Hearthstone Patch 22.4 brings new Battlegrounds content. Three new Heroes, two new Boards and a brand new cosmetic item: Finishers.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds is getting three new Heroes with patch 22.4. On top of that, more cosmetics are entering Bob’s Tavern: 2 exclusive Battleground Boards and a new item, Battlegrounds Finishers. Learn everything about this Battlegrounds update in the 22.4 Hearthstone patch here.
New Battlegrounds Heroes in Hearthstone patch 22.4
Only weeks have passed after the massive Battlegrounds Buddies update, and Hearthstone is still putting new content in the 22.4 patch. Three new Heroes will enter Bob’s Tavern, and each of them will have their special Buddy.
Varden Dawngrasp
- Hero Power: Twice as Nice. Passive. After Bob’s Tavern is Refreshed, copy and Freeze one of his minions.
- Buddy: Varden’s Aquarrior. [Tier 2, Elemental] 3 Attack, 5 Health. “Twice as Nice” also gives the copy stats equal to your Tavern Tier.
Varden’s Hero Power doesn’t have a direct board impact. However, the huge upside of seeing a pair every time you roll can be massive. This, in combination with Token-related Tier 1 strategies, could have great success. Varden’s Buddy isn’t game-breaking, but being a Tier 2 Buddy, and giving some extra stats, could help develop a greedy triple strategy.
Rokara
- Hero Power: Glory of Combat. Passive. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, give it +1 Attack permanently.
- Buddy: Icesnarl the Mighty. [Tier 4, Beast] 5 Attack, 2 Health. After a friendly minion kills an enemy, gain +1 Health permanently.
Rokara seems like a better Deathwing at face value. Many strategies could be viable with this new Hero. This tempo-oriented Hero Power is also capable of scaling your comp. In combination with divine shield units such as Deflect-o-bot or cleave effects like Hydra, you could forge an impressive mid-game board.
Moreover, Rokara’s Buddy is a grower. Low starting stats, but with Health and Attack scalability. It would be necessary not to get it too late, or the setup wouldn’t work. Pretty good with the avenge strategies.
Onyxia
- Hero Power: Broodmother. Passive. Avenge (4): Summon a 2/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately.
- Buddy: Many Whelps. [Tier 2, Dragon] 4 Attack, 2 Health. Whenever you summon a Whelp, gain +2/+2 permanently.
Similar to Rokara, Onyxia gets a scaling Buddy. The problem with this new hero is that despite having an early buddy, the Avenge 4 requirement might be too high for it to work. With the correct avenge setup, you could snowball the midgame, but you will lose momentum if you don’t transition to a solid comp.
Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the three new Heroes before they are formally released on March 1. Don’t be sad if you don’t have Perks, with the 22.4 Hearthstone patch, other three Heroes will return to the Battlegrounds. Kael'thas, Silas Darkmoon, and Chenvaala will be eligible again.
New Battlegrounds cosmetics in Hearthstone patch 22.4
Hearthstone Battlegrounds has been offering personalization items through cosmetics, and the Hearthstone patch 22.4 brings some cool updates on that field. Battlegrounds Finishers is a new cosmetic that will show a special animation whenever you win a fight. The first Battleground Finisher coming with the 22.4 Hearthstone Patch will be Astral Impact. Depending on the amount of damage dealt you will get different animations.
On top of the new Finisher animations, the Hearthstone 22.4 Patch brings two new Battlegrounds Boards. The Jade Gardens and the Cosmic Study Boards will allow players to customize their battles in the tavern. The first one is already available, while the Astral Impact Finisher and the Cosmic Study Board will be available on February 22.
If you want to learn more about Battlegrounds cosmetics, check out Ninaisnoob’s interview with Cosmetics Production Lead Alicia Mathamagicia Cornelia and Features Lead Chadd Celestalon Nervig.
Finally, if you want to know the updates to Constructed, Mercenaries, and Arena, check our dedicated article. Onyxia's Lair Mini-set is out, don't miss that!
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates. See you next time in Bob’s tavern.