Hearthstone Kicks Off First Battlegrounds Season And Welcomes The Naga
Hearthstone kicks off its first-ever Battlegrounds season and gets invaded by slithering sea serpents with the release of Patch 23.2: Rise of the Naga. The update features the addition of the Naga minion type, the new “Spellcraft” keyword, and several new heroes, including the queen of the Naga herself, Queen Azshara.
Aside from getting an infusion of ocean-dwelling snake people, Patch 23.2 also updates the existing minion pool, updates armor tiers for heroes, and kicks off an N’Zoth-related limited-time event.
“The Old God N’Zoth’s influence will seep into Mercenaries with a new limited-time event. The event will consist of 10 special Tasks centered around N’Zoth. Two new event Tasks can unlock on each of the first five days of the event, but you have until Patch 23.4 to complete all 10 Tasks. Completing all 10 Tasks will award you the base N’Zoth Mercenary, a random Golden N’Zoth Portrait, the N’Zoth Diamond Portrait, and over 750 total Mercenaries Coins!”
As for the Battlegrounds, the team explains the reasons behind the hero balance adjustments that were implemented with the patch’s release. According to the team, the goal was to encourage players to try new things and maintain hero diversity. The changes will also mostly be felt by newer players and won’t have a noticeable effect on higher MMR competitive matches.
“The takeaway here is that players shouldn’t feel obligated to pick only the heroes that work best for the top 1% of players but should instead experiment with different heroes to see what performs best for their skill bracket, level of engagement with the game, and play style,” said Battlegrounds Lead Designer John McIntyre. “With Rise of the Naga we expect a big meta shake-up and we’re excited to see what you all make of it!”
If there’s one thing I look forward to in new Hearthstone updates, it’s the new trailer that comes with it. You’ll find that waiting down below. You can also check out the full patch notes on the Hearthstone official site.
