in place that affect appearance rates are unchanged.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Arena changes? Let us know in the comments below!
These changes look promising. Can’t wait to pick between Wisp & Snowflipper Penguin!
“Each Arena pick in a draft will feature three cards of relatively equal power level, but different rarities.“….
I don’t think that is a step in the right direction. Not only will it increase the chance of ending up with bad cards in your deck (if the power level is low you must pick a bad card), it will also set the ‘power level’ of your deck equal to the power level of each of the 30 picks and there is nothing you can do about that.
Previously ‘better’ players could distinguish themselves by looking at the power level of the cards, the synergy and the mana curve… I think this update removes one of these three which makes the arena MORE random…
‘…it will also set the ‘power level’ of your deck equal to the power level of each of the 30 picks and there is nothing you can do about that…’
That’s a very relevant point – I wonder if the power levels of the 30 picks are somewhat equalized so that you’ll get a ‘normal’ deck regarding overall power level or if you could get extremely (un)lucky with your picks.
Regarding the ‘elimination of picking skills’ … I think that it actually is more interesting to decide between 3 equally powerful cards. As you point out it might take away the skill to identify the best card (tbh most of the time the best pick was clear anyway and many players use tools like HearthArena) but with this system you need more skill to identify the best card for your deck.
In other words: it takes different skills, not less skills imho.
Happy gaming!
I think that these changes are all positive. They have taken a step in the right direction.
It would be nice if they had the last pick as a legendary.
Having a guaranteed legendary would be cool but it would be better if it was first pick rather than last. Many legionaries require you to build your deck a certain way and wouldn’t be so great to get in the last pick when all your other cards have already been selected.
First card a guaranteed Legendary would be better
Have to admit, haven’t touched Arena in a good long while, but the changes combined with the new cards will certainly get me to come back.
Finally! Wind of change just blew through the Arena system. Yeeeya! Every opportunity to set ur mind to smth new evolves u.
Bless da Blizz