Hearthstone launched patch 5.0 on Sunday evening as it preps the game for the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion launch on Tuesday, April 26. While players cannot open their new card packs, some notable features are live right now such as the basic and classic card nerfs that are coming with the expansion as well as the new “Wow” emote which replaces the “Sorry” emote when you right click your character during play. All nerfed cards can be disenchanted for full value for a limited time so if you want extra arcane dust, now is the time to disenchant those cards.
Here are the official patch notes from Blizzard:
Hearthstone Patch 5.0.0.12574 Patch Notes
This Hearthstone patch prepares the Tavern for the arrival of Whispers of the Old Gods! This patch also paves the way for a new way to play Hearthstone and introduces adjustments to key Basic and Classic cards. Along with bug fixes, we’ve also added new card backs and Tavern Brawls.
Read on for details!
- Do you hear them? Whispers of the Old Gods expansion will arrive on April 26! You can purchase Whispers of the Old Gods card packs from the in-game shop and play them beginning April 26.
- As of April 26, the Year of the Kraken will begin, bringing with it Standard and Wild formats. Check out the A New Way to Play blog at www.playhearthstone.com for more info.
- Friendly Challenge menu has been updated. Starting April 26, you can challenge friends to Standard, Wild, or Tavern Brawl games.
- Collection Manager’s Set Filter has been updated.
- Some Deck Recipes have been updated for Whispers of the Old Gods. See what we’ve cooked up!
- The following card backs have been added:
- Shadowmoon Valley – Obtained by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of May
- Zul’Drak – Obtained by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of June
- Halfhill – Obtained by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of July
- The guaranteed pack from Arena Runs will now always be from the most recently released expansion. Additionally, you are slightly more likely to receive a second card pack from a different Standard set.
- The “Sorry” emote has been replaced with a new “Wow” emote. Wow!
- The following cards have changed. For full details regarding these changes, please read the Keeping Hearthstone Fresh blog at www.playhearthstone.com:
- Ancient of Lore – Now draws 1 card instead of 2
- Force of Nature – Mana cost decreased from 6 to 5, Treants no longer have Charge and no longer die at the end of the turn
- Keeper of the Grove – Health reduced from 4 to 2
- Ironbeak Owl – Mana cost increased from 2 to 3
- Big Game Hunter – Mana cost increased from 3 to 5
- Hunter’s Mark – Mana cost increased from 0 to 1
- Blade Flurry – Mana cost increased from 2 to 4 and only affects Minions
- Knife Juggler – Attack reduced from 3 to 2
- Leper Gnome – Attack reduced from 2 to 1
- Arcane Golem – Health increased from 2 to 4, no longer has Charge
- Molten Giant – Mana cost increased from 20 to 25
- Master of Disguise – Stealth granted by this card now only lasts until the start of the next turn
- Resolved various issues with AI behavior and gameplay such as:
- Stampeding Kodo’s ability will no longer target the same minion twice if triggered by Brann Bronzebeard.
- Gladiator’s Longbow will prevent damage caused by Explosive Trap.
- Quests to obtain Old Murk-Eye and Captain’s Parrot have been disabled, as those cards are only available in Wild mode. These cards can be crafted as normal.
- Added improved visual effects to certain Classic cards.
- The reconnect feature has been improved.
- Fixed various audio, graphical, and UI issues.
More information can be found in our blog at www.playhearthstone.com
Three new card backs were also added in this patch which will be the Ranked season rewards for May, June and July respectively. The new card backs from left to right are Shadowmoon Valley, Zul’Drak, and Halfhill
In addition, it appears eight new Tavern Brawls were added, all of the Whispers of the Old Gods cards’ flavor texts were added, as well as all of the upcoming expansion’s cards and their golden versions. Standard and Wild formats are in the patch, but will not be active until April 26th, but a UI change where you can challenge friends to standard and wild matches is live even though you can can’t challenge them to those specific modes just yet.
