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Hearthstone balance patch 17.0.2 targets several Demon Hunter cards

The party is over for Demon Hunter, as Hearthstone's 17.0.2 balance patch aims to rein it in early next week.

Ozzie Mejia

April 17, 2020 11:45 AM

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It's been a few weeks since Blizzard launched the Ashes of Outland expansion for Hearthstone, officially debuting the new Demon Hunter class. It came out of the gate wildly powerful, so the balance police politely knocked on the Demon Hunter's door and issued a warning in the form of some early tweaks. But Demon Hunter has continue to run wild, so the balance police are now shutting the party down. On Friday, Blizzard released details of the upcoming 17.0.2 patch and it will bop a lot of the major Demon Hunter staples with the nerf bat.

According to the Hearthstone forums, players can expect the following balance tweaks to show up early next week:

• Kael'Thas Sunstrider (Neutral): Costs 7 mana (Up from 6 mana)
• Bad Luck Albatross (Neutral): Costs 4 mana (Up from 3 mana)
• Frenzied Felwing (Neutral): Now has 3/2 stats (Down from 3/3 stats)
• Altruis the Outcast (Demon Hunter): Costs 4 mana with 4/2 stats (Up from 3 mana, up from 3/2 stats)
• Battlefiend (Demon Hunter): Now has 1/2 stats (Down from 2/2 stats)
• Glaivebound Adept (Demon Hunter): Now has 6/4 stats (Down from 7/4 stats)
• Sacrificial Pact (Warlock): Now reads "Destroy a friendly Demon. Restore 5 Health to your hero." (Changed from "Destroy a Demon. Restore 5 Health to your hero.)
• Bloodbloom (Warlock): Costs 4 mana (Up from 2 mana)
• Libram of Justice (Paladin): Costs 5 mana (Down from 6 mana)
• Open the Waygate (Mage): Now reads "Cast 8 spells that didn’t start in your deck. Reward: Time Warp." (Changed from "Cast 6 spells that didn’t start in your deck. Reward: Time Warp.")

These are mainly Demon Hunter nerfs, taking a few of the stat lines down, while upping the costs of some of the more devastating cards, like Altruis and Kael'Thas. This won't kill their viability by any means, but rather it just means their hard-hitting combos will come later in the game. Still, this should hopefully bring the Demon Hunter down to earth.

The change to Sacrificial Pact is a devastating one for anyone who has been around Hearthstone since the very beginning. That essentially spells the end for the play where this spell can be used to destroy Lord Jaraxxus for an instant win. If you want an idea of how that worked, here's Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan with one of the most epic uses of Sacrificial Pact seen among the streaming community.

That's not the end of the changes, though. Hearthstone Battlegrounds will also undergo a few changes. Millhouse Manastorm will retain everything that comes along with the character, but his Tavern Tiers will now cost (1) more Gold.

As is the case with all balance changes, the cards affected will be eligible for a full dust refund. Look for the Hearthstone 17.0.2 patch to be issued early next week.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?