Activision Blizzard have revealed the details of the “biggest update to date” of their popular game mode. The variety of changes aim to make gameplay more consistent and preserve long term play-ability of Battlegrounds.
In a lengthy blog post, the reworking of the game has been detailed. The change which has attracted the most conversation is the never before seen cap on damage dealt in the start of the game. From the new patch, players will not take more than 15 damage per turn until a player has died.
Minion Changes
Furthermore, this move will help avoid the common complaint that sometimes players can die too quickly after some bad luck. In contrast, this raises the question of whether we will see a shift in play-style as this damage cap could benefit a more greedy strategy.
In addition, there has been a complete rework of multiple tribes within Battlegrounds. A total of 37 minions have been replaced. Notable minions that have been removed include murloc tidecaller and faceless taverngoer. Both of these minions were integral to faster leveling strategies.
However, one minion is returning to the tavern in a new form. The short lived holy mackerel has been reintroduced as “holy mecherel”, with it now being part of the mech tribe. It can no longer gain poisonous but will certainly be part of divine shield builds in the future.
Further new minions joining the tavern will feature a new keyword exclusive to Battlegrounds. The Avenge keyword will trigger when a minion dies. In some cases stronger avenge abilities will trigger after multiple minions die, denoted by a (2) or (3).
New Heroes and Cosmetics
As well as the radical changes to the minions in the tavern, there has been a change up in the heroes available. The new heroes will be added 2 weeks after the patch but will be available earlier to those who have purchased the Battlegrounds perks.
The first new hero is Master Nguyen. Their hero power allows you to choose from one of two hero powers each turn. The second hero is Cariel Roame. Their hero power upgrades when you reach tavern tier 3 as well as 5. It begins giving a random minion +1/+1, followed by 3 minions +1/+1 and finally 5 minions +1/+1.
Moreover, there has been a further addition of cosmetics to the store. The range of new skins will be available to purchase and include a new skin for Bartender Bob.
Release Details
The new update arrived alongside patch 21.2 on August 31st, 2021. This included the rotating minions and new damage cap. The new heroes will not arrive until September 14th, 2021, but those with Battlegrounds perks will be able to use the new heroes early.
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