Blizzard has posted patch notes in advance of tomorrow's game update. We've got all the details so let's jump right in. First though, some of our adjacent coverage of the patch:

Now, those patch notes!

Quote From Blizzard

Belly up to the saloon in Battlegrounds Season 6, the Spellslinger’s Saloon. This here saloon’s serving up all new spells, purchased directly from the Tavern. Sit down with over 40 new Tavern spells, over 30 new minions, an update to the Undead minion type, and more!

On December 5, Battlegrounds Season 5 will end and Season 6 will begin. That means rankings will be reset, Anomalies will be removed, and the Battlegrounds Track will switch over. All rewards that were earned from the Season 5 Track, but not yet claimed, will be automatically claimed.

New Battlegrounds Track

The Season 6 Battlegrounds Track, with the Season Pass, features 40 levels of rewards, including 4 Legendary Hero Skins, 9 Epic Hero Skins, 6 Rare Hero Skins, 8 Epic Emotes, 6 Rare Emotes, an Epic Bartender, and a Legendary Strike! 

For more details about the Season 6 Battlegrounds Track, and the new Battlegrounds Season Pass, see the Season 6 Announcement Blog.

 

General Battlegrounds Updates

  • Turn timers have been temporarily extended by 5 seconds each turn while players get used to this new frontier.
  • Bots have been added to the Battlegrounds ladder. One or more bots will be added to certain games to provide newer and lower-MMR players with a smoother experience.

 

In-Game Event: Winter Veil

Greatfather Winter is here for the season, bringing toys to everyone in the tavern. Ring in the new year with cheer! From December 12 to January 2, complete event quests to earn Event XP on the special event rewards track. Complete the rewards track to earn 1 Showdown in the Badlands Pack, 2 Standard Packs, 2 Ravenous Kraken Signature Common cards, 2 Angry Helhound Signature Rare cards, and Greathfather Thorim Battlegrounds Hero Skin!

Then, keep the Winter Veil festivities rolling with Winter Veil themed Tavern Brawls starting on December 13, and Winter Veil themed shop offerings starting December 19!

 

Heroic Tavern Brawl Returns

Kick off the new year with a bang! Heroic Tavern Brawl (Standard format) returns on January 3, for more fierce competition against top players. Pay the entry fee and play until you either get 3 losses or 12 wins. Those who can go all the way are greatly rewarded!

 

Major Shop Rework

We’ve overhauled the in-game shop to improve performance and make it easier for all players to see the types of products that interest them most! Now, shop categories are broken down into tabs and sub-tabs to reduce scrolling. There are main tabs on the left side for Featured items (like current best-value bundles), Hearthstone items, Battlegrounds items, Modes items (like Tavern Tickets), and Runestones. Some of these main tabs also have sub-tabs across the top to make further navigation easier!

You can also now zoom in on specific items in a bundle, to get a better look at them. Just select the bundled product and click or tap on the part of the product image you want to zoom in on! We’ve also improved the item preview for animated Skins to better show off their art. Finally, if a Skin or Bartender has special voicelines, there is now a speech bubble button for you to preview them.

New Player Progression Update

After finishing the tutorial, new players will now get access to the new Apprentice Track—an experience replacing the current Apprentice Ranks and intended to simplify and guide new player development and progression. Modes and classes (including Death Knight) are now earned as rewards on the Apprentice Track, instead of their previous unlock requirements. We’re also introducing the Tavern Guide, a series of quests designed to teach players about Hearthstone’s core systems and strategies. The new Apprentice Track and Tavern Guide are expected to take less time to complete than the current Apprentice ranks. Rewards for completing the new track include Gold, Catch-Up Packs, starter decks, and more!  

Returning players who are still in Apprentice ranks will be placed on the Apprentice Track, with their current Modes and all classes unlocked. Experienced players or players who just want to play Battlegrounds will be able to skip the track and guide to immediately unlock all classes, modes, and Loaner Decks, but will miss out on the other rewards along the Track.

Bugs and Game Improvements

  • [General] In our continued efforts to streamline the mobile client, the base download for new installs will now no longer automatically include Mercenaries or Solo Content. Players who want to play those modes can still access them in-client, with an additional download after the initial install. We plan to continue to build on this modular download experience in coming updates.
  • [Hearthstone] Odyn, Prime Designate’s Battlecry effect can no longer be stacked if played multiple times.
  • [Hearthstone] Asvedon, the Grandshield will no longer spoil secrets.
  • [Hearthstone] “Partner” cards will now check cost only when you play them, so playing them can’t negate their own effect due to cards that change cost based on cards in your hand or minions in play.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Magister Dawngrasp’s Hero Power and Artificer Xy’mox caused disconnects. Magister Dawngrasp is no longer banned.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Forging or Trading a Miraged minion would get you an extra Mirage in hand.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Tony, King of Piracy’s Finale effect triggered before his Battlecry effect.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Shadow of Demise copied a card’s base version, instead of an exact copy.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug with the animation for Amitus’s Reinforced ability.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where The Primus didn’t have animations or sounds when it used its Abilities.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Symphony of Sins was missing its music effect when played—what’s a Symphony with no sound?
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Excavating Epic and Legendary Treasures resulted in a small spike of lag.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where gaining control of an enemy Titan, but clicking on the Titan before the “mind control” animation completed, could cause a client soft-lock.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Confessor Paletress could summon Colossal minions with her effect.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Chittering Tunneler’s Battlecry didn’t deal damage.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Felsteel Executioner did not retain hand buffs for its Health.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where cards transformed by Shenanigans would retain their Deathrattles, allowing you to… *sigh* destroy the enemy hero with a banana that had Mecha’thun’s Deathrattle. Talk about Shenanigans.
  • [Hearthstone] Fixed visual bugs with various minions’ come into play effects.
  • [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Lord Barov’s Hero Power caused crashes. He’s been returned to the Hero Pool.
  • [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Upbeat Duo couldn’t copy Golden Monkey.
  • [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Piloted Whirl-O-Tron didn’t copy Recurring Nightmare’s Deathrattle.
  • [Solo Content] Fixed a bug where the “Warlock’s Apprentice” Solo Adventure puzzle was made impossible to clear by recent card adjustments.
  • [Progression] Fixed a bug where claiming Thunderbringer prior to expansion launch meant it was not counted properly for Collection Achievements.
  • [Progression] Fixed a bug where the Refreshing Vendor achievement didn’t progress properly.
  • [Features] Fixed a bug where, when using spacebar to Mass Pack Opening, the game would select a stack to open randomly (now it will always open the top eligible stack).
  • [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where Elise, the Leader did not have her special hero power animation.
  • [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where Pit Boss Reska did not have her special hero power animation.
  • [Cosmetics] Correct issues with various hero skin voicelines.
  • Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.