With the new mid-set for The Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion on the horizon, Hearthstone received its corresponding patch notes for the 19.4 update ahead of time today.
The Darkmoon Races mini-set is coming on Jan. 21, the same day as Patch 19.4. Aside from the 35 new cards being added to Constructed Ladder, there are multiple updates to both the Battlegrounds and Duels mode.
Related: Every Hearthstone card coming in The Darkmoon Races mid-set expansion
Here are all the important takeaways from the 19.4 patch notes.
Battlegrounds
The Battlegrounds update brings two new heroes into the mix: Tickatus and Greybough. It’s unknown if Tickatus’ Hero Power means he’ll be gaining extra Darkmoon Prizes every four turns or if his inclusion will remove the new spell feature. Greybough gives extra combat stats and Taunt to minions summoned during combat. This ability synergizes well with Beast, Mechs, and Demons in the pool since those types regularly summon multiple tokens in the middle of the combat stage of Battlegrounds.
The new heroes will be available for all players who don’t have the battle pass on Feb. 4.
The patch also brings changes to the Demon archetype by adding two new Demons into the mix and removing Floating Watcher from the Battlegrounds Minion pool. This pushes Demons further away from the usual self-harm archetype without removing the strategy completely.
Here are the exact notes for the balance updates and the new content for Battlegrounds:
New Heroes
Tickatus
- Prize Wall [Passive]
- Every four turns, Discover a Darkmoon Prize.
Greybough
- Sprout It Out! [Passive]
- Give +1/+2 and Taunt to minions you summon during combat.
New minions
Soul Devourer
- [Tier 3, Demon] 3 Attack, 3 Health
- Battlecry: Choose a friendly Demon. Remove it to gain its stats and 3 Gold.
Ring Matron
- [Tier 4, Demon] 6 Attack, 4 Health
- Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon two 3/2 Imps.
Minion pool update
- Floating Watcher has been removed from the Battlegrounds Minion pool.
Duels
Duels is receiving a mid-season update with Patch 19.4. All ratings will be reset in Casual and Heroic and the new Darkmoon Races mini-set will be added to the eligible cards you can use to build your starting deck.
In addition to these changes, every class will be receiving access to one new Hero Power and three new Signature treasures, with one of the three being a Dual-Class card. In addition to the new starting content, there will be four new Passive Treasures and two new Active Treasures to be found in the middle of your matches.
To access the new Hero Powers and Treasures, here’s the criteria that must be met:
- Hero Power No. 3 (Each Class) – Collect one Scholomance Academy Legendary Class card from that class.
- Signature Treasure No. 4 (All Classes) – Collect 125 Unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards.
- Signature Treasure #5 (All Classes) – Collect 12 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Legendary cards.
- Dual-Class Signature Treasure (All Classes) – Collect 150 unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards.
Here are all of the new Treasures and Hero Powers that will be added on Jan. 21:
Arena update
When the patch arrives on Jan. 21, the Arena will have players draft cards from the following sets:
- Darkmoon Races mini-set
- Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
- Scholomance Academy
- Ashes of Outland
- Demon Hunter Initiate
- The Boomsday Project
- Journey to Un’goro
- One Night in Karazhan
- Basic
- Classic
Other key notes
Book of Heroes will bring the Anduin chapter into the mix, awarding players a Priest pack for completion. The story follows Anduin while he learns both his studies about the Light and also with the blade.
The Anduin chapter won’t be released until Feb. 2.
You can experience the new cards and more when Hearthstone: The Darkmoon Races and Patch 19.4 go live on Jan. 21.
