Hearthstone Mercenaries Head to Darkmoon Faire in Patch 24.4 - 14 New Characters and 19 Bounties, Plus Charge Keyword

Following a very busy day full of Hearthstone Mercenaries reveals, the expected 24.4 patch notes have found their way onto the official Blizzard blog at the designated hour. And with them, a good chunk of the early rumors that we discussed in the recent development update have now been confirmed - there are indeed 14 new Mercenaries and 19 Bounties (across three separate Zones, of which only one is brand new) headed our way. 

But there is at least one other surprise in store: the new keyword in the form of Charge! It's pretty similar to how Rush works in the game mode, minus the randomness associated with it - so if you appreciate instant attacks but always wished to be actually able to choose your targets at the same time, Charge should deliver. Several of the existing Mercenaries have been updated with this new mechanic for the upcoming patch. 

The patch itself is expected to be released on Tuesday, September 27 (which could be either tomorrow or later today, depending on your timezone) at or around 10 AM Pacific (13:00 Eastern, 19:00 CET, 01:00 KST). Once again, it's very possible that the mobile updates will follow within an hour.

24.4 Patch Notes - Hearthstone Mercenaries Updates

With the C'thun event all finished, you can also expect to pull the Old God C'Thun Merc from the packs if you've never unlocked it through the associated tasks. No news of another special event as of yet, so we might be headed for a longer break than we got used to throughout this year. 

Quote From Blizzard

Mercenaries Updates

General Updates

• C’Thun can now be earned through all normal methods.
• New Keyword: Charge! Characters with Charge immediately Attack a chosen target when summoned. This is like Rush except that Rush characters Attack a random enemy character when summoned while Charge lets you choose.

As usual, we have filled in the blanks by adding the missing images: 

Quote From Blizzard

Merc Updates

Some existing mercs have been updated to incorporate the new Charge mechanic.

N'Zoth

• Spawn of N’Zoth 5
  • Old: Rush. Immune while Attacking.
  • New: Charge. Immune while Attacking.

---

Zar'jira, the Sea Witch

• Wavethrasher 5
  • Old: Rush. Passive: Has +10 Attack for each Frozen character.
  • New: Charge. Passive: Has +10 Attack for each Frozen character.

---

C'Thun

• Tentacle of C’Thun 5
  • Old: Rush. Whenever this attacks, give your C’Thun +5 Attack and Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1).
  • New: Charge. Whenever this attacks, give your C’Thun +5 Attack and Old Gods’ abilities Refresh (1).

• Heart of C’Thun 4
  • Old: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun. It gains Taunt but loses Rush.
  • New: Summon a 5/15 Tentacle of C’Thun. It gains Taunt but loses Charge.

---

Warmaster Voone

• Evasive Wurm 5
  • Old: Divine Shield, Rush.
  • New: Divine Shield, Charge.

---

King Krush

• Devilsaur 5
  • Old: Rush.
  • New: Charge.

---

Old Murk-Eye

• Gigantfin
  • Old: Rush.
  • New: Charge. 

14 New Mercenaries

Keep in mind that the official Blizzard patch notes are rather infamous for doing Mercenaries a great disservice, pretty much always including only the bare minimum of info, with missing pictures and links, etc. Sadly, this poor trend continues here. 

For that reason, we recommend checking out all of the recent content creater reveals that we've already covered in greater detail on the site - they might be able to fill in some blanks and provide highly useful extra context (as the patch is not implemented yet, so there is no live data that we could refer to as above). 

• Initial Reveals from the Hearthstone Mercenaries Discord
• Four New Hearthstone Mercenaries Revealed by Grumpi
• Another Four New Hearthstone Mercenaries Revealed by The Fighting Pit Podcast
• Final Four New Characters Revealed by the Hearthstone Mercenaries Discord

Special shout-out to shirtless Khadgar and Genn Greymane! Apparently there is this new trend we weren't quite aware of.

