Ever since the release of the patch 21.6, it's been a very busy time for the Quality Assurance and Hearthstone development teams. Trying to find and squash various pesky bugs which decided that Deadmines made for such fertile living grounds has been no simple task. This update has also added a number of things which haven't been attempted before - such as that unique Diablo guest star - so growing pains were to be expected. And so we've got quite a lot to catch up on.
Just like previously with the big "Mercenaries" patch 21.4 and its numerous hotfixes, an official forum thread has been established for cataloguing all known problems and subsequent fixes as days go by. In addition to that, we have seen a whole lot more added communication via Twitter and Discord. Say what you will, but they've been really going out of their way to keep us up to date. And that's very much appreciated.
Let's go through everything that's been reported and resolved so far, and clarify where it might be needed. Be prepared, it's a rather sizeable amount:
Mobile Issues and Legendary Questline Not Working Correctly
Quote From Blizzard Hello all, we wanted to let you know about some known issues that we are tracking with patch 21.6. This will not include older known issues that are still being worked on, such as any remaining known issues from patch 21.4 40. We will add additional issues as we track them:
- We’re aware that the 21.6 update is not showing for some Google Play users. For those users, we have a suggested workaround: go to Google Play → open your profile icon in the top right → open “Manage apps & device” → select “Updates available” → select “Update All.” We believe that should cause the update to appear on your devices.
- We’re aware of an incorrect event timing message that appears for some players the first time logging in after the patch. This does not affect gameplay at all.
- [Resolved 11/4] We have confirmed that the final Quest in the 21.6 Legendary Quest Chain, “Farewell and Good Night,” is not working as written. It appears that wins with Priest and Mage do not count, but wins with Warrior, Shaman, and Hunter do. Update: This issue has been resolved via hotfix.
- [Added 11/3] We are aware that Dormant cards are missing their mouseover tooltip while Dormant. This issue is scheduled to be resolved in the 21.8 patch.
- [Mercenaries] We’re aware of a visual bug where if Cairne’s Reincarnation triggers off Mutanus’s Devouring Attack, Cairne will return invisible.
- [Partially resolved 11/2][Mercenaries] We are aware Mr. Smite’s Sharpened Scabbard Equipment does not activate as intended. We have launched a server-side hotfix that will make the Equipment function as intended, but the visuals will remain incorrect until a more complete fix can be implemented in patch 21.8.
- [Mercenaries] We’re aware that Blinkfox’s Mind Thief Ability is giving some Abilities too much of a speed discount.
- [Mercenaries] We’re aware that “Pirates” are not affected by Abilities that affect “Humans”—despite what they look like. This is intended and not a bug. Once you pick up the Pirate life, you leave your Human side behind!
- [Resolved 11/4][Mercenaries] We are aware that players were getting stuck on certain Vol’jin Task levels. We’ve temporarily disabled him from visiting the Village while we investigate a solution. Update: This has been resolved via hotfixed. Impacted players will be compensated with 100 Vol’jin coins in the coming days, and Vol’jin will be reenabled as a village visitor.
- [Battlegrounds] We’re aware that Lord Barov’s hero power was not offering correct options on Diablo turns. We are temporarily disabling Lord Barov while we investigate this issue.
- [Partially Resolved 11/3][Duels] We’re aware that the end-of-season popup for unfinished Heroic Duels runs is not working properly. Update: a major exploit was patched today. We are currently investigating whether there are further end-of-season issues to resolve. We will take actions at a later time to properly heal-up accounts that gained unearned Tavern Tickets
- [Duels] We’re aware that a small number of players are receiving an error message and being blocked from entering Duels. We’re investigating the source of this and are working to get these people unblocked as soon as possible.
- [Resolved 11/2][Duels] We’re aware that Diablo’s Claws of Terror is not always drawn at the start of game as intended. Update: this issue was been resolved via hotfix.
- [Duels] We’re also aware that Diablo’s Claws of Terror is not damaging adjacent minions when combined with the Pillage the Fallen Treasure.
