On October 22, Blizzard announced that they are adjusting the appearance rate of Mysterious Strangers to be based on the relative level of the strongest Mercenary in your party compared to the suggested level of the Bounty.

Although there isn't specific data on how the appearance rate changed, it seems like King Krush - Air Elemental farming is now gone. Mysterious Stranger almost never appears in Air Elemental bounty when you have a level 30 merc in your party.

There has been a lot of rage from all Hearthstone communities worldwide, but Blizzard hasn't answered yet to the issue. For now, the players should use new methods to farm tasks and coins. This guide will teach you how the players adapted to the patch after the nerf.

1. Tasks

Completing tasks is required to unlock all equipment for mercs. Unfortunately, the only ways to get a task are waiting for daily quests and encountering Mysterious Stranger. Blizzard made it harder for the players to encounter Mysterious Stranger, but there is no way around it.

Therefore, players searched for a new bounty to search for our beloved stranger and settled down on Lord Banehollow, the last boss in Felwood Bounties Heroic. The overall plan is pretty much the same — go to the mystery slot, open it to check if it has Mysterious Stranger, then retire the run.

Unlike low-level bounties, high-level bounties have mystery slots in different stages. Air Elemental runs always spawn the mystery slots on the third stage, but Lord Banehollow runs have the mystery slot anywhere from the fourth stage and after.

Always check the whole map before going into the first stage. Although the shortest run to a mystery run will be three encounters, it could be shorter if boons and spirit healers are on the way. For example, the map on the screenshot above has only two battles before the mystery slot.

The rule of thumb is retiring a map that requires four or more battles before the mystery slot. You can also retire a map with three battles, but maps with only one or two battles are rare.

Battle Spoils after retiring a run is a nice bonus. This reward gives random coins, including legendary coins. Therefore, you are still gaining some rewards even if you don't encounter a mysterious stranger. 

The best party combination for Lord Banehollow runs, having three main mercs that will carry the combats and three other mercs that need tasks. The main three mercs can be any three that you like.

Try the two different parties above for players who are unsure which three main carries to play. Garrosh's equipment is empty because it is not relevant for the farming run. Play any equipment you desire.

2. Coins (without tasks)

Our previous King Krush run guide is still partially valid if you are looking to farm specific merc's coins. The only difference is that you will not encounter a Mysterious Stranger within the Air Elemental run.

To make up for what we lost, go to the very first bounty (not heroic!). This is shorter and easier than the Air Elemental run.

Regardless of the bounty's level, you will get an average of 10 coins of a merc in your party. For example, the screenshot above shows the result of a King Krush run with Jaina at 1-1. 

As King Krush run is not as efficient without consolation coins, we recommend completing all 18 tasks first for farming. 

The advantage of King Krush run is that it is fast and easy. This is the best if you want to farm some legendary coins easily while doing something else in the background.