Blizzard rolled out the latest update for Overwatch’s Public Test Region, and they shared patch notes on some of the Hero changes, which includes a little buff for Hanzo as well as various other adjustments and nerfs.
Here’s the list of Hero updates as well as as well as comments from the developer:
Genji
- Removed the attack cooldown from Genji’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
Developer Comments: This is a quality of life change to make wall climbing feel better.
Hanzo
- Removed the attack cooldown from Hanzo’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
- Storm Bow
- Increased charge speed by 10%
- Charged arrows now maintain their charge after climbing a wall, provided the button is continuously held
Developer Comments: Decreasing Hanzo’s draw time gives him more overall DPS, while also letting him fully charge an arrow and more quickly return to full movement speed when needed. And, like the change to Genji’s wall climbing, this is a quality of life change that will make climbing feel better.
Orisa
- Fusion Driver
- Damage reduced by 15%
- Protective Barrier
- Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds
Developer Comments: To help Orisa maintain the front line for her team, we’re reducing the cooldown of her Protective Barrier. This change also helps her reposition the barrier more easily when needed. To compensate for this new defensive strength, we’re reducing her Fusion Driver’s damage, as it felt too high.
Reaper
- Wraith Form
- Ammo is now entirely refilled when Wraith Form is used
Developer Comments: Wraith Form is typically used as an escape ability after firing. This change gives Reaper a fighting chance if an enemy chases him down as he uses it.
Reinhardt
- Earthshatter
- Effective height has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters
- The height threshold of objects that Earthshatter can “climb” has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters, making Earthshatter less likely to climb tall objects as it “crawls” along the ground.
Developer Comments: Earthshatter tended to climb unexpectedly high, frequently hitting targets that were significantly above the ground. These changes help the ability stay more grounded.
Soldier: 76
- Heavy Pulse Rifle
- Bullet damage decreased from 20 to 19
Developer Comments: Soldier:76 is in a much better place lately, but his damage output was making him a must pick, compared to similar roles.
You can head over to PTR to check out the adjustments now, but keep in mind that there’s always a chance that the changes won’t make it out of the public testing.
You can read more on bug fixes and other details on the official blog.
Overwatch is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