Quote From Blizzard

New Mercenaries

Murloc Holmes (Legendary Protector)

• Murloc – 13/87 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Hot on the Case 5: (Fire - Speed 9) Gain +5 Attack and Attack an enemy. It takes Critical Damage after it acts next turn.
  • Elementary! 5: (Nature - Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give a friendly character Divine Shield. If they lose it this turn, they gain +5/+10 and Attack the enemies opposite them.
  • And the Killer Is! 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Deal 16 damage to an enemy. Make a prediction for a bonus.
    • First to Arrive 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. If it acted first this turn, deal 16 more and they act last next turn.
    • Last on the Scene 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. If it acts last in combat, deal 10 damage to all enemies.
    • Obviously the Murderer 5: Deal 16 damage to an enemy. After it destroys two Mercs, it takes 80 damage.
• Equipment:
  • Trusty Sidekick 4: Battlecry: Summon a 12/30 Watfin (Beast) who Attacks enemies who damage your Murloc Holmes.
  • Paid Up Front 4: Battlecry: Gain +4/+4 and this Merc’s Abilities Refresh (1).
  • Suspect Everyone 4: Passive: After an enemy casts a 4, 5, or 6 Speed Ability, deal 8 damage to them.

 

Ysera (Legendary Fighter)

• Dragon – 8/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Verdant Breath 5: (Nature - Speed 5) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. Restore that much Health to another friendly Dragon.
  • Emerald Dream 5: (Nature - Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Choose a Dream card to cast.
    • Emerald Drake 5: (Dragon) 25/20. Rush.
    • Ysera Awakens 5: (Nature) Deal 20 damage to all enemies and 5 damage to all other friendly characters.
    • Nightmare 5: (Shadow) Give a character +30 Attack, at the end of each turn they take 20 damage.
  • Emerald Oracle 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) Choose One:
    • Restore 20 Health to a character. Your Mercs’ abilities are (5) Speed faster this turn.
    • Restore 20 Health to a friendly Merc and return it to the bench.
• Equipment:
  • Ysera’s Vengeance 4: Verdant Breath deals 5 more damage.
  • Dream Infusion 4: Passive: After one of your characters dies, restore 7 Health to your Dragons.
  • Emerald Majesty 4: Ysera Awakens also restores 15 Health to this Merc.

 

Bwonsamdi (Epic Fighter)

• Troll – 3/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Soul Subjugation 5: (Shadow - Speed 9) Deal 28 damage. Deals 3 less damage for each time this was damaged this turn.
  • Irrefusable Offer 5: (Shadow - Speed 1) Choose one of Bwonsamdi’s Deals. Increase the Cooldown of this ability by 1.
    • Deal of Time: All abilities with initial Speeds of (5) or faster are (5) Speed slower next turn. All others are (5) Speed faster.
    • Deal of Vanity: Gain +5 Health. All enemy abilities this turn target this (if possible).
    • Deal of Fear: This takes no damage this turn. Return all Mercs to the Bench at the end of the turn.
  • Binding Contract 5: (Shadow - Speed 2, Cooldown 2) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. If this Merc dies this turn, deal 90 more.
• Equipment:
  • Arena Contender 4: Battlecry: This Merc’s abilities Refresh (2). Deathrattle: Your abilities Refresh (2).
  • New Client 4: Resurrect one of your Mercs that died this game, with 24 Health remaining.
  • Spirit of the Dead 4: Passive: After one of your characters dies, restore 7 Health to your Trolls.

 

 Korrak the Bloodrager (Legendary Caster)

• Troll – 11/60 Maxed Stats
• Deathrattle: Destroy a random Minion. This Merc returns to life with their Health.
• Abilities:
  • Mounting Anger 5: (Speed 5) Gain +5 Attack this turn and Attack an enemy. (Increases by +3 after use).
  • Eat the Dead 5: (Speed 4) Gain +8 Health. Health gain increases by +8 each time a character dies. Resets after use.
  • Blood Rage 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 2) Distribute 20 damage to random enemies. (Increased by this Merc’s missing Health).
• Equipment:
  • Winterax Strong 4: Mounting Anger increases by an additional +4 Attack after use.
  • Honor Bound 4: Eat the Dead only increases when a friendly character dies, but increases by an extra +12.
  • The Everliving 4: Blood Rage gains: “Deathblow: Restore 20 Health.”