On the subject of wonky Hearthstone updates for Android users - if you ever see the following message during attempted patching: "Failed to get update. Please check your network connection" and become frustrated with an infinite loop that forces you to disable Wifi and download through cellular (not a fun prospect when staring at 2GB of data), know that apparently enabling 'Airplane mode' and then forcing Wifi circumvents the problem. I wish I'd known before, strange as it is.
If you couldn't complete your Legendary Questline before and got discouraged, make sure to try again! Some classes just refused to cooperate. Remember we only have until November 10 to get that done.
Notice the mentions of an upcoming 21.8 client patch. Not everything can be corrected via server side hotfixes, alas. We'll need a little more patience in certain cases.
Infinite Tavern Tickets and Cost-Free Choose One Spells
Quote From Blizzard 11/3 Update: We are in the process of deploying a hotfix that includes the following changes:
- [Partially Resolved 11/3][Mercenaries]: Fixed a bug causing Sneed to show the wrong crafting cost. Update: Sneed is craftable for the correct cost of an Epic (300 coins), but the client is still displaying the wrong crafting cost. This will be corrected in our next major patch.
- [Duels] Fixed a bug that players were exploiting to repeatedly gain unearned Tavern Tickets. Retroactive actions will be taken in the future to address people who already gained unearned Tavern Tickets.
- [Duels] Updated the Ever-Changing Elixir Treasure to now correctly transform a minion into one that costs (2) more, instead of just (1) more.
- [Duels] Updated the Hagatha’s Embrace Treasure to properly give two minions +1/+1 instead of just targeting one minion.
- [Duels] Fixed a bug with the Dragonblood Treasure that allowed the buff to sometimes improperly fall on non-minions.
- [Duels] Updated the spells created by Jerry Rig Carpenter hitting Warden’s Insight to each cost (3) instead of (0).
We have plans for further updates in the near future.
I guess that explains how someone was able to collect thousands upon thousands of Tavern Tickets. Now they are truly in for infinite Arena/Duels runs until the end of time, while attempting to climb out of that negative gold count.
Do note that while Jerry Rig Carpenter's interaction with Warden's Insight should now work correctly in Duels, the issue still remains with Hidden Oasis in Wild. Poor Wild folks, can't catch a break. But Cora has already confirmed a fix is on the way in response to Zeddy's video:
Quote From Cora We logged this bug yesterday and it should be in the next hotfix. It’s an easy mana change to the sub-cards. We know about these things Zeddy.
And hey, how about an 'infinite' highlight reel with Grey Sage Parrot? Even Celestalon wasn't mad.
Battlegrounds Diablo Gets a Small Buff, Lord Barov Still Sidelined
Quote From Blizzard 11/4 Update: We’re in the process of deploying a hotfix that includes the following changes:
- Fixed the issue involving the Farewell and Good Night Quest mentioned above.
- [Battlegrounds] Updated Diablo’s Lord of Terror minion base stats from 3/3 → 5/5.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed the issue where players could become stuck on certain Vol’jin task levels mentioned above. Impacted players will be compensated with 100 Vol’jin coins in the coming days, and Vol’jin will be reenabled as a village visitor.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed an issue where Equipment Level 2 for Cookie’s Cooking wasn’t working as intended.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed an issue where the level 30 achievement for Mr. Smite and Captain Eudora were attributed to the wrong characters (Garrosh and Varian).
- [Mercenaries] Fixed an issue where the main campaign task chain would not progress or could be delayed in progressing.
- [Duels] Fixed an issue that could cause an error when ending a Duels run. Update: We’re aware that a small number of players are receiving an error message and being blocked from entering Duels. We’re investigating the source of this and are working to get these people unblocked as soon as possible.
We will continue to update this post as we get more information.
