All Overwatch Live Client Patch Notes - 2018
All the Overwatch Patch Notes released by Blizzard on the live client in 2018.
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December 11
Overwatch Patch Notes - December 11, 2018
New Seasonal Event: Winter Wonderland 2018
‘Tis the season to get merry!
Overwatch is getting into the holiday spirit for the next three weeks! Expand your collection and enjoy two winter brawls: Yeti Hunter and Mei’s Snowball Offensive. Visit Blizzard World to watch the snow fall, admire its twinkling nighttime lights, and savor the sight of confectionary-inspired décor.
Of course, we have new presents for you to unwrap from our Winter Loot Boxes! Unlock new seasonal items—including legendary skins like Krampus Junkrat, Sugar Plum Fairy Mercy, Figure Skater Symmetra, and more.
Learn more about Winter Wonderland here.
GENERAL UPDATES
Audio
An option to use Windows Spatial Audio is now available. This feature can be found in the Windows Start Menu under Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Speaker Device > Spatial Sound
Developer Comments: Since launch, we’ve supported Dolby Atmos for players who use headphones, and we’re now expanding this support to include the Windows 10 implementation for spatial audio. Spatial audio is configured in the Windows 10 sound settings and will take priority over the settings in the game client. This will allow for more options, including settings for Windows Sonic Headphones, Dolby Atmos for Headphones, and Dolby Atmos for Home Theater.
HERO UPDATES
Ashe
B.O.B.
Bob will now have a golden tint when Ashe equips her golden weapon
Developer Comments: Our final technical audit on Ashe’s character package allowed us to implement a feature we talked about several times during Bob’s production. Making him part of Ashe’s golden weapon is a great way to celebrate our favorite Big Omnic Butler and let players show off their hard-earned Competitive Points each time they summon him onto the battlefield.
Bastion
Configuration: Recon
Ammo increased from 25 to 35
Configuration: Sentry
Weapon spread decreased by up to 33% while firing
Developer Comments: Bastion could use a little bit of an offensive boost to balance out how vulnerable Configuration: Recon’s bulky size and Sentry’s stationary nature make it. As a reward for surviving in spite of these weaknesses, we gave Bastion a lower spread in Sentry mode to make it more effective at farther ranges than it was previously.
Brigitte
Shield Bash
No longer can travel or stun targets through barriers
Damage reduced from 50 to 5
Inspire
Cooldown reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second
Duration increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds
Total healing increased from 80 to 100
Developer Comments: Brigitte’s Shield Bash is a strong ability that often feels difficult to counter. This change will offer new options for counter play, enabling shield tanks to better protect themselves and their teammates. Reducing its damage reduces her total stun combo damage potential while still allowing Whip Shot and her basic melee attacks to retain their full strength.
Brigitte is a tank/healer hybrid, and lately we’ve been reducing her effectiveness by lowering the power of her non-healing functionality. We want to make sure she is still a viable pick, so we’re increasing the uptime of her Inspire passive ability to help improve her overall healing output.
Doomfist
Rising Uppercut
Loss of air control duration lowered from 3 seconds to 0.6 seconds
Seismic Slam
Maximum range reduced from 20 meters to 15 meters
Targets no longer lose air control while being pulled in
Meteor Strike
Inner ring damage radius increased from 1.5 meters to 2.0 meters
Outer ring maximum damage decreased from 300 to 200
Developer Comments: Doomfist’s high mobility allows him to engage and disengage from extremely long range. Decreasing the range of the targeted aerial version of Seismic Slam requires him to get closer before engaging an enemy and makes it slightly harder for him to escape from combat. The loss of air control on Rising Uppercut was a frustrating mechanic for players, but it allowed Doomfist to set up combos.
We’ve found a decent middle ground by limiting the amount of time Doomfist has to line up his next move. The Meteor Strike changes will make it harder to secure easy eliminations on heroes without mobility abilities, such as Zenyatta or Ana, while still preserving its maximum potential damage when aimed well or when combined with other abilities such as Graviton Surge or Sleep Dart.
McCree
Peacekeeper
Alternate fire damage increased from 45 to 55
Developer Comments: McCree’s Fan the Hammer wasn’t as reliable against higher health heroes as it should be. Increasing its damage will make it more potent in close-range engagements where it is intended to be most effective.
Torbjörn
Molten Core
Damage increased from 130 to 160 per second
Developer Comments: While the Molten Core damage pools were intended to provide players with tools for area denial, they weren’t proving threatening enough to deter enemies for a significant amount of time because their damage was too low.
BUG FIXES
A.I.
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn bot to use some of his ultimate while attempting to repair his turret
Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that caused Athena’s voice lines to overlap if the match was a draw
Heroes
General
Fixed a bug that prevented a landing exertion visual effect from playing when a hero impacted a slippery surface before landing
Fixed an issue that caused enemy players to appear to have jittery movement at framerates over 100
Fixed issues that could cause the client to miscalculate projectiles
Ashe
Fixed a bug that caused Ashe’s Dynamite to create a second small explosion visual effect a few moments after the first explosion
Fixed a bug that prevented Ashe’s Dynamite from playing its fire visual effects on enemy abilities (e.g. Junkrat’s Steel Trap or Mei’s Ice Wall)
Fixed a bug that prevented Ashe’s Dynamite from exploding if it fell into small gaps
Fixed a bug that prevented spectators from seeing enemy outline’s through Ashe’s scope
Fixed a bug that caused Ashe to see Zarya’s Project Barrier visual effects when Bob was the ability’s target
Fixed a bug that caused Bob to slip off Mei’s Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that allowed Bob to push Bastion in Sentry mode when hit by his charge
Fixed a bug that prevented a charging Bob from opening the airlock doors on Horizon: Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that caused Bob elbow to briefly disappear when waving
Fixed a bug that caused Bob to continuously charge into a small piece of collision instead of stopping
Fixed a bug that prevented Ashe’s Coach Gun from displacing breakables on maps
Bastion
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s Tank mode treads to continue moving while stunned
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s colored outline to include squares floating above him while in Configuration: Tank
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that allowed Brigitte to travel through Mei in Cryo-freeze when using Shield Bash
D.Va
Fixed a bug with the Lying Around highlight intro that caused Cruiser D.Va’s hair to clip into the mech
McCree
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Deadeye animation and sound effects to play twice if it was canceled quickly
Mercy
Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to gain ultimate charge by damage boosting a Pharah as she damages herself
Moira
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orbs to go through or get stuck in walls and other collision
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from traveling over certain terrain
Sombra
Fixed a bug that caused Sombra to hear the detected sound effect when entering stealth or teleporting
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that caused additional sound effects to play while viewing Symmetra’s Creation victory pose in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug with Symmetra’s teleporter where it would play its self-destruct sound effects when viewed in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to teleport her turrets under terrain
Torbjörn
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn’s turret to be built at an extreme angle if it landed on the edge of an object
Widowmaker
Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker’s Venom Mine to reveal enemy barriers through walls
Wrecking Ball
Fixed a bug that caused Wrecking Ball to briefly hit maximum speed before returning to normal speed when he used his Grappling Claw at maximum distance
Hero Gallery
General
Fixed a bug that prevented players’ Competitive Point currency deduction from visually updating after purchasing a golden weapon
Fixed a bug that caused heroes to display a t-pose briefly when viewing Highlight Intros with the UI disabled
Maps
Control
Fixed a bug that caused the hero select countdown timer to remain at 29 seconds
Dorado
Fixed a bug that gave unintended access to certain ledges
Hollywood
Fixed a bug that caused the ground beneath the western soundstage’s gates to be slippery while the gates were open
Temple of Anubis
Fixed a bug that prevented players from standing on the staircase ledge near the first point
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations
Mystery Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented the Mystery Heroes ruleset from being used while in a Mystery Heroes skirmish
Spectating
Fixed a bug that caused the kill feed to overlap with other UI elements while spectating players
UI
Colorblind Options
Fixed a bug that caused a player’s UI to appear as the enemy color during FFA Deathmatch games
Fixed a bug that prevented colorblind set team colors from appearing on the tab and victory screens
Fixed a bug that prevented player name plates from appearing in the hero select screen
Fixed a bug that prevented the end of round score screen from properly displaying team colors
Fixed a bug that prevented enemy Torbjörn’s turret health bar from displaying its team color
November 14
Overwatch Patch Notes - November 14, 2018
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a visual bug that prevented “The Boo!” Spray from properly showing
Fixed a bug to reduce AMD device-lost errors
Fixed a bug to reduce load failures into game on under minimum spec systems
November 13
Overwatch Patch Notes - November 13, 2018
New Hero: Ashe (Damage):
Ashe’s arsenal of weapons makes her a versatile offensive hero, capable of setting up the perfect situation to shoot down dangerous enemies from range or deal high area-of-effect burst damage to groups of heroes.
Her primary weapon is the Viper, a lever-action rifle with two firing modes: semi-automatic and aim down sights. In semi-automatic mode, the Viper shoots rapidly with a high spread. Aiming down the sights lets Ashe line up precise shots, increasing damage at the expense of speed.
She can turn any situation into her favor with her Coach Gun a short-range, high-impact sidearm that deals big damage and clears the way by knocking back nearby enemies. It can also be used to knock herself back for added mobility, either to reposition herself for a clear shot, or to escape pursuing enemies.
Ashe’s Dynamite ability is a thrown explosive that detonates after a delay. It deals damage in a wide radius and sets enemies on fire for additional damage over time. She can also shoot the dynamite to detonate it early, allowing her to damage unsuspecting enemies.
Her ultimate ability, B.O.B., sends Ashe’s loyal omnic companion rushing into the fray, shoving aside the frontline to rough up targets in the backline.
To learn more about Ashe, click here.
GENERAL UPDATES
Audio
An option to use Windows Spatial Audio is now available. This feature can be found in the Windows Start Menu under Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Speaker Device > Spatial Sound
Developer Comments: Since launch, we’ve supported Dolby Atmos for players who use headphones, and we’re now expanding this support to include the Windows 10 implementation for spatial audio. Spatial audio is configured in the Windows 10 sound settings and will take priority over the settings in the game client. This will allow for more options, including settings for Windows Sonic Headphones, Dolby Atmos for Headphones, and Dolby Atmos for Home Theater.
HERO UPDATES
General
Made jump height consistent across hero roster
Mercy
Valkyrie
Ultimate cost reduced 15%
Healing per second increased from 50 to 60
Developer Comments: Mercy's ultimate was charging a bit too slowly after her base healing was reduced in a previous update. These changes should restore some of her ultimate’s strength and let it build up more quickly.
Symmetra
Photon Projector
Primary fire beam charges up 20% faster
Developer Comments: It's still difficult to use Symmetra's Photon Projector beam effectively, even after its range was increased. By speeding up the primary fire charge rate, it takes less time to ramp up to its full damage potential and will be a stronger option when she’s presented with targets to charge up on.
Reaper
Hellfire Shotguns
Spread randomization reduced by 50%
Spread pattern adjusted
The Reaping
Life steal increased from 20% to 30% of damage dealt
Developer Comments: Reaper's specialty is fighting at a very close range. The more consistent spread pattern and increase in healing from his passive ability will make him more capable of standing toe-to-toe with his enemies.
Roadhog
Chain Hook
Decreased the delay before pulling a hooked target from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds
Now greatly reduces the target’s momentum upon being hooked
Cooldown now begins immediately, instead of after the target has been pulled
Scrap Gun
Spread pattern adjusted for both primary and secondary fire
Spread randomization reduced by 50%
Whole Hog
Knockback maximum velocity increased by 25% (from 8 to 10 meters per second)
Horizontal recoil decreased slightly
Developer Comments: Roadhog is receiving several large changes to make his abilities more consistent. His Chain Hook had issues with breaking when enemy targets jumped or fell behind environment collision. It will now slow them down in the air more when the hook lands, and wait less time before it starts reeling them in. Since Chain Hook’s cooldown now begins immediately upon use, so it no longer varies based on Roadhog’s distance to the hook target.
We’ve also moved some of the projectiles closer to the center of the spread pattern on his Scrap Gun, which gives him a more consistent damage output for its primary and alternate fire. Previously, there was a long-standing bug that caused close-range targets to fly much further than expected. After this bug was fixed, we still wanted to keep some of the knockback burst it provided, so we’ve increased the overall velocity cap to maintain some of that functionality.
Symmetra
Photon Projector
Primary fire beam charges up 20% faster
Developer Comments: It's still difficult to use Symmetra's Photon Projector beam effectively, even after its range was increased. By speeding up the primary fire charge rate, it takes less time to ramp up to its full damage potential and will be a stronger option when she’s presented with targets to charge up on.
USER UPDATES
General
Removed the “Unlock All” option in the Hero Gallery
BUG FIXES
A.I.
