Hearthstone’s newest class, Demon Hunter, will be receiving nerfs to four of its cards, senior game designer Iksar announced on Twitter today. The tenth class has been showing strong performances on ladder and arena alike. These unspecified changes should be released today.
The four cards that were noted for nerfs are Skull of Gul’Dan, Imprisoned Antaen, Eye Beam, and Aldrachi Warblades. These cards have been integral to Demon Hunter’s strength so far. The changes are as follows:
- Skull of Gul’dan – Mana cost increased from five to six.
- Imprisoned Antaen – Mana cost increased from five to six.
- Eye Beam – Outcast mana cost increased to one.
- Aldrachi Warblades – Durability decreased from three to two.
Skull of Gul’dan was used by both aggressive strategies and combo decks alike to achieve easy refuel or the power to attain combo pieces quickly.
Imprisoned Antaen was also a strong minion that could turn the tides of battle if an opponent couldn’t defeat the Demon Hunter before they awakened. Its 10 random split damage was usually enough to clear wide boards or tall minions.
Eye Beam, when Outcasted, could essentially be a more effective Backstab since it dealt three damage to a minion for zero mana in addition to having Lifesteal.
While Aldrachi Warblades seems to be the most innocuous card on this list, these weapons with Lifesteal could give the Demon Hunter strong amounts of sustain when combined with other attack-increasing abilities, like Inner Demon or Shadowhoof Slayer.
In addition to the changes to these four cards, the Hearthstone team is also looking to make adjustments to Demon Hunter in arena. The drop rates for the following cards are being reduced until they’re ready to change the class more with micro-adjustments:
- Chaos Nova
- Coilfang Warlord
- Command the Illidari
- Flamereaper
- Furious Felfin
- Glaivebound Adept
- Illidari Felblade
- Immolation Aura
- Metamorphosis
- Netherwalker
- Nethrandamus
- Priestess of Fury
- Skull of Gul’dan
- Twin Slice
- Umberwing
Another patch is planned for late next week that will tackle any other problems that may show up in either Constructed, Battlegrounds, or Arena.
Update April 8 8pm CT: Blizzard posted the full changes coming to Demon Hunter over the next couple of weeks on its developer forums.
