The next patch tweaks the competitive mode of Overwatch , improves D.Va, and prohibits selecting the same hero multiple times.
The End of the Torbjörn Army – no duplicate heroes allowed
Just yesterday, Blizzard announced the new hero Ana Amani and shortly thereafter started the test server. In line with this, the patch notes were also released with all the changes coming to Overwatch soon.
The most significant change is that in competitive mode, only one of the same hero can be used per team from now on. Gone are the days when 6 Torbjörns defended a point or an army of multiple Reinhardts slowly advanced. Additionally, the “Overtime” bar now depletes faster if Overtime has already been running for more than 20 seconds. Furthermore, the respawn rate of players during Overtime has been reduced by 2 seconds – a revival now takes longer.
Buffs for D.Va, Zenyatta, and Mercy
For a long time, it was promised that the Korean pro-gamer D.Va would be improved, and with this patch, it has finally come.
- Self-destruct has been improved in almost all aspects. The Ultimate now charges 15% faster, the explosion is triggered after 3 instead of 4 seconds, and D.Va herself no longer takes damage from the explosion.
- The Defense Matrix has also been adjusted. This ability now has its own resource that is consumed when the matrix is activated and then slowly refills. A full charge lasts 4 seconds.
The support hero Zenyatta can also look forward to some improvements.
- Zenyatta is now a bit more resilient, as his shield supply has been increased from 100 to 150 (giving him a total of 200 health points).
- Orb of Harmony/Dissonance now travels significantly faster to its targets than before.
- During the Ultimate Transcendence, Zenyatta moves twice as fast as before, and healing has been increased from 200 to 300 per second.
Lastly, Mercy will also be improved.
- The damage boost of her Caduceus Staff is now 50% (previously 30%), but it can no longer be stacked with multiple Mercys.
- Her Ultimate Resurrect can now be used while moving, and Mercy no longer stops. In addition, activating it immediately finishes the cooldown of “Guardian Angel” to allow for her escape. As a trade-off, the Ultimate now has a 30% increased charge duration.
Besides that, there are also a bunch of bug fixes. A complete list of all changes can be found in our sources.
Mein-MMO says: While most of the changes, especially the introduction of the new hero Ana, sound quite good, we were surprised by the restriction “No duplicate heroes”. What was recently hailed as a core aspect of the game is now just thrown overboard – very few developers change their minds so quickly. Or to put it another way: If there were an Olympic discipline for backpedaling, Blizzard would surely win gold.
For more news and articles about Blizzard’s hero shooter, check out our Overwatch game page.
