Hearthstone Battlegrounds Updates for Patch 24.4 - Sylvanas Returns as Playable Hero, Brings Another Hidden Body Along

It turns out that the Banshee Queen is actually returning to more than one Hearthstone game mode! And of course there had to be hidden bodies involved - some things just never change. Now everything fits pretty well into the main narrative of the upcoming Maw and Disorder Mini-Set for Murder at Castle Nathria.

As the expected 24.4 patch notes have found their way onto the official Blizzard blog at the designated hour, we've learned about the above, as well as a couple of other Battlegrounds-related items. For one, the other previously removed Quest Reward is finally returning. Ever since the Season 2 with its big revamp took over the game mode, it feels like every single major and minor update brings along something new. 

The patch itself is expected to be released on Tuesday, September 27 (that is, later today) 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 Battlegrounds Updates

There might not be a whole lot to cover, but the Dark Lady commands that we briefly consider the storied past of Hearthstone Battlegrounds.

Returning Hero - Sylvanas Windrunner

How many of you even remembered that Sylvanas Windrunner used to be available as a playable Hero back in the day? Unfortunately, her reign had been very short-lived. 

First introduced on December 5, 2019 (along with Edwin and Rafaam), Sylvanas Windrunner was then promptly removed by March 17, 2020. Her old Hero Power of Banshee's Blessing could not stand against the competition even then, and it would've only been a ten times worse Tamsin Roame nowadays.

And so it's high time for some classy rebranding: 

Quote From Blizzard

Returning Hero

Sylvanas Windrunner (Armor Tier 1)

• Reclaimed Souls
  • [1 Gold] Give +2/+1 to your minions that died last combat.

This new hero will be available in all lobbies for two weeks after patch launch. 

It's good to have this new rule where newly (re-)introduced Heroes are instantly available to everyone, instead of just the Tavern Pass owners.

Although yes, that also means it's another character without a designated Buddy, and with an increased chance to appear in every single lobby... probably best forget about finding that 25th hidden Quest Reward for the time being.

Other Battlegrounds Updates

As already noted, we are going back to having all Quest Rewards available once again. Hopefully now working better than before.

Quote From Blizzard

General Updates

• Another Hidden Body has been returned to the Quest Reward pool. Its animation has also been sped up.
• Another Hidden Body has been made more difficult to earn.
• When creating a private lobby, players can now invite friends of their invited friends. 

It'll be interesting to see how well Another Hidden Body stacks up, now that we are much more familiar with Battlegrounds Quests as a whole. The early predictions always held it in high regard, but we just didn't get a proper chance to play with the Reward in a live environment. 

And inviting friends of friends, you say? The prophecy of one Friend of a Friend is finally coming true!

New Cosmetic Ahead - Legendary Battlegrounds Boards

One of those entries where the featured item won't actually become available right away with the patch, but stay hidden until October 11. That pretty much tells us when to expect another new sale/shop update, besides what we might be getting today. Perhaps this type of cosmetic will have its fans. 

Quote From Blizzard

New Cosmetic: Legendary Battlegrounds Boards

Introducing Legendary Battlegrounds Boards! Legendary Boards have six different visuals one for during the recruit phase and one for the combat phase, as well as special modifiers for when you are in the Top 4, when you are on a winstreak, when you are at low Health, and when you land a big hit! Experience the whole range of Legendary animations with the new Murloc Hideaway Legendary Battlegrounds Board, available starting October 11.

 

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

The more the better. And another much needed mobile bug fix! 

Quote From Blizzard

• Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where if the last minion to die was a Golden Summoned minion, Victim’s Specter would give a copy of that minion that granted a triple reward.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Reborn Rites persisted for an extra turn if the target was tripled by Victim’s Specter.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug that in certain edge cases could prevent minions from properly tripling.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a visual bug where Battlegrounds Rating did not appear correctly on mobile.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Training Session did not function properly with Sire Denathrius.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where the notification would not show when new Battlegrounds rewards were able to be claimed on the Battlegrounds Track. 

Battlegrounds Developer Insights

Just a couple of relevant notes from Mitchell Loewen; you might be quite glad to see them. 

Quote From Mitchell Loewen

Is there any chance that all quest completion animations will be sped up alongside another hidden body? Being locked out of doing anything for 10s has caused a few too many close calls and cost me a game or three already and it doesn't feel good.

Should be sped up across the board

Quote From Mitchell Loewen

Also I didn't see anything but every time I level up in battlegrounds I have to go all the way through all the pages again just to get to where my reward is. It doesn't just stay on the last page like how the standard rewards track does

We have a task in to fix that, but I'm not sure when it will be implemented.

It might not be a whole lot, but there's been a lot of Battlegrounds content lately as is! How is the rebranded Sylvanas Hero looking potential-wise, do you predict many conquered lobbies for the Dark Lady?