Fixed a bug that caused Mei bots to attempt landing headshots on Wrecking Ball while he was immune to them in Roll mode
Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck near Point A on Eichenwalde
Heroes
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Whip Shot from going on cooldown if it was interrupted before the chain retracted
Doomfist
Fixed a bug that prevented victims of Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from ragdolling if they were eliminated by it
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut from damaging enemies
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomist’s Seismic Slam from dealing damage if he hit by a knockback ability the moment he landed
Junkrat
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat to return to his idle animation if he was stunned while using RIP-Tire
Lúcio
Fixed a bug that caused some allied heroes to say their “under attack” voice lines when receiving a friendly Sound Barrier
Orisa
Fixed bug that prevented Orisa’s Fortify from canceling Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut air control effects
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt’s Earthshatter to hit Brigitte when she blocked it with her Barrier Shield if she was strafing during high latency periods
Roadhog
Fixed a bug that prevented Chain Hook from going on cooldown if it was interrupted before the chain retracted
Fixed a bug that prevented Chain Hook from destroying breakable objects when pulling the target backward
Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Whole Hog visual effects to cover a wider area than the spread of projectiles
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra to charge up her primary weapon on enemy ice walls
Torbjörn
Fixed a bug that prevented Santaclad Torbjörn’s ultimate voice lines from playing when activating Molten Core
Fixed a visual issue that prevented Molten Core’s magma globules from appearing in the correct place with his Barbarossa or Blackbeard skins equipped
Fixed an animation issue that caused Torbjörn’s claw arm to suddenly appear when Overload and Molten Core were used in quick succession
[PS4/XB1] Fixed a bug that allowed Torbjörn to have aim assist during Molten Core
Tracer
Fixed an issue that caused Tracer to accelerate slightly slower and decelerate slightly faster than other heroes
Wrecking Ball
Fixed a bug that prevented Wrecking Ball voice lines from playing when previewed after opening a Loot Box
Zarya
Fixed a bug that allowed heroes to charge through a Graviton Surge without getting trapped
Hero Gallery
General
Fixed an issue that caused some heroes legs to twitch when viewed in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that prevented players from rotating heroes in the Hero Gallery while the UI was hidden
Social
Fixed a bug that allowed players to hear the voice lines of heroes controlled by players they muted
Game Browser and Custom Games
Maps
Fixed a bug that prevented the payload from healing attackers if they were damaged while pushing it on Assault/Escort and Escort maps
Fixed a lighting issue that caused a skyscraper in Hollywood’s skyline to appear pitch black
October 11
Overwatch Patch Notes - October 11, 2018
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused Pharah’s neck to distort in her Medal victory pose
Mystery Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Eichenwalde or Hollywood from appearing in the Mystery Heroes map rotation
UI
Fixed a bug that caused players to become immobile after their UI lost focus when entering a match
October 9
Overwatch Patch Notes - October 9, 2018
Patch Rundown
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
NEW SEASONAL EVENT: HALLOWEEN TERROR 2018
The fright for the future returns!
We’re celebrating the scariest time of the year with a seasonal event: Overwatch Halloween Terror! Expand your collection of spooky seasonal items and relive the chilling tale of Junkenstein's Revenge in our PvE brawl. This year we’ve added two new heroes to the fray: Brigitte and Tracer!
In addition to playing the limited-time brawl, you'll also be able to unlock new seasonal items—including six new legendary skins like Banshee Moira, Jack-o’-lantern Wrecking Ball, and Enchanted Armor Pharah—alongside our growing collection of bone-chilling gear from previous years.
Learn more about Halloween Terror here.
COLOR BLIND OPTION UPDATES
Customize how team colors are displayed in your user interface (e.g. nameplates, HUD, health bars, and hero outlines) with a set of nine different colorblind-friendly colors to choose from. You can also colorize enemy and friendly UI separately. These options can be found under Options > Video > Color Blind Options. All changes made will be saved and ready for you to see in the next match you play!
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Updated the audio mix to add more clarity and dynamic range for all sounds in the game
Developer Comments: Developer Comments: We’ve added more heroes and features to the game, so the audio mix has become more complex, which required us to rebalance sounds across the game. In this update, we extended the range of third-person weapon sounds, increased the range of first-person weapon impacts in the world, and generally balanced third-person footsteps and ability sounds.
HERO UPDATES
General
Updated visuals for all shields and barriers to increase readability
Enemies’ health bars will now become visible to players if an entity they create deals damage to an enemy
Brigitte
Barrier Shield
Shield health reduced from 600 to 500
Developer Comments: The health of Brigitte’s barrier was extremely difficult for most heroes to deal with, especially as she closes the distance to her targets. This change still provides Brigitte with substantial survivability but should also be more rewarding for opponents who pressure her.
Doomfist
Hand Cannon
Damage falloff now starts at 15 meters
Developer Comments: Doomfist is all about getting up close and personal with his enemies, but his Hand Cannon's spread was tight enough to do surprising amounts of damage at longer ranges, especially against bigger targets. This change brings his weapon in line with other shotgun-style weapons by making its damage fall off beyond 15 meters.
McCree
Combat Roll
Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
Developer Comments: Previously, McCree’s Combat Roll cooldown felt too restrictive, which sometimes prohibited players from using it. The new, faster cooldown allows for more flexibility when choosing between using it for mobility or an instant reload.
Pharah
Concussive Blast
Cooldown reduced from 12 to 9 seconds
Rocket Launcher
Attack speed increased
Lowered recovery time between shots from 0.9 to 0.75 seconds
Damage redistributed between explosion and impact
Explosion damage reduced from 80 to 65
Impact damage increased from 40 to 55
Explosion knock back reduced by 20%
Self-knockback amount increased by 25%
Developer Comments: We wanted to increase how responsive Pharah’s Rocket Launcher felt, because a full second of recovery between shots made it feel sluggish. To balance out the improved recovery time, we shifted some damage from the rocket's explosion to the direct impact damage. The overall damage potential is now increased when landing direct hits and decreased slightly when only dealing explosive damage.
We reduced the amount of knockback each explosion causes, as it made it very difficult to aim at Pharah with rockets coming in at a faster pace. The Concussive Blast cooldown reduction should allow the ability to sync up more closely with the Jump Jet cooldown when used for mobility.
Mei
General
Updated visual effects for all abilities
Orisa
Fusion Driver
Maximum spread reduced by 20%
Developer Comments: Orisa spends a significant amount of time firing her Fusion Driver from a relatively stationary location. The weapon's spread value caused it to feel too random when leading targets at a distance, considering the projectiles' travel time. We’ve tightened the spread slightly, which should leave her close- and mid-range damage potential largely unchanged, while making it feel better when hitting targets at longer ranges.
Soldier: 76
Heavy Pulse Rifle
Number of shots until reaching maximum spread increased from 6 to 9
Developer Comments Soldier: 76’s damage output was a bit low, but not too far off from where we felt it should be. Making it take a few more shots to reach max spread smooths out the weapon spread curve and should make his damage more consistent.
Torbjörn
General
Reduced the size of Torbjörn’s head hit volume by 10%
River Gun
Primary Fire
Projectile speed increased from 60 to 70 per second
Reload time reduced from 2.2 to 2 seconds
Turret targets enemy hit by primary fire
Alternate Fire
Recovery lowered from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds
Damage per shot lowered from 150 to 125
Reload time reduced from 2.2 to 2 seconds
Spread randomization readjusted
Forge Hammer
Radius increased to align with Quick Melee
Deploy Turret
Turret is now a thrown projectile
Automatically builds over three seconds
No longer has different levels
Same damage output as previous level 2 turret
Maximum health reduced from 300 to 250
Now incurs a 5 second cooldown when deployed
Now incurs a 10 second cooldown when destroyed in combat
No longer able to deploy a new turret if it’s in combat
While the turret is firing
If the turret has taken damage within three seconds
Can now be destroyed using the Interact input
Completes self-building once deployed, even if Torbjörn is eliminated
New ability: Overload
Replaces Armor Pack
Lasts for 5 seconds
Cooldown is 12 seconds
Temporarily grants 150 armor
Increases attack, movement, and reload speeds by 30%
New ultimate: Molten Core
Switches weapon from Rivet Gun to his claw arm
Lasts 6 seconds
Fire up to 10 molten globules that create damage pools where they land for 10 seconds
Globules bounce off walls and ceilings until they hit the ground
Base damage is 130
Damage increases from 130 to 190 against enemies who have armor
Heroes affected by armor: Bastion, Brigitte, D.Va, Orisa, Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Winston, Wrecking Ball
Heroes who can grant armor to their allies: Brigitte
Please note that Torbjörn will be unavailable in Competitive Play for two weeks.
Developer Comments: Torbjörn was initially designed to be a specialized hero, intended to be a strong defensive option due to his armor-generating capabilities and ability to control areas with his turret. However, the scrap collecting and Armor Pack mechanics have proven to cause problematic gameplay issues because of their feast or famine nature.
To make him more flexible in a wide variety of situations, we’ve removed the scrap system, made the turret much easier to deploy, replaced the Armor Pack ability with Overload—a powerful self-buff—and transformed Molten Core into a powerful new area denial ultimate ability.
MAP UPDATES
General
Reduced the setup timer for Assault, Escort, and Assault/Escort maps from 1 minute to 45 seconds
Assemble Your Team timer increased from 10 to 25 seconds in the second round on Assault, Assault/Escort, and Escort maps
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
General
A slider to change Player Outline Strength has been added under Options > Gameplay
BUG FIXES
Heroes
Bastion
Fixed a bug that caused the roll bar on Bastion’s Dune Buggy skin to obscure its view when backing up or firing in Tank configuration
D.Va
Fixed a bug that prevented some glowing effects from appearing on D.Va’s Nano Cola skin
Fixed a bug that prevented D.Va from fully appearing when viewing her MEKA Activated highlight intro in the Hero Gallery
Hanzo
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Storm Bow reticle to be visible while emoting
Mei
Fixed a bug that prevented Mei’s Blizzard from freezing enemies when cast in areas with low ceilings
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that caused the player’s reticle to pitch up after using Earthshatter
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Earthshatter animations to play if used while he was juggled in the air by knockback abilities
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer to knock enemies back further than intended
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Reinhardt’s Charge to knock back the target rather than pinning them
Fixed a bug that would let Reinhardt immediately pin an enemy after a knock back close to a wall
Fixed a bug that allowed area affect abilities to hit Reinhardt’s Barrier Field from further than intended (e.g. Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer and Junkrat’s Concussion Mines)
Sombra
Fixed an issue that caused Sombra to change the direction she was facing when using her Translocator to teleport
Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed Sombra’s Translocator to reach unintended places
Fixed a bug that prevented some abilities from being able to destroy Sombra’s Translocator if it was placed in certain locations
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra to have a chance of playing inaccurate voice lines when placing turrets
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s alternate fire to appear to detonate after missing a target
Torbjörn
Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn’s medal from appearing in his Medal victory pose
Zarya
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s Particle Cannon reticle to be visible while emoting
Maps
Busan
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on some prohibited rooftops in Downtown
Fixed a bug that prevented sprays from displaying on glass windows in MEKA Base
Volskaya Industries
Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving capture credit if they dropped onto the point from one of the moving platforms
Game Browser and Custom Games
Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that prevented the “your team has lost” or “your team has taken the lead” voice lines from playing when the score swap happens due to self-inflicted deaths
VS AI
Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving an “unable to join” error message if they attempted to spectate a Player vs AI match when all spectator slots were full
September 11
Overwatch Patch Notes - September 11, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
NEW MAP – BUSAN
Travel to Busan, South Korea and battle for control across three distinct locales within one map: Sanctuary, Downtown, and MEKA Base.
Explore the serene setting of the Sanctuary, surrounded by an ancient temple, beautiful gardens, and historic architecture. Clash in the bustling metropolis of Downtown, where players will fight across a busy PC bang, flashy karaoke bar, and central light rail station (just watch out for the train). Contest for position in MEKA Base—home of South Korea’s frontline defense against the gwishin omnic attacks: D.Va and the rest of the MEKA squad.
HERO GALLERY – FILTER
View all of the cosmetics Overwatch has to offer with our new Filter feature in the Hero Gallery. Customize your search for cosmetics by category (including seasonal events or whether they're from the Overwatch League), rarity, and whether they are unlocked or waiting to be collected.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Added visual outlines to make allies visible through walls
[PS4/XB1] Updated aim assist to improve precision when tracking targets
[PS4/XB1] An option to revert to the previous aim assist settings can now be found under Options > Aim Assist Legacy Mode
[PS4/XB1] An option to smooth out the strength of aim assist when closing in on a target can now be found under Advanced Options > Aim Assist Ease
Developer Comments: We’ve reworked how our aim assist algorithm works on console to make the controls more intuitive and to improve gameplay.
Previously, aim assist worked in two ways. First, we slowed down your aim to allow more precision when tracking a target. Second, we automatically adjusted your crosshairs in the direction the target is moving around you, to make up for the lower sensitivity.
Now, we incorporate how you are currently turning with the aim stick when determining how the enemy is moving relative to yourself. In practice, this means if you are perfectly tracking a target aim assist will not activate.
We’ve also improved aim assist's target selection to reduce instances where your aim could be pulled away from your focused target if another enemy crossed your path. The new Aim Assist Ease In setting allows the aim assist system to ramp up its strength as you get closer to your target, producing less jarring sensitivity changes.
HERO UPDATES
General
Fixed a bug that would cause some weapons that fired multiple shots at once to inconsistently deal critical damage (e.g. Doomfist’s Hand Cannon, D.Va’s Fusion Cannons, Genji’s Shurikens, Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns, Torbjörn’s Rivet Gun)
Developer Comments: While this is a bug fix, we wanted to highlight this change as it can affect gameplay by changing the damage output of the affected heroes in certain situations.
After this fix, weapons with spread should now correctly calculate critical damage for each individual pellet that lands in a critical region (e.g. a headshot). The end result of this change is that it should be significantly easier to deal critical damage with any weapon that fires multiple shots simultaneously, such as Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns and D.Va’s Fusion Cannons.
In addition, we’ve changed the logic for when these weapons display a critical marker on your screen. It now requires 30% of your shots to be critical, rather than displaying it if a single pellet hits critically.
Ana
Biotic Rifle
Increased the precision of the Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed slider. This can be found under Options > Controls > Hero > Ana
Brigitte
Shield Bash
Now knocks down and gets knocked down by other charging targets (e.g Reinhardt and Doomfist)
Developer Comments: Currently, when two charging targets hit each other, they both fall down and are briefly stunned. You can see this interaction with Doomfist’s Rocket Punch and Reinhardt’s Charge abilities.
Brigitte’s Shield Bash previously wasn’t included in this group, which meant that if she used Shield Bash against these other abilities, she would generally stun them and not be affected herself. This change makes it so if she uses Shield Bash against Charge or Rocket Punch, both players will be knocked down.
Reinhardt
Earthshatter
Now consistently hits enemies near walls
No longer hits enemies that enter the damage cone after the “wave” has passed that area
No longer damages enemies behind barriers blocking it, even if the barrier is later dropped or destroyed
Always travels up inclines and around the payload
Developer Comments: We’ve given Earthshatter a complete overhaul to combat inconsistencies with its performance. These changes will make Earthshatter’s behavior more predictable and effective.
