Overwatch - PTR Update

[Chilled Soda]

Please note that the below patch notes only include changes currently available for testing on the PTR. While many of these changes will also be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a future patch, the PTR is PC-only and therefore will only reflect changes coming specifically to that platform.

 

 

General

 

Emote Wheel

• Players can now equip up to 4 emotes, sprays, and voice lines from within the hero gallery
• Voice line and emote submenus can be accessed using the left and right mouse buttons from within the Communication wheel
• Players can now bind individual sprays, emotes, and voice lines to unique keys or mouse buttons

Ana

• Biotic Grenade
• Healing boost on allies has been decreased by 50%
• Developer Comments: The healing boost from Ana’s Biotic Grenade was providing too much healing, especially when used on targets with large health pools.

 

D.Va

• Health increased from 200 to 400
• Armor decreased from 400 to 200
• Fusion Cannons
• Bullet damage decreased from 3 to 2
• Number of bullets per shot has been increased from 8 to 11

Developer Comments: D.Va’s armor often made her feel like she had no weaknesses, even against heroes that are often effective against bigger targets (like Reaper). The changes to her Fusion Cannons will result in a small overall decrease in damage, but they should feel more consistent now.

 

 

Roadhog

• Chain Hook
• Targets are now pulled directly in front of Roadhog (rather than straight to him), except in cases where Roadhog drastically rotates
• Hooked targets are now released if they leave Roadhog’s line-of-sight before being pulled
• Line-of-sight checks (which detect if targets should be initially hit by the hook) are now done from Roadhog’s position, rather than the hook’s position

Developer Comments: The hook should now feel more consistent for Roadhog players, but it should also feel more reasonable to his enemies, as they cannot be hooked or pulled around corners anymore.

 

Sombra

• Hack
• The time it takes to hack a target has been decreased from 1 second to 0.8 seconds

Developer Comments: Sombra often had difficulty hacking enemies, even when she surprised the target. This change should help her execute hacks more easily.

 

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

• The “Stay as Team†button lights up when anyone on your team clicks it
• Kill Feed
• Hero ability icons are now displayed
• Ultimate abilities are now indicated with an orange arrow
• Headshot eliminations are now indicated with a red icon

 

 

Thoughts on the update? Particularly happy, since the tank meta is quite boring for my play style.

[unstopaBULLY]

As an ana main, the biotic grenade was ridiculously powerful, glad they nerfed it. To be honest though, what made it so strong was the anti healing and the 2x healing on teammates not the 100 healing IMO, so I still think Ana will be THE BEST support and still as prominent of a pick in the meta.

 

Glad they nerfed roadhog, and I always did feel D.va's damage was inconsistent, glad they changed that. I still think the tank meta will be the meta to go, especially for people looking to push but I feel that top teams like Misfits,and ENVY will be able to overcome this. Kinda sad to not see soldier nerfed, or a McCree buff, god knows our favorite cowboy needs one.

 

Emote wheel is great.

[Hazza]

DVA FINALLY GOT NERFED

THANK. GOD.

Also hook fixes are great, you can actually combo an Ana/Lucio/Hanzo consistently now.

[unstopaBULLY]

DVA FINALLY GOT NERFED

THANK. GOD.

Also hook fixes are great, you can actually combo an Ana/Lucio/Hanzo consistently now.

Hooking an Ana was always a nightmare for me, I'd just get grenaded/sleeped and then smashed by the other team.

[A.e]

Finally no more BS roadhog hook behind the wall  

[Angelcake]

Atleast roadhog can one shot mei and reaper with the hook

[Bobsplosion]

With Ana, DVA, and Roadhog nerfs, Soldier 76 is going to be even more prominent.

[unstopaBULLY]

With Ana, DVA, and Roadhog nerfs, Soldier 76 is going to be even more prominent.

And that makes McCree worse compared to them

[puddingkip]

Good, roadhog was annoying. And DVA was annoying to deal with so that's nice. 

[Oleander]

Good, roadhog was annoying. And DVA was annoying to deal with so that's nice. 

So "annoying" to your personal main means that they need a nerf? They had counters before, you know.

 

The roadhod fix is understandable though, and I like that it was more of a fix than just a nerf, like the community was demanding. D.Va nerf wasn't really needed at all IMO, I never had an issue with staying by my team and escaping her without taking much damage.

