Overwatch Test Patch Brings Big Changes To The Game

Overwatch‘s season two competitive mode patch has just hit the public test servers and brings big changes. Some good, some bad, but definitely a big serving of nerfs and buffs that will leave Genji players salty.

You can head over to Overwatch‘s site for a full rundown of the patch notes. If you want to get into the nerfs and buffs that’s set to come to Overwatch, read on below:

Mei

Blizzard

– The Blizzard projectile pierces barriers
– Radius has been increased from 8 meters to 10 meters

Developer Comments: Mei has an interesting toolkit, but her ultimate often felt like it was too difficult to use effectively. Consequently, it felt weak compared to many other ultimate abilities. The freeze effect has been piercing barriers for some time now, but the projectile would still be blocked. Now, you can throw it down exactly where you want it, so it’s much easier to utilize the full radius effectively.

Mercy

Caduceus Staff

– Healing Beam
– Healing-per-second has been increased by 20%

Resurrect

– Resurrected allies will be able to maneuver after 2.25 seconds (reduced from 3 seconds)

Developer Comments: Resurrection now allows teammates to jump back into the fight more quickly, which should help Mercy survive after activating her ultimate. Mercy’s healing is also getting a boost to solidify her role as a strong, single-target healer.

Genji

Double jump no longer resets when wall climbing

Dash

– No longer deals damage to traps like Widowmaker’s Venom Mine or Junkrat’s Steel Trap
– No longer bypasses Junkrat’s Steel Trap

Swift Strike

– No longer interrupts quick melee attacks

Dragonblade

– Duration of Genji’s ultimate has been reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds

Developer Comments: Genji was a little too difficult to pin down, and these changes will balance his speed. Swift Strike no longer cancels the recovery time from a quick melee attack, so players will no longer be able to get a free melee attack before using Swift Strike. Lastly, Dragonblade’s duration was long enough that it often felt too difficult to reasonably counter.

Zenyatta

Orb of Discord

– The amount of damage amplified by a target with Orb of Discord has been decreased from 50% to 30%

Orb of Destruction

– Damage has been increased from 40 to 46

Developer Comments: Zenyatta is in a far better place since the last update, but the strength of Orb of Discord has turned him into an almost mandatory pick. These changes reduce Orb of Discord’s effectiveness, but his damage-dealing potential has been increased. The amount of damage that he delivers should feel largely unaffected by the change.

In addition to the changes, the public test servers were also treated to a slew of new emotes. One big addition is the Gremlin D.Va emote which shows her chomping down on Doritos and Mountain Dew while playing a game on a custom stream overlay.

Check out all the new emotes, courtesy of YouTuber Seba:

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