Some big changes have come to Overwatch via the latest update to the Public Test Realm, with the two primary tank heroes in Reinhardt and Orisa being nerfed, while the broforce of Genji and Hanzo have been booster with some damage buffs.
Reinhardt players will surely feel the pinch following a nerf to his Earthshatter ultimate, with the maximum connect height lowered from three meters to two. This means that heroes, turrets, and other objects above the two-meter threshold will no longer get knocked down by the shatter.
One of the more interesting changes comes by way of a Soldier: 76 damage decrease, with the high DPS hero seeing his damage output fall from 20 to 19.
Both Genji and Hanzo have been buffed, with news of the former’s boost being reported earlier. The attack cooldown after climbing has been removed for both, so you can break straight into an attack stance as soon as the climbing animation has finished.
New tank hero Orisa has had a bit of a rough ride since being introduced. Blizzard is still tinkering with her, with her Fusion Driver damage output being reduced by 15%. Her Protect Barrier cooldown has been buffed, however, reducing from 12 to 8 seconds.
Check out the full list of patch notes for the latest PTR update below.
General
Custom games and game browser
- Players can now disable secondary fire and secondary weapons in Custom Games
- You can now disable one Symmetra ultimate while leaving the other active
Hero updates
Genji
- Removed the attack cooldown from Genji’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
Hanzo
- Removed the attack cooldown from Hanzo’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
- Storm Bow: increased charge speed by 10%
- Charged arrows now maintain their charge after climbing a wall, provided the button is continuously held
Orisa
- Fusion Driver: damage reduced by 15%
- Protective Barrier: cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds
Reaper
- Wraith Form: ammo is now entirely refilled when Wraith Form is used
Reinhardt
- Earthshatter: effective height has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters
- The height threshold of objects that Earthshatter can “climb” has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters, making Earthshatter less likely to climb tall objects as it “crawls” along the ground.
Soldier: 76
- Heavy Pulse Rifle: bullet damage decreased from 20 to 19
Bug fixes
General
- Fixed an issue that prevented voice lines from being heard during the Play of the Game
- Fixed an issue causing shields to display the wrong team colour during the Play of the Game
- Added new Kill Feed icons for environmental kills and a number of abilities
Arcade
- Fixed a bug causing the introduction before 1v1 Mystery Duels to be interrupted
A.I.
- Fixed a bug that allowed bots to become stuck around the well on Ilios
Heroes
- Fixed a bug that caused Lucio’s healing and speed song auras to be inaccurately projected
- Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Fortify from blocking the alternate fire from Lucio’s Sonic Amplifier
- Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Protective Barrier from deploying in certain situations
- Fixed an issue that affected some graphics cards, causing an inaccurate ammo count to be displayed with Pharah’s Mechaqueen and Raptorion skins equipped
- Fixed a bug that could prevent two charging Reinhardts from being able to kill each other
- Fixed a bug that prevented Winston’s Primal Rage ultimate from restoring his health when hit by Ana’s Biotic Grenade
Maps
- Fixed a bug that caused Tracer to move oddly when she first appeared in the tutorial
- Fixed an issue causing asymmetry between pillars on the Ruins capture point on Ilios
- Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
