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The wipe of the Hearthstone: Heroes of
Warcraft beta has been completed. This means that everything is fresh
and new, just like it was when we first got our beta invites. For
more information on what this wipe means for you check out my
Hearthstone
Beta Wipe Overview. This wipe also means that a slew of
updates, fixes, and new additions have been added to the game via a
pretty hefty (and shiny!) patch. Almost nothing has been left
untouched, from heroes to the user interface. Read on for an overview
of how the Hearthstone patch has changed and improved the game:
General Hearthstone Changes
Max level has been raised to 60.
In-game chat has been rearranged.
Gold earned in Play mode has been
increased to 5 gold per 5 wins and 10 gold per 3 wins.
Golden Basic minions can be earned at
higher experience levels.
Arena rewards give less dust and more
cards.
Those who rank up 5 and 6 Arena wins
can expect more gold.
Nine Arena wins will earn you an extra
pack of cards or a Golden card.
Animations for Secrets and Fatigue have
been sped up.
All cards now include flavor text when
viewed in your collection.
Spell Power +1 has a new name:
Spell Damage +1.
Heroes can now be unlocked in ANY mode.
Play, Practice, and Friendly Play modes
will default to the custom deck selection UI if you have created a
custom deck.
Clicking on chat bubbles will allow you
to respond.
You will be notified of your friends
completed Arena runs and their acquisition of Legendary cards.
Quests that require class wins will now
offer you the option of two classes.
Hearthstone will now use your live
Battle.net account list rather than the beta friends list.
New Additions
Credits for the game have been added so
thanks can be given where thanks is due.
A new UI has been added for Crafting
Mode.
The Game Menu and Options has a brand
new look.
Opening your next pack has gotten
easier, simply hit spacebar after opening a pack to unwrap the next
in line.
The Hearthstone cinematic can now be
replayed over and over again.
Tons of Golden Cards now have
animations, making them even more special.
Russian and Polish fans will be pleased
to note that support for custom fonts for their language has been
added.
Generic Minions
Sunfury Protector only gives adjacent
minions Taunt.
Gelbin Mekkatorque's Repair Bot now has
0/3 and has a brand new power: Restore 6 health at the end of your
turn to a damaged character.
Mana Wraith now has 2/2.
Questing Adventurer is now a Rare card.
Pint-sized Summoner's cost has been
reduced from 2 to 1.
Flesheating Ghoul is now a Common card.
Emperor Cobra has a new visual.
Injured Blademaster has 1 more Attack.
The Beast is now 9/7.
Lorewalker Cho has 1 less Attack.
Lightwarden gains +2 Attack per heal.
Captain Greenskin is now 5/4 and comes
with Battlecry: Give your weapon +1/+1.
Twilight Drake is now 4/1 and has
Battlecry: Gain +1 health for each card in your hand.
Dalaran Mage has 1 less Attack.
Captain's Parrot has 1 less Health.
Frostwolf Warlord has a Battlecry
effect instead of the original ongoing effect.
Nozformu now has a visual effect.
Hero Changes
Mage
Mirror Image will now create 0/2
minions.
Frostbolt is cheaper, costing 2 mana
instead of 3.
Sorcerer's Apprentice now has 1 more
Attack.
Priest
Lightspawn has 1 additional Health.
Northshire Cleric costs 1 mana instead
of 2.
Greater Heal has been replaced with
Holy Fire. Holy Fire deals 5 damage and restores 5 Health to the
hero.
Prophet Velen now also doubles the
damage and healing of your Hero Power.
Fade has been replaced with Shadow
Word: Death. Shadow Word: Death destroys a minion with an Attack of 5
or more.
Cabal Shadow Priest is now 4/5.
Power Word: Shield has a brand new
power that gives a minion +2 Health as well as allowing you to draw a
card.
Warlock
Pit Lord now is 5/6 and has the
Battlecry: Deal 5 damage to your hero ability.
Sacrificial Pit now costs 0 mana.
Rogue
The Backstab card has new text.
Edwin VanCleef now is 2/2, but no
longer has the Stealth ability.
Preparation now reduces the cost of
your next spell by 3.
Shiv costs 2 mana instead of 1.
Hero Power no longer has the ability to
buff a weapon that is already equipped.
Defias Ringleader has 1 less Health
than before.
Conceal now costs 1 mana instead of 0.
Headcrack now costs 3 mana, an increase
from 2.
Druid
Starfall can no longer hit heroes.
Savagery costs 1 mana instead of 3 and
can only target a single minion.
Wrath can only be cast on minions.
Cenarius now costs 9 mana, up from 8.
The Ancient of Lore's heal now only
restores 5 Health instead of 8.
Hunter
Hunter's Mark is no longer a 1-turn
effect.
Scavenging Hyena will now only eat your
own Beasts.
Warrior
Battle Rage now costs 3 mana instead of
3, and now counts damaged heroes.
Cruel Taskmaster has gained 1 extra
health.
Inner Rage's +2 Attack effect no longer
vanishes at the end of the turn.
Frothing Berserker has gained 1 Attack.
Commanding Shout now costs 2 mana
instead of 1 and also allows you to draw a card.
Shaman
Healing Totem will no longer heal a
hero.
Hex's Frog is now considered a Beast.
Paladin
Divine Favor now costs 1 more mana.
Bug Fixes
Cards
Multiple issues were fixed with
Faceless Manipulator incorrectly copying minions buffs.
Hunter's Mark now correctly reduces a
minion's health to 1.
Knife Juggler's ability will no longer
trigger after a minion is copied to your hand.
Playing Mind Vision when the opponent
has an empty hand is no longer grants you a card.
Replaying cards returned to your hand
will no longer cause a game halt.
Playing Thoughtsteal now creates an
entry in the game history.
Misdirection no longer triggers if no
legal targets are available.
Ice Block protects the hero from
incremental damage.
Blood Imp's ability now increases
Lightspawn's attack value.
Issue fixed where playing a minion
before Cenarius's battlecry goes off caused the game to halt.
UI
Disenchanting cards too quickly will no
longer cause Arcane Dust counter to display an incorrect value.
Issue fixed where gold amounts were
showing the wrong values.
Issue fixed where hero power buttons
could become tilted.
Spell animations issue fixed where they
would loop when multiple triggers occurred.
The visual effect for silence now
appears over the targeted minion.
Replaying a minion that previously had
health/attack mods now shows the correct stats when it enters play.
The Arena AMM wheel no longer vanishes
when you find a match.
The opponent's targeting arrow now
appears from the correct location.
Playing minions quickly as card
draw effects are occurring no longer causes cards to stack in your
hand.
Issue Fixed where the Spell Power
visual effect could linger.
Gameplay
The announcers VO for both players
should now be audible when in the Arena.
The farming area of the Pandaria
board will now allow the spawning of three radishes.
Issue fixed where the druid AI did not
play choice cards correctly.
A toast with your own name will no
longer appear on login.
Master Volume now applies to music
volume.
Issue fixed where sound effects would
loop while in-game or in the Collection Manager.
Conclusion
Overall the Hearthstone team seems to
have taken user feedback into consideration and given us a host of
changes and additions that are sure to make the game even more
pleasurable to play. While there may be more patches to look forward
to in the future, Hearthstone looks more streamlined and closer to
official release with this patch than we could have ever hoped. Be
sure to check out the official Hearthstone
Closed Beta Patch
Notes.What do you think about the first Hearthstone patch? What else
would you like to see added or modified in game before it's official
release? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below!