Widowmaker
Grappling Hook
Now retains momentum when used on environments or structures without a ledge (e.g. walls)
Widow's Kiss
Increased the precision of the Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed slider. This can be found under Options > Controls > Hero > Widowmaker
COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES
General
Grand Master players can now group with players within 350 Skill Rating, up from 250 Skill Rating
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES
General
Modified the Respawn Time Scalar custom game option to prevent respawn times longer than the default
FFA Deathmatch
Mercy now begins the match with her Caduceus Blaster equipped
Blizzard World is now available to play in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch
1v1 Mystery Heroes
Mercy now begins the match with her Caduceus Blaster equipped
MAP UPDATES
Rialto
Payload travel speed has been slightly increased
Amount of time the payload pauses at checkpoints has been reduced
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes slip off railings
Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn Armor Packs Created statistic from updating if the ability landed directly on a friendly target
Communication Wheel
[PC] Fixed a bug that caused a delay in selecting options on the Communication Wheel when cycling left using a mouse
Heroes
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Shield Bash movement to be interrupted when she impacted Symmetra’s turrets
Doomfist
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Seismic Slam to cancel when using Symmetra’s Teleporter
D.Va
Fixed a bug that allowed D.Va to escape the map if she used Call Mech while standing on Mei’s Ice Wall
Hanzo
Fixed a bug that caused the Dragonstrike arrow's size to be larger than his other arrows
Mei
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Cryo-freeze to block the line of sight for Mei’s Blizzard
Mercy
Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to gain ultimate charge from using her damage beam on attacks that cannot be damage boosted
Reaper
Fixed a bug that prevented Reaper’s Shadow Step from going on cooldown if he was interrupted
Roadhog
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to break after hitting an enemy while maintaining line of sight
Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s alternate fire from calculating falloff damage correctly
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from landing if he was launched into the air while activating it
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to pin targets that were behind him when using Charge
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt from pinning some targets when he turned during Charge
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to use Earthshatter while standing on an enemy’s head
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from hitting enemies standing on a payload
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from traveling up certain inclines
Sombra
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from translocating to a moving platform
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from destroying her Translocator if she was stunned or hacked
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Translocator from accurately indicating where Sombra would arrive when the ability was used
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Hack from canceling Symmetra’s Photon Barrier placement
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s teleport UI to persist after being eliminated
Widowmaker
Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook from connecting to some ledges
Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s scoped shots on hero placed objects to count against her Scoped Weapon Accuracy statistic (e.g. Symmetra’s Teleporter, Torbjörn’s autocannon)
Wrecking Ball
Fixed a bug that prevented Wrecking Ball’s Piledriver from dealing falloff damage
Fixed a bug that allowed Wrecking Ball’s Piledriver to deal damage twice if he slid off the environment during its duration
Fixed a bug that allowed Wrecking Ball’s primary fire to continue working even if it was disabled in custom game
August 28
Overwatch Patch Notes - August 28, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
D.Va’s Nano Cola Challenge
We’re celebrating the release of D.Va’s action-packed animated “Shooting Star” short by making some special content available to unlock in-game. For a limited time, your wins in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade will all earn you additional D.Va sprays, a player icon, and a new epic skin: NANO COLA D.VA!
When you’re not playing to win, you can watch sponsored Twitch broadcasters to unlock even more D.Va-themed sprays!
To learn more about D.Va’s Nano Cola Challenge, click here.
BUG FIXES
Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that prevented flavor descriptions from displaying when a skin was selected
Fixed a bug that prevented hero descriptions from displaying in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that prevented cosmetics’ unlock requirements from displaying in the Hero Gallery
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented some of Roadhog’s voice lines from playing with his Lacrosse skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets to fall through the environment when thrown into a Teleporter
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to teleport players into certain vehicles on King’s Row and Numbani
Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s Jump Pack damage to not fall off properly
Sound
Fixed an issue that prevented sound from playing after a memory-intensive team fight
August 9
Overwatch Patch Notes - August 9, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Summer Games 2018
The Summer Games return for more fun in the sun! This year, we're celebrating the spirit of competition with a new Lúcioball arena, Season 2 of Copa Lúcioball, and a smörgåsbord of loot. Unlock over 50 new seasonal items—including legendary skins like Waveracer D.Va, Fastball Zenyatta, and Cabana Ana—alongside our growing collection of summer gear from previous years.
To learn more about Summer Games, click here.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Changed the name of Junkrat’s Buccaneer skin to Bilgerat
Added under attack voice lines for Zenyatta, Lúcio, and Moria
All Overwatch League skins now include the name of the team’s city or state
Looking for Group
Settings will be saved after changing filters on the Looking for Group browse screen
Hero Gallery
Added a What’s New option that displays new unlockable content
HERO UPDATES
General
Some ultimate abilities now restore ammunition after completion for some heroes
Abilities affected: Genji’s Dragonblade, Junkrat’s RIP-Tire, Pharah’s Barrage, Roadhog’s Whole Hog, and Zenyatta’s Transcendence, Winston’s Primal Rage
Developer Comments:The change removes the need to immediately reload after a long duration ultimate.
Ana
Nano Boost
Now also instantly heals the target for 300 health
Range increased from 30 to 40 meters
Developer Comments: These changes help Ana’s Nano Boost be usable in more situations. Previously it was almost entirely used to combo with other allies’ ultimates, just before they use them. With this change Nano Boost can now alternatively be used to save an ally from near death in the middle of a big fight.
Brigitte
Shield Bash
Cooldown increased from 6 to 7 seconds
Repair Pack
An option to control Brigitte’s Repair Pack targeting sensitivity has been added under Options > Controls > Brigitte
Developer Comments: Brigitte’s Shield Bash is one of her strongest abilities, and its short cooldown can make it difficult to play against. Slightly increasing its cooldown will give her opponents more opportunity to play around it. We’ve also added an option to control Brigitte’s Repair Pack targeting sensitivity which will allow players to reduce the width of the search angle for the ability. This is useful for trying to target specific allies in the middle of a fight at the cost of making it a bit harder to target allies in general.
Doomfist
Rocket Punch
No longer impacts Symmetra’s teleporter
Now destroys Symmetra’s sentry turrets without stopping his movement
Developer Comments: These changes are just quality of life improvements for how Doomfist interacts with Symmetra’s placed objects.
Hanzo
Lunge
Cooldown increased from 4 to 5 seconds
Developer Comments: Hanzo’s Lunge ability allows him to be a bit too evasive, so we’re increasing the cooldown to make him easier to catch.
Lúcio
Crossfade
Aura radius increase from 10 to 12 meters
Sound Barrier
Temporary shields granted increased from 500 to 750
Developer Comments: Increasing the amount of shield health gained from Lúcio’s Sound Barrier should make it more effective against incoming burst damage. As part of his last rework, Crossfade’s radius was heavily reduced, but its potency was increased to compensate. While the change was better for him overall, the radius was small enough that it was often difficult to keep his allies in range during a fight, even if they felt reasonably close together. The increased radius should help in these situations.
Mercy
Caduceus Staff
Healing beam reduced from 60 healing per second to 50 healing per second
Developer Comments: Mercy’s previous healing output made her nearly irreplaceable in any team composition. Even after this change she will still be able to deliver more healing over the course of a match than any other support hero, but it should allow for other healers to be more viable.
Moira
Biotic Grasp
Passive energy regeneration rate increased from 2 per second to 2.4 per second
Developer Comments: This change should help Moira in situations where there are no enemies within reach but your team still requires a lot of healing. She will still need to drain enemies to be fully effective, but this just helps her a bit in the rare cases where there is an extended long-range fight that she can’t reasonably take part in.
Reinhardt
Barrier Field
Decorative insignia no longer protrudes from the shield’s surface
Developer Comments: By smoothing out Reinhardt’s Barrier Field, he now will be able to consistently block enemy abilities and projectiles that could sometimes unintentionally sneak through (e.g. Junkrat’s grenades).
Sombra
General
Reduced the size of Sombra’s head hit volume
Developer Comments: The head changes are mostly a bug fix, as her head hit volume was abnormally large, especially from behind. Previously if you fired at her from behind near her upper spine, you could land a head shot. Now her head volume is much more accurate.
Symmetra
Photon Projector
Primary fire range increased from 10 to 12
Developer Comments: Symmetra’s primary fire has huge damage potential but it is too difficult to charge because of its low range and slow charge rate. We’re increasing the range to see how it plays out, giving her more opportunities to use it, especially against enemy barriers.
Widowmaker
Grappling Hook
Cooldown increased from 8 seconds to 10 seconds
Developer Comments: The increased cooldown will slightly reduce the frequency that Widowmaker can reposition herself. This allows her to be threatened more easily by agile enemy heroes such as Winston and Genji.
Zarya
Energy
Drain rate reduced from 2 energy per second to 1.6 energy per second
Graviton Surge
Radius reduced from 8 to 6 meters
Developer Comments: The smaller radius on Graviton Surge makes it more reasonable for her enemies to try countering it by staying spread out, as well as putting more focus on Zarya to position the ultimate correctly to impact the most players possible.
However, the intent of these changes isn’t to lessen Zarya’s overall power significantly so we’re reducing her energy drain rate, which should keep her energy higher on average resulting in more damage and quicker ultimate charge times. Overall, this takes some power out of her ultimate and distributes it else ware to add more counter play against her.
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES
Heroes
Brigitte’s Repair Pack now has a minimum cooldown time of 1.5 seconds regardless of custom game settings
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that displayed an inaccurate AFK countdown timer before removing players from a match if they were flagged as AFK more than once
Fixed a bug that caused the player camera to display an odd location before switching to the first-person view of the selected hero after Assemble Your Team phase ends
AI
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn bot to fire his gun endlessly if his turret is teleported by a Symmetra player
Competitive Play
Fixed a bug that could cause players to lose an endorsement level if they exited before a match completes, but after the return timer for a leaving player has expired
Heroes
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles and splash damage to penetrate Brigitte’s Barrier Shield while dashing with the ability
D.Va
Fixed a bug that caused D.Va’s Light Gun to disappear if Roadhog used Chain Hook on her while she used an emote
Genji
Fixed a visual issue that prevented Genji’s Shuriken ammunition from displaying the correct number briefly after activating Dragonblade
Fixed a bug that caused Genji’s arms to detach from his body if he looked straight down a wall while climbing over edges
Hanzo
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s arms to detach from his body if he looked straight down a wall while climbing over edges
Junkrat
Fixed a bug that refilled Junkrat’s ammo if RIP-Tire failed to cast
Fixed a bug that refilled Junkrat's ammo if he attempted to use RIP-Tire while airborne
Lúcio
Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to gain ultimate charge while Sound Barrier was active if he got hacked
Orisa
Fixed a bug that caused the health bar on Orisa’s Protective Barrier to disappear when she used Supercharger
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that prevented cracks from appearing on Reinhardt’s Overwatch League Away skins when his Barrier Field takes damage
Roadhog
Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s Chain Hook from retracting to his hand if he is interrupted mid-cast
Sombra
Fixed a bug that caused Sombra’s visual effects to display darker than intended
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to destroy her Translocator after teleporting to it
Fixed a bug that caused Sombra’s Translocator to bleed when struck by enemy players
Tracer
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Pulse Bombs to stick onto the wrong side of shields when the targeted enemy moved quickly
Wrecking Ball
Fixed a bug that prevented Wrecking Ball from using sprays when in Roll form
Fixed a bug that allowed Piledriver to displace Mei while she is in Cryo-freeze
Zarya
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s Graviton Surge visual effects to extend beyond the ability’s radius
Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that prevented rotating hero models while viewed in the Hero Gallery when equipped with Overwatch League skins
Fixed a bug that prevented the Communication Wheel from functioning when equipping a spray, voice line, or emote from a Loot Box
Looking for Group
Fixed a bug that caused some groups to be unable to queue for a game mode
Maps
Eichenwalde
Fixed a bug that caused Eichenwalde’s castle gate to falls into the ground when destroyed by the payload
July 24
Overwatch Patch Notes - July 24, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Hero: Wrecking Ball (Tank):
Wrecking Ball’s tinkering capabilities and iron-clad mech make him a formidable tank hero, capable of bowling through the front line of the opposition and causing mayhem in the back line. His primary weapon, Quad Cannons, are two sets of twin machine guns that shred enemies caught in their crosshairs.
No team is too much for Wrecking Ball to engage against with his Adaptive Shield, which generates more health based on the number of enemies nearby. This shield makes him incredibly difficult to kill when he bulldozes into the fray and, once he starts to get low on health, also provides him the endurance to escape.
The Roll ability allows Wrecking Ball to withdraw the mech’s robotic limbs, transforming it into a ball with increased movement speed. No obstacle can stand in Wrecking Ball’s way when he uses Grappling Claw, a short-range ability that grips the environment, letting him swing across terrain gaps or around corners to smash enemies.
Grappling Claw also allows Wrecking Ball to reach top speed and ram into foes, dealing destructive damage and knocking them back. While airborne, the mech’s Piledriver ability causes Wrecking Ball to slam down from the air and knock his enemies off their feet.
When Wrecking Ball is at his strongest, he can use Minefield which flings mines onto the ground that deal a considerable amount of damage to enemies unfortunate enough to trigger them.
To learn more about Wrecking Ball, click here.
As with all new heroes, please note that Wrecking Ball's release in Competitive Play will be delayed by two weeks.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Added a note to Sombra’s Hero Information page about her ability to remove her own Translocator
Removed the Shield Generators Destroyed statistic from players’ Career Profiles
Looking for Group
Added a button that allows you to queue into the selected game mode once the group becomes full
Added a button to relist groups in the LFG browser when the group has empty role slots
HERO UPDATES
General
Several heroes have received major changes to their damage falloff:
Bastion
Configuration: Sentry and Configuration: Recon
Minimum damage at max range increased from 30% to 50%.
McCree
Peacekeeper
Minimum damage at max range increased from 30% to 50%
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
Removed all damage falloff from her secondary fire projectile
Soldier: 76
Heavy Pulse Rifle
Minimum damage at max range increased from 30% to 50%
Widowmaker
Widow's Kiss
Now has damage falloff applied on her automatic primary fire (50% at max range)
Developer Comments:The goal of these changes is to slightly reduce the impact of damage falloff on mid-range weapons. While assessing falloff mechanics across the board, weapons intended primarily for close-range combat benefited too greatly from lowering their falloff restrictions. We also normalized a couple of outliers in that Mei had a long-range travel time projectile with falloff applied and Widowmaker's automatic fire did not have any.
Hanzo
Storm Arrows
Duration reduced from 6 to 5 seconds
Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds
Developer Comments: Hanzo’s new kit has proven to be a bit too powerful, especially his new Storm Arrows ability. We’re lowering the frequency that he can have this ability available to make it more reasonable to play around.
Sombra
Stealth
Now lasts indefinitely
No longer can contest objectives while invisible
Movement speed buff decreased from +70% to +50%
Translocator
Now lasts indefinitely
Can now be destroyed (has 5 health)
Radius reduced
Developer Comments: These changes allow Sombra to more easily play as an infiltrator and scout for her team, as well as give her time to pick and choose when to reveal herself to ambush her enemies.
MAP UPDATES
General
When final objectives on non-control maps are contested for extended amounts of time and attackers have an advantage in numbers, the respawn time for defenders now increases even faster
Developer Comments: In a previous patch we added a system to adjust the respawn rate of defenders in situations where attackers have a prolonged advantage in fights on final objectives. We’re just making this system a bit more aggressive to further reduce the duration of the long, drawn out fights that can occur when the defender spawns are so close to the action.
Assault Maps
Objective time reduced from 5 minutes to 4 minutes per control point in Quick Play and Arcade modes
Developer Comments: We have reduced the overall game time for Assault maps in Quickplay and Arcade Modes. Players now have four minutes to capture each point instead of the current five minutes per point.
In some games, Point A would be captured rather quickly resulting in what could be lengthy battle over Point B. Point B is typically more defendable than Point A and, in some games, defenders were able to hold for the entire duration of remaining time which could potentially be 8 minutes or more. We felt that in these instances the overall time was simply too long for either team, with attackers unable to take the point and defenders having to hold.
The reduction in time is now consistent with the Competitive Play times which provides an ample amount of time for both attackers and defenders, but hopefully removes the occasional game where it feels like you are playing against the timer and not the other team.
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused the group leader’s UI to appear that they’re canceling or leaving Waiting for Players when using a controller
Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving an AFK warning for not moving after receiving the No XP warning for not being in combat
Fixed a bug that caused Competitive Elimination to display as your last match played in the Recent Players menu
Fixed a bug that prevented players added to Avoid as Teammate from being removed if that player was added to their friends list
AI
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn bot to continuously try upgrading his turret when placed in an inaccessible location
Custom Game
Fixed a bug that prevented groups electing to spectate from being placed into the Spectator section of the Custom Game they’re trying to watch
Endorsements
Fixed a bug that caused the Team Information screen to display an Endorsement level of a player who left the game
Fixed a bug that prevented the Endorsement input from opening the Endorsement tray if it shared that input with another input
Fixed a bug that prevented the Nearby Players menu from displaying Endorsement levels
Fixed a bug that caused the text for the Sportsmanship Endorsement to bleed outside the chat box
Game Browser & Custom Games
Fixed a bug that allowed heroes to deploy multiple barriers or turrets when a decreased cooldown modifier was applied in a Custom Game
Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes spawn into a wall or floor when playing a Deathmatch Custom Game with Respawn as Random Hero enabled
Heroes
General
Fixed a bug that prevented heroes from playing a hit reaction animation when shot
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte from dashing forward when using Shield Bash if she was airborne due to Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s portrait to show a non-existent ponytail with her Shieldmaiden skin equipped
Doomfist
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to stop if he hit Symmetra’s Turret when it was in midair
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike from hitting Reinhardt if he faced his Field Barrier upward
Fixed a bug with Doomfist’s Rocket Punch that prevented it from canceling Genji’s Cyber-agility, Lúcio’s Wall Ride, or Hanzo’s Wall Climb on impact
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike impact visual effect from occurring
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to plummet to his death if he used Meter Strike in the basement of the Château Guillard Deathmatch map
D.Va
Fixed a bug that prevented D.Va’s mech rear hatch from connecting to her mech when viewing D.Va’s Peace Victory Pose.
Genji
Fixed a bug that caused Genji’s kneepad to clip into his legs when wearing his Classic skin
Fixed a bug that caused Genji’s knees to pop while shifting his weight during his idle animation in the Hero Gallery
Hanzo
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Hanzo’s Dragonstrike projectile to fire backward
Junkrat
Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat’s Frag Launcher grenades from dealing the correct amount of damage on direct hits
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to set multiple Steel Traps in Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevented teammates from viewing Junkrat’s respawn timer if he died while piloting RIP-Tire
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to move the camera when Junkrat’s RIP-Tire was frozen
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s Frag Launcher grenades to get stuck in certain terrain
Mei
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Ice Wall to be destroyed if Sombra hacked her
Mercy
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy's Cadeceus Staff and Cadeceus Blaster to appear missing when using quick melee and weapon swap simultaneously
Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to damage boost certain abilities (e.g. Hanzo’s Dragonstrike, D.Va’s Self-Destruct, and Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
Moira
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Healing Orb from healing friendly training bots in the Practice Range
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orbs from trigging controller vibration when using a controller
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge from propelling him forward if he was airborne due to Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut
Roadhog
Fixed a bug that allowed Roadhog’s Chain Hook target to be pulled to his new location when he used Symmetra’s Teleporter
Sombra
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to push and contest payloads while invisible
Fixed a bug that caused parts of Sombra’s Translocator to be invulnerable
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Turrets from displaying a red outline when viewed by the enemy team
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Earthshatter to sometimes go through Symmetra’s Photon Barrier
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Teleporter from using visual effects with her Oasis skin equipped
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to receive credit toward her Huge Success achievement if she teleported her Sentry Turrets
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from destroying existing ones when placing a new one in Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets to shoot enemies through walls when placed on uneven surfaces
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Teleport telegraph to cancel if she fell off a ledge while placing it
Tracer
Fixed a bug that allowed Tracer to gain capture point progress during her Recall ability
Zarya
Fixed a bug that prevented Zarya’s Particle Cannon from gaining energy when attacked by an enemy Symmetra or Zarya if they were too close to her when she used Particle Barrier
Widowmaker
Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker from grappling to some walls
Looking for Group
Fixed a bug that caused all game modes to be selectable when adding a player to a group
Fixed a bug that prevented the Choose Roles menu from offering a default role when accessed
Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving messaging notifying them why they were unable to change a Looking for Group title if they were suspended from changing Custom Game names
Fixed a bug that prevented role icons from displaying on hero portraits
Fixed a bug that allowed two players were able to queue for the same Looking for Group spot
Maps
Junkertown
Fixed a bug that prevented Junker Queen’s voice lines from playing
June 26
Overwatch Patch Notes - June 26, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Endorsements
Acknowledge your fellow Overwatch players’ positivity with endorsements! Recognize commendable behavior for players exhibiting sportsmanship, being a good teammate, or for shot calling. Commend players who lead you to victory, put the team’s needs above their own, or exhibit humility in victory or grace in defeat.
Endorsements are readily available to view on Career Profiles, the Groups menu, and more so you can tell at a glance the types of players you’re playing with. Those who consistently maintain a high endorsement level will receive periodic rewards, while those who display negative behavior or accrue suspensions will lose their endorsements.
Looking for Group
Play your way using the Looking for Group feature! You can control your gameplay experience before stepping into a match by using specific parameters to create your dream team. Join a team of other like-minded players or lead a group of your own by creating a group with your personal preferences such as game mode, role enforcement, and more.
Those who want to queue up for Quick Play, Play vs AI, or any competitive mode can set the types of roles others can play. These specifications will then be activated in-game (e.g. players who chose a support role will be restricted to only using heroes in that category).
GENERAL UPDATES
General
All heroes in the Defense and Offense categories have been merged into a new category: Damage
Developer Comments: Since the line between Offense and Defense heroes has become increasingly blurred, we’ve decided to group all those heroes into a single new “Damage” category. We believe that the term more closely matches the role name that is now being used in Overwatch League and across most of the game’s community.
Combat can now be heard 25% further away
Changed the name of the Varok spray to Saurfang
[PC] Players must have Blizzard SMS Protect enabled on their account to be eligible for the Top 500
The Acknowledge and Interact buttons are now separate input bindings
Career Profile
Added an Inspire Uptime Percentage statistic for Brigitte on the Career Profile
Removed some statistics for Symmetra on the Career Profile
Added a Scoped Critical Hit Accuracy statistic for Widowmaker on the Career Profile
Career Profiles will no longer be public by default (now defaults to Friends Only). An option to make Career Profiles visible has been added under Options > Social > Profile Visibility
ARCADE UPDATES
General
Symmetra can now be played in 1v1 duel game modes (e.g. 1v1 Limited Duel and 1v1 Mystery Duel)
HERO UPDATES
Doomfist
Meteor Strike
Bonus movement speed increased from 150% to 200%
The Best Defense…
Shield gain increased from 30 to 35 for normal abilities
Developer Comments: The increased movement speed on Meteor Strike gives Doomfist new options in how and where to deploy it. His passive is also being increased, allowing him to survive more often when diving into enemies.
McCree
Deadeye
Range increased from 70 meters to 200 meters
Developer Comments: While McCree’s Deadeye rarely came into play at 70 meters, we are increasing the range so it cannot be a limiting factor during normal gameplay.
Orisa
Supercharger
Ultimate cost reduced by 15%
Developer Comments: Supercharger wasn’t getting enough use, considering its impact. This change allows Orisa to use her ultimate more aggressively, knowing that she will be able to generate them more easily.
Symmetra
Photon Projector
No longer locks onto targets
Range increased to 10 meters
Damage ramping now takes 2 seconds per damage level instead of 1 second
Damage ramp increased from 30/60/120 to 60/120/180
Now generates ammo instead of spending it when hitting a barrier
Ammo reduced from 100 to 70
Alternate Fire
No longer locks onto targets
No longer pierces targets
Now explodes on contact
Projectile speed increased
Charge up speed increased
Damage changed to 60 impact / 60 explosive
Sentry Turret
Turret is now placed like a projectile instead of being set in place
Can hold a max of 3, down from 6
Can now deploy a max 3, down from 6
Damage increased
Amount of slowing effect increased
Teleporter
Can now place the exit up to 25 meters away from Symmetra
Entrance will automatically be built in front of Symmetra, rather than at her team’s spawn point
Lasts 10 seconds
Health lowered to 300
More things can teleport through it (e.g. Junkrat’s RIP-Tire)
Entrance can be destroyed
If either the entrance or exit is destroyed, the other is removed
New Ultimate: Photon Barrier
Deploys a barrier that is big enough to span and cut through an entire map
Orientation can be changed by pressing the ultimate button again
Lasts 15 seconds
Has 5000 health
Developer Comments: The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously. Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense.
MAP UPDATES
Horizon Lunar Colony
Point A
Added a staircase on the right when exiting the Hydroponics Room
Removed the door to the lower room on the right
Removed the small wall on the catwalk above Point A
Added some cover walls to the catwalk area
Moved the door next to the staircase that led to Winston’s room
The door is now on the side of the wall in the training pit
Moved the large health pack to the back of the room
Removed some clutter in the upper left computer room
Hydroponics Room
Switched the positions of the large and small health pack
Changed some of the hydroponic plant cover on the right
Point B
Defender spawn room exits moved from the front to the sides out of direct line of fire
Small rooms added at spawn room exits
Additional cover added near the spawn room exits
Added a route and larger platform leading to the back right corner
Raised the platform to the same height as the attackers’ platform on the opposite side of the point
The location of the old defender exit is now an alcove with a small health pack
Both teams can still pass behind the point, but there is now a cut-through in the middle of the wall for better access
The area above the window overlooking the point is now covered
A large platform with cover has been attached to the left side of the catwalk
The upper platform for the attackers has been reduced
The doorway leading to the platform is slightly smaller
Developer Comments: We’ve wanted to make some gameplay improvements to Horizon Lunar Colony for some time now. The defenders’ spawn room had a problem with its main exit that allowed defenders to quickly duck back inside and regain health while attackers shot at them without doing damage.
Since we were already reworking the entire back area, we decided to make some more changes addressing player feedback. The idea behind the rework of Point A was to not only help the defenders a bit, but also provide some gameplay options aside from sitting on the point and trying to hold it for as long as possible.
Easier access to high ground, as well as limiting the routes for attackers (or at least allowing for defenders to more easily spot the attackers), will allow more opportunity for counters and create a better gameplay experience.
We’ve made a lot of additions and changes to the art throughout the map for you to discover as well.
