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Overwatch: balance updates for Ana, Widowmaker, Junkrat, in-game leaderboards, more in latest patch

Stephany Nunneley-Jackson avatar
News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson Former News Editor
Published on

A patch for Overwatch was released alongside the Halloween Terror event today.

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The change list is similar to the preliminary notes released two weeks ago, but we've add them below anyway for your convenience.

As announced previously, camera movement in Spectator Mode has been improved, some changes have been made to Ana and Widowmaker, Custom Games can now be paused and players who are disconnected from a Competitive Match can now rejoin if it is still in progress.

Full notes are below, straight from Blizzard.

New Feature: Leaderboards

  • In-game leaderboards will now show off the top 500 competitive players from each region, and a separate leaderboard will allow players to see how their competitive performance stacks up against their Battle.net friends. Plus, we’re adding leaderboards for the Overwatch Halloween Terror event that’s happening right now.
  • After downloading the latest patch, players will need to complete at least one Competitive Play match before they’ll appear on the Battle.net friend leaderboards.

General Updates

General

  • Static cameras are now supported in spectator mode
  • Team names can now be edited in custom games
  • Raised the volume of Hanzo's Dragonstrike voice line while wearing the Okami/Lone Wolf Skin
  • Heroes hit by Ana's Nano Boost have a new voice line that informs other players
  • Increased frequency of Reinhardt's "barrier failing" voice line
  • Custom Games can now be paused

Competitive Play

  • Players who leave or are disconnected from a competitive match can now rejoin anytime while the match is still in progress
  • Teammates of a disconnected player can now exit a match after 2 minutes have elapsed (formerly 1 minute), and they will not receive a leaver penalty. However, they will receive a loss

Spectating: Camera movement in Spectator Mode has been improved

Hero Balance Updates

Ana

  • Nano Boost: Ultimate cost has been increased by 20%
  • Biotic Grenade: Radius has been increased from 3 to 4 meters

Dev Comments: So far, we haven't seen any indication that Ana is too strong overall, but her ultimate charges a little too fast, especially considering the impact it can have on a match. Also, her Biotic Grenades are getting a small boost to help her hit multiple targets.

Widowmaker

  • Widow's Kiss: Scoping-in animation time has been reduced from 0.5 to 0.33 seconds

Dev Comments: This change will help Widowmaker acquire new targets more quickly and speed up her reaction time in fast-paced situations.

Junkrat

  • RIP-Tire: Ability now activates more quickly

Dev Comments: Junkrat can be an extremely effective hero in the right hands, but RIP-Tire often felt underpowered when compared to his counterparts.

UI Updates

General

  • Hero Gallery now signify which items were unlocked during the Overwatch Halloween Terror event
  • Several minor aesthetic changes have been made to the game’s Main, Social, and Options menus
  • Removed several stats that were duplicated for certain heroes throughout the career profile
  • Graphics, typography, and layout have been updated in the Player Profile menu

Controller users can now choose between two aiming modes

  • Dual-Zone mode (New default): The vