Along with the Winter Wonderland event, Blizzard Entertainment has also released a new patch for Overwatch. It brings some highly anticipated nerfs to Brigitte and Doomfist but also buffs McCree. Remember the days of Fan the Hammer being OP? They’re back (sort of).
The alternate fire damage per bullet of McCree’s Fan the Hammer has been buffed from 45 to 55. While this may not seem like much, it unloads six bullets, and should thus make for a more potent tank-killing tool (especially in this tank and support heavy meta). As for the main stars of this patch, Brigitte’s Shield Bash has had its damage nerfed and no longer goes through shields. Her passive Inspire has been buffed though, and does 100 healing per second for 6 seconds.
Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut now causes a loss of air control for only 0.6 seconds, while the maximum range of Seismic Slam is now 15 meters. Meteor Strike’s outer ring damage is down to 200, but the inner ring radius has been increased to two meters. Overall, he should feel a lot less oppressive. Check out the full patch notes below, or through here.
GENERAL UPDATES
Audio
An option to use Windows Spatial Audio is now available. This feature can be found in the Windows Start Menu under Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Speaker Device > Spatial Sound
Developer Comments: Since launch, we’ve supported Dolby Atmos for players who use headphones, and we’re now expanding this support to include the Windows 10 implementation for spatial audio. Spatial audio is configured in the Windows 10 sound settings and will take priority over the settings in the game client. This will allow for more options, including settings for Windows Sonic Headphones, Dolby Atmos for Headphones, and Dolby Atmos for Home Theater.
HERO UPDATES
Ashe
B.O.B.
Bob will now have a golden tint when Ashe equips her golden weapon
Developer Comments: Our final technical audit on Ashe’s character package allowed us to implement a feature we talked about several times during Bob’s production. Making him part of Ashe’s golden weapon is a great way to celebrate our favorite Big Omnic Butler and let players show off their hard-earned Competitive Points each time they summon him onto the battlefield.
Bastion
- Configuration: Recon – Ammo increased from 25 to 35
- Configuration: Sentry – Weapon spread decreased by up to 33% while firing
Developer Comments: Bastion could use a little bit of an offensive boost to balance out how vulnerable Configuration: Recon’s bulky size and Sentry’s stationary nature make it. As a reward for surviving in spite of these weaknesses, we gave Bastion a lower spread in Sentry mode to make it more effective at farther ranges than it was previously.
Brigitte
Shield Bash
- No longer can travel or stun targets through barriers
- Damage reduced from 50 to 5
Inspire
- Cooldown reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second
- Duration increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds
- Total healing increased from 80 to 100
Developer Comments: Brigitte’s Shield Bash is a strong ability that often feels difficult to counter. This change will offer new options for counter play, enabling shield tanks to better protect themselves and their teammates. Reducing its damage reduces her total stun combo damage potential while still allowing Whip Shot and her basic melee attacks to retain their full strength. Brigitte is a tank/healer hybrid, and lately we’ve been reducing her effectiveness by lowering the power of her non-healing functionality. We want to make sure she is still a viable pick, so we’re increasing the uptime of her Inspire passive ability to help improve her overall healing output.
Doomfist
Rising Uppercut
Loss of air control duration lowered from 3 seconds to 0.6 seconds
Seismic Slam
- Maximum range reduced from 20 meters to 15 meters
- Targets no longer lose air control while being pulled in
Meteor Strike
- Inner ring damage radius increased from 1.5 meters to 2.0 meters
- Outer ring maximum damage decreased from 300 to 200
Developer Comments: Doomfist’s high mobility allows him to engage and disengage from extremely long range. Decreasing the range of the targeted aerial version of Seismic Slam requires him to get closer before engaging an enemy and makes it slightly harder for him to escape from combat. The loss of air control on Rising Uppercut was a frustrating mechanic for players, but it allowed Doomfist to set up combos. We’ve found a decent middle ground by limiting the amount of time Doomfist has to line up his next move. The Meteor Strike changes will make it harder to secure easy eliminations on heroes without mobility abilities, such as Zenyatta or Ana, while still preserving its maximum potential damage when aimed well or when combined with other abilities such as Graviton Surge or Sleep Dart.
McCree
Peacekeeper
Alternate fire damage increased from 45 to 55
Developer Comments: McCree’s Fan the Hammer wasn’t as reliable against higher health heroes as it should be. Increasing its damage will make it more potent in close-range engagements where it is intended to be most effective.
Soldier: 76
Tactical Visor
No longer makes Helix Rockets lock onto enemies
Developer Comments: The intent of Tactical Visor is to make Soldier: 76 unable to miss during its duration. However, Helix Rockets have travel time, so if they were fired directly at an enemy after locking on they would often miss a moving target at further ranges. This change allows players to freely aim Helix Rockets while still auto-aiming his primary fire.
Torbjörn
Molten Core
Damage increased from 130 to 160 per second
Developer Comments: While the Molten Core damage pools were intended to provide players with tools for area denial, they weren’t proving threatening enough to deter enemies for a significant amount of time because their damage was too low.
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