Hearthstone just saw its first big content update of the year, and you know what that means (besides being able to enjoy all these lovely new game additions, of course): unfortunate smaller or larger bugs making it through. We've already noticed dozens of reports about various issues for pretty much all game modes out there, with a few of them finding quick fixes or at least potential workarounds.
As has become a recurring theme by now, an official forum thread was also established for cataloguing all known problems and subsequent solutions over the coming days and weeks of the patch 22.2's lifespan. If you encounter anything that might warrant a report and hasn't been already confirmed as a 'known issue', this is the place to go! On top of that, some Twitter users had even more to add to the ongoing 'bughunt', with people from the Hearthstone team chiming in as much as possible.
Here is our current extensive list of both 'official' and 'unofficial' sightings, with further clarifications where it might be warranted:
Mobile Devices
Quote From Blizzard
- If Google Play users cannot see the update when it becomes available on other mobile devices (expected to be around 1 p.m. PT today), we recommend the same workaround as with the prior updates that did not immediately appear on Google Play: open your profile icon in the top right → open “Manage apps & device” → select “Updates available” → select “Update All.” That should cause the update to appear on your devices once available.
The usual, although this time around it took a really long time for all devices to receive the deployed patch. If this solution doesn't do anything for you, make sure to clear the data, restart your device, try different network connections (sometimes the Airplane mode --> WiFi just... goes through), and if all else fails - be ready to reinstall.
Unusable Portraits and Missing Skins
Quote From Blizzard
- [Updated 1/25] We are aware of a bug that made 1000-win portraits no longer available after the patch launched. We’ve identified the problem and are working on a how to resolve it in a future update.
This seems to be largely contained only to 1k win portraits. Separately, we've seen reports of Warrior class wins showing lower numbers than before, which might have something to do with Diablo and the Duels change in which relevant achievements became hero-specific rather than class-specific.
Not listed in the official forum thread but confirmed on Twitter, some players have also lost access to their Battlegrounds skins from the current Alterac Valley Rewards Track.
Duels
Quote From Blizzard
- [Added 1/25] We are investigating an issue involving players getting stuck when finishing a Heroic Duels run that they started in an older patch.
This is a big one, but there seem to be at least two different issues at play here. It's not just with the runs that were started beforehand, we've been hearing from a lot of people getting stuck only after they had a chance to play in the current patch. This could be linked to the new hero Drek'Thar. You'll know something is up if your Play/Resume button becomes grayed out and refuses to let you through, regardless of restarting the game.
Let us in!
But take comfort, there might be a potential workaround! Thanks to a few resourceful users on Twitter, we've learned the following:
Quote From DovahWolf I managed to fix it by using mobile and tapping where the glowing handle would usually be to redeem rewards, seems the button is there just visually broken
Quote From Toanimpala I opened the client on my IOS phone and tried tapping on where the vault lever usually is on the rewards and it worked on opening the rewards vault and fixing the bug.
Try this solution if it happens to you (does help if you have access to Hearthstone on another device), meanwhile the developers are aware and will be working on an official fix.
A few other Duels-related problems:
Quote From Blizzard
- [Added 1/25] We are aware that Elemental Chaos in Duels is being improperly treated as a Battlecry effect. The team is looking into correcting this issue soon.
- [Added 1/25] We are tracking an issue where Duels runs are setting players to the wrong life totals based on how far they are into that run. We are investigating the cause of this issue and the solution to it.
So yes, you might see your Health remain at 20 points in the 2nd game (whereas it should be increased to 25 HP), and so on. The scaling seems to be outdated for the time being.
One more bug not mentioned in the official thread yet: it's possible to stumble onto duplicate choices when being offered Pool 2 Treasures - so you end up having only two options to pick from rather than the usual three.
And one that was already fixed:
Quote From Blizzard
- 1/25 Hotfixes: We rolled out a small hotfix earlier today resolved the Heavy Armor bug.
What bug, you might ask? Apparently Heavy Armor wasn't setting one's Health to 10.
Mercenaries
Quote From Blizzard
- [Added 1/25] There is a bug where if you don’t own a Mercenary, but do have enough Coins to craft the Mercenary, the game will offer you the option to put that Mercenary into the Training Grounds. But since you don’t own the Mercenary, the server rejects that selection and nothing happens. We’re investigating this bug. In the meantime, you can restart your client to remove the Mercenary you don’t own from your Training Grounds slot and put a proper selection in there.
