PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Hero: Orisa (Tank)
Built from the scraps of the citys decommissioned OR15 defense bots, Orisa is still learning how to optimally perform her function. What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in her steadfast dedication to keeping her cityand her creator, Efisafe from harm.
Orisa is the sixth tank to join the Overwatch lineup, and much like her programming, her gameplay is engineered around protection. Her main weapon is a rapid-fire Fusion Driver, an automatic gun with good range and accuracy even at a distancethough it comes at a cost. Orisas movement slows down while she fires and players will need to plan for a lengthy reload time. Her alternate fire, Halt!, launches a graviton charge across the map, slowing nearby enemies as it passes, then pulling them toward it when it detonates.
Her Fortify ability boosts her personal defense, reducing damage taken and making her unstoppable for a short time. She can throw a device that creates a curved, stationary Protective Barrier, perfect for intercepting projectiles and shielding teammates from the front, sides, and above. Lastly, as her ultimate ability, Orisa deploys a high-powered Supercharger that beams a buff to allies within its range, increasing the damage they can inflict on the opposing team.
To learn more about Orisa, click here.
GENERAL UPDATES
Competitive Play
On Route 66, the attacking team is now given 60 additional seconds after pushing the payload to the first checkpoint.
Developer Comments: This change will bring Route 66 in line with the other Escort maps.
Custom Game and Game Browser
When setting up a Custom Game, players can now disable or modify abilities activated with the secondary fire button
HERO UPDATES
Ana
Biotic Rifle
Damage decreased from 80 to 60
Developer Comments: Anas kit has several strong components, which makes her difficult to replace. Reducing her damage output will make her less threatening on attack and reduce her dueling capabilities.
Bastion
Ironclad
[XB1, PS4] Bastion now takes 20% less damage while in Configuration: Sentry or Tank (formerly 35%)
Developer Comments: After the last update, Bastion became a little too difficult to deal with, so were reducing his new passive to give enemies more opportunities to counter.
Junkrat
Total Mayhem
Junkrats explosions no longer hurt himself
Developer Comments: Previously, Junkrats projectile speed made him difficult to use at long ranges, but the damage he took from his own explosions made him difficult to use at close ranges. This change makes him more effective at close ranges, allowing Junkrat players to explore new strategies.
Mercy
Caduceus Staff
The amount of increased damage thats done when boosting another player is now tracked under the match statistics and on the Career Profile page
Sombra
Hack
Sombras teammates can now see hacked healthpacks through walls
Stealth
Sound effects and VO distance has been reduced to 15 meters when Sombra enters or exits Stealth
Translocator
Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds
Developer Comments: Sombra can be devastating in the right hands, but infiltrating and harassing enemies could often feel difficult. These changes should increase her effectiveness and teamplay.
Winston
Barrier Projector
Ability cooldown now starts when the barrier is placed, instead of when it ends
Developer Comments: This change should help Winston do what he does best: distract the enemy team and block damage.
Zarya
Particle Barrier
No longer protects Zarya from knockback
Projected Barrier
No longer protects allies from knockback
Developer Comments: This is actually reverting a change that we made a few patches ago, which made players immune to knockbacks if they were hit by an effect from inside her barrier. This had some negative side effects, such as making targets immune to knockbacks from effects that pierce barriers, like Reinhardts charge and Winstons Primal Rage punches. Now, these will cause knockback again. This does not affect knockbacks from effects that originate from outside her barriers, such as Pharahs Concussive Blast. Those will still be blocked by the barriers, not causing any knockback.
Zenyatta
Orb of Destruction
Alternate fire cooldown has been reduced from 1 seconds to 0.6 seconds
Weapon spread has been removed
Developer Comments: Zenyattas alternate fire often felt too difficult to use due to its long recovery time. This reduction should make it a more viable option. Also, his weapon has always had a very small amount of spread. This wasnt enough to change the way he was played, but it would occasionally cause shots to miss that would normally hit their target. Removing this small variance should help him feel more consistent.
BUG FIXES
General
When Teleporters, Shield Generators, and other player-owned objects are destroyed, the kill feed now properly displays the owners name
A.I.
Fixed a bug preventing Bastion and Torbjörn bots from taking a defensive position when turret abilities were disabled in Custom Games
Competitive Play
Fixed a visual bug that prevented your current medals from being displayed in the setup phase between rounds
Custom Game and Game Browser
Fixed a bug causing players to respawn in the enemy spawn room after being pinned against a car by an enemy Reinhardt on Oasis
A scoring requirement clarification has been added to the Capture the Flag settings, stating that each teams flag will need to be secured before they can score
Fixed a bug that could cause certain settings to be displayed on the Custom Games information screen even when they werent being used
Fixed an issue preventing values from the Ultimate Generation setting from being correctly displayed
Heroes and maps are now sorted alphabetically under the Find Game filters in the Game Browser
Fixed a bug preventing Bastions Self-Repair ability from being disabled in the Custom Game settings
Heroes
Fixed an issue preventing Bastions walking animation from being triggered while Self-Repair was in use
McCree no longer receives credit toward his on-fire meter when his Flashbang is used against Meis Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that kept a successful Roadhog hook from counting towards the Match Players Hooked statistic when the enemy player was killed on impact
Fixed an issue causing Zenyattas feet to clip through his robe while his Sanzang skin was equipped
Fixed a bug causing Reaper's shotguns and D.Va's mech to appear unusually large on the main menu
Maps
Training bots that are destroyed in the Practice Range are now displayed in the kill feed
Fixed a bug allowing more than one player to enter the Practice Range