It was only 3 weeks ago that we welcomed the previous major Patch 23.2 for Hearthstone, with its Naga and shiny new game features, and we're already at the stage of entering another big content update. With its noticeably accelerated schedule and the fastest release of a Mini-Set to date, the newly minted Patch 23.4 will also be remembered for bringing a large number of new Mercenaries and enabling a couple of universe crossovers to celebrate the imminent launch of a different Blizzard property - Diablo Immortal. 

The patch initially became available for downloads on Battle.net desktop clients (almost 6 GB, hope your WiFi is ready) while mobile users had to show a little more patience as usual. If you had auto-updates disabled, you need to choose to run it manually (if you are logged out of the game you might be required to do so before being able to enter the tavern again, anyway).

Remember, if you update your desktop client but not the mobile application, you might not be able to launch the latter afterwards. And vice versa, until both are synced to share the same game version. 

Quote From DeckTech
For major patches the mobile patch always comes a few hours after the desktop patch. And yes, that's by design.

Quote From DeckTech
Expected to be a few hours, like usual, but if there are issues that may have to pivot.

Update: Apparently the patch might have become available within the first hour for some iOS devices. That was super quick. 

Update #2: Voluntary Android updates are now also showing as accessible on respective mobile storefronts. 

And here are the full patch notes, for reference: 

Besides the Throne of the Tides Mini-Set, this patch is meant to be the biggest Mercenaries update of the entire expansion cycle. We can clearly see why. More details on various content pieces can be found below, along with a fair share of developer insights:

Throne of the Tides Mini-Set

The fifth Mini-Set by now, we do go through the cards quickly. Although notably, the first one without any sort of special cinematic accompanying its announcement. Budget cuts? No longer deemed worthwhile? Too difficult filming anything underwater? Your guess is as good as ours. 

But we did get a small teaser trailer for the patch itself, just like previously when Naga entered Battlegrounds. You should be able to recognize the Voyage to the Sunken City soundtrack:

Aside from picking sides in this apparent boxing match between Neptulon the Tidehunter and Ozumat, we do know what kind of other new cards we are going to be able to sling across the tavern, with another phase of deck polishes commencing: 

Mercenaries - 18 New Characters, More Bounties, Another Special Event

Don't forget to claim your free Tyrael Legendary from the shop before opening any Mercs packs! Just in case it's somehow also included there, best to avoid redundancy. Or well, at least try to do that once you are able...

Quote From DeckTech

The team is aware that Tyrael is not appearing in the shop right now, too, looking into it real quick and figuring it out.

Update: The missing archangel has been located and returned! 

Quote From Blizzard

We are aware that Tyrael was a little late to show up, but he’s made it now. You can now claim you free Tyrael Mercenary Card in the shop!

 

Were you given a shiny Tyrael portrait instead of the expected base version? Apparently you can consider yourself lucky:

Quote From Blizzard

The team is aware that some players got Tyrael portraits as their free Tyrael claim instead of the base Tyrael Mercenary card. The bug causing this issue has been resolved.

 

Other than that, plenty of new Mercenaries to try out and so many Bounties to clear. We've also got a new Mystery Node option and some QoL additions: 

Just be aware of a small inconsistency: 

Quote From Blizzard

The team is aware that the Mercenaries Campaign Task “Whispers of the Old Gods: Task 4” can’t be completed as written. It currently is tied to the Captain Shivers Bounty, instead of the Acolyte of N’Zoth Bounty. This will be fixed in a hotfix planned for later this week, but in the meantime you can progress by heading to Captain Shivers.

We still have a week to catch our breath before another special event commences on June 7, this time under the banner of Old God Y'shaarj. Not so easy to spell out.

Battlegrounds - Brief Return of Diablo

The return of Diablo is the big news here, and it has many regulars spooked. The hero used to be by far the strongest during its previous stay in the tavern, but now it's coming back with some balance adjustments. Perhaps he won't be as much of a terror. It's only for just a week, anyway! 

It would seem that the Lord of Terror is already not willing to share the same tavern space with Lord Barov.

Quote From Blizzard
The team is aware of a bug with Lord Barov and Diablo. To avoid the issue, Lord Barov will be temporarily disabled while Diablo is back in Battlegrounds.

Lord Barov Card Image

Besides that, there is a new Hero (for players with Battlegrounds Perks, at first) and a new minion. About as expected: 

We were also given some bonus developer insights: 

Quote From Mitchell Loewen

Few clarifications on BGs changes in 23.4:

- Bubblette's "(Pop!)" text is just for flavor to match Bubbler.

- Ozumat's tentacle upgrades by +1/+1

- You need board space to summon the tentacle

- The tentacle is a Beast

- Ozumat is available in non-Beast lobbies

- Bubblette is just being added to T1 Elementals. Sellemental and Refreshing Anomaly are not being removed.

- The tentacle can be tripled (just answering this pre-emptively  😉)

Quote From Mitchell Loewen

Diablo clarifications!

- Any treasure not mentioned in the patch notes (e.g. Black Soulstone) are unchanged from last time.

- Diablo, Lord of Terror (the minion) is now a 4/4

- Diablo, Lord of Terror gives opponents 2 treasures on death instead of 1.

New Book of Heroes Chapter

It's Faelin's time to take center stage! We're going to learn what else the Nightborne representative can do, besides steering the submarine and putting Colossals at the bottom of our decks. All the various adventure options seem pretty inventive! 

Quote From Matt London
Book of Heroes: Faelin is an epic single player adventure. Choose a companion to follow Faelin on his journey. There are seventeen missions with unique encounters depending on which companion you choose.

I am pumped for you all to see Valerie Chu flex her incredible narrative design talent in this adventure. Lots of recent innovations (Revive, Puzzles, Player Choice, and now Lorebooks) make Book of Faelin a very cool step forward for Hearthstone storytelling.

New Arena Rotation 

Hopefully you were able to secure your free ticket! The new sets include: 

  • Core
  • The Boomsday Project
  • Descent of Dragons
  • Forged in the Barrens
  • United in Stormwind
  • Fractured in Alterac Valley
  • Voyage to the Sunken City (including the new Throne of the Tides Mini-Set)

Modes Design Lead Matt London also had this to add:

Quote From Matt London
With this new Arena season, we'll be adding Boomsday Project and Descent of Dragons to the current Standard sets (and mini-sets). This is part of a broader push to balance the average power level of cards in Arena.

Additionally, we're returning a few cards to the draft pool: Frozen Mammoth - New slate of Fire spells Naval Mine - Cheap enabler for Magnetic decks Horn of Wrathion - DRAGONS

New Feature - Overcapped Decks

We've talked about this one extensively, should be very helpful coming up with a bigger picture before settling on the exact right 30 cards for your deck. 

Wild Packs - Now With Legacy Cards

After some initial confusion, we were able to determine that all of the so called Legacy cards (including former Core, old rewards and promos) will be in fact accessible through the existing Wild variety packs. 

Shop Deals

As always, new big patch means a plethora of bundles. Hero skins, Mercenaries offers, Battlegrounds cosmetics, what have you. Once again, don't forget to grab your free Tyrael Mercenary when you can! 

Quote From Blizzard

  • [Resolved 6/1]: We are aware that Tyrael was a little late to show up, but he’s made it now. You can now claim you free Tyrael Mercenary Card in the shop!
 

The Mini-Set is also available for purchase in its all-Golden version, but only for cash, not gold.

We'll keep updating this post with more information as we continue exploring these new unfathomable depths, so make sure to check back later! What is your most favorite part of this major content patch so far?