Somewhat confusing if you attempt to make use of the newest building addition to the Mercenaries mode (not that it's particularly worth it, other than for silly cute animations).
Eternal preparation.
I don't really have the first few Mercenaries on that list (crafted, that is). Fortunately, it doesn't seem like full client restart is always necessary to fix this. I was able to simply exit the mode and upon entering again everything was 'unstuck'. But we've also seen reports of people's game clients crashing as a result.
Other Mercs-related entries:
Quote From Blizzard
- [Updated 1/25] We are aware that some Mercenaries’ Equipment are shown as unlocking at Task 1 and 6, instead of Task 2 and 7. That appears to be a visual bug only, with the Equipment actually unlocking at the intended Tasks like before. The solution to this visual bug is planned for Patch 22.4.
- [Resolved 1/25] We are aware of an edge-case bug where selecting the Mysterious Stranger during a Bounty can cause a client crash. This issue will be fixed in a hotfix going out today.
Just mind that Tasks 7 no longer provide equipment for Mercenaries added in the patch 22.2, you will have to complete the new Heroic Bounties for that (with relevant character in the party). Mysterious Stranger crashes were mainly related to encounters in the new Alterac Valley zone (although we've heard mentions of problematic Felwood bounties and the like as well).
As far as good news go, rejoice! At least some of the more grindy tasks have had their requirements lowered (and others yet received further text clarifications). We don't necessarily have a full list as it's only 'been unofficial' compilations from eagle-eyed players (via Mercenaries Discord), but for example Cookie, the Cook and Sylvanas Windrunner won't attempt to torture us as much anymore.
(Source)
Battlegrounds
Quote From Blizzard
- As documented in the 22.2 Patch Notes, the patch will be launching with Kael’thas, Silas Darkmoon, and Chenvaala temporarily deactivated in Battlegrounds while we work on an issue found in testing.
- We are investigating issues with the Battlegrounds leaderboard not locking at the end of last season and with some players’ ability to properly roll into this next Battlegrounds season.
The leaderboard issue only affects the most competitive subsection of players, and has occurred with almost every season so far. Alas. Basically playing a game in the new season/patch means the ratings correctly reset to 0 afterwards but the previous rating record is not being properly recorded for posterity.
We've also seen quite a few reports of various other Battlegrounds bugs not currently listed in the official thread, but acknowledged by Game Designer Dominic Calkosz on Twitter:
- Arfus respawning infinitely.
- Maxwell, Mighty Steed not behaving when it comes to Phyresz.
Quote From DCalkosz I assume the infinite Money thing on Zephyris is know and lead to him being disabled?
It is known. With the next hotfix, Zephrys' hero power won't be offered to Finley.
- Some odd Ticket Collector interaction.
- Permanently immune Tarecgosa?
- Mobile displays don't quite fit on the screen...
There are probably more Buddy bugs hiding out there, you know where to send them should you encounter any!
Other
Quote From Blizzard
- Players who have not yet updated to the 22.2 Patch will not be able to see this week’s new Tavern Brawl until after they update to Patch 22.2.
- The Immovable Object remains… unmoved. Unfortunately, we were not able to fix the bug with the “You Are Not Worthy” achievement in Patch 22.2. The fix is being worked on and planned for a future update.
Sorry, achievement hunters. Not just yet.
Quote From Blizzard
- We are tracking reports of issues with the Shop.
- [Partially resolved 1/25] We’re aware that the first time you add Attack to your hero after playing Wildheart Guff, that Attack gain does not count for progressing Lost in the Park (the Druid Questline). We are resolving this issue in Ranked Standard with a hotfix update tonight and plan to resolve the issue fully in a hotfix within the next day or two.
Wildheart Guff is supposedly a nice guy, but still refused to play along with his alternate bear self of Guff the Tough (or more specifically, Lost in the Park progress ticks). There are currently plans to fix the bug in all other modes and formats with another hotfix (possibly happening later today).
Whew, that's a lot. And it might not be absolutely everything of note. Let us know should you find anything else worth mentioning; also report in the official forum thread if you are able!
Comments
I'd really like to know if Dean would answer this question in one of his Q&As: Please can you explain how the QA process works for patches and how many QA guys in each team/mode?
