There’s a new PTR patch for Blizzard’s Overwatch, and it’s fairly significant. To access the patch, you’ll need to download the PTR version of Overwatch on PC. Since this is a Public Test Realm server, all changes aren’t final, so keep a bit of skepticism until the patch hits live servers.
What makes this patch so interesting? First off, it nerfs armour. Armour has been a contentious subject in Overwatch – it provides damage resistance and makes characters like Brigitte, who’s Ultimate “Rally” provides armour to all allies in the vicinity, very useful. However, the PTR patch nerfs the damage resistance afforded by armour, dropping it from -5 damage to -3 damage.
That may not sound significant, but Brigitte’s Rally has also been nerfed. Its effect of armour now only lasts 30 seconds, so snowballing should happen less often. D.Va’s Defense Matrix also sees a change, now being on a two second cooldown. Coupled with the armour changes, however, all tanks are more vulnerable than before. If that weren’t enough, Reaper has had his life steal buffed from 30 percent to 50 percent of damage dealt, allowing more resistance against tanks.
Check out the patch notes below for more information.
HERO UPDATES
General
Damage reduction from armor reduced from -5 to -3
Developer Comments: Before this change armor reduced all incoming damage by up to 5, maxing at half of the normal amount. This change reduces the damage reduction to 3, while still capping at half. This change will be mostly noticeable on heroes that fire quickly or in a burst of shots (such as shotguns), and which do more than 6 damage per shot. For example, Soldier: 76’s Heavy Pulse Rifle will now do 16 damage per shot to armor, up from 14, an increase of 15%. Armor was a bit too strong overall, especially when being healed quickly and often. This change will help more heroes fight against higher armored enemies.
Brigitte
Rally
Now has a maximum duration of 30 seconds
Developer Comments: Sometimes Rally could cause a snowballing effect where it was too difficult to deal with the increased health of Brigitte’s allies before she built up another one. This change puts a cap on how long her Rally effect can last to make it a bit more manageable in those situations.
D.Va
Defense Matrix
Cooldown increased from 1 second to 2 seconds
Developer Comments: This change allows D.Va’s enemies to try to play around her Defense Matrix by increasing its downtime between uses.
Reaper
The Reaping
Life steal increased from 30% to 50% of damage dealt
Developer Comments: Reaper’s passive is one of the main tools he has which allow him to play aggressively when near his enemies. This change allows him to keep the pressure up as long as he can stay near his enemies enough to keep dealing damage. This change is particularly effective versus tanks, as they tend to do less damage than damage heroes, and also take more damage from his Hellfire Shotguns due to their larger hit volumes.