Overwatch’s Junkertown Map Now Available on All Platforms

The latest map for Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch is now available. As an Escort map, Junkertown takes place in post-apocalyptic Australia, starting from the outside before venturing into the main hub of the Junkers. The goal is to push the payload all the way to Queen’s throne room. The defenders, of course, have to prevent this from happening.

Junkertown is full of all kinds of interesting things. There’s a secret treasure room which presumably belongs to Junkrat; chop shops full of all manner of machinery; an arena of sorts called the Scrapyard with a rotating platform; and much more. The mysterious Queen doesn’t make an appearance but she does have the odd voiceline here and there.

Overwatch has received a number of other updates with this latest patch including changes to heroes like Mercy and D.Va. You can preview the hero changes below and check out the patch notes in full here. What are your thoughts on the overall patch? Let us know below.

HERO UPDATES

D.Va

• Micro Missiles (New Ability)
  • D.Va fires a barrage of small rockets that detonate on impact, dealing damage in a limited radius around each explosion. These can be fired while D.Va is using any other ability or firing her Fusion Cannons
• Defense Matrix

• • Defense Matrix’s resource meter will now deplete twice as quickly
  • Energy regeneration per second has been increased to 12.5% (formerly 10%)
• Boosters

• • Fusion Cannons can now be fired while flying

Developer Comments: D.Va’s Defense Matrix uptime has proven to be too strong, but simply reducing it without making other changes would make her too weak (and far less interesting to play). Instead, we’re adding a new ability and giving her the ability to fire while flying. These changes give D.Va new options while maintaining Defense Matrix’s ability to shut down big enemy attacks.

Mercy

• Resurrect (Formerly Mercy’s Ultimate ability)
  • Ability now targets a single player, instead of every player within a radius
  • Radius reduced to 5 meters
  • Ability cooldown is 30 seconds
  • Mercy is no longer granted invulnerability while Resurrect is active

• Valkyrie (New Ultimate Ability)
  • Valkyrie unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds
    • Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s healing and damage boosts beams now affect all allies near the targeted teammate, and the staff’s effective range has been extended
    • Caduceus Blaster: Now has infinite ammo and increased projectile speed
    • Guardian Angel: Increased range and movement speed
    • Resurrect: Cooldown is instantly reset when Valkyrie is activated and reduced to 10s after the initial cast
    • Hover: Mercy gains the ability to fly freely, at increased movement speed
    • Regeneration (Passive): No longer interrupted when Mercy takes damage

Developer Comments: While resurrecting downed allies is a core part of Mercy’s gameplay, the way her Ultimate functioned was causing a number of problems. It was frustrating to play against, and it incentivized Mercy players to hide away from important battles, instead of taking part in them. This version turns Resurrect into a single target ability. It’s still an important part of Mercy’s kit, but plays much better for both Mercy players and her enemies. Valkyrie, her new Ultimate, gives her the opportunity for big game-making plays and opens a number of new options for her.

Reinhardt

• Barrier Field
  • Holding primary fire while your shield is active now allows you to rotate the camera

Developer Comments: This change gives Reinhardt more situational awareness while using his shield, allowing him to keep an eye on the battlefield while still protecting his team.

• A new “Movement Relative to Camera During Barrier Free Look” option can be found under Settings > Controls. Simply select “Reinhardt” from the dropdown menu. This allows players to change the way Reinhardt moves when Barrier Shield is active and players are controlling the third-person camera movement.