Hearthstone: Battlegrounds will receive its new Patch Update that will bring in a new keyword that can affect the online card game's gameplay, as well as new other new additions, including two new heroes and 32 new minions, along with other in-game changes.
The said patch update was revealed despite of the ongoing protest by the employees of Activision Blizzard regarding the company's alleged "fratboy culture" and exhibiting forms of harassment towards their fellow female employees.
Because of this, along with the company's response regarding the lawsuit, several workers, including developers, walked out of the company in protest.
"Avenge!"
One of the in-game additions in Hearthstone: Battlegrounds during the roll-out of its Patch Update is the new keyword, "Avenge."
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The activation of the said keyword, according to Gamepur, will cause any minion to activate an effect after any number of its friendly minion have died during combat.
Slash Gear provided an example for this new ability: Bird Buddy, one of the new minions that will be rolled out, has Avenge (1)¸which can be triggered after 1 friendly minion died during combat. Once triggered, it will give a player's Beasts +1/+1 (or +2/+2 if the card is golden).
Another example is the Palescale Crocolisk, which has both Avenge (2) and Deathrattle, or a card ability that will be triggered once it is destroyed. Once two of its friendly minions have died along with itself, it can give another Beast +6/+6.
Mechano-Tank, on the other hand, has Avenge (3). After its three friendly minions have killed, it will deal 6 damage to an enemy minion in the field that has the highest Health.
New Heroes and Minions
Aside from the keyword addition, the Patch Update for Hearthstone: Battlegrounds will feature two new heroes - Master Nguyen and Cariel Roame.
According to the patch notes posted by Blizzard in their website, the Pandaren hero has the Power of the Storm passive ability, which lets the wielder to choose from 2 new Hero Powers at the start of every turn.
On the other hand, Roame, the Human hero, has Conviction, a card ability that has three Ranks. In its Rank 1, it will give a random friendly +1/+1, which can be upgraded at Tavern Tier 3. In its Rank 2, it will give three random friend minions +1/+1, which can be upgraded at Tavern Tier 5. In its Rank 3, it will give five random friendly minions +1/+1
Aside from the said heroes, the patch update will bring in up to 32 new minions, which can be seen in the list Blizzard provided. This includes the aforementioned Bird Buddy, Palescale Crocolisk, and Mechano-Tank, along with Reanimating Rattler, Impulsive Trickster, Icky Imp, Kathra'natir, and Insatiable Ur'zul.
Along with the additions of the new minions, several of them will be removed in the game. A total of five minions in Tavern Tier 1, six in Tavern Tier 2, nine in Tavern Tier 3, eight in Tavern Tier 4, seven in Tavern Tier 5, and two in Tavern Tier 6 will be removed base on the update's patch notes.
Other Changes
Hearthstone: Battlegrounds will also bring in several changes in its gameplay. According to Upcomer, the game's damage cap will be 15 until the first player loses once the update rolls out. The damage cap, however, does not check for death until the beginning of the Recruit Phase.
Aside from the damage cap change, the said update will make the turns longer, making the duration of Turns 3 to 9 five seconds longer. This will give players more time to become familiar with the changes implemented by the patch update.
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