Overwatch PTR Update Nerfs Soldier 76, Orisa and Reinhardt

A new Public Test Realm update is now live for Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch and it contains some interesting changes to heroes. Keep in mind that this is only on Blizzard’s PTR and could change by the time it hits all platforms.

Soldier 76 will be seeing a nerf with each bullet dealing 19 instead of 20 damage. Orisa is also getting a nerf in damage with her Fusion Driver dealing 15 percent less damage. However, her barrier will have its cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.

As for Reinhardt, his Ultimate Earthshatter will now have an effective height of 2 meters instead of 3. This means that if you’re floating higher than 2 meters (as, say Pharah) you’re less likely to be stunned. Earthshatter’s “climbing” up objects has also been reduced.

Some characters like Genji and Hanzo have received slight buffs with the cooldown on attacks after wall-climbing being removed. Meanwhile, Reaper will have his weapons immediately reloaded upon entering Wraith Form.

Check out the full patch notes below for more information:

GENERAL

Custom Games and Game Browsers

• Players can now disable secondary fire and secondary weapons in Custom Games
• You can now disable one Symmetra ultimate while leaving the other active

HERO UPDATES

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.

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed an issue that prevented voice lines from being heard during the Play of the Game
• Fixed an issue causing shields to display the wrong team color during the Play of the Game
• Added new Kill Feed icons for environmental kills and a number of abilities

Arcade

• Fixed a bug causing the introduction before 1v1 Mystery Duels to be interrupted

A.I.

• Fixed a bug that allowed bots to become stuck around the well on Ilios

Heroes

• Fixed a bug that caused Lucio’s healing and speed song auras to be inaccurately projected
• Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Fortify from blocking the alternate fire from Lucio’s Sonic Amplifier
• Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Protective Barrier from deploying in certain situations
• Fixed an issue that affected some graphics cards, causing an inaccurate ammo count to be displayed with Pharah’s Mechaqueen and Raptorion skins equipped
• Fixed a bug that could prevent two charging Reinhardts from being able to kill each other
• Fixed a bug that prevented Winston’s Primal Rage ultimate from restoring his health when hit by Ana’s Biotic Grenade

Maps

• Fixed a bug that caused Tracer to move oddly when she first appeared in the tutorial
• Fixed an issue causing asymmetry between pillars on the Ruins capture point on Ilios
• Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar

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