Hearthstone’s Patch 20.4 is an upcoming update for the Forged in the Barrens expansion cycle and will arrive tomorrow.
The patch will add the Wailing Caverns mini-set, which will introduce 35 cards for players to attain. Players can receive the cards for either $14.99 or 2,000 Gold, open them in their Forged in the Barrens packs, or even craft them directly. Aside from the upcoming mini-set, Paladin will be receiving nerfs to lessen its power in the Standard format. Players will have the ability to dust both affected cards for their full value as a refund.
Related: Every known Hearthstone card coming in the Forged in the Barrens mini-set, Wailing Caverns
In addition, there are multiple changes to Battlegrounds, including the addition of two new heroes, minions being replaced, and Quilboars getting a chance to not appear in the permanent shifting type pool.
Here are all of the changes coming with Hearthstone Patch 20.4.
Standard format changes
Nerfs
First Day of School
- Old: Add 3 random 1-Cost minions to your hand. → New: Add 2 random 1-Cost minions to your hand.
Hand of A’dal
- Old: Give a minion +2/+2. Draw a card. → New: Give a minion +2/+1. Draw a card.
Dev comment: “As we move into the launch of the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set, we’re taking the opportunity to hit some of Paladin’s generic power. First Day of School and Hand of A’dal are strong performers played in all four main Paladin archetypes (Libram, Aggro, Secret, and Menagerie), and we are nerfing them in 20.4 to help other classes close the gap with Paladin. Another note on First Day of School: While the last balance change for this card only resulted in a mild change in power, we will still be attempting changes like it in the future. Our current balance philosophy is to move forward with light changes when we can, as we did when we first repositioned First Day of School, and we’ve seen great results over the past year with this approach. It’s important to us that players’ decks usually stay intact following balance changes, even if the power of the deck may shift down. This approach then leaves us open to make further adjustments later if we need to, like we have here.”
Unbound Elemental
- Old: Whenever you play a card with Overload, gain +1/+1. → New: After you play a card with Overload, gain +1/+1.
Battlegrounds changes
New heroes
Mutanus the Devourer
- Devour [Costs 0]
- Remove a friendly minion. Spit its stats onto another. Gain 1 Gold.
Guff Runetotem
- Natural Balance [Costs 1]
- Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+1.
Hero pool update
- Maiev Shadowsong has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
New minion
Hexruin Marauder
- [Tier 4, Demon] 3 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, if you have 6 or fewer minions, gain +3/+3.
Minion pool update
- Quilboar are no longer guaranteed to be in every Battlegrounds match.
- Siegebreaker has been removed from Battlegrounds.
- Cap’n Hoggarr’s text has been reworded to say “whenever” instead of “after” (no functional change).
Duels updates
“When the 20.4 patch launches on June 3, the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set will be added to loot buckets and the pool of eligible cards you can use to build your 15-card starter deck,” Blizzard said. “The patch also includes updates to the passive treasures system to make the system less deterministic.”
Arena Rotation
When Patch 20.4 launches on June 3, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:
- Wailing Caverns Mini-Set
- Forged in the Barrens
- Darkmoon Races Mini-Set
- Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
- Scholomance Academy
- Ashes of Outland
- Kobolds & Catacombs
- Goblins vs. Gnomes
- Core
More returning card backs and hero skins than ever before
“We’re excited to share that many previously released Card Backs and Hero Skins will become available for purchase with Gold as of the 20.4 patch,” Blizzard said. “With this patch, 94 Card Backs and 11 Hero Skins will be available.”
The following hero skins will be available at launch:
- Magni Bronzebeard*
- Alleria Windrunner*
- Medivh*
- Khadgar*
- Sylvanas Windrunner*
- Lei Shen/Thunder King*
- Dame Hazelbark*
- Maiev Shadowsong
- Morgl
- Lunara
- Sir Annoy-O
- * These Hero Skins also include their associated Card Back.
“Card Backs will be available for either 500 or 600 Gold, while Hero Skins will be available for either 1200 or 1800 Gold,” the patch notes read. “Simply navigate to the item you want within your Collection and click on it to purchase it with Gold. New Card Backs and Hero Skins will continue to appear in the shop when first introduced, but we will periodically update the Collection with more returning Card Backs and Hero Skins going forward.”