 

Archimonde (Epic Caster)

• Demon – 10/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Finger of Death 5: (Fel - Speed 4) Deal 12 damage. Gain +3 Fel Damage.
  • Rain of Chaos 5: (Fel - Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 18 to all enemies. Your Fel abilities are (3) Speed faster next turn.
  • Doomfire 5: (Fel - Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give all enemies +5 Fel Weakness this turn. Deal 10 damage to them after they act.
• Equipment:
  • Edict of Argus 4: Doomfire’s Fel Weakness is permanent.
  • Archimonde’s Gold Coin 4: After a Demon dies, restore 10 Health to all friendly Demons.
  • The Infernal Codex 4: Finger of Death gains “Deathblow: Gain +4 Fel Damage.”

 

Prince Malchezaar (Rare Protector)

• Demon – 12/79 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Party Crasher 5: (Speed 3) Attack an enemy. If it is a Protector, it takes 10 more damage this turn.
  • Check Your Weapons 5: (Fel - Speed 5) Deal 18 damage to the highest Attack enemy. If it is a Fighter, its Attack is permanently halved, rounded up.
  • All Realities 5: (Shadow - Speed 3, Cooldown 2) Deal 25 damage to the next enemy who acts this turn. If it’s a Caster, set its remaining Health to 5, instead.
• Equipment:
  • Flying Axes 4: Passive: +15 Health. Battlecry: Change a random enemy Merc’s Role to Protector.
  • Parrying Blade 4: Battlecry: Permanently reduce enemy Protectors’ and Casters’ Attack by 10.
  • Three Moves Ahead 4: Passive: Enemy Casters’ Abilities are (2) Speed slower.

 

Neeru Fireblade (Rare Caster)

• Orc – 9/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Command Demon 5: (Fel - Speed 5) Summon a Wild Imp 5. Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Your Imps will target it this turn, if able.
    • Wild Imp 5: (Demon) 5/15. At the end of the turn, deal 12 Fel damage to a random enemy.
  • Burning Blade Portal 5: (Fel - Speed 5, Cooldown 2) At the end of your turn, fill your board with Wild Imps 5.
  • Imp-losion 5: (Fel - Speed 6, Cooldown 2) Destroy a friendly Imp. Deal 10 damage plus its Attack and Health to a random enemy 3 times.
• Equipment:
  • Jumbo Imps 4: Wild Imp has +15 Health.
  • Combustible Imps 4: Wild Imp has “Deathrattle: Deal 12 Fel damage to a random enemy.”
  • Demon Armor 4: Passive: Your Demons have “Immune while Attacking.”

 

Nemsy Necrofizzle (Rare Caster)

• Gnome – 9/70 Maxed Stats
• Battlecry: Summon a 10/25 Boggy Elemental with Taunt.
• Abilities:
  • Boggy Blast 5: (Nature - Speed 7) Deal 15 damage. Summon a 10/25 Boggy with Taunt. If you already have Boggy, give it +15 Health instead.
  • Erupting Fungus 5: (Nature - Speed 4) Choose a friendly character. After it survives damage this turn, it deals 18 damage to a random enemy.
  • Bogonomics 5: (Nature - Speed 3) Give a friendly character +5/+10 and Taunt. If you have Boggy, give it +5/+5.
• Equipment:
  • Bog Moss 4: Boggy gains “Adjacent characters take 7 less damage.”
  • Fishing Lure 4: Boggy gains +10 Health and “After this is attacked, Attack a random enemy.”
  • “Fresh” Peaches 4: Boggy gains “At the end of the turn, give your Taunt characters +12 Health.”

