Overwatch Nerfs Define Latest PTR Patch

Overwatch nerfs define the latest Public Test Region patch, as Blizzard has taken a hammer to the barriers that have defined the game's meta for the past few months. Several of the heroes critical to the barrier strategy's execution have been nerfed.

In addition to increasing all Overwatch armor's damage reduction from three to five, the patch nerfed the three most common tanks in barrier meta: Orisa, Sigma and Reinhardt. Blizzard reduced the overall health pool and effective uptime of each hero's barrier.

"The above changes to armor, Orisa, Sigma, and Reinhardt are aimed at decreasing the overall amount time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas," Blizzard wrote in the patch notes. "This is a significant change to the pace of the game and we’ll be monitoring these heroes closely to ensure they retain impactful gameplay in the tank role."

Each hero received their own compensatory buffs. Orisa's armor increased from 200 to 250, the movement speed penalty from Fusion Driver dropped from 30% to 20%, and Fortify's cooldown went from 10 seconds to eight. Sigma's Kinetic Grasp cooldown decreased from 13 seconds to 10, while its damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%. Reinhardt's movement speed penalty while shielding went from 50% to 25% as his knockback resistance increased from 30% to 50%.

The patch also dropped Moira's healing rate, decreased the cooldown on D.Va's Defense Matrix and more. Read the full hero update patch notes below, and check out the new improvements to queueing here.

Overwatch PTR Patch Nov. 13 Hero Updates

General

• Armor damage reduction increased from 3 to 5

Orisa

General

• Base armor increased from 200 to 250

Fusion Driver

• Movement speed penalty reduced from 30% to 20%

Protective Barrier

• Health reduced from 900 to 600

Fortify

• Cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds

Sigma

Experimental Barrier

• Health reduced from 1500 to 900
• Barrier health regeneration rate reduced from 150 to 120 health per second

Kinetic Grasp

• Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds
• Damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%

Reinhardt

Barrier Field

• Health reduced from 2000 to 1600
• Movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 25%

Steadfast (Passive)

• Knockback resistance increased from 30% to 50%

Developer Comment: The above changes to armor, Orisa, Sigma, and Reinhardt are aimed at decreasing the overall amount time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas. This is a significant change to the pace of the game and we’ll be monitoring these heroes closely to ensure they retain impactful gameplay in the tank role.

Moira

Biotic Grasp

• Healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)

Developer Comment: Moira’s primary heal has proven to be too potent, largely due to its ability to heal multiple targets.

D.Va

Defense Matrix

• Cooldown decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Developer Comment: With role locks in place there is some room to improve D.Va’s impact as a tank, so we’re partially reverting a previous change which increased Defense Matrix’s cooldown.

Widowmaker

Grappling Hook

• Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds

Developer Comment: With barriers having less uptime, Widowmaker will be even more effective at locking down long sight lines. This change weakens her mobility so she can still be reasonably countered.

Torbjörn

Overload

• Cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds

Developer Comment: Torbjörn has difficulty in extended team fights once his turret is eliminated and Overload has been used. This change allows Torbjörn to be able to rely on his Overload more often.

Genji

Shuriken

• Ammo increased from 24 to 30

Developer Comment: As average hero survivability has gone up over time, Genji can sometimes have difficulty finishing off his targets. Loosening his ammunition constraints will help give him a small boost.

Zarya

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
• Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20

Developer Comment: Zarya’s overall damage output is in a good spot but the secondary fire was left feeling a little too weak after the last set of changes.

Photo courtesy of Blizzard