Divine Shield is arguably the best keywordHearthstone Battlegroundshas to offer, completely blocking damage from a single hit. It effectively doubles the stats ofthe minionthat has it, almost guaranteeing that they will survive the first minion they battle (though there are a few notable exceptions).
Even Venomous and Poisonous, two of the most annoying effects in the game, are neutralized by it. As a result, any Divine Shield minion will have a real advantage over its unprotected counterparts, making it a key asset in your inventory. Let’s take a look at which of them are truly the most powerful.
10Sin’dorei Straight Shot
Sin’dorei Straight Shot’s potential is limited by the fact that it doesn’t havea minion type, and is therefore extremely difficult to buff. That said, if you can manage it, having Divine Shield can help guarantee a second attack from the Windfury minion.
And while the Straight Shot’s unique ability is often not especially useful, when it is impactful, it can absolutely ruin certain builds. It can get Taunt minions out of the way, and is particularly devastating against Undead, which often rely on Reborn for a lot of their power.
Just Look At That Smile
When it first appeared in the Battlegrounds, The Glad-iator was a decent minion. Its attack-gaining ability could take advantage of the Naga Spellcraft mechanic, Quilboar’s Blood Gems, and a few other sources, so it could be strong in the appropriate scenarios, but often didn’t scale as quickly as you might want it to.
However, The Glad-iator benefited more than almost any other minion from the introduction of Tavern Spells to the game, giving it a consistent way to trigger its ability. In a build that generates and plays a lot of Tavern Spells, The Glad-iator will rapidly grow in strength.
8Amber Guardian
He’s Actually More Of A Ruby Guy, Funnily Enough
Amber Guardian is a rather unusual minion, as you don’t get full control of how the Divine Shield it gives is distributed. However, even semi-random Divine Shields are better than no Divine Shields at all.
With the removal of Nadina the Red, it became much harder for Dragons to gain Divine Shield, increasing Amber Guardian’s value significantly. That value only grows when Amber Guardian is tripled, as it gives two Divine Shields instead of one.
You can force the Divine Shield’s target by only having one other Dragon, although Amber Guardian’s low stats mean this strategy won’t be especially strong in the late game unless you are also buffing it somehow.
7Tough Tusk
He’s Actually A Nice Guy, Once You Get To Know Him
Getting Divine Shield on Tough Tusk can be a chore in the early game, where sources of Blood Gems can be less plentiful. However, in the late game, the existence of certain other minions turns it into a real powerhouse.
Not only are their many high-tier minions that provide easy access to Blood Gems, but Tough Tusk can also refresh its Divine Shield mid-combat if you have Bristlebach on the board. Additionally, the golden version of Tough Tusk gets Divine Shield permanently with a single Blood Gem.
6Bristleback Knight
Do You Think He Follows The Chivalric Code?
As was already brought up when discussing the Sin’dorei Straight Shot, the combo of Divine Shield and Windfury is exceptional. And while Bristleback Knight doesn’t have the same ability to directly counter certain builds, it is much more consistently powerful than its neutral counterpart.
To start with, it can regain Divine Shield once each combat if you’ve increased its stats enough. And unlike Sin’dorei Straight Shot, as a Quilboar, Bristleback Knight is easy to buff with Blood Gems, potentially giving it massive stats along with its excellent keywords.
5Glowscale
Just Look At Those Scales Glow!
Glowscale is a crucial minion to any Naga build, as it is their primary method for gaining Divine Shields. It is also one of the best Naga for multi-type builds, since getting a Divine Shield to use as you choose is obviously exceptional.
Additionally, if you are cycling through minions in the late game, you’re able to buy Glowscale as a boost to help you win that final fight. In that case, it is basically three gold to get a temporary Divine Shield, which can absolutely be worth it.
4Annoy-o-Module
Your Opponents Will Definitely Be Annoyed
Annoy-o-Module is one of the most important minions to making Mech builds work, even if you rarely see it on the battlefield. Instead, what will generally happen is that you use its Magnetic effect to give any other Mech Divine Shield.
Doing so will also give the Mech in question Taunt, although there are definitely times where that is more harmful than helpful. Even so, getting Divine Shield is so powerful that you will often be willing to take a slight disadvantage in exchange.
If you don’t want the Annoy-o-Module’s Magnetize target to have Taunt, the Tricky Trousers Tavern Spell can remove that keyword.
3Deflect-o-Bot
He Deflec, But He Also Attac
Deflect-o-Bot’s main strength comes from how easy it is to refresh its Divine Shield in the middle of combat. The Battlegrounds provide many different ways to summon Mechs, with a wide variety of Reborn and Deathrattle effects at every Tavern Tier.
This ability makes Deflect-o-Bot powerful in the midgame in its base form, and it can be scaled into the endgame as well. At the peak of its powers, Deflect-o-Bot becomes a massive, basically unkillable minion (assuming your opponent doesn’t get lucky and snipe it before the Divine Shield refreshes).
2Elemental Of Surprise
They’ll Never See It Coming
Elemental of Surprise is the only Elemental currently in Battlegrounds that has Divine Shield. That alone would make it an important component for Elemental builds, but the fact that it can give the keyword to any other Elemental by tripling with them really pushes it over the edge.
The minion also provides easier triples, since you only need two copies of an Elemental plus the Elemental of Surprise to get the golden version. Although at Tier 6, the difference isn’t all that large due to the small number of copies available in the Tavern.
1The Boommobile
Don’t Worry, It Won’t Explode (Probably)
The Boommobile is aTier 7 minion, which means you won’t see it in most Battlegrounds lobbies. However, when it does appear, the impact it can have on your game shouldn’t be underestimated.
In addition to providing a significant stat buff to whatever you Magnetize it onto, The Boommobile comes with a cavalcade of keywords, among which Divine Shield is the most generally useful. The other keyword of particular note is Windfury, which can be highly disruptive and is especially powerful when attached to Foe Reaper 4000, a Mech that damages minions next to the one it attacks.