Book of Mercenaries Xyrella – Live with Patch 20.4
“The Draenei called it The Night of Falling Stars, when shards of fractured Light rained across Azeroth,” the patch notes read. “Guided by a mysterious voice, the priest Xyrella now searches the Barrens for the glowing shards which the voice promises can save her daughter’s life. The priest’s quest will be explored in Book of Mercenaries Xyrella, launching June 3rd. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Priest pack, containing only Priest cards from Standard.”
Book of Mercenaries Guff – Coming June 15
“Guff Runetotem has always just wanted to help, but when ‘helping’ means accidentally starting a treant rampage that nearly flattens Thunder Bluff, Guff vows to set things right,” Blizzard said. “His quest for redemption leads him and his companions to the Wailing Caverns. What Guff finds inside will be revealed in Book of Mercenaries Guff, launching June 15th. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Druid pack, containing only Druid cards from Standard.”
Book of Heroes Malfurion – Coming June 22
“As the first druid, Malfurion has solemnly defended the natural world from threats, including his own brother, for thousands of years,” the patch notes read. “Despite his steadfast protection, the perils of Azeroth have only increased with time, and the enemies of the wilds grow in both strength and cruelty. Malfurion’s harrowing tale will be told in Book of Heroes Malfurion, launching June 22nd. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Druid pack, containing only Druid cards from Standard.”
Bug fixes and game improvements
- Updated Friends List messaging to indicate whether friends in Play Mode are playing Ranked or Casual, and which format they are playing.
- Fixed a bug where copying Imprisoned Celestial with Mirror Entity resulted in the copied Imprisoned Celestial being unable to activate its Spellburst effect after awakening.
- Fixed a bug where cost-reduction effects on Dormant minions would persist after the Dormant minion was played and awakened.
- Fixed a bug where effects that trigger after or whenever a spell is cast would not trigger if Oh My Yogg! converted the spell into a new spell with no valid targets.
- Fixed a bug that caused Sparkjoy Cheat to use both Scabbs Cutterbutter discounts if it put a Secret into play with its effect.
- Fixed a bug where Guidance’s Spirit Path option was not being counted as an Overload card when selected.
- Fixed a bug where Bogbeam and Ironbark’s cost reduction effects would not activate after casting Celestial Alignment and going back up to at least 7 Mana Crystals.
- Fixed a bug where Crabrider was not recognized as a Battlecry minion by cards like Field Contact.
- Updated the wording of Shield Slam so that it accurately represents the way that the card interacts with Spell Damage bonuses.
- Added language clarifying that both Classic and non-Classic versions of a card are removed from your collection when either version is disenchanted.
- Fixed a bug where Elite Tauren Chieftan would sometimes generate non-Classic versions of cards when played in Classic.
- “Quilboars” has been corrected to “Quilboar” as the proper plural form of Quilboar when displaying Battlegrounds minion types.
- Fixed a bug where Reckless Apprentice’s effect would cause some minion-only Hero Powers to hit the enemy hero.
- Fixed a bug that would result in duplicate treasures being offered in Duels.
- Prevented cards of the same name from different sets being offered in the same Arena run.
- Updated the Player Profile to display total wins for each game mode.
- Fixed a bug where progress related to progression tracks, such as the “Tavern Regular” achievement, would not properly update.
- Fixed a bug where reward pop-ups would sometimes not properly appear when the reward was earned.
- Fixed a bug that prevented players from switching accounts on iOS devices.
- Updated the New Player Experience to remove certain restrictions and to better indicate locked heroes, modes, and other features.
- Updated MMR calculation for returning players to better account for their time away from the game.
- Fixed a bug where effects that added copies of Diamond cards to a player’s hand or deck would add Golden versions instead of Diamond versions.
- Fixed a bug that would make some Diamond cards not appear in your collection if owned.
- Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause cards in hand to arbitrarily change positions.
- Fixed a bug where the wrong description would sometimes appear for items in the in-game shop.
You can try out the mini-set and updated Battlegrounds when Hearthstone: Forged in the Barrens’ Patch 20.4 goes live tomorrow, June 3. The Wailing Caverns mini-set can either be purchased for $14.99 or 2,000 Gold.