 

Garona Halforcen (Rare Fighter)

• Half-Orc – 10/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Smoke and Knives 5: (Shadow - Speed 8) Attack an enemy and deal 20 damage to an adjacent one. If this isn’t already a Fighter, become one and deal 26 instead.
  • Shimmering Toxin 5: (Nature – Speed 1) Gain +10 Attack. Take 12 less damage this turn. Become a Protector. (Starts off Cooldown)
  • One and the Same 5: (Cooldown 1) Discover a Lineage Ability. Combo: Become a Caster first.
    • Dev comment: When Abilities Discover an Ability, that includes the Discovered Ability’s Speed. A “Lineage Ability” is a selection from several classic Orc Abilities.
• Equipment:
  • Shadowstep 4: End of Turn: If you control another Merc, gain +4/+5 and return to the bench.
  • Halforcen Legacy 4: Battlecry: If you control another Orc, gain +3/+10. Repeat for Dranei and Human.
  • Knife of Indecision 4: Battlecry: Gain +15 Health and become Neutral.

 

Khadgar (Epic Caster)

• Human – 10/82 Maxed Stats
• At the end of the turn, if all three of your basic Abilities are upgraded, transform into Archmage Khadgar.
• Abilities:
  • Arcane Surge 5: (Arcane - Speed 6) Deal 16 damage. Upgrade Blizzard to Root all enemies.
  • Blizzard 5: (Frost - Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Deal 14 damage. Upgrade Hearthfire to grant +5 Attack.
  • Hearthfire 5: (Fire - Speed 2) Give your characters +12 Health. Upgrade Arcane Surge to be (2) Speed.
• Equipment:
  • Bakin’ Bacon 4: Start of Game: Upgrade Hearthfire. Khadgar gains +8 Health.
  • Bitter Chill 4: Start of Game: Upgrade Blizzard and it Refreshes (1).
  • Boon of Atiesh 4: Archmage Khadgar has an extra +3 Fire, Frost, and Arcane Damage.

Archmage Khadgar (Transformed Form)

• Human – 10/82 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Prismatic Bolt 5: (Speed 2) Deal 16 damage. Gain +1 Fire, Frost, and Arcane Damage.
  • Archmage Nova 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Cast all of Khadgar’s upgraded abilities.
  • Triune Supremacy 5: Discover one of Khadgar’s upgraded abilities.

 

Medivh (Legendary Protector)

• Human – 11/86 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Arcane Rift 5: (Arcane - Speed 5) Deal 12 damage. Your next Arcane ability this turn deals Critical Damage.
  • Mage Guard 5: (Arcane - Speed 3) Give a friendly character +15 Health and Taunt this turn. After it is Attacked this turn, it gains +3 Arcane Damage.
  • Summon Raven Familiar 5: (Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Summon a Raven Familiar with “Spell Resistance +10” and the “Birds of a Feather 5” Ability.
    • Raven Familiar: (Beast) 10/20. Spell Resistance +10.
      • Birds of a Feather 5: (Arcane - Speed 6) Deal 8 damage. (Increases by 5 when you use another Arcane ability.)
• Equipment:
  • Unstable Rune 4: Battlecry: Summon a 0/10 Arcane Ward with “Counter the first Ability used each turn.”
  • Medivh’s Locket 4: After you summon a minion, give it +4 Arcane Damage.
  • Staff of Atiesh 4: Start of Game: Give friendly Casters +5/+10.

