Overwatch Patch 1.45 Adds Experimental Card and Hero Pools

Overwatch Patch 1.45 arrived Tuesday introducing the Experimental card and Hero Pools to the game.

The Experimental card, first revealed in a developer update released Jan. 30, will allow Blizzard to test new balance updates, rulesets and game modes with the general Overwatch player base.

"Players from all platforms will be able to test major gameplay changes, with the hope that you'll provide us with feedback on your experience," Blizzard explained in Patch 1.45's patch notes.

The Experimental card wont be used for bug testing — the Public Test Realm will continue to handle that responsibility.

The first set of changes to be tested in the Experimental card is a mode titled "Triple Damage," which will shift the 2-2-2 role queue system in favor of 1-3-2 compositions that feature a single tank, three damage heroes and two support heroes. Blizzard hopes to reduce queue times for the Damage role with this change.

To make single-tank team compositions more viable, Blizzard introduced several buffs to the game's tanks. These buffs are restricted to the Experimental card, and do not affect Overwatch more generally. Find them at the bottom of this article.

Season 21 of Overwatch Competitive will use a Hero Pool system, limiting the playable heroes differently each week of the season. This feature is an experiment in itself, as Blizzard is committed to remaining flexible with Hero Pools. The feature may disappear after one season, or it may shift and grow over the course of the season.

Overwatch Patch 1.45 also introduced Ashe's Mardi Gras Challenge, offering players new cosmetics to unlock through gameplay and Twitch viewing.

Overwatch Patch 1.45 Experimental Hero Changes

D.Va

General

• Adjusted armor to health ratio (Total health is still 600)
• Armor health pool increased from 200 to 400
• Base health decreased from 400 to 200

Defense Matrix

• Duration increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds

Fusion Cannons (Primary Fire)

• Movement penalty reduced from 50% to 30%

Orisa

Protective Barrier

• Cooldown reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds
• Barrier health increased to 900

Reinhardt

General

• Adjusted armor to health ratio (Total health is still 500)
• Armor health pool increased from 200 to 300
• Base health decreased from 300 to 200

Rocket Hammer (Primary Fire)

• Damage increased from 75 to 90

Barrier Field

• Regeneration rate increased from 200 to 250 per second

Roadhog

Take a Breather

• Now leaves behind a cloud when used. This cloud heals all allies within it for 25 health per second and provides 25% damage reduction

Chain Hook

• Cooldown reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds

Scrap Gun (Primary Fire)

• Damage per pellet reduced from 6 to 5 (150 damage per shot down to 125 damage)

Whole Hog

• Cost increased by 15%

Sigma

Experimental Barrier

• Regeneration rate increased from 120 to 200 per second
• Barrier health increased from 900 to 1200

Winston

General

• Armor health pool increased from 100 to 200 (Total health is now 600)

Barrier Projector

• Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds

Zarya

General

• Shields health pool increased from 200 to 300. (Total health is now 500)
• Maximum energy gain per barrier decreased from 40 to 30

Particle Cannon (Primary Fire)

• Maximum primary fire damage per second reduced from 170 to 140

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Maximum secondary fire damage reduced from 95 to 80

Particle Barrier (Self)

• Cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds

Particle Barrier (Ally)

• Now creates barriers on all allies within 8 meters of your target
• Duration increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds