Hearthstone Duels has received a balance update this evening in addition to the previous set of hotfixes.
Quote From Kerfluffle Duels Updates
- Lunar Band has been removed from the Passive Treasure pool.
- From the Swamp moved from Passive pool 1 to pool 2
- Band of Bees moved from Passive Treasure pool 2 to pool 2 Ultra Rare.
- Phaoris’ Blade moved from Active Treasure pool 1 to pool 2.
- Phaoris’ Blade mana adjusted from 4 to 5.
- Grimmer Patron moved from Active Treasures pool 1 to pool 2.
- Wax Rager moved from Active Treasures pool 2 to pool 2 Ultra Rare.
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Comments
Is there an updated overview somewhere of all treasures and in which pools they are sorted?
All good moves, for sure. Nothing feels worse than queuing into a hunter that got Lunar Band as their first treasure. Even playing it feels lame, though an easy run to double digit rewards was always nice.
Am I right in saying this means you can't get From the Swamp and Band of Bees together now, because they're in the same pool? If so, that's good. I had it recently and it is both broken and very frustrating. You can kill any enemy minion without issue, but you have to be so careful not to fill your board with them, because unless you have spells that kill your own minions or they miraculously drop a divine shield minion, you can never play anything again.
I think Phaoris's blade will still be tier S. when you have that thing equipped it just turns the game on its head. Opponent really can't play any small minions what so ever or the game quickly spirals out of control.
Would rather just see a hard nerf on all treasures since they dictate the game so hard vs what you've been collecting / trying to build towards from the start. For instance, rogue with the turtle generation and Band Of Bees is a battlecry poisonous shot every turn. It going from rare to ultra rare will still awful when you run into it.
I understand where you are coming from, but keep in mind Duels is meant to be PvP Dungeon Run, and if they nerf treasures too much you lose the entire premise of the game mode. The treasures were always what set it apart from being an odd mix of constructed and arena.
So they should make all treasures broken or balanced. When your opponent does broken stuff, at least you can do your own, too. Some treasures are not really "treasure".
All treasures are broken, but not necessarily with the surrounding deck. Lunar Band is a good example: it is OP enough to be removed, but also weak if you have few deathrattles. While that doesn't stop some treasures being baseline stronger than others, it does highlight that if you want all Duels runs to have comparable power you'd need to offer treasures to suit the decks, rather than randomly. There are good arguments for that, but I would hate it because then the whole thing becomes too predictable and undermines the rogue-like nature of the game mode.
Rogue-like games are always about starting off weak and trying (and sometimes failing) to become as broken as possible as you go along. Sometimes you are given the nuts, other times you have to muddle through with treasures which aren't best suited to your deck.
Except this isn't a rogue-like. Rogue-like games are single-player, and it's not a big deal if you die and have to try again.
Duels is a competitive game, and it can cost gold or cash to enter. Also, when you die (3 times), you're out. People are less likely to enter if the game is inherently unfair.
I especially disagree with the idea of Rare and Ultra Rare pools with extravagantly overpowered cards. Sure it's fun to play with a deck that can't lose, but it's not at all fun to be on the other side of that. I'd love to know how much those Ultra-Rare cards kick up the win rate; I'm sure it's a large, unhealthy number. At least if all treasures were the same rarity, it would be more about skill (picking the right card) instead of luck (being offered the right card).
That's actually a good way to look at Duels. Never considered that it's supposed to be a rogue-like version of Hearthstone. Still, I'm glad that Wax Rager, Band of Bees, and Lunar Band are being nerfed in various ways.
YES! I HATE From the Swamp.