Overwatch PTR Patch Buffs Roadhog, Reaper, and Mercy

Along with announcing the Overwatch World Cup Viewer, due to arrive as a beta before BlizzCon, director Jeff Kaplan has also shared some details on patch 1.30 for the game. This will contain buffs for heroes like Reaper, Roadhog, and Mercy, along with the usual round of bug fixes. The good news is that the patch is currently available on Public Test Realm servers for PC.

Mercy players should be happy with the patch, as it reduces the Ultimate cost of Valkyrie by 15 percent, while reverting healing per second back to 60. Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns have had their spread randomization reduced by 50 percent. Also, life steal is now based on 30 percent of damage dealt instead of 20 percent.

Roadhog’s rework is arguably the most interesting. Chain Hook’s delay before pulling a target has been reduced to 0.3 seconds. It also greatly stops the target’s momentum, and cooldown for the ability will begin immediately. Spread randomization for both Scrap Gun firing modes has been reduced by 50 percent, and Whole Hog’s maximum knockback velocity has been increased by 25 percent.

Check out the entire patch notes below.

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

General

Made jump height consistent across hero roster

Mercy

Valkyrie

• Ultimate cost reduced 15%
• Healing per second increased from 50 to 60

Developer Comments: Mercy’s ultimate was charging a bit too slowly after her base healing was reduced in a previous update. These changes should restore some of her ultimate’s strength and let it build up more quickly.

Reaper

Hellfire Shotguns

Spread randomization reduced by 50%

The Reaping

Life steal increased from 20% to 30% of damage dealt

Developer Comments: Reaper’s specialty is fighting at a very close range. The more consistent spread pattern and increase in healing from his passive ability will make him more capable of standing toe-to-toe with his enemies.

Roadhog

Chain Hook

• Decreased the delay before pulling a hooked target from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds
• Now greatly reduces the target’s momentum upon being hooked
• Cooldown now begins immediately, instead of after the target has been pulled

Scrap Gun

• Spread pattern adjusted for both primary and secondary fire
• Spread randomization reduced by 50%

Whole Hog

• Knockback maximum velocity increased by 25% (from 8 to 10 meters per second)
• Horizontal recoil decreased slightly

Developer Comments: Roadhog is receiving several large changes to make his abilities more consistent. His Chain Hook had issues with breaking when enemy targets jumped or fell behind environment collision. It will now slow them down in the air more when the hook lands, and wait less time before it starts reeling them in. Since Chain Hook’s cooldown now begins immediately upon use, so it no longer varies based on Roadhog’s distance to the hook target. We’ve also moved some of the projectiles closer to the center of the spread pattern on his Scrap Gun, which gives him a more consistent damage output for its primary and alternate fire. Previously, there was a long-standing bug that caused close-range targets to fly much further than expected. After this bug was fixed, we still wanted to keep some of the knockback burst it provided, so we’ve increased the overall velocity cap to maintain some of that functionality.

Symmetra

Photon Projector

Primary fire beam charges up 20% faster

Developer Comments: It’s still difficult to use Symmetra’s Photon Projector beam effectively, even after its range was increased. By speeding up the primary fire charge rate, it takes less time to ramp up to its full damage potential and will be a stronger option when she’s presented with targets to charge up on.

BUG FIXES

A.I.

• Fixed a bug that caused Mei bots to attempt landing headshots on Wrecking Ball while he was immune to them in Roll mode
• Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck near Point A on Eichenwalde

Heroes

Brigitte

Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Whip Shot from going on cooldown if it was interrupted before the chain retracted

Doomfist

• Fixed a bug that prevented victims of Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from ragdolling if they were eliminated by it
• Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut from damaging enemies
• Fixed a bug that prevented Doomist’s Seismic Slam from dealing damage if he hit by a knockback ability the moment he landed

Junkrat

Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat to return to his idle animation if he was stunned while using RIP-Tire

Lúcio

Fixed a bug that caused some allied heroes to say their “under attack” voice lines when receiving a friendly Sound Barrier

Orisa

Fixed bug that prevented Orisa’s Fortify from canceling Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut air control effects

Reinhardt

Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt’s Earthshatter to hit Brigitte when she blocked it with her Barrier Shield if she was strafing during high latency periods

Roadhog

• Fixed a bug that prevented Chain Hook from going on cooldown if it was interrupted before the chain retracted
• Fixed a bug that prevented Chain Hook from destroying breakable objects when pulling the target backward
• Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Whole Hog visual effects to cover a wider area than the spread of projectiles

Torbjörn

• Fixed a bug that prevented Santaclad Torbjörn’s ultimate voice lines from playing when activating Molten Core
• Fixed a visual issue that prevented Molten Core’s magma globules from appearing in the correct place with his Barbarossa or Blackbeard skins equipped
• Fixed an animation issue that caused Torbjörn’s claw arm to suddenly appear when Overload and Molten Core were used in quick succession

Symmetra

Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra to charge up her primary weapon on enemy ice walls

Tracer

Fixed an issue that caused Tracer to accelerate slightly slower and decelerate slightly faster than other heroes

Wrecking Ball

Fixed a bug that prevented Wrecking Ball voice lines from playing when previewed after opening a Loot Box

Zarya

Fixed a bug that allowed heroes to charge through a Graviton Surge without getting trapped

Hero Gallery

General

• Fixed an issue that caused some heroes legs to twitch when viewed in the Hero Gallery
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from rotating heroes in the Hero Gallery while the UI was hidden

Social

Fixed a bug that allowed players to hear the voice lines of heroes controlled by players they muted

Game Browser and Custom Games

Maps

• Fixed a bug that prevented the payload from healing attackers if they were damaged while pushing it on Assault/Escort and Escort maps
• Fixed a lighting issue that caused a skyscraper in Hollywood’s skyline to appear pitch black.

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