[Explosion-chan]

Glad the Roadhog fix is being made, I was just complaining yesterday about how inconsistent the hooks were and how I couldn't one shot Mei because the hook didn't bring her directly to me. People are saying it's a nerf but really it's a buff to a good Roadhog because they can consistently one shot the people they should be able to one shot.

[puddingkip]

So "annoying" to your personal main means that they need a nerf? They had counters before, you know.

 

The roadhod fix is understandable though, and I like that it was more of a fix than just a nerf, like the community was demanding. D.Va nerf wasn't really needed at all IMO, I never had an issue with staying by my team and escaping her without taking much damage.

I have like 10 hours in the game, I don't have a main. I found roadhog hook annoying so making his hook less prominent pleases me. I know nothing of real balance, I have 0 comp experience of ow. From what I heard of pro ow players though they seem to be glad of the change so idk. And I guess DVA is easier to play against if your strategy isn't "run in and do as much damage before dying" like my strategy is

[Flaim]

 

Roadhog

• Chain Hook
• Hooked targets are now released if they leave Roadhog’s line-of-sight before being pulled
• Line-of-sight checks (which detect if targets should be initially hit by the hook) are now done from Roadhog’s position, rather than the hook’s position

 

YES. NO MORE BULLSHIT ROADHOG! When I walk into a building, im saved from being pulled through a wall to my death!

[Xolono II]

This wasn't in the patch notes: You can now start a wall ride whilst facing backwards.

[Cave]

This wasn't in the patch notes: You can now start a wall ride whilst facing backwards.

I can feel Youtuber's cashing in on this already.

 

"OMG NEW COOL FEATURE ADDED!!!!!! WALLRIDE CHALLENGE!!!!"

[TheMCBros99]

Dva didnt need a nerf, if you cant take her out with a soldier and/or roadhog, uninstall right now please!

[JayTuut]

Yay no more roadhog hook through wall! No more OP ANA

 

But seriously, DVA was not op, get a pharah, junkrat or even a mcree or tracer if u must, not hard (actually i rekt one with widowmaker)

[The One]

The Roadhog nerf is a bit too much and no in the right direction. People asked for a longer cooldown and a smaller hook hitbox.

 

Ana is still very strong.

 

A bit hard to tell where Dva will be.

 

This might be the end of the tank meta. Zarya should see more play.

[Chilled Soda]

Personal Thoughts:

 

• Roadhog wasn't really nerfed, I feel like most skilled hog players (Like Harbleu for example if you have seen him go check him out) will barely notice this change.
• Ana grenade nerf won't do much imo, she will still be meta, its most powerful feature is the anti heal IMO
• DVA will remain in the meta, sitll a good character to play for baiting walls, swallowing ults and a general DPS orientated tank (flanks, annoying), the damage nerf won't feel as much considering # of bullets has increased
• Sombra - glad they did this, but I honestly didn't feel like it was necessary. Have 10+ hours on Sombra, I thought she was fine before this. If you work with your team well, you can accomplish wonders (I'm talking winning games consistently in under 2 mins in competative mode). That being said, as a Sombra player, the other "nerfs" really help me, as I'm often caught out by Roadhog when teleporting, and I still get hooked, hopefully this won't be an issue anymore.

I don't think the meta will change much, I think it will be cool to see what happens and I believe DVA could be replaced with Zarya

 

Probably most excited for the Emote wheels, being able to customize the game even further is fantastic.

[Findiculous]

Roadhog hook Nerf was both good and bad. It will be more consistent but they made too many change with Line of Sight and have now broken the hook for the Roadhog Player.

Now, even if caught by the hook, the enemy can escape behind something as small as a tree to break line of sight and the hook breaks. Plenty of videos out there already about it.

I agree with line of sight from Roadhog for the initial catch. But once a hook is caught it should be pulled. Not broken. His hook is attached to a rope. Not a thin,brittle piece of string.

 

Jump to 6:15

 

 

Not sure about the D.Va nerf. "Her shots should now feel more consistent"? What? Did anybody complain that her shots were not consistent? Really she got a major nerf. Her headshot hitbox is one of the larget in the game and she cant fire with defence matrix up. Really she doesnt last long once she starts getting shot at.

 

Ana "nerf" was barely noticable. It takes a single extra shot to fully heal a tank. Big whoop. If you go with 2 healers you wont notice. Its the offensive part of the grenade that needed a change. 5 seconds no healing is still op.

 

Sombra is still needing a better buff to be able to put her on par as an option with the others.