The latest update for Overwatch adds a host of new gameplayer and hero changes, as well as an Xbox One update that console games have been waiting months for.
Her Valkyrie Ultimate, which when introduced completely changed the way the hero was played, was something that caused a bit of confusion and concern at Blizzard, with game director, Jeff Kaplan, recently explaining how and why they’ve nerfed her resurrection ability.
“Mercy’s recent Resurrect changes have helped in allowing enemies to have more counter play in dealing with her, but she was able to use Resurrect through Valkyrie enough to largely mitigate the impact of the previous changes,” Blizzard said. “Additionally, we’re toning back the amount of mobility Valkyrie provides through Guardian Angel and reducing its duration to overall reduce the power of this ability.”
Junkrat is also seeing a rather significant tweak and nerf, although this one will probably be applauded by the Overwatch community.
His Concussion Mine now has damage falloff, meaning it deals less damage to targets at a distance than it does to those that are closer to where the mine went off.
“Junkrat has been enjoying the flexibility his double-charge Concussion Mine provides, but it has now become a bit too easy to throw out huge bursts of damage in a large area. With this change he can still dish out similar damage but he must now be more accurate with his tosses,” Blizzard explained.
Perhaps the most important non-gameplay change/addition in this latest update is added support for 4K on Xbox One X, a long-awaited feature by the Overwatch console community. Check out the full patch notes below.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
- Added 4K support for Xbox One X
HERO UPDATES
Junkrat
- Concussion Mine
- Now will deal less damage to targets farther away from the explosion’s center
Developer Comments: Junkrat has been enjoying the flexibility his double-charge Concussion Mine provides, but it has become a bit too easy to throw out huge bursts of damage in a large area. With this change he can still dish out similar damage but he must now be more accurate with his tosses.
Mercy
- Valkyrie
- No longer makes Resurrect instant
- No longer grants a bonus Resurrect charge
- The speed bonus Guardian Angel receives when activating Valkyrie has been decreased by 50%
- Duration reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds
Developer Comments: Mercy’s recent Resurrect changes have helped in allowing enemies to have more counter play in dealing with her, but she was able to use Resurrect through Valkyrie enough to largely mitigate the impact of the previous changes. Additionally, we’re toning back the amount of mobility Valkyrie provides through Guardian Angel and reducing its duration to overall reduce the power of this ability.
BUG FIXES
Heroes
- Fixed a bug that prevented D.Va’s face and hair textures from loading when her Black Cat skin was equipped
