Hearthstone Battlegrounds 18.2 patch: Battlegrounds Parties, new heroes, minions, and more

Mid-expansion Hearthstone events are becoming a standard practice for Blizzard. It is a nice and refreshing way to introduce new content without a need to wait for a full expansion release.

Forbidden Library is the Scholomance Academy mid-expansion event and it will bring balance changes, new single-player content called Book of Heroes, Heroic Brawliseum, and a set of updates for Hearthstone Battlegrounds.

Battlegrounds Parties

(Picture: Blizzard)

In terms of gameplay, probably the most exciting new feature coming in Battlegrounds is Battlegrounds Parties.

Up until this point, the only way you could play Battlegrounds is to queue into a random match with 7 other random players based on your MMR.

And while this ladder system works quite well for Battlegrounds, for almost a full year you weren't able to play Battlegrounds with your friends.

Hearthstone Battlegrounds is one of the most popular ways to play Hearthstone currently, and some even think that it is the most played Hearthstone mode.

It is only natural that people want to play it with their friends.

Starting from 8 September and patch 18.2, we will now be able to do exactly that!

• Up to 4 players will be able to queue for a normal ranked Battlegrounds match together.
• Once the group lobby exceeds 4 players, the game type will automatically switch to a private Battlegrounds match for 5-8 players.

Besides the fact that you will now be able to play with your friends, another very important thing that comes with private lobbies is tournament organisation, because you will now finally be able to set up private games with arranged players.

This will allow for the already quite competitive scene to grow further, beyond just ladder and MMR, with plans from Blizzard probably to establish some kind of the official competition in the long run.

New Battlegrounds Heroes

Lord Barov

(Picture: Blizzard)

• Friendly Wager [Cost 1]
  • Guess which player will win their next combat. If they win, get three Coins.

Jandice Barov

(Picture: Blizzard)

• Swap, Lock, & Shop It [Cost 0]
  • Swap a friendly non-golden minion with a random one in Bob’s Tavern

Forest Warden Omu

(Picture: Blizzard)

• Everbloom [Passive]
  • After you upgrade Bob’s Tavern, gain 2 Gold this turn only.

Battlegrounds Minion Updates

Micro Mummy (New minion)

• [Tier 1, Mech] 1 Attack, 2 Health
  • Reborn. At the end of your turn, give another random friendly minion +1 Attack

Pack Leader (Updated minion)

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +3 Attack. → New: 2 Attack, 3 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +2 Attack.

• Mecharoo has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.

Battlegrounds Parties, new heroes and updates, are coming to Hearthstone Battleground on 8 September with patch 18.2.