UPDATE ONE: Blizzard has released official patch notes for the new Overwatch update being tested on the game’s PTR.
According to the details listed by the development team, a lot of new character balancing will be implemented in the near future.
These changes are currently being tested on the Overwatch PTR, meaning they could be tweaked before arriving on PS4 and Xbox One.
A full rundown on what is being worked on can be found in the PTR patch notes listed below:
HERO UPDATES
D.Va
Defense Matrix
- Regeneration rate increased from 12.5% to 16% per second
- Delay before regeneration begins lowered from 1 second to 0.75 seconds
Orisa
Protective Barrier
- Cooldown increased from 9 to 10 seconds
Roadhog
Scrap Gun
- Ammunition increased from 5 to 6.
Sigma
Kinetic Grasp
- No longer blocks Chain Hook and Whip Shot
Gravitic Flux
- High gravity effect duration reduced from 1.2 to 0.9 seconds
Experimental Barrier
- Regeneration rate reduced from 175 to 150 per second
- Now has a 1 second cooldown after recalling the barrier
- Initial 0.2 second cast time removed
Winston
Barrier Projector
- Duration increased from 6 to 9 seconds
- Health increased from 600 to 700
Baptiste
Immortality Field
- Health decreased from 250 to 200
Lucio
Crossfade
- Speed boost’s effect increased from 20% to 25%
Amp It Up
- Speed boost’s amplification increased from 50% to 60%
Wall Ride
- Speed buff reduced from 40% to 30%
Mercy
Valkyrie
- The extra beams created by Valkyrie now ignore enemy barriers
Moira
Biotic Grasp
- Self-healing reduced from 30 to 20 health per second
Doomfist
Rocket Punch
- Time to reach max charge increased from 1 to 1.4 seconds
The Best Defense…
- Shield health gained per hit reduced from 35 to 30
Sombra
Translocator
- Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds
- Cooldown now begins immediately upon deploying the beacon or if it is killed by an enemy
Symmetra
Photon Barrier
- Duration reduced from 15 to 12 seconds
- Health reduced from 5000 to 4000
Sentry Turret
- Damage per second reduced from 50 to 40
Photon Projector
- Players impacted by the primary fire beam should now hear a louder impact sound
Tracer
Pulse Pistols
- Damage falloff now starts at 13 meters, up from 10 meters
BUG FIXES
General
- Fixed a player profile issue preventing hero win percentages from being displayed for competitive arcade mode seasons
Heroes
Brigitte
- Fixed a bug with Brigitte’s Rally checking line of sight from her feet instead of from her head
- Fixed a bug with Inspire’s position being affected by the player’s aim pitch
Doomfist
- Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist to use Meteor Strike before taking impact damage from Sigma’s Gravitic Flux
Sigma
- Fixed a bug that allowed Sigma’s Gravitic Flux to ignore line of sight through some ceilings
Sombra
- Fixed a bug with EMP’s position being affected by player’s aim pitch
Winston
- Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s Barrier Projector to not consistently play its destroyed visual effects
ORIGINAL: Blizzard has launched a new Overwatch update today across all platforms.
The new changes come before the big Overwatch League Finals, which are being held this weekend in Philadelphia.
Due to this big event being on the horizon, Blizzard hasn’t made any massive hero changes.
This rules out any change that could be seen as rebalancing the game but that doesn’t mean the patch notes are devoid of details.
Other tweaks have been made to Overwatch, much of them focused on bug fixes.
And most of the big changes to the game were made last week, following the launch of the Bastion Brick Challenge.
The new cosmetic reward is still available to claim and means winning in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade.
This will earn you themed sprays, player icons, and a new legendary skin: Brick Bastion.
From now until September 30, players will be able to earn five sprays, six-player icons, and the legendary Brick Bastion skin, for a total of twelve new rewards.
An issue connected to Brick Bastion has been noted in today’s patch notes, connected to muzzle-flash.
One of the more notable changes made this week by Blizzard is to hero placement in connection to abilities.
This is a revision being made by the team and isn’t clear how noticeable this will be.
“The revert on edge-placement changes is a buff, because they made it almost impossible to place anything above you,” one user writes.
For a full rundown of today’s Overwatch update, you can find the full patch notes below:
- General – Reverted edge-placement change for ground targeted abilities (Reaper’s Shadowstep, Mei’s Icewall, Symmetra’s Teleporter, etc.)
BUG FIXES
- General – Made changes to improve game stability
- Paris – Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot through one of the spawn doors
- Bastion – Brick Bastion Skin – Updated muzzle flash VFX
The 2019 Grand Finals will be livestreamed on Twitch and broadcast in the U.S. on the ABC network at 3 p.m. EDT. It will also be available on the ESPN app, overwatchleague.com, and the Overwatch League app. Full VODs will be available after the event.
For gamers in the UK, it will mean start time of around 8pm on all the platforms listed above.