Last week, it was reported thatBlizzard was testing nerfsfor variousOverwatchcharacters in the PTR. Those nerfs and other hero balance changes have now made their way to the full game, with some tweaks.
With the newOverwatchupdate, Blizzard has nerfed Hanzo by reducing the damage of his Storm Arrows from 70 to 60. Reaper, meanwhile, has had his healing reduced from 40% to 30% of damage dealt. Most of theOverwatchsupport heroes have been left alone, but Baptiste has a couple of changes in the patch as well. The recovery time for Biotic Launcher’s primary fire has been increased from 0.35 seconds to 0.45 seconds, plus the secondary fire’s heal explosion has been reduced from 60 to 50.
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TheOverwatchpatch also nerfs the game’s two of the game’s tank heroes in Orisa and Sigma. Orisa’s damage has been reduced from 11 to 10, the cooldown of Fortify has been increased from eight seconds to 10, and Halt’s duration has been reduced from 1 second to 0.65 seconds.
Sigma’s nerf is arguably the most game-changing, as it’s now possible for players to interrupt his Gravitic Flux.Gravitic Fluxhas also had its impact slow duration reduced from 0.9 to 0.6 seconds. Additionally, the explosive damage from Sigma’s Accretion has been cut from 60 to 40, which is quite a drop.
The only character to get a buff in the newOverwatchpatch is McCree.McCree’s Dead Eye Ultimate attackno longer locks the player’s aim as it did previously, though the other buffs that Blizzard tested for McCree have not been implemented.
With a live service game likeOverwatch, the quest for hero balance will be a never-ending one, especially as new heroes are added to the mix. Some fans think that Blizzard should introducehero bans toOverwatchas the roster grows, but no plans for that have been announced at the time of this writing. For now, fans can expect Blizzard to continue tweakingOverwatchheroes with buffs and nerfs to try to balance them.
Overwatchis out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
