Hearthstone’s patch 4.2.0 is here

In anticipation of the next Hearthstone expansion, which is set to come out before the end of May, Blizzard released patch 4.2.0 earlier today. On the update menu this time around is mostly quality of life improvements and cosmetic additions.

If you’ve been playing Hearthstone for a while, this next update won’t be a surprise to you — pre-purchasing the new expansion is back. Since this is a card expansion, not a solo adventure, pre-purchasing it is basically equivalent to buying 50 card packs to open once the expansion releases ,and it also includes an Old Gods themed card back (see below).

Eyes of C’Thun Card Back

Speaking of card backs…this month’s Ranked Play card back has been revealed. It is based on Hogger, and requires reaching rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play before the end of March. Also, if you have already pre-purchased Blizzard’s upcoming game Overwatch, or if you are planning to, you will be granted the Overwatch card back. You will have to buy the Origins Edition, which is basically the online deluxe edition, in order to unlock the card back.

Hogger Card Back

Overwatch Card Back

One change that I’ve been waiting for a long time is more deck slots, and Blizzard has been nice enough to double them from 9 to 18. You get one additional deck slot each time you unlock one of the nine heroes. If you already have all the heroes, you will find the new slots waiting for you in the Collection Manager.

Overall, the Collection Manager got much friendlier to use. Instead of jumping between the Collection Manager and the Crafting tab, you can now simply right click on a card to get the crafting options. Another new addition is Deck Recipes: three deck suggestions per class for you to experiment with. If you are missing cards from the pre-made deck list, the Suggest a Card feature will help you find a substitute from your collection. I know what you are thinking, but they made their Suggest a Card algorithm better so you should actually get good ideas out of it.

Last but not least, a new hero has finally arrived, though she is not accessible yet. The Blood Elf Paladin Liadrin will be obtainable by reaching level 20 in World of Warcraft. Getting your new hero won’t work retroactively with your older characters, but any character leveled to level 20 after 11 a.m. PST starting March 11 will. No strings attached though, because level 20 can be reached by playing the free version of World of Warcraft without having to buy the game or pay for a subscription. You may just get addicted to it… again.

Liadrin

Other than that, the team has made the usual bug fixes and a few adjustments to the UI in preparation for upcoming features from Whispers of the Old Gods.

See y’all in game!