A huge new Overwatch patch has gone live on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, bringing in a whole bunch of radical updates, including a less insane version D.Va’s April Fools’ buff.
The big change this patch comes to Baptise, who is getting some nerfs to his Immortality Field while his healing is being revamped a bit.
Immortality Field has been an extremely controversial ability since Baptiste was added to the game and now it will only let teammates survive with 10% of their maximum health, down from the previous 20%.
Additionally, his healing radius has been reduced, but direct healing shots will grant an additional 20 health, so he should be a bit more rewarding to play.
D.Va’s April Fools’ buff is also going through, though not in as crazy as a capacity as it was back on the joke patch. Now, her Call Mech ultimate will deal 250 damage, which is still enough to eliminate foes like Reaper and Mei.
Echo’s Duplicate is also being nerfed. Finally, after a lot of requests, once Duplicate ends, she will return to the health she had prior to activating the ability or to 100 HP, whichever is higher.
Moira is getting a nice buff with Biotic Orb’s cooldown being decreased two seconds. This should let her be an even more powerful healer, not to mention provide additional damage for her team.
Elsewhere, both Orisa and Reinhardt have been changed. Reinhardt’s armor has been nerfed again, being reduced from 250 to 200 while Orisa’a Halt cooldown has been buffed. It’s clear that Blizzard wants to have more diversity in the main tank role.
Roadhog’s damage is getting a buff too with the damage per pellet increased from 6 to 6.6. While this may not seem like much, it will add up, so fighting Hog could be a lot more of a challenge going forward.
Finally, Sombra is getting a nice movement speed bonus when invisible, increased from 50% to 60%.
As always, with these changes being Experimental there is a chance they don’t all go through, but it’s clear the devs want to tackle the dominance of Rush comp, especially with OWL season 4 beginning on April 16.
EXPERIMENTAL HERO UPDATES
The next experiment begins! This time we’re hoping to get your feedback on some balance changes. We’re using the 2-2-2 Role Queue ruleset so that you can get a feel for how these balance changes might affect the live game.
HERO UPDATES (ONLY IN EXPERIMENTAL)
Baptiste
Biotic Launcher (Secondary Fire)
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- Healing projectile explosion reduced from 60 to 50 health
- Healing projectile direct impact now restores an additional 20 health
Immortality Field
- Now protects teammates to a minimum health threshold of 10% maximum health, down from 20%
D.Va
Call Mech
- Damage increased from 50 to 250
Echo
Duplicate
- When Duplicate ends, Echo will return to the health value she had prior to activating the ability, or to 100 health, whichever is higher
Moira
Biotic Orb
- Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds
Orisa
Halt!
- Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
Reinhardt
General
- Armor reduced from 250 to 200 (Health/armor total reduced from 550 to 500)
Roadhog
Scrap Gun (Primary and Secondary Fire)
- Damage per projectile increased from 6 to 6.6
Sombra
Stealth
- Fade time when entering or exiting Stealth reduced from 0.75 to 0.45 seconds
- Movement speed bonus increased from 50 to 60%