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that prevented loading screens from displaying the game mode
Fixed a bug that caused the capture point UI to display capture progress as 100% before the point was captured
Fixed a bug that caused some sprays to be pixelated
AI
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra bot to continue hacking health packs if the ability was disabled in a Custom Game
Heroes
Ana
Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s Naptime achievement from being granted when interrupting Moira’s Coalescence
Fixed a bug that caused Ana’s Sleep Dart effect to persist on afflicted targets after changing heroes
Bastion
Fixed a bug that prevented McCree’s Flashbang from interrupting Bastion’s Configuration: Tank transformation
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s treads to disfigure if he was frozen while in Tank configuration
Brigitte
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s grenades to damage Brigitte when hitting her Barrier Shield
Fixed a bug that allowed Brigitte’s Barrier Shield to become indestructible if her Barrier Shield Cooldown Time modifier was set to 0% in a Custom Game
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail to clip into the ground during her Flail highlight intro on King’s Row
Fixed a bug that allowed Brigitte to proc Inspire when hitting gondola omnics with her Rocket Flail in Rialto
Fixed a bug that allowed Brigitte to proc Inspire by hitting the motorcycle in the Junkertown attacker spawn room
Fixed a bug that allowed Brigitte to use Shield Bash while affected by Steel Trap or Graviton Surge
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Inspire passive from sometimes healing allies out of line of sight
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s knee pad and foot to clip the ground during her Kneel victory pose when wearing her Paladin or Engineer skins
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s arm animation to shake when using Repair Pack and Rally in quick succession
Doomfist
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Meteor Strike animation to place him back on the ground when used in midair
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike cooldown UI from being hidden if he died during its activation
Fixed a bug that prevented the HUD messaging for Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to indicate that players can zoom their camera out
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from dealing bonus damage when the target hit a friendly Mei’s Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist’s Rocket Punch bonus damage to hit Genji after using Swift Strike to move through the punch
Fixed a bug that prevented Rocket Punch’s bonus damage from applying if the enemy used an evasive ability at the same time they hit a wall (e.g. Moira’s Fade, Tracer’s Blink, or Reaper’s Wraith Form)
Fixed an issue that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from impacting some walls
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch, Rising Uppercut, and Seismic Slam from not playing the appropriate sound effect if these abilities were disabled or on cooldown
Fixed a bug that prevented enemies struck by Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from taking additional collision damage when hitting Mei’s Cryo-freeze
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut animation from playing when used after hitting something with Rocket Punch
Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist to use Seismic Slam and escape Graviton Surge when within range
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s failed Seismic Slams to display the wrong UI information
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Seismic Slam from being usable if spammed in a Custom Game with 0% cooldown modifier
D.Va
Fixed a bug that caused D.Va’s mech to do a standing pose right before detonating
Fixed a bug prevented the South Korean flag decal from displaying when she was in her mech
Fixed a bug prevented projectiles from hitting D.Va if she stood behind her mech after it detonated
Fixed a bug that prevented the Team Kill sound effects from playing for D.Va inside her mech
Fixed a bug that allowed pilot D.Va could summon extra, empty mechs if she used Call Mech while standing on top of an enemy
Fixed a bug that allowed D.Va to activate her mech boosters after activating her Self-Destruct
Genji
Fixed a bug that allowed Genji’s Swift Strike to do damage after he dies
Fixed a bug that prevented stuns from applying if Genji used Swift Strike
Fixed a bug that allowed Genji to wall climb while using emotes
Hanzo
[PS4] Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s belt tassels from animating with his Young Hanzo or Young Master skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Storm Bow projectiles to sometimes use the sound effect for Storm Arrow
Fixed a bug that allowed Hanzo to wall climb while using emotes
Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s Dragon Strike animation from playing if he was in a Graviton Surge
Junkrat
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to place multiple Steel Traps
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s projectiles to become invisible if they were shot through railings
Fixed a bug that caused the medal in Junkrat’s Medal victory pose to clip through his chin with his Scarecrow or Hayseed skins equipped
Fixed a bug that caused turrets to target Junkrat’s Concussion Mines while airborne
Lúcio
Fixed a bug that prevented Lúcio from using his Sonic Amplifier when waving hello
Fixed a bug that prevented Lucio from using Soundwave if he had zero ammo
McCree
Fixed a bug that prevented McCree’s Flashbang from giving credit for environmental kills
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Deadeye targeting markers to persist if the target died while it was active
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Deadeye reticle to lock onto players who die while the ability was active
Fixed a bug that prevented the tumbleweed from appearing in McCree’s The Duel highlight intro
Mei
Fixed a bug that prevented Mei from receiving environmental kill credit if her targets were frozen
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s projectiles to appear that they weren’t passing through friendly barriers
Mercy
Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy’s Caduceus Blaster and Caduceus Staff from appearing when switching between weapons and using quick melee at the same time
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Caduceus Blaster shots to become invisible if they were deflected by Genji if her Pink skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy’s Guardian Angel cooldown from resetting if Valkyrie was used midflight
Fixed a bug that prevented the cooldown on Mercy’s Guardian Angel from being refunded while Valkyrie was active
Fixed a bug that caused the resolution quality of Mercy’s Today’s Top 5 highlights icon to drop with her Zhuque skin equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented player names from displaying when being healed by Mercy
Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to see her eliminated teammates while resurrecting a target
Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to switch weapons while using her Caduceus emote
Moira
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Grasp from damaging barriers
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Biotic Grasp’s beam to disappear when attaching to barriers from certain angles
Fixed a bug that prevented players from receiving the Excuse Me achievement when successfully interrupting Moira’s Coalescence
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Grasp to heal targets behind an enemy barrier
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to pass through breakable objects
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Biotic Grasp to attach onto the base of targets (e.g. Mei’s Cryo-freeze)
Orisa
Fixed a bug that prevented players from being awarded Orisa’s Halt State achievement
Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Fusion Driver from closing if her Halt projectile was affected by Defense Matrix or Deflect immediately after it spawned
Fixed a bug where Orisa’s arm would clip into her leg during her Puppy emote
Fixed a bug that caused the effect of Orisa’s Halt! to persist if Wraith Form or Fade were used immediately after being pulled in
Pharah
Fixed a bug that prevented Pharah from being knocked back by her Concussive Blast in spawn rooms
Reaper
Fixed a bug with Reaper’s Shadow Step sound effect continuously playing while moving around on breakable terrain in Petra.
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Barrier Field from not playing the correct sound effect if it was affected by Sombra’s Hack
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Barrier Field cooldown to cancel an active hammer swing when it became ready to use
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer eliminations from receiving credit in the Kill Feed
Reaper
Fixed a bug with Reaper’s Shadow Step sound effect continuously playing while moving around on breakable terrain in Petra
Roadhog
Fixed a bug that allowed Roadhog’s Chain Hook to reel in targets even if the ability was interrupted
Sombra
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Hack from interrupting Symmetra’s Teleporter placement
Fixed a bug caused Sombra’s Hack to be interrupted by thin environment objects (e.g. lamp posts)
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Translocator from being destroyed when it was thrown off a level
Symmetra
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from blocking Reinhardt’s Earthshatter
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Photon Projector to gain charge when used on breakable objects
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from being placed with the correct orientation if the player rapidly turned during its placement
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from being placed on moving platforms or payloads
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her Shield Generator inside gates on certain maps
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her Sentry Turrets inside chests and vending machines
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets to deploy at maximum range without sticking to a surface
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets from dealing the correct amount of damage and slow values
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Teleporter to self-destruct when it was placed
Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn’s turret from being built on Symmetra’s Teleporter
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s secondary fire from consuming ammo when minimally charged
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Teleporter from teleporting allies that moved through it at high movement speeds (e.g. Genji’s Swift Strike)
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Teleporter to fall through the ground if placed on platform edges
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s eyes from aligning properly during her Askew and Snowflakes highlight intros with her Dragon skin equipped
Torbjörn
Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn’s Batter Up emote from playing sound effects if he switched weapons
Tracer
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Pulse Bomb to stick on the opposite side of barriers when thrown at a certain angle
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s animation to pause at the start of her Bomb Spin emote
Widowmaker
Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s shooting animation to become stuck if she scoped while firing and then jumped
Fixed a bug with the grammar in the flavor text for Widowmaker’s Comtesse skin
Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Venom Mine from being destroyed when thrown over the environment edges on Oasis Gardens
Winston
Fixed a bug where placing Winston’s Barrier Projector while going a step upwards would cause it to fall through the floor
Zenyatta
Fixed a bug that prevented Zenyatta’s Discord Orb sound effects from playing with his Cultist skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s arm to clip through his pants during his Heroic highlight intro
Maps
Blizzard World
Fixed a bug that prevented Soldier: 76’s Helix Rockets and Zarya’s primary fire from popping balloons
Horizon Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that caused armor packs to land behind crates and not be usable
Petra
Fixed a bug that prevented ability indicators for Seismic Slam and Ice Wall from being visible on the breakable terrain in Petra
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt’s Earthshatter to travel across holes in the breakable tile floor on Petra
Rialto
Fixed a bug where heroes would move left and right on their own while standing in one of the speed boats in the canal
Fixed a bug where players were able to apply a spray on the surface of a body of water
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Fixed a bug that caused the first Attacker spawn room to extend past its walls
June 14
Overwatch Patch Notes - June 14, 2018
ARCADE UPDATES
Deathmatch
Increased Deathmatch AFK timer from 60 seconds to 120 seconds
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused Career Profile statistics to clip beneath player names in the Groups tab in the Social menu
Mei’s Snowball Offensive
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Snowball Blaster reload and Flurry UIs to appear on all players’ screens
May 22
Overwatch Patch Notes - May 22, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Seasonal Event: Overwatch Anniversary 2018
Celebrate Overwatch’s two-year anniversary with a new FFA (free-for-all) Deathmatch map—Petra—and more than 190 Anniversary items (60+ new for 2018), including eight legendary skins: Stealth Bastion, Shieldmaiden Brigitte, Formal Doomfist, Buccaneer Junkrat, Sherlock McCree, Forest Spirit Orisa, Magician Symmetra, and Cybjörn Torbjörn. Did you miss an item from a previous event? Throughout Overwatch Anniversary, you’ll be able to unlock items from past seasonal events with credits (and opening Anniversary Loot Boxes)!
Many of our past seasonal brawls will be available to play in the Arcade, and the brawl of the day will rotate throughout the event.
As a bonus this year, each Anniversary Loot Box can contain items from past seasonal events! You’ll also get one Legendary Anniversary Loot Box, with at least one guaranteed legendary item, just for logging in to the game during the event.
Thank you all so much for spending the last two years playing Overwatch with us, and we look forward to celebrating with you in-game!
New Map: Petra
A group of archaeologists have begun an excavation and preservation project among the ruins of Petra, a new FFA (free-for-all) Deathmatch map that puts all heroes on their own, facing off against one another until one hero scores enough eliminations to win the match.
Take in Petra’s majestic views, from high vistas to twisting passageways and deep caverns. Travel along deadly cliffs, but be careful to not fall off! A dilapidated bridge stretches across the map, and the ground underneath it can crumble away into a lethal pit (with a little firepower). Hopping on a green jump pad will boost you up to Petra’s higher levels and unlock new strategic possibilities for you. . . .
New Competitive Play Mode: FFA Deathmatch
Petra and Château Guillard will also be available in an optional Competitive FFA Deathmatch mode with placement matches, skill rating, leaderboards, and the opportunity to earn competitive points.
HERO UPDATES
Ana
Biotic Rifle
Projectiles will now pass through allies with full health
Ammo increased from 10 to 14
Developer Comments: These changes should help Ana when she is trying to land clutch heals in the middle of a big fight. Allies that do not need healing will no longer potentially block shots meant for teammates that do need it. Increasing her magazine size makes it less likely that Ana will be forced into a reloading in the middle of an important fight.
Brigitte
Rally
Maximum armor per player reduced from 150 to 100
Shield Bash
Cooldown increased from 5 to 6 seconds
Developer Comments: Brigitte’s ultimate is very powerful, especially when it gets stacked up to its maximum value on many allies. This change will reduce the maximum armor value of Rally, but does not reduce the overall amount of armor given by the ability over its duration. This means when used in combat while her allies are taking damage, it should feel about the same, but the lingering effects of the armor should have less of an impact. Her Shield Bash is a very strong ability on a fairly short cooldown, making it difficult for her opponents to play around. Increasing this cooldown allows for more options when battling against her.
Hanzo
Storm Arrows
Damage reduced from 80 to 70
Developer Comments: Hanzo’s Storm Arrows are doing too much damage considering his other changes, such as Lunge and projectile speed. This damage reduction will give Hanzo’s enemies a more reasonable chance to react and fight against him while using Storm Arrows.
COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES
Rialto
Rialto is now available in Competitive Play
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES
General
Added Infinite Ultimate Duration and Scalable Ultimate Duration options for Moira’s Coalescence
FFA Deathmatch
Ana can now Nano Boost herself
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused players to repeatedly return to the Hero Select screen when backfilling into a match
[PS4/XB1] Fixed a bug that allowed the Show Network Ping to still display as an option under Show Network Stats in the Video tab
Fixed a bug that prevented the sound wave visual effect from animating when previewing a voice line unlocked from a loot box
Fixed a bug that caused a visual error to display 0/0 unlocks on the main menu
Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker to become stuck in a pillar in the Practice Range
Fixed a bug that prevented the Groups tab in the Social menu from dynamically refreshing
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented shields from blocking projectiles (e.g. Tracer’s Pulse Bomb and Junkrat’s Frag Launcher)
Fixed a bug that caused the camera to dip down for a frame when crouching and returning to an upright position
FFA Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that allowed groups to queue for Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that caused Sombra to be revealed to all enemies if targeted by Hanzo’s Sonic Arrow or Widowmaker’s Infra-sight while stealthed
Game Browser and Custom Games
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Coalescence’s animation to incorrectly loop when Ultimate Duration was set above 100%
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Coalescence SFX to stop playing after a couple of seconds when Ultimate Duration was set above 100%
Fixed a bug that caused players who were idle in Assault and Skirmish game modes to be flagged as inactive and removed from the match
Fixed a bug that prevented spawn resets and round start dialogue from playing when Random Heroes was enabled
Fixed a bug that caused the start of match dialogue to say “Capture the enemy flag” instead of “Fight” in Team Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that caused suicides to count as multiple deaths in Deathmatch when the Respawn as Random Hero option was enabled
Highlights
Fixed a bug that caused dialogue lines to get cut short at the end of highlights
Fixed a bug that caused placement indicators to appear red in Play of the Game playbacks and highlights when they were placed on valid ground
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused Ana’s Biotic Rifle crosshair to disappear momentarily when scoping and unscoping
Fixed a bug causing Bastion’s Dune Buggy skin textures to stretch when waving hello
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte to reapply Repair Pack on her previous target rather than her new target if she used Repair Pack immediately after the cooldown ended
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Shield Bash hitbox to be wider than her shield
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Self Healing statistic from being tracked
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s hand from animating when using Hand Cannon immediately after Rocket Punch
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Lunge animation to follow the direction of the first jump after changing directions on a subsequent jump
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s hands to float above his legs during his Meditate emote with certain skins equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s shins to appear malformed in his Heroic victory pose with his Scion skin
Fixed a bug that prevented players from modifying Hanzo’s Lunge ability cooldown time in Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s reticle from constricting when using Storm Arrows
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio’s Soundwave animation to play twice if he used his quick melee attack immediately afterward
Fixed a bug that caused the hammer on McCree’s golden weapon variant to be dull with his Scrooge skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s ankles to deform when he used his Take a Load Off emote
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused frozen targets to evade attacks
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Pajamei skin to exaggerate the curvature of her spine
Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Endothermic Blaster visual effects to go through shields
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s wings to stretch out comically when waving hello while using Angelic Descent
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy to be placed too far towards the back of the hero line up
Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy’s healing and damage boosting beams from being visible the first time it’s used on a player after activating Valkyrie
Fixed a bug that caused the pumpkin in Orisa’s Pumpkin Head victory pose to persist after navigating away from it in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that caused the player’s camera to zoom into Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer when struck by it
Fixed a bug that caused Soldier: 76’s jacket collar to clip into his shoulder with his Classic skin equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s laser sight from tapering at its end with her Talon skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s hard-light prism visual effects to deform into a sphere on the Hero Select screen
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Teleporter and Shield Generator to self-destruct when placed against certain walls
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Recall to appear jittery for spectators, in highlights, and in replays
Fixed a bug that made Torbjörn’s turret lose sync with his breathing animation in his Medal victory pose
Fixed a that caused Widowmaker’s crosshair to disappear for a moment when unscoping
Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s shoulder to dislocate after using an emote
Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s Jump Pack to stop short of its full distance when clearing ledges
Maps
Fixed a bug that caused projectiles shot at Attacker spawn room doors to slide upward
Fixed a bug that prevented the payload marker from appearing before the game started
Fixed a bug that caused players in the first Defender spawn room to make water splashing noises
Fixed a bug that prevented the payload thrusters from turning red when reversing
Fixed a bug that caused Genji’s Cyber-agility and Hanzo’s Wall Climb animations to loop and stutter when scaling walls
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to clip through the environment during his Combo highlight
Fixed an issue that allowed players to get a Play of the Game by killing gondoliers in Rialto
Fixed a bug that prevented the heal icon from displaying on with the first Defender spawn room
Fixed a bug that allowed defenders to see attacker spawn entrances
May 8
Overwatch Patch Notes - May 8, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Charity Skin: Pink Mercy
As a brilliant scientist and the guardian angel of Overwatch, Dr. Angela Ziegler—codename Mercy—has dedicated her life to helping and healing others. Now you can help the Breast Cancer Research Foundation work toward a cure for breast cancer by purchasing the new Pink Mercy skin, available for a limited time on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Blizzard Entertainment will donate 100% the proceeds that it receives from all Pink Mercy skin sales to BCRF, with a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 (USD). Blizzard Entertainment will disclose the total amount of its donation following the end of the campaign.
Log in to Overwatch any time between May 8 and May 21 and unlock a BCRF-themed player icon!
We’ve also partnered with community artist ONEMEGAWATT to create a series of themed Twitch Drops, including a new player icon and four all-new sprays. Available only during this event, you can earn these special Pink Mercy cosmetics by viewing select streams on Twitch during the two-week promotional period.
IMPORTANT: To be eligible to receive Pink Mercy Twitch Drops, you must first link your preferred Blizzard account to your preferred Twitch account. Visit the Twitch Connections page to log in and complete the link now.
To learn more about the Pink Mercy Charity Event, click here.
BUG FIXES
Game Browser and Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevented players from navigating the custom game lobby when using a controller
AI
Fixed a bug that prevented training bots from returning to their original position and behavior after being hit with an ability (e.g. Lúcio’s Soundwave)
Fixed a bug that caused bots to use the wrong route when tracking down the player if their target jumped off a ledge
Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck on the siege tank in the StarCraft area of Blizzard World
Game Browser and Custom Game
Fixed a bug that caused custom game invites to persist on the invitee’s screen
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion’s Zwing Zwing Zwing voice line from playing if the Null Sector skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte from using abilities or Rocket Flail while her Repair Pack was in flight
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Repair Pack from reaching an ally if she was stunned while it was in flight
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s melee attack from making sound effects
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s golden weapon variant from displaying its golden sheen when some skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-TIRE to be immune to the freeze effects of Mei’s Endothermic Blaster
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to spawn inside of walls
Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to move around while caught in Junkrat’s Steel Trap
Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to travel straight up using Wall Ride
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio to lose movement speed if he landed on a wall from certain angles
Fixed a bug that prevented crowd control abilities from affecting Resurrect (e.g. McCree’s Flashbang)
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s flask from displaying in her Erlenmeyer victory pose when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns to float when previewing his Dance emote in Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that caused the camera to not focus correctly when viewing Roadhog’s Mug Shot victory pose
Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to float during his Footsteps highlight intro
Fixed a bug that prevented the laser sight from Sombra’s Machine Pistol golden variant from tapering at its end if her Talon skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Widowaker’s HUD to disappear if she used Widow’s Kiss while looking through the scope
Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Symmetra’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Torbjörn’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
[PC] Fixed a bug that caused the game to stutter during Tracer’s Recall when playing above 60 FPS
Maps
Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck walking into the side of the Rikimaru Ramen Shop on Hanamura
Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets in unintended locations on Horizon Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Horizon Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that caused the pig head on the bike to float after the bike had been destroyed in Junkertown
Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets and Symmetra’s Teleporter in unintended locations in Junkertown
May 3
Overwatch Patch Notes - May 3, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Rialto was home to Talon agent Antonio Bartalotti’s sprawling estate and the backdrop to the infamous “Venice Incident,” a turning point for Overwatch and Talon. The Italian government has taken great steps to preserve Venice, and the results are striking. Tourists visiting this picturesque town can sample the regional cuisine, enjoy a relaxing gondola ride, visit Galleria D’arte Omnica, or simply take in the sights with a stroll along the canal.
NOTE: Rialto will not be available in the Competitive Play rotation until a future patch.
HERO UPDATES
Brigitte
Shield Bash
Cone angle reduced from 90 to 60
Developers Comment: When fighting against Brigitte, it often felt like Shield Bash was able to hit players who felt like they were out of its range and should have dodged it. On the flip side, when playing as Brigitte sometimes players would hit the wrong enemy in the middle of a fight. With the cone being reduced, the ability is more accurate to its visual representation.
Genji
Deflect
Hitbox size has been reduced
Developers Comment: The hitbox on Genji’s Deflect was big enough that it would sometimes reflect projectiles that were pretty far away from him. We’ve tightened up the hitbox, which should solve this problem while still fully protecting him from projectiles that would hit him from the front.
Hanzo
Storm Bow
Projectile speed increased from 85 to 100
Sonic Arrow
Cooldown decreased from 20 seconds to 12 seconds
Duration decreased from 10 seconds to 6 seconds
Radius decreased from 10 meters to 7 meters
New Abilities
Lunge
Press jump while in the air to leap horizontally
Storm Arrows
Replaces his existing Scatter Arrow ability
Hanzo can now rapidly fire up to 6 arrows that deal reduced damage but are always fire at full powers
Developers Comments: The goal of these Hanzo changes is to allow him to have new options and maintain his high damage output, while removing the frustration of fighting against the old Scatter Arrow. Hanzo is now much more mobile with his new Lunge ability, and with the combination of the bow projectile speed increase and the new Storm Arrows ability he can now deal his high damage more consistently than ever before.
Junkrat
Frag Launcher
Projectile size decreased from 0.3 to 0.2
RIP-Tire
Tire movement speed decreased from 13 to 12
Developers Comment: These changes are aimed at lowering some of the most frustrating parts about playing against Junkrat. Decreasing the Frag Launcher’s projectile size means he will have to aim a bit more carefully to land powerful direct hits and slowing the RIP-Tire’s movement speed gives his opponents slightly more time to destroy it before it detonates.
Lúcio
Wall Ride
Wall riding is less likely to be interrupted along a single surface
Can now go around corners (both outside corners, and inside corners) without having to leave the wall
Can now land back on the same wall after leaping away, provided his leap takes him far enough away from the original jumping off point
Added a minimum time that the jump key must be held before Lúcio can ride around corners
Soundwave
No longer consumers ammo
Can now be used while reloading
Developers Comments: Wall Ride has been significantly overhauled to allow it to function more smoothly across more areas of every map. Lúcio players should instantly notice a huge improvement in where and how Wall Ride can be used. In addition, Sonic Amplifier’s Soundwave ability was unnecessarily controlled by both a cooldown and an ammo cost, so we’re removing the ammo cost.
Tracer
Pulse Bomb
Max damage decreased from 400 to 300
Developers Comment: Pulse Bomb was too good at killing tanks, who can be easy to stick due to their size. This damage reduction makes it less powerful as a tank-destroyer, while keeping it lethal against most other heroes.
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAME
Fixed a bug that caused custom game invites to persist on the invitee’s screen
Bug Fixes
General
Fixed a bug that caused the option “Invite to a Custom Game” to appear while in the Tutorial and Practice Range
A.I.
Fixed a bug that prevented training bots from returning to their original position and behavior after being hit with an ability (e.g. Lúcio’s Soundwave)
Fixed a bug that caused bots to use the wrong route when tracking down the player if their target jumped off a ledge
Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck on the siege tank in the StarCraft area of Blizzard World|
Game Browser and Custom Game
Fixed a bug that caused custom game invites to persist on the invitee’s screen
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion’s Zwing Zwing Zwing voice line from playing if the Null Sector skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte from using abilities or Rocket Flail while her Repair Pack was in flight
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Repair Pack from reaching an ally if she was stunned while it was in flight
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s melee attack from making sound effects
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s golden weapon variant from displaying its golden sheen when some skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to be immune to the freeze effects of Mei’s Endothermic Blaster
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to spawn inside of walls
Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to move around while caught in Junkrat’s Steel Trap
Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to travel straight up using Wall Ride
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio to lose movement speed if he landed on a wall from certain angles
Fixed a bug that prevented crowd control abilities from affecting Resurrect (e.g. McCree’s Flashbang)
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s flask from displaying in her Erlenmeyer victory pose when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns to float when previewing his Dance emote in Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that caused the camera to not focus correctly when viewing Roadhog’s Mug Shot victory pose
Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to float during his Footsteps highlight intro
Fixed a bug that prevented the laser sight from Sombra’s Machine Pistol golden variant from tapering at its end if her Talon skin equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Widowaker’s HUD to disappear if she used Widow’s Kiss while looking through the scope
Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Symmetra’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Torbjörn’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
[PC] Fixed a bug that caused the game to stutter during Tracer’s Recall when playing above 60 FPS
Map
Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck walking into the side of the Rikimaru Ramen Shop on Hanamura
Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets in unintended locations on Horizon Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Horizon Lunar Colony
Fixed a bug that caused the pig head on the bike to float after the bike had been destroyed in Junkertown
Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets and Symmetra’s Teleporter in unintended locations in Junkertown
April 23
Overwatch Patch Notes - April 23, 2018
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the client to crash
April 17
Overwatch Patch Notes - April 17, 2018
GAMEPLAY UPDATE
Retribution
The evacuation drop ship will now leave incapacitated players behind to complete the mission
BUG FIXES
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Scatter Shot to have an 8 second cooldown (down from 10)
Retribution
Fixed a bug that prevented Talon units from attacking players who boarded drop ships
Fixed a bug with the placement of the hero panel when viewing a highlight recorded during the Retribution mission
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat to count as two heroes when boarding the evacuation ship if he was using RIP-Tire inside it
Fixed a bug that prevented the evacuation phase from counting players who had become incapacitated inside the ship
Fixed a bug that prevented the evacuation phase from counting players if they were in the corners of the dropship.
Uprising
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra’s EMP to instantly eliminate Detonators
April 10
Overwatch Patch Notes - April 10, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Seasonal Event: Overwatch Archives 2018
Experience pivotal moments from history in Overwatch Archives. Join a team of four heroes and participate in cooperative, story-driven missions that give a new perspective on the era before the fall of Overwatch.
This year, take command of the agents of Blackwatch and face off against Talon in an exciting new brawl, Retribution. Players also get a second chance to stop an omnic insurrection as last year’s Uprising mission returns for a rematch. You’ll earn Archives Loot Boxes as you play, unlocking new cosmetics based on moments from Overwatch’s past including legendary skins like Blackwatch Moira, Scion Hanzo, Soldier: 24 Reaper, Talon Doomfist, Specimen 28 Winston, and more.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Players can choose to “Avoid as Teammate” with a dropdown menu in the Career Profile
Developer Comments: The addition of the “Avoid as Teammate” option gives players the ability to craft their online gameplay experience. Up to two players can be selected with this feature. If you use the “Avoid as Teammate” option on a player, the matchmaker will no longer place you on a team with the avoided player for one week. To learn more about this feature, click here 418.
[PS4/XB1] Voice Chat Mode
An option to toggle Voice Chat Mode has been added under Options > Sound
Report Menu
The “Poor Teamwork” dropdown menu option has been removed
The “Griefing” dropdown menu option has been renamed “Gameplay Sabotage”
Developer Comments: Due to player confusion about the most appropriate category to report players for poor or toxic gameplay, we are removing the Poor Teamwork option from the reporting system. Players should instead use the Gameplay Sabotage option when players actively harass or disrupt their own team with game mechanics or their actions. Players should not be reported simply for performing poorly, since everyone occasionally has a bad game.
Heroes
Sombra’s “Enemies Hacked” commendation card now also displays her offensive assists
Brigitte’s Golden Weapon variant will now also give her a golden shield
Changed Mercy’s Valkyrie voice line
HERO UPDATES
Brigitte
Barrier Shield
An option to “Toggle Barrier” has been added under Options > Controls > Brigitte
D.Va
Micro Missiles
Explosive damage reduced from 6 to 4
Boosters
Impact damage reduced from 25 to 10
Developer Comments: D.Va’s burst potential is a bit too high, so we’re reducing the damage of her Micro Missiles and Boosters impact. Prior to this change, each missile dealt 3 impact damage and 6 explosive damage. We’re reducing explosive damage from 6 to 4 but leaving the impact damage the same, the net result being 21% damage reduction.
