Very little has been announced for Hearthstone Mercenaries with the upcoming patch, as we've just had the big Task System Rework and the addition of Renown recently. But Chromie will be around to more than make up for it! There are some pretty unique time (or rather turn/speed) related mechanics, as one might expect. And yes, it's not very Death Knight-y or particularly thematic given what's coming.
Just... don't expect anything immediately: the Mercenary will only become claimable with the newest Rewards Track (which sounds like a free addition), and that won't happen before March of the Lich King launches on December 6.
Patch 25.0 itself is scheduled to hit the live servers on Tuesday, November 29. Most likely around 10 AM Pacific. The only thing available then will be Rattlegore as a craftable character (also to be found in Mercenaries packs, etc.). Whether one or more of the existing Bounties will be repurposed to drop its coins, that hasn't been specified.
Speaking of Rattlegore, there is no word yet on the specific compensation or resolution to that ongoing problem (as in, the special limited-time event ending sooner than we were led to believe). But something was promised and we'll let you know as soon as we learn just what that is!
Upcoming Mercenaries Updates
Quote From Blizzard
- Rattlegore can now be earned through all normal means.
- Chromie can be obtained on the 25.0 Rewards Track.
New Mercenary
Chromie (Epic Protector)
- Gnome—4/84 Maxed Stats
- Abilities
- Rewind 5: (Arcane-Speed 8) Deal 17 damage to a character. Deathblow: Its neighbors go last next turn.
- Reading Chromie 5: (Arcane-Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 22 damage. Gains +5 damage each time you cast an ability with higher speed than this.
- Change the Timeline 5: (Arcane-Speed 5, Cooldown 2) Gain +20 Health. For two turns, abilities with higher speed act first. (Starts off Cooldown.)
- Equipment
- Stroke of Midnight 4: Battlecry: Activate Change the Timeline for one turn. It goes on Cooldown for 2 turns.
- Chaos Theory 4: The first time this Merc dies, rewind to the start of the turn and give your characters +8 Health.
- Body Euphoria 4: Start of Game: Give your Gnomes +10/+20.
Chromie and her Portraits will not initially be available through packs or crafting. They will be available through all normal means in a patch after the end of the 25.0 Rewards Track.
Blizzard no longer bothers with providing us the images for abilities and equipment in their blogs or side materials, unfortunately. And we won't know how they might look like until Chromie is patched into the game.
Bug Fixes
Oh look, they've finally fixed the evil bug introduced with Patch 24.6 nearly a month ago. Too bad I've 'only' lasted over two weeks before ultimately caving in and retiring my broken Heroic run. But perhaps it could still help that one person out there who's been holding out for nearly a month.
On another note, that speed bug fix is pretty damn important for any dedicated PvE players. Might've had a bit of an uphill climb in certain Bounty fights.
Quote From Blizzard
- [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug that could lock players into a Bounty if they had an active Bounty with a mystery node when the Mysterious Stranger was removed from mystery nodes.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where completing a Heroic Bounty would not count for Tasks requiring a Normal Bounty completion.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where Neeru Fireblade’s Imp-losion only dealt damage once.
- [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where PVE enemies would go first in Speed ties.
Will that be the final recorded mention of Mysterious Stranger? You served well.
A decent little something, or were you hoping for a more notable addition?
Comments
So in case anyone doesn't know wow lore, Chromie is actually a bronze dragon like Anachronos and Nozdormu. Pity they didn't add any dragon synergy, even to the equipment. Guess there's too much existing synergy so they just went a different direction.
Wish it was a fighter, though the character might make more sense as a caster.
I wasn't expecting much Mercenaries content this patch (I assume the new DK class is everyone's main focus), but yeah, I thought there'd be something/someone undead in the mix. Maybe next patch!
The initial tone deaf reaction to the Rattlegore fiasco last week ("Oh, you didn't finish the event in time because we put out incorrect information? Let me change the announcement and not offer any solution to your issue. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!") has killed any remaining interest I had in this game mode.
I know they eventually walked back and said they would implement a solution, it's still another example in a long string of issues that have plagued Mercenaries since before it even launched (anyone remember the confusing and unhelpful "First Look" video they put out?) To me, it's become clear that Mercenaries will always be an afterthought for Team 5, and I don't intend to waste any more time on it.
I'm going to wait and see what they have come up with. The question remains whether they can deliver and compensate properly to wash away all those bad feelings. But the lingering disappointment over ongoing issues is more than understandable.
I was really expecting another undead merc to come with the track, Patchwerk, or any undead from Naxx if the selection from the next expansion wasn't good enough...but not this.