The Overwatch PTR has been updated with several nerfs to the usual suspects and one very interesting buff to a certain gunslinger. It is worth noting that the new system Jeff Kaplan hinted at his his forum post is not yet here. For now, it is just nerfs and buffs for Hanzo, McCree, Reaper, Orisa, Sigma and Baptiste. For a full list of changes, visit blizztrack.com for the full patch notes.
Image courtesy of Blizztrack
Image courtesy of Blizztrack
Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
McCree has seen an increase to his total health to 250. He now has as much health as Mei, Reaper and Doomfist. This means he is much more likely to last in longer fights and can play much closer to the front lines without dying instantly.
McCree’s health wasn’t the only change to his kit. Both his primary fire and ultimate ability Deadeye have been changed. Peacekeeper will see an increase in recovery time between shots (meaning a decrease in overall in damage per second). Deadeye will no longer locks the camera in place as you fire your shots. This will allow the player to line up their next shot as they come out of Deadeye.
Image courtesy of Dextero
Orisa, Baptiste, Hanzo and Sigma cannot seem to catch a break. Hanzo will see a decrease in his Storm Arrow damage, Baptiste’s time between Biotic Launcher shots has increased as well as a reduction to the healing explosion. Reaper, as well, is getting hit with a 10% reduction to his Passive’s healing.
Then comes the tanks. Orisa is seeing nerfs to her primary fire, Halt! and her Fortify. All changes appear to make her less oppressive in neutral fights, so Orisa players will want to be careful. Sigma will also see nerfs to three aspects of his kit. His primary fire will see a reduced range, Accretion explosion damage is being reduced by 20 and Gravitic Flux will find the impact slow duration (when those caught in the field crash down) reduced by .3 seconds as well as the ability now being able to be interrupted before targets fall. Sigma’s ultimate gets hit the hardest here. Players will want to make sure that they are not in a compromising position when using it. Otherwise, they will have wasted the ult.
Overall, every change with the exception of Reaper and McCree are levied against heroes that many in the community find to be problematic. It will take time to see if these characters can now find a place in Overwatch that isn’t oppressive nor irrelevant. Use the PTR to try out the new changes for yourself.
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Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
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