McCree
Added additional voice lines for Lifeguard McCree
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
Now pierces through enemies
Developer Comments: This change helps Mei combat multiple targets that are clumped up and makes it easier for her to keep freezing a specific target if another enemy gets in the way. This change also helps her ultimate more consistently freeze enemy targets, especially if they are near each other. Note: While her shots now pierce enemies, they still do not pierce barriers such as Reinhardt’s shield.
Reaper
Death Blossom
Reloads Hellfire Shotguns after use
Wraith Form
Move speed bonus increased from 25% to 50%
You can now cancel the ability by pressing the Shift or Primary Fire hotkey
Developer Comments: These changes help Reaper use Wraith Form more consistently as an escape, but they also open up new options, such as chasing down key targets.
Moira
Biotic Grasp
Transparency increased the closer you are to a target
Coalescence
Now becomes more transparent the closer its visual effects are to a player’s camera
Fade
Transparency increased the closer you are to a target
Developer’s Comment: Due to issues with visibility, we have made most of Moira’s visual effects fade away the closer they are to the camera. We have also made modifications to Coalescence to greatly increase the ability for foes and allies alike to see through it when facing it.
Zenyatta
Orb of Destruction
Secondary fire rate of fire reduced by 15%
Developer Comments: Zenyatta is meant to be able to deal a lot of damage, especially for a support, but his alternate fire burst damage was a bit too high. This change keeps the overall damage the same but lowers the DPS slightly and makes it harder to hit multiple shots at very long ranges.
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES UPDATES
General
Lockout Elimination cards in the Arcade are now just referred to as Elimination
Added Ayutthaya to the map rotation in 3v3 Elimination game modes
MAP UPDATES
Blizzard World
Moved the first payload checkpoint (Pylon Terrace) back 10 meters
Developer Comments: We moved the checkpoint back for two reasons. The original location swung the map’s balance too far in one direction (favoring the defenders). Also, once the payload reached the checkpoint, defenders returning from spawn could get pinned in this area, usually resulting in their death.
Hollywood
Corrected the spelling on a poster from Thespian 4.0 to Thespion 4.0
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
General
Heroes can now be selected by double-clicking the hero icon during Hero Select
Added leaderboard information to the competitive information screen. This can be accessed by right-clicking the menu on the competitive card
Simplified Hero Select tips for roles
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused camera movement to be jittery when players ran against a moving ramp
Fixed a bug that prevented oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers in spawn rooms from propelling after taking damage
AI
Fixed a bug that caused bots to attempt running outside of the spawn room before the match began on Assault/Escort maps
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s sidearm from displaying golden coloration from her Golden weapon when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from firing projectiles immediately after going into Tank configuration
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from being knocked back while transforming during Configuration: Tank
Fixed a bug that caused Ganymede’s tail feathers to be cropped during Bastion’s Toast Victory Pose
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s Gatling gun barrel to disappear if he took damage while reloading in Sentry mode
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to not animate or play sound effects when transforming from Recon to Sentry mode while trapped inside Zarya’s Graviton Surge
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to emit blood instead of oil visual effects when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s impact effects from playing when hitting the environment
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s aim to be slightly offset after using Shield Bash
Fixed a bug that caused details to detach from Brigitte’s Rocket Flail when she swung it
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hero portrait on voice line icons to have low resolution when unlocked from Loot Boxes
Fixed a bug that caused team names on Brigitte’s armor to distort when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hand to clip through her head when her Hilarious emote was used
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail and melee sound effects to stop playing after a few strikes
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s shield to emit blood visual effects
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail to not cast a shadow when using her Cheer emote
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s flag to disappear and abruptly reappear during Rally when using her Rocket Flail
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s High Five spray to have a transparent square in her torso
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Excelsior decal to fragment in unintended areas
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s foot, leg, and shield to clip into the ground during her Defender highlight
Fixed a bug that caused a player’s camera to jitter when spectating Doomfist during his Meteor Strike
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike from landing where it was telegraphed when standing close to a ledge
Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to access unintended locations
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to penetrate angled surfaces as he descended
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from impacting enemies
Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to face the wrong direction during her default victory pose when posed to the left of her MEKA
Fixed a bug that caused the glass window of D.Va’s cockpit to distort when her Palanquin skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented the triangle texture on D’Va’s MEKA control stick from glowing when her Officer skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s dagger from displaying golden coloration from his Golden weapon when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat from being knocked back while piloting his RIP-Tire
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s skin textures to have a visible seam
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s Ornament spray to appear at a low resolution
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio’s shoulder strap to clip into his shoulder when during his Medal victory pose
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Peacekeeper to grow substantially during the hero select screen when certain skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused the symmetry of McCree’s collar to distort when the Van Helsing skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot through Mei’s Ice Wall when trapped behind it
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s The Witch spray to appear at low resolution
Fixed a bug that caused a hero to unavailable to pick in the Hero Select screen if the dead player had the Hero Select screen open after selecting a new hero
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to float outside the Attacker spawn room in Dorado before the beginning of a match
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to pass through Mei’s Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that allowed Orisa’s Halt! to sometimes affect enemy targets behind walls
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Earthshatter visual effects to display after it was interrupted by Sombra’s EMP
Fixed a bug that caused the camera to clip through the floor during Soldier: 76’s Light’s Out highlight
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Photon Projector beam to move plants erratically on Ayutthaya
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s non-cybernetic arm to have a gap along its seam
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn to wipe his face with his hammer in his hand during his Refreshing highlight when certain skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn’s to emit the sounds effects of his default skin when his Magni skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Alliance and Horde emotes to animate at a slow framerate
Fixed an issue with Tracer’s neck animation during her Bomb Spin emote
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Recall to activate differently based on the player’s latency
Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s wrist twist during his Glasses highlight intro
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s legs to clip into each other during her Casual victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s Particle Cannon would clip into her torso during her Check Out This Gun victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented textures on Zarya’s nails from loading if an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented the Zarya’s logo textures to flicker when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s Orb of Destruction to appear it fired from his chest if he used his melee ability immediately following a fully charged Orb of Destruction
Competitive Play
Fixed a bug that prevented the two-minute leaver warning from appearing in chat during off-season games
Fixed a bug that caused ungrouped players under level 25 that clicked on the Competitive Play option to receive the error message, “All Group Members Must Be Level 25”
Ayutthaya
Fixed a bug that caused certain hero abilities to glow blindingly bright
Fixed a bug that caused certain textures to not load
Fixed a bug that caused shadows to appear where they shouldn’t on the terrain
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on top of doorways
Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to shoot enemies exiting their spawn room
Blizzard World
Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to fly indefinitely when falling against the Pylon in the StarCraft II area
Fixed a bug that allowed turrets to be built and hidden inside vines
Fixed a bug that allowed players could stand on a ledge above the spawn room outside the Diablo area
Fixed a bug that caused players to get stuck between a column and bush in the StarCraft II area
Dorado
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to get stuck between a table and corner inside a building while using Seismic Slam
Fixed a bug that prevented an interior windows on the last point from blocking abilities (e.g. D.Va’s Self Destruct)
Fixed a bug that allowed small heroes to use decorative pipes and avoid taking damage
Eichenwalde
Fixed a bug that allowed sprays to be applied to the spawn door behind walls
Hanamura
Fixed a bug that allowed Mei’s Ice Wall to reach unintended locations
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a doorway ledge
Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to regain Jump Jet fuel at an increased rate on the second point
Hollywood
Fixed a bug that caused Pharah’s wingtips to poke through walls
Ilios
Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles to pass through rubble
Junkertown
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her turrets inside a wall
Fixed a bug that prevented turrets from being built on a television if it was damaged
Lijiang Tower
Fixed a bug that caused Winston to clip through outdoor walls and take damage
Nepal
Fixed a bug that caused some textures to not load
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a rock in an unintended area
Fixed a bug that prevented a control point hologram from activating after the start of a match
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a ledge in an unintended area
Fixed a bug that caused the bell tower to hover
Numbani
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to shoot grenades through a closed spawn door
Fixed a bug that caused large heroes to get stuck between chairs in the spawn room
Oasis
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on library archways
Volskaya
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on some ledges
Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot projectiles through the ceiling
Fixed a bug that allowed the Custom Game spectator camera to escape the intended play area
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on an invisible ledge
Watchpoint: Gibralter
Fixed a bug that caused a rock pile in the environment to appear off-color
Fixed a bug that caused Genji to get stuck in a spawn room wall
Practice Range
Fixed a bug that caused target dummy arms to jitter when they were destroyed
Fixed a bug that caused the weights to defy the laws of physics
UI
Fixed a bug that prevented kills made by Ana’s Biotic Rifle from displaying in the kill feed if the target’s health was low
March 29
Overwatch Patch Notes - March 29, 2018
GAMEPLAY UPDATES
General
Turrets no longer target barriers directly, but will still target enemies behind them
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused visual effects to be absorbed into surfaces
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused turrets to target Brigitte’s Barrier Shield while facing them when the shield wasn’t deployed
Fixed a bug that allowed Reaper to reach unintended locations
March 20
Overwatch Patch Notes - March 20, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Hero: Brigitte (Support):
An engineer with peerless armor-constructing abilities, Brigitte Lindholm is a valiant squire who fights on the front line to protect her allies.
Brigitte’s armor engineering capabilities make her a stalwart support hero, capable of holding her ground in combat while also providing healing and armor for her teammates. Her primary weapon is her heavy-hitting Rocket Flail that she swings in a wide arc in front of her to smash multiple enemies at once. Whip Shot enables Brigitte to fling her flail forward, striking enemies at a distance and knocking them backward. With each blow, Brigitte’s passive ability, Inspire, heals nearby allies over time.
Brigitte’s Barrier Shield deploys a frontal energy barrier that can absorb a limited amount of damage and protect any allies directly behind her. Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, she can use Shield Bash to lunge forward and stun the first enemy in her path. Drawing on her engineering prowess, Brigitte can create Repair Packs to instantly heal wounded allies or provide armor to teammates at maximum health. When Brigitte is at her strongest, she can activate her ultimate ability, Rally—a galvanizing call to arms that generates a substantial amount of armor for nearby allies and increases Brigitte’s movement speed so she can lead them into battle.
To learn more about Brigitte, click here.
Brigitte will be available in Competitive Play in Season 10. To learn more, click here.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Changed the name of Junkrat’s Scarecrow spray to Hayseed
Updated Mercy’s Toast victory pose
HERO UPDATES
Sombra
Hack
Now goes on a 2-second cooldown when interrupted by damage
Now more consistently interrupted when targets break line of sight
Developer Comments: Developer Comments: We’re also removing the 0.1 second window of time during a hack where it couldn’t be canceled via line of sight or with other abilities including Tracer’s Recall and Zarya’s Particle Barrier, which was originally put in place so the hack wouldn’t be interrupted by small objects such as light posts. We’ve implemented a separate fix for that issue, so she should still be unaffected by those small objects.
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
General
The Team Information Screen now displays the ultimate charge of your teammates
BUG FIXES
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from traveling forward if he had been hit by an enemy Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented players from aiming Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when facing an enemy
Fixed an issue that allowed players to jump over Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when on an incline
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Seismic Slam to cancel if he could not get close to his target
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut cooldown countdown from displaying if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch cooldown to delay counting down if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from hitting enemies that were close to him
Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat’s RIP-Tire kills from being credited in the Kill Feed if the targets had a long death animation (e.g. D.Va’s Mech)
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Regeneration to occur instantly if she took damage while at full health
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s wings to separate from her body if her Zhuque skin was equipped during her Toast victory pose
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orb from receiving kill credit if it expired at the same time it killed an enemy
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Fade visual effects to indicate the direction she was traveling in when she used the ability
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge from pinning enemies
Fixed a bug that prevented the chunks from the pumpkin in Reinhardt’s Pumpkin Smash emote from appearing after he obliterated it with his Rocket Hammer
Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to appear at the top of an opponent’s screen if he used it against an enemy Mercy when she used Valkyrie
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from receiving environmental kill credit if she kills an enemy using Hack
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Sombra to be visible to enemies without displaying a “Detected” notification during Stealth
Fixed a bug that sometimes failed to teleport players using Symmetra’s Teleporter if they used an ability that increased their movement speed when passing through it (e.g. Doomfist’s Rocket Punch)
Maps
Fixed a bug that caused some objects to block projectiles on Blizzard World (e.g. souvenir carts)
UI
Fixed a bug that prevented the “Restore Defaults” button from resetting all settings in the Social Options tab
Fixed a bug that caused players to delete characters in the “Save Highlight” text box if they pressed down the delete input while their settings were below 60 FPS
Fixed a bug that caused the user interface to indicate two control points on a single control point map when playing a custom game
February 27
Overwatch Patch Notes - February 27, 2018
HERO UPDATES
Doomfist
Hand Cannon
Ammo recovery rate increased from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds per bullet
Developer Comments: This change will help Doomfist more consistently be able to use his weapon as part of his combos.
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
Freeze (slow) duration increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds
Weapon alternate fire ammo cost reduced from 25 to 20
Developer Comment: Increasing Mei’s slow duration helps her freeze targets that are particularly elusive such as Genji or Lúcio. Lowering her alternate fire ammo cost allows her to more safely use it without costing her the ability to freeze enemies.
Sombra
EMP
No longer blocked by small objects (e.g. sign posts)
Hack
No longer gains ultimate charge from health pack healing
Cast time reduced from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds
Now disables the following abilities:
Genji—Cyber-agility
Hanzo—Wall Climb
Pharah—Hover Jets
Lúcio—Healing Boost and Speed Boost (turns off current song entirely), Wall Ride
Mercy—Angelic Descent
Machine Pistol
Machine Pistol spread reduced from 3 to 2.7
Opportunist
Enemy health bars are now visible when health drops below 100% (formerly 50%)
Her ability to detect enemies through walls at 50% or less remains unchanged
Translocator
Duration increased from 15 seconds to 20 seconds
Developer Comment: The goal of these changes for Sombra is to remove the necessity for her teammates to take damage and heal themselves with her hacked heath packs to try to get her ultimate charged up quickly. Her ultimate will now come up less often, but there are more abilities that are disabled by Hack so it is more effective when used.
