Hearthstone’s Patch 19.0 unlocks Duels for all, brings progression and achievement update, as well as a new Battlegrounds Hero

Following today’s final card reveal stream for Hearthstone’s Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion, Blizzard revealed the game’s next patch, 19.0—and it’s coming tomorrow.

The newest update is serving as a pre-patch for the upcoming Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion to put all the cards up for viewing in each players’ collections. Aside from the new expansion hype, the patch will bring updates to Duels while opening up access to the mode for all. A new Battlegrounds Hero, Tavern Pass, and the awaited achievement and progression system are also included in Patch 19.0.

Here are the patch notes for Hearthstone Patch 19.0

Duels notes

For players who didn’t get early access to Duels, either because they were unable to pre-purchase the newest expansion or were just unlucky watching Hearthstone on Twitch and not receiving drops, Duels can now be accessed by everyone. In addition to more players entering the ring, every class now gains access to a new Hero Power, for a grand total of two, and two new class-specific Treasures, bringing the total to three.

While the new content is exciting for the mode, the new Treasures and Hero Powers are accessible once you own specific cards from Scholomance Academy and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. To open your pre-ordered Darkmoon Faire cards early, you must follow these steps to create your own Fireside Gathering.

Battlegrounds’ newest Hero

While the newest patch doesn’t bring any major changes to the Battlegrounds mode, it does add an entirely new hero: Silas Darkmoon.

Silas Darkmoon

• Come One, Come All! [Passive]
  • Darkmoon Tickets are in the Tavern! Get three to Discover a minion from your Tavern Tier.
  • Random minions in Bob’s Tavern will have Darkmoon Tickets. Buy three of these minions to Discover a minion from your current Tavern Tier.

While the exact percentage chance for finding a ticket is unknown, if the chance is relatively high, then it could be worth it picking up weaker minions in the early game to have the opportunity to discover stronger minions at a higher Tavern Tier in the later stages of the game.

Achievements and progression System

The long-awaited achievement system is finally being added to the game with tomorrow’s patch release.

Achievements are broken up into categories and subcategories. As you’d expect, the Game Modes and Adventures categories can only be completed within their specified modes. The more general Progression and Gameplay categories can be completed in Ranked, Arena, and Duels modes.

This patch is also adding an updated Profile Page with player information, ranks, and stats.

Quests are now being altered to include weekly quests and being able to hold a longer log of more daily quests at a time. Blizzard also said there could be more quests that point players toward Arena, Battlegrounds, and Duels.

Players will be able to see all of these new changes to progression and achievement lists with a new journal icon that will be in the menu.

Players can now earn experience just for playing Hearthstone in any game mode. But doing friendly challenges won’t allow players to gain experience.

Tavern Pass

The new Tavern Pass will also give players a new opportunity to grind cosmetics for an initial cost. If players purchase the Tavern Pass, which will be available for $19.99 when Patch 19.0 releases, players will be able to get the Annhylde Alternate Warrior Hero and Card Back, three Jaina Hero skins, three Thrall Hero skins, and one of Hearthstone’s first collectible Cosmetic Coins. If players purchase the Tavern Pass, they’ll also gain a 10-percent experience boost for the duration of the entire expansion.

Players who don’t purchase the Tavern Pass will be able to find freebies, but the exact list is unknown before its official release—and it’s likely that hero skins and certain card backs will be unavailable.

Arena rotation

For fans of Arena, the following sets will be active when Madness at the Darkmoon Faire launches on Nov. 17:

• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Demon Hunter Initiate
• Ashes of Outland
• Galakrond’s Awakening
• Whispers of the Old Gods
• Basic
• Classic

Whenever an arena set rotates, Blizzard retires all runs, gives you rewards based on your wins, and grants you a free Arena ticket as compensation. This means that you should have an active arena run all the way until two losses for a “free” run before the expansion drops.

You can try out Duels and the new progression and achievement system when Hearthstone Patch 19.0 is released tomorrow, Nov. 12.