Last week, it was reported that Blizzard was testing nerfs for various?Overwatch characters in the PTR. Those nerfs and other hero balance changes have now made their way to the full game, with some tweaks.
With the new Overwatch?update, 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 the?Overwatch support 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.
The?Overwatch patch 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 Flux has 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 new?Overwatch patch is McCree. McCree's Dead Eye Ultimate attack no 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 like?Overwatch, 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 introduce?hero bans to?Overwatch as 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 tweaking?Overwatch heroes with buffs and nerfs to try to balance them.
Here are the full?Overwatch patch notes:
HERO UPDATES
Hanzo
Storm Arrows
- Damage reduced from 70 to 60
McCree
Deadeye
- Firing Deadeye no longer locks the player’s aim
Reaper
The Reaping (Passive)
- Healing amount reduced from 40% to 30% of damage dealt
Orisa
Fusion Driver (Primary Fire)
- Damage reduced from 11 to 10
Fortify
- Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds
Halt!
- Snare duration reduced from 1 to 0.65 seconds
Sigma
Gravitic Flux
- Can now be interrupted before targets begin falling
- Impact slow duration reduced from 0.9 to 0.6 seconds
Accretion
- Explosion damage reduced from 60 to 40
Baptiste
Biotic Launcher (Primary Fire)
- Recovery time increased from 0.35 to 0.45 seconds
Biotic Launcher (Secondary Fire)
- Heal explosion reduced from 60 to 50
Overwatch is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