Previously, Opportunist would only activate when an enemy’s health bar dipped below 50% but now the passive will reveal all damaged enemies which should help Sombra identify targets in her line of sight to pick off. Overall these changes should make her more effective and less reliant on her ultimate.
MAP UPDATES
Blizzard World
Some health pack sizes have been reduced
Some health pack locations have been changed
Additional health packs have been added
Developer Comments: Health packs are a valuable resource in Overwatch and positioning around them is key to holding ground on defense or keeping up momentum on offense. We have moved the location of some health packs and included additional ones to improve game play on Blizzard World.
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
Mercy
Valkyrie
No longer shows enemies’ health bars unless they have taken damage
Developer Comment: This helps remove some clutter from Mercy players’ screens when they use her ultimate
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that prevented Capture the Flag statistics from displaying on the Career Profile if the match was played on Ayuttheya in the Arcade
Maps
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented announcement voice lines from triggering on Blizzard World
February 13
Overwatch Patch Notes - February 13, 2018
HERO UPDATES
Lúcio
Wall Ride
Activating Wall Ride will now cause the flag to drop during Capture the Flag matches
Developer Comments:Lúcio’s Wall Ride allowed him to reach unintended places in Capture the Flag maps, which made it overly difficult for opponents to stop him. So, we have changed the ability to cause the flag to drop instead for better balanced matches.
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a typo that caused the Lunar New Year banner to display the wrong end date for Overwatch Lunar New Year
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the client to crash after a player used the Hero Skin Selection dropdown menu in Hero Select
Capture the Flag
Fixed a bug that allowed Winston to pick up the flag while airborne after activating his Jump Pack
Fixed a bug that caused flags dropped near ceilings to get stuck inside of walls
Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that caused Mei to levitate if she used Cryo-stasis
Game Browser and Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevented players from playing games in the Arcade if they were using a trial account
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused hero ultimate charges to reset after the first death if a player changed their skin using the Hero Skin Selection a second before the match began
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s reaction animations to loop continuously after taking damage following the destruction of her Particle Barrier
UI
Fixed a bug that prevented the Weekly Rewards timer in from displaying correctly in the Arcade
February 8
Overwatch Patch Notes - February 8, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Seasonal Event: Lunar New Year 2018
Get ready to ring in the Year of the Dog!
This year, we’re celebrating Lunar New Year with over 50 new seasonal items including legendary skins like Red Phoenix (Zhu Que) Mercy, Black Tortoise (Xuan Wu) Zarya, White Tiger (Bai Hu) Genji, and Black Lily Widowmaker. Experience our updates to our Capture the Flag mode—including a competitive Capture the Flag mode and Sudden Death—on a brand-new map, Ayutthaya.
To learn more about the new Capture the Flag changes, click here.
Hero Skin Selection
Fashion-forward heroes, rejoice! Players can now change hero skins with the “Select Skin” dropdown menu in the Hero Select screen at the start of a match. Show off your favorite unlocked skins when playing solo or coordinate with your friends to be the best dressed on the battlegrounds of tomorrow.
HERO UPDATES
Doomfist
Hand Cannon
Damage reduced from 11 to 6
Number of bullets fired increased from 6 to 11
Spread pattern made more consistent
Developer Comments: We have made a lot of progress with Doomfist’s movement in recent patches but we wanted to revisit his Hand Cannon. While the damage per bullet has been lowered, the number of bullets he fires per Hand Cannon shot has been increased which makes his overall damage output unchanged. Overall, these changes will help his Hand Cannon feel much more consistent.
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
General
Matchmaking UI now displays the game mode players have queued for while waiting for players
Competitive Play leaver messages now display as a chat notification
The Hero Select screen now displays the game mode and map type
Heroes
Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord and Orb of Harmony will now display its target’s hero name
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused the mouse cursor to lose focus when using third party overlays (e.g. Discord)
Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented the Overwatch League scheduled matches of the day from loading
AI
Fixed a bug that prevented bots from voting on cards at the end of the match on Hybrid and Control maps
Competitive Play
Fixed a bug that prevented capture progress UI on Assault and Hybrid maps from displaying the correct team colors
Fixed a bug that allowed players to use the Hero Select screen during the loading screen at the start of a match
Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Infra-sight from functioning if it was used at the same time as another Widowmaker’s Infra-sight
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn to collide with his turret
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets to continue targeting Junkrat’s Steel Trap after it was destroyed
Fixed a bug that prevented players from being able to stand on top of enemy players
Fixed a bug that allowed backfilling players to enter at 9th place during the match
Fixed a bug that caused targets hacked by Sombra to appear purple instead of red
Fixed a bug that caused the displayed hero on the lobby screen to appear in low detail when entering and exiting the Overwatch League screen
Game Browser and Custom Games
Fixed a bug that allowed players to summon infinite bots in custom games
Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to lose her Self-Destruct ultimate if she died out of her mech when the “Spawn with Ultimate Ready” option was enabled
Fixed a bug that caused the Victory voice line to play when a match ended in a draw while spectating
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused airborne heroes to lose speed when changing direction
Fixed a bug that prevented golden weapon visual effects from displaying when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused heroes’ scoped shots to be calculated as misses in the accuracy statistic
Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s Candy emote from displaying when viewing Kill Cam footage
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to impact with D.Va’s mech before it materialized during her Call Mech ability
Fixed a bug that prevented kills caused by Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from receiving environmental kill credit
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji from sheathing his katana after using his Whirlwind emote
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji from using his Cyber-agility occasionally
Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Dragonstrike to be calculated in the accuracy statistic
Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s Wall Climb from activating occasionally
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Caduceus Staff to disappear when using the Parasol emote
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy to fly in an unintended direction if she was stunned during Guardian Angel
Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy from destroying breakables she collides with in her flight path when using Guardian Angel
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Valkyrie flight controls to not be precise when using Resurrect
Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Biotic Grasp’s hits against barriers to be calculated as misses in her accuracy statistic
Fixed a bug that extended the cooldown of Orisa’s Halt! by one second if it successfully pulled an enemy
Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to block Reaper’s Death Blossom if she used her Marioneta emote
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt to have a blank expression during his Toast victory pose
Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles to sometimes penetrate Reinhardt’s Barrier Field
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge bonus damage from being dealt if the target was sandwiched between a charging friendly Reinhardt and a charging enemy Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt to knock back a target instead of pinning them if he collided with an enemy at the start of his Charge
Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s canister from appearing when viewing Overwatch League skins
Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to clip the first-person camera when pulling in a target
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s EMP from canceling an enemy Sombra’s Hack if it was in progress
Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Shield Generator from displaying in the Overwatch League skin preview screen
Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn’s lava ball from appearing in his Batter Up emote if his hammer was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s hair to not hang properly in the Hanging Around Highlight Intro when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s Venom Mine to use Overwatch League team colors when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook animation from playing when using the ability
Fixed a bug that caused Winston to lose some upward momentum when using Jump Pack off small inclines
Fixed a bug that caused Overwatch League team decals to disappear from Winston’s suit when he used Primal Rage
Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s Discord Orb to fly in an odd direction if its target died before arriving
Hero Gallery
Fixed a bug that prevented players from purchasing non-hero sprays
Maps
Fixed a bug that caused some heroes to get stuck behind the lamp post directly outside the first Defender spawn room in Blizzard World
Fixed an issue that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Blizzard World
Fixed a bug that prevented D.Va’s Micro Missiles from passing through piñatas on Dorado
Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-tire to travel under the trailer at the final point on Hollywood
Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orbs from bouncing off the wooden pillars on Hollywood
Fixed a bug that caused the UI to show a fraction of a meter to go when reaching checkpoints on Escort and Assault/Escort maps
UI
Fixed a bug that prevented the hero portrait from displaying when watching Highlights when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented player portraits from displaying during the Play of the Game, Kill Cam, Spectating, and Highlights
January 30
Overwatch Patch Notes - January 30, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Pre-purchase Goodies
When you pre-purchase a Digital Deluxe version of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth you’ll receive several Warcraft-themed goodies in Overwatch. Show your faction pride on the battlefields of tomorrow with emotes for Tracer; Horde- and Alliance-themed voice lines for Torbjörn; Anduin, Jaina, Sylvanas, and Saurfang sprays; and Kul Tiras and Zandalar player icons.
To pre-order World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, click here.
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
January 23
Overwatch Patch Notes - January 23, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
New Assault/Escort Map: Blizzard World
Relive where you took your first steps in Azeroth, where you confronted the Lord of Terror, and where you spawned your first zerg rush—all of these epic memories come together on Overwatch’s newest Assault/Escort hybrid map, Blizzard World! This theme park brings the magic of Blizzard’s many worlds into one place so your most epic memories can come to life as you attack and defend the payload across Azeroth, Tristram, and the Koprulu Sector.
The Blizzard World map will be disabled in Competitive Play until the start of Season 9. It will be available in Quick Play and Custom Games starting with today's patch.
Cosmetics Update
Starting now, loot boxes have been infused with over 100 cosmetics inspired by Blizzard World, Overwatch animated shorts, and more! Collect new legendary skins, including: Barbarian Zarya, Black Cat D.Va, Crusader Reinhardt, Ecopoint: Antarctica Mei, Kabuki Hanzo, and emotes such as Mercy’s Parasol, Sombra’s Marioneta, and Tracer’s Bomb Spin. Additionally, players will discover new highlight intros like Bastion’s Reconfigure, Soldier: 76’s Lights Out, Winston’s Roll, and many more.
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed a bug that caused weapon accuracy on the career profile to be displayed as 100%
Heroes
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s Concussive Mine and Steel Trap to disappear if he placed them before using RIP-Tire
January 9
Overwatch Patch Notes - January 9, 2018
PATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Overwatch League Skins Now Available
Time to suit up, heroes! Starting now, you can directly support your favorite Overwatch League team (or teams!) by purchasing brand-new team skins to rep via the League Token system. Home-team skins are now available for all 12 teams and all 26 Heroes.
To learn more about Overwatch League team skins and the League Tokens, click here.
GENERAL UPDATES
General
Players can now watch the Overwatch League stream via the Overwatch League menu option when games are live
Weapon accuracy is no longer increased or decreased when shooting at Genji’s Deflect or abilities that block projectiles (e.g. Winston’s Barrier Projector or Mei’s Ice Wall)
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
Heroes
Zenyatta's Orb of Discord and Orb of Harmony will now display its target’s health bar
BUG FIXES
General
Fixed an issue that prevented earned items from being displayed when a Loot Box was opened
Fixed a bug that caused a duplicate “Current Competitive Season” selection to appear in the Career Profile dropdown menu
Fixed a bug that prevented players from being able to navigate in-game menus with the tab key
Fixed a bug that prevented UI elements for Tracer’s Blink from displaying when switching between first- and third-person view in spectator mode
Fixed a bug that prevented the ammo count for Doomfist’s Hand Cannon from displaying when switching between first- and third-person view in spectator mode
A.I.
Fixed a bug that prevented the Bastion and Torbjörn bots from pathing to some areas on the first point of Eichenwalde
Fixed a bug that caused the Lúcio bot to fall off the map while navigating King’s Row
Competitive Play
Fixed a bug that caused the meters remaining to display twice when players approached the final five meters on Escort and Escort/Assault maps
Game Browser and Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevented the Ultimate Duration Custom Game modification from properly adjusting Soldier: 76’s Ultimate length
Deathmatch
Fixed a bug that caused the Play of the Game highlight and the end-of-match screen to not display for the last player to die in the match
Heroes
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from destroying breakable objects
Fixed a bug that could cause Doomfist’s Rocket Punch knock back to be inconsistent if he collided with an enemy using a movement ability (e.g. Winston’s Leap)
Fixed a latency issue that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to travel through an enemy instead of dealing damage
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch’s directional movement to be unpredictable
Fixed an issue that allowed enemies to jump over Doomfist’s Rocket Punch instead of taking damage
Fixed a bug that caused enemy players hit by Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to sometimes move along the wall impacted instead of taking damage
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to move along the terrain if he impacted it with Rocket Punch
Fixed an issue that caused enemies hit by Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to impact inclines instead of traveling up them
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to deal wall impact damage to Mercy if she used Valkyrie
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to activate before intended if he was near Mei’s Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Doomfist to fall through the ground if he used Seismic Slam on inclines
Fixed an issue that canceled Doomfist’s Seismic Slam when it was unable to reach the targeted location
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire camera perspective to linger on the target after detonating
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to be silent to enemies while traveling on rooftops or when airborne
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Snowball’s antenna to stretch out of proportion when Mei’s Beekeeper skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Mercy’s Resurrect “Reviving” message to remain on the targeted player’s screen after the cast was finished
Fixed a bug that caused players targeted by Mercy’s Resurrect to no longer see their Respawn timer if her cast was interrupted by an enemy
Fixed a bug that prevented players from using Moira’s Biotic Orb if she used Fade or died while using Biotic Orb
Fixed an issue that caused Moira’s “Ultimate almost ready” voiceline to sometimes play when her Coalescence was fully charged
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Charge to knock back enemies instead of pinning them
Fixed a bug that caused the visual effects of Sombra’s EMP to display when the ability was interrupted by an enemy player
Fixed a bug that caused Sombra to face the incorrect direction after she teleported with Translocator
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Torbjörn’s turrets to not fully heal when he used Molton Core
Fixed a bug that prevented Carbon Zenyatta’s in-game portrait from displaying the correct color
Maps
Fixed a bug on Eichenwalde that caused the “Checkpoint Reached” voiceline to play when the payload reached its final destination
Fixed a bug that allowed Reaper to Shadow Step to unintended locations on Horizon Lunar Colony
