Overwatch Patch Brings Reaper and Mei Buffs, D.Va’s Booster Damage Nerfed

Along with the Archives seasonal event, which brings a new PvE brawl in Retribution to Overwatch, the game’s latest patch contains some buffs to certain heroes and nerfs to others. Based on the same patch that was available on the Public Test Realm, we already know that Mei’s Endothermic Blaster can pierce enemies.

Reaper’s shotguns will also now reload after Death Blossom and his Wraith Form movement speed has been increased by 25 to 50 percent. Wraith Form can also be canceled now by pressing the button again. These changes and many new features – like the “Avoid as Teammate” function which lets you mark two players to avoid for one week – are also available.

However, there are some nerfs that weren’t in the PTR beforehand. D.Va’s Micro Missiles have seen their explosive damage reduced from 6 to 4 but her Boosters’ Impact damage has also been reduced from 25 to 10. Fans are understandably confused about the same but the fact that D.Va’s burst damage is pretty high, this is not the worst reasoning.

Check out the full hero updates below for more information. The entire patch notes can be read here for more information.

HERO UPDATES

Brigitte

Barrier Shield

An option to “Toggle Barrier” has been added under Options > Controls > Brigitte

D.Va

Micro Missiles
Explosive damage reduced from 6 to 4

Boosters
Impact damage reduced from 25 to 10

Developer Comments: D.Va’s burst potential is a bit too high, so we’re reducing the damage of her Micro Missiles and Boosters impact. Prior to this change, each missile dealt 3 impact damage and 6 explosive damage. We’re reducing explosive damage from 6 to 4 but leaving the impact damage the same, the net result being 21% damage reduction.

McCree

Added additional voice lines for Lifeguard McCree

Mei

• Endothermic Blaster
• Now pierces through enemies

Developer Comments: This change helps Mei combat multiple targets that are clumped up and makes it easier for her to keep freezing a specific target if another enemy gets in the way. This change also helps her ultimate more consistently freeze enemy targets, especially if they are near each other. Note: While her shots now pierce enemies, they still do not pierce barriers such as Reinhardt’s shield.

Reaper

Death Blossom
Reloads Hellfire Shotguns after use

Wraith Form

• Move speed bonus increased from 25% to 50%
• You can now cancel the ability by pressing the Shift or Primary Fire hotkey

Developer Comments: These changes help Reaper use Wraith Form more consistently as an escape, but they also open up new options, such as chasing down key targets.

Moira

Biotic Grasp
Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Coalescence
Now becomes more transparent the closer its visual effects are to a player’s camera

Fade
Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Developer Comments: Due to issues with visibility, we have made most of Moira’s visual effects fade away the closer they are to the camera. We have also made modifications to Coalescence to greatly increase the ability for foes and allies alike to see through it when facing it.

Zenyatta

Orb of Destruction
Secondary fire rate of fire reduced by 15%

Developer Comments: Zenyatta is meant to be able to deal a lot of damage, especially for a support, but his alternate fire burst damage was a bit too high. This change keeps the overall damage the same but lowers the DPS slightly and makes it harder to hit multiple shots at very long ranges.