My assumption is they only test the "new stuff" added to the game, for eg: the buddies, Dek'thar/Vanndar in duels etc. I'm sure there's also some miscellaneous stuff they test as well.
This testing approach isn't sustainable though and I'd really love to know if automated regression testing is possible in the HS client. Not too clued up on Unity but I'm sure test automation is possible in their framework (as it's becoming the norm for many tech stacks). Regression testing goes a long way to check every single feature in the client, every patch and would help reduce these bugs before players encounter them. Most of these bugs are functional as they appear across all platforms, which means testing on desktop should be enough to find them. Ofc, a sanity test on devices should be done too.
I know this from experience where my software company treats live bugs as major issues. To me, sounds like Blizzard isn't really bothered about them.
It does seem like Activision (and many gaming companies in general) just treat QA and bug testing as an afterthought. It's better for them to release sooner and with bugs abound than painstakingly comb through everything; players are usually lenient enough. If you are familiar with the whole ongoing drama with Raven people at the forefront, that's just one example.
I'm not sure if there are even many permanent QA people embedded within these teams nowadays, as from what we've heard it's been largely contract workers.
We players are their QA department apparently. I am still waiting for my first "paycheck" (gift cards also accepted).
It's crazy that they only clarified Grom's task 12 rather than also making it not absurdly painful to complete.
At this point maybe Outofcards should consider keeping a log of all known hearthstone bugs, fixes, etc. as a permanent feature for the website. Might drum up plenty of activity and views. After all, bugs are seemingly a regular thing in hearthstone nowadays whenever I see no highlights or actions from my opponent I instinctively think that the game might have silently crashed.
I do appreciate the work team5 puts out, but this falls really well off the standards we kinda expect from blizzard entertainment. Maybe its because they know they can patch it anytime they simply dont bother with QA anymore.
not exactly sure what you're alluding to, but I've been very happy with the OoC team so far
(yeah, there's been more than enough instances when I wanted to strangle Blizz and their non-communication)
(yeah, there's been more than one or other "nerfs" that totally swooooshed past the mark, cause +1 mana is easier)
etc etc ... but yeah, I feel Flux & Mods are doing a great job.
Just to clear up the air. What I meant was that OoC might consider making a sticky thread or article somewhere listing down all the bugs encountered and resolutions in the hearthstone game. So if someone needs to refer to a list, they can come here.
Im glad to say Ive not encountered a single bug in my near 2 years use of this website.
Obviously, Im not alluding that OoC is doing any sort of a bad job at all.
There may be lots of bugs, but hey. At least they FINALLY fixed the Edwin Vancleef portrait! It finally shows edwin when selecting a deck instead of a "default" Jaina! It only took them like a month or something close to that to fix that bug!
That being said, it's honestly quite baffling that every major patch has more and more bugs. The amount of bugs keep growing with each patch. I'm honestly wondering if the team that's responsible for bugtesting is either understaffed or overworked. (Which would honestly be quite unfortunate, and considering all the bad publicity that blizzard i.m.o. definately deserved, it would be hard to get new hires).... or maybe the "They don't bugtest lmao" joke is real, but that's something i REALLY hope is NOT the case. Either way i really hope that the bugs get fixed as soon as possible, and i hope the next major patch isn't going to be even buggier.
Daniel Duffin (whom we've referred to in articles several times by now) mentioned this a while ago in one of his tweets:
"But QA is not a lot of people, we all work on everything and a lot of QA are contractors. We are important but not where the corporate money goes, in general. I won't ramble more on that, tldr we need a union."
And recently we heard from another QA person whose contract might not be getting renewed. So yeah, likely all of those things you mention.
Could aslo be from old legacy code, and the people that orginaly wrote thet Code dont work at the company anymore.
Hearthstone was orginaly made only by a few people as a sort of passion/proof of concept projec and wasnt expected to becoem this big at all and has been quite the turnover aswell at blizzard with devs(not just Hearthstone)
My first few duels runs with traditional heroes went fine. It was on my fourth run with Drek'Thar that caused the rewards screen to break. I was able to login on my phone and tap away at the area where the rewards handle would be and the door swung open (still behind the Resume Screen) and the loot boxes popped up. Collected, then was able to do another run.