Wide-ranging changes in store for the Overwatch hero roster.
The patch notes for the latest version of the Overwatch PTR have been released alongside new hero Baptiste.
The notes outline a number of changes in testing for a wide range of Overwatch heroes, with some popular characters being nerfed, and more off-meta picks being boosted in strength.
Doomfist, for example, will see the cooldown on his Rising Uppercut and Seismic Slam abilities reduced from seven seconds to six seconds.
Although McCree’s Fan The Hammer damage output is being dialled down from 55 to 50, his Deadeye ultimate is being boosted significantly. Once locked on for 2.5 seconds, the damage will be increased from 275 to 550.
More comprehensively, Soldier: 76 is receiving a host of buffs. Pulse Rifle damage is going up to from 19 to 20, weapon delay after sprinting is reduced to 0.3 seconds, and he can now target ultimates such as Junkrat’s Rip-Tier and Baptiste’s Immortality Field using his own ultimate.
Torbjorn – reworked relatively recently – will have a higher health pool of 250 up from 200, but the armor he gains from Overload is being reduced from 150 to 100.
For a complete overview of all the changes coming to every character, take a look at the official patch notes.
It’s important to note that these changes are subject to further tweaks over time – hence their application on the PTR first – but it’s intriguing to see the devs taking a broad look at the hero roster, and making changes that could have a serious impact on the competitive meta.
Once the final patch has been applied to the test servers, we’ll publish a second report on all the changes that have been made to the game.
