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Hearthstone players saw the arrival of an unexpected balance change, check out the details as we go over the 26.0.2 patch notes.

Today Hearthstone gave us a surprise releasing a hotfix patch nerfing three cards. The 26.0.2 patch is a server-side update that doesn’t require any downloads, so you’re able to log in and play. On top of the standard nerfs, the latest Hearthstone patch notes also include Battlegrounds balance changes. Let’s go over the important news.

Manuel “Rane” Delgado

Hearthstone 26.0.2 patch notes

TheFestival of Legends metagame is only 3 days old, but some archetypes have grown stronger than others. The 26.0.2 Hearthstone patch doesn’t aim to solve every problem in the game right now, but to address the most important issues.

“For early patches like this one, our goal is to make high-confidence changes which aim to open up the meta a bit until we can come in and make bigger changes later with access to more data and player sentiment.”

Hearthstone

The patch notes bring three nerfs affecting the most popular Hearthstone archetypes at the moment.

Construct Quarter has been a powerhouse for Death Knight since the class release. Hearthstone has already nerfed it by one mana, and now it’s losing one durability according to the patch notes. The idea is to tone down the class’s representation a bit.

Hearthstone’s patch notes – first Festival of Legends nerfs cover image

Death Knight didn’t suffer any losses after the rotation, which turned it into the preferred choice for many players. The Blood Death Knight deck represented almost 15% of Hearthstone’s metagame before this patch being the most popular archetype in the game,according to HsReplay.net.

On top of that, the aggressive Death Knight is the third-most-popular class, and both rely on Construct Quarter in a way. While this is a step in the right direction, there is clearly more work to do.

Construct Quarter<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Old: 3 Durability<!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted -->New: 2 Durability<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

“you’re able to think of this patch as more of a band-aid than anything else. Expect things like buffs and more foundational nerfs in the next patch.”

The other two changes stated in the 26.0.2 Hearthstone patch notes are also nerfing some high-impact cards from other popular decks. Both Lightray and Vengeful Walloper are cards that are played in the mid-game spending 0 mana due to their cost reduction mechanics.

Vengeful Walloper<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Old: 6 Mana<!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted -->New: 7 Mana<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

These are important pieces from Pure Paladin and Outcast Demon Hunter. It’s expected the decks to slow down a bit, but still perform in the current metagame.

The patch notesdon’t go into detailsabout when the next Hearthstone balance update will come, but it usually arrives two weeks after the expansion launch. This gives us April 25 as the most likely date.

Lightray<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Old: 9 Mana<!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted -->New: 10 Mana<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

Additionally, Aleco mentioned that they are looking into Wild, specifically Twig, a powerful Combo Druid enabler: “Also wanted to note that we’re discussing Twig in Wild right now. I can’t make any promises yet but we’re monitoring the situation.”

Battlegrounds balance changes

Battlegrounds didn’t have a major update with the 26.0 patch which allowed the Hearthstone team to focus more on balance. Patch notes establish that a dozen Hearthstone buddies will see adjustments. The following chart displays those changes.

You can check out their new versions in the gallery below.

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Furthermore, the new Dr. Boombox Hearthstone Battlegrounds minion will go up a tier according to the patch notes. At Tier 4, the minions worked as a good tempo tool and were a bit too popular and powerful for its tier.

Last but not least, the Hearthstone patch notes include many changes to Battlegrounds' Heroes' armor. Armor serves as an extra balancing variable, giving more survivability to underperforming Heroes. You can check out the changes in the following tables.

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That’s all for now, but feel free to explore our Hearthstonenews and guides section for more infoon the latest Festival of Legends expansion. Be sure to visit esports.gg for all the latestesports news. See you next time in Thousand Needles.

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