A small buff for the Battlegrounds Diablo, who turned out not to be nearly as overwhelmingly powerful (just the opposite, really) as might've been expected from the proud 'Lord of Terror'. His minion spawn Diablo, Lord of Terror now begins with 5/5 base stats (instead of 3/3) and like previously, keeps growing every 4 turns. So we get a 10/10 on turn 8, a 20/20 on turn 12, and a 40/40 on turn 16. This should help a little bit towards ending up with a pile of treasures in hand.
Lord Barov remains disabled as far as we know, becoming hopelessly confused as to how to wager when it came to all-on-one Diablo turns.
Even More General, Duels and Mercenaries Fixes To Come
We already know that's not the whole extent of what still needs to be done, there are more improvements in the pipeline coming for your favorite game modes. The pace at which everything gets addressed has been truly impressive. Any other issues you might've stumbled upon, don't hesitate to report in appropriate places!
We'll be keeping an eye on the situation and providing further updates as time goes by. We hope your in-game experiences remain as smooth as possible meanwhile!
Comments
I had a problem with Jerry Rig Carpenter the other day. I was playing the Uldum choose one quest in wild and had it completed. I played the carpenter and the red target graphic came up. I was confused so I aborted the action and returned it to my hand (something you shouldn't be able to do with that card). I tried again and the game seemed insistent that I target something. I could not target the enemy minions so I opted to target my own frozen damaged minion. It did nothing, and after a small delay I got the 2 free cards from Hidden Oasis. Weird bug!
But, Edwin is still a human... It's not just what he looks like, it's what he is. I thought they would handle the pirate + race issue by having the race be a hidden property (like the Alliance and Horde affiliations are). Oh well.
I guess its a similar philosophical problem to handling the undead. Sylvanas never really stopped being an elf, for example. Her soul may be fragmented (that apparently didn't stop Arthas counting as a human...) and her body may be dead and essentially just being worn by her like clothing, but everything she is is still elven.
Oh, and while I'm here, can we get some justice for Gruul? He's a gronn. They might as well label him as such even if they never use it for anything.
It's inconsistencies like these that detract from Hearthstone's world-building for me. I appreciate that some players enjoy deep-diving into the WoW lore behind the cards but really what's the point when the game doesn't even seem to respect it's own lore?
The most important reason as to why people deep-dive into lore is simply that they enjoy it, as you acknowledge. I for one am a complete sucker for learning the lore of (usually) fantasy worlds, and tend to value that over the character-driven stories told within. People like me just like to have a big, mental map of the setting and the large-scale events. Inconsistencies in how it is portrayed in-game can be a bit annoying, but they don't affect that map.
Aside from Gruul's missing label, I'm not sure this is really all that inconsistent though since it falls in line with Hearthstone's long-standing refusal to give anything multiple tribes unless they go the whole way and give them ALL tribes. Pirates have always been a bit awkward in this regard because piracy is a profession, not a race, so dual-tribe pirates would be the default if races were actually allocated all the time (as they are in Mercs). If anything the pirate tribe itself is, and has always been, the problem.
The undead are in a more hazy spot, and Sylvanas (along with her dark rangers) are actually some of the few who truly have their own bodies in a form easily identifiable as what they were in life: elves. But if they leave their bodies behind and go full-banshee, there is more of a debate to be had. Meanwhile, many forsaken are a bit of a hodge-podge of body parts as they 'repair' themselves over time. Then at the far end the scourge are often so twisted that it feels wrong to identify them by what they were in life. I mean, how would you even handle that with Abominations?
So the undead thing doesn't trouble me too much, and it's really just the weird choice of putting pirates on the same level as races that causes the issue.
Its likely more for balancing reasons than exclusion. All the tribe have some synergy with one another, and its probably more work if some have double tags. Its likely dangerous to set precedence too, which is why cookie is not pirate/murloc, although they did with Rexxar, being a half orc (though there's obviously no ogre synergy right now)
Gruul's case is unique because there's not a lot of famous Gronns to begin with, so there's not many reason to label him aside from flavor. Amazing that he's even in mercs, given that there's plenty more famous characters than him, and if not for that one treasure no one would probably even run him at all.
Balancing may come into it, and I suppose it is akin to how HS has balancing made fundamentally easier by having truly distinct classes. I'm not sure Edwin being a human would be a problem, but fine. I was more bothered by it on philosophical grounds than anything else, so I won't make any arguments there.
The reason Gruul made it into the game is pretty obvious from his abilities and alternate artworks: he's the one character known to beat up dragons, without being a dragon himself. So he was the obvious choice for an anti-dragon tech merc. With only 2 dragon mercs around atm - one of which being super janky (Brightwing) - there's maybe not much need for that, but we do have to deal with dragons in Blackrock so he has his place in PvE too.
As for his race: I don't really see what the harm is in labeling him a gronn. It's obscurity would probably be less conspicuous than the blank race he has currently. I also foresee issues with Rexxar's half-orc label. It certainly true that's what he is, but he's a very different type of half-orc to Garona who should really be up for some draenai synergy too if/when she becomes a merc. Similarly, how long is it before an ogre appears, and Rexxar could be argued to be dual-race? I expect Blizz will just decide the orc half of their genetics is the important part, and ignore any ogre/draenai links, which would be very questionable philosophically.
They have enough trouble balancing the game and weeding out bugs without dragging philosophy into it, thank you very much.
Adding some bugs, where Hunter miniset cast deathrattle with Monstrous Parrot achievement doesn't count at all. Or maybe just in Wild. I haven't test it in Standard
And summoning Dormant minions not counting as survived minions in Demon Hunter miniset achievement, I don't know if it's a bug, but logically, it should count, since both survived.
Yeah, I've had both of these issues. I'm waiting for them to announce a fix for the hunter one before I start on it again.
Meanwhile, the dormant part not working with the DH achievement really annoys me because without it, why would you ever want to have both minions survive? To me the main purposes of the card are to summon big deathrattles (of which you expect 1 dies), or cheese something with dormant minions. The achievement doesn't want you to do either of those.
I also had an issue where Flightmaster Dungar did not spawn a minion at all when he awoke in arena today when I chose the flight path for 1 turn.
Meanwhile Tyrantus is still patiently waiting to get hotfixed.
They are actually unable to hot fix card texts...
Soon (tm)! We will actually talk more about this tomorrow.
It used to be that whenever we see massive patches it'll come with numerous bugs, but I think after mercs they may have broken records here. Numerous visual bugs, and some game breaking ones were experienced since the last patch, fortunately mostly in mercs itself. I didn't participate in the mess that was wild the week before, but I did had a laugh when my Jerry Rig Carpenter drew Omu's treasure. Im sure my opponent didn't appreciate how I could cheat somewhere around 15 mana that turn.
I noticed that they didn't mention how core hound's image in mercs was replaced with giantfin's when you're on the map. One of the many visual bugs around.
I am a it concerned how they are going to "retroactively fix" the unlimited tavern ticket issue. I came across this bug by accident and repeated it a few times to show it to my husband - thought it was just a visual bug and didn't even check the count afterwards (I don't really play heroic duels or arena).
I they just want to take away the tavern tickets I was given too many of, sure, but this makes it sound like I am gonna be punished in gold?
As far as I understand from the examples given and everything shown across the web, the gold deduction has only happened for the excess tickets people managed to turn into actual runs/packs, not for the number they held (those extras should simply be removed). And the devs didn't even attempt to ban anyone knowingly abusing the bug, just such slap on the wrist. So if you haven't really gained anything thanks to this issue, you should be absolutely safe.
Definitely report in that forum thread or straight to Daniel Duffin or Ates Bayrak on Twitter if it turns out that's not the case (and let us know too!). These are good people always willing to help with the problems.
Im pretty sure what they will do is just deduct from your gold by the same amount you got in tavern tickets. Might even do that after considering how many tickets you've actually used. Blizz would have a record of what you have before, and how much you're using so unless you're literally running heroics duels/arena to the ground, Im sure it wont be too harsh.
Just screenshot what you have now, just in case blizz shits the floor again and start handing out punishment without any due consideration.