 

Tess Greymane (Rare Protector)

• Human – 16/92 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Yoink! 5: (Shadow - Speed 4) Deal 15 damage. Transform into a one-time copy of the ability the target cast this turn. (if possible)
  • Moonlight Resolve! 5: (Arcane - Speed 3) Restore 25 Health. Transform into a one-time copy of the last enemy ability cast this turn. (if possible)
  • Princess Power! 5: (Cooldown 1) Discover an enemy ability. Cast 12 unique abilities this game to transform into What I’m Capable Of!
    • What I’m Capable Of!: Cast 5 random abilities you’ve cast this game at an enemy. (if possible)
• Equipment:
  • Cloak of Shadows 4: Yoink! And Moonlight Resolve! Transform permanently. Their initial effects are improved by 6.
  • Steadfast Convictions 4: Passive: +4/+8. After this deals damage to a Merc, gain Role advantage.
  • Tools of the Trade 4: Start of Game: Transform Yoink! and Moonlight Resolve! Into random single use enemy abilities. Gain +15 Health.

 

Genn Greymane (Epic Protector)

• Human – 12/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Blistering Bullet 5: (Fire - Speed 2) Deal 12 damage. Transform into a Worgen.
  • Spacemaker 5: (Fire - Speed 6) Deal 18 damage. Gain +3 Attack.
  • Beastly Beauty 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) 15/20 Human. Taunt. Battlecry: Give your other Humans and Worgen +4/+6.
• Equipment:
  • Blood Moon 4: Battlecry: Gain +7 Attack. Transform into Genn’s Other Form.
  • Smooth Transformation 4: End of Turn: Transform into Genn’s Other Form and gain +8 Health.
  • Gilnean Strength 4: After one of your characters casts an even-Speed ability, restore 10 Health to them.

Genn Greymane (Worgen Form) (Fighter)

• Worgen – 12/89 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Moonlight Strike 5: Deal damage equal to this Merc’s attack. Transform into a Human.
  • Ankle Breaker 5: Attack an enemy. It’s (5) Speed slower while this is a Human.
  • Beautiful Beast 5: (Speed 4, Cooldown 1) 20/15 Worgen. Charge. Battlecry: Give your other Humans and Worgen +6/+4.

 

Aranna Starseeker (Rare Caster)

• Night Elf – 9/81 Maxed Stats
• Abilities:
  • Edge Cancel 5: (Speed 6) Gain +7 Attack this turn and Attack an enemy. If it has less Attack, return this to the bench.
  • Felodic Intonement 5: (Fel - Speed 9) Deal 22 damage to an enemy. Set its Attack to 0 until next turn.
  • Aggrobatics 5: (Fel - Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Deal 10 damage to an enemy and swap with an ally across from it. Enemy abilities targeting the Mercs swap targets (if possible).
• Equipment:
  • Unbreakable Backpack 4: Battlecry: Gain +2 Fel, Arcane, and Nature Damage. Gain +1 more for each of your other Night Elves and Demons.
  • Iambic Pentameter 4: Passive: Enemies across from this have -8 Attack.
  • Glaive Land 4: Battlecry: Gain +5 Health and Role advantage against this Merc’s current Role. 

19 New Bounties

If you keep up with this kind of news or perhaps heard other people talking about it, you might even recall that some of the Mercenaries Darkmoon content had been datamined almost four months ago. So it's not a complete surprise or anything. 

Now, adding new Bounties to some of the existing older Zones is not something that happens very often (as Blackrock Mountain might already be too large for its own good). 

Quote From Blizzard

New Zone and Bounties

We are welcoming the Darkmoon Troupe to Mercenaries in a brand-new Zone, spanning 11 new Bounties. We are also adding five new Bounties to the Felwood Zone, and 3 more new Bounties to the Blackrock Mountain Zone. 

Bugfixes 

If you don't ever attempt to play Hearthstone Mercenaries on mobile, you could be excused for not realizing that this is in fact the most important aspect of the entire patch. Is it possible, will our suffering finally be over after waiting for so long? 

Although it pains me to point out that there have been more insufferable bugs with the mobile Mercenaries UI than just this one. 

Quote From Blizzard

• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where players were sometimes unable to edit their Party on mobile. 

How do you like the upcoming game mode updates, managed to pick your favorite new Mercs combo yet?