Today's Hearthstone Update Adjusts Battleground And Sets The Stage For December 6th's Icy, Lich-y Expansion

We're still a week away from Hearthstone's next expansion, March of the Lich King, launching on December 6th, but that doesn't mean Blizzard is just sitting around waiting for launch day.

Today sees a number of updates to the free-to-play card game ahead of time, with the largest portion of those changes being made to the Battlegrounds mode. First up, we have a new hero coming in Enhance-o-Mechano. This cute little fellow gives a minion in Bob’s Tavern Taunt, Reborn, Windfury, or Divine Shield after each Refresh.

Next up, a new quest reward in the "Enhance-a-matic" which at the start of your turn, gets you an Enhanced Part that gives +5/+5 and a random bonus.

In addition to other new enhanced parts, we also see mercenary updates, some changes to Duels, and a full card bucket revamp. All of these are fully detailed in the team's blog post.

That's to say nothing of the new "Signature Cards" being added to the game. This new rarity can't be crafted, though. You'll only find these special art cards in packs or from rewards for certain objectives. There's also a change to duplicate card handling when it comes to non-disenchantable versions of cards given as rewards. Now if you already own a lesser version of said card, you'll have the option to re-roll it into a new card.

Make sure you check out the blog post as it also details what's to come in March of the Lich King including a new Death Knight Prologue, Arena changes, and more. Stay tuned, we'll have THAT full breakdown on launch day next week.

Note: Activision Blizzard is still under investigation by the state of California for serious harassment charges. CEO Bobby Kotick is alleged to have known about such actions within his company – and performed some himself – and shielded the perpetrators from consequences.