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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 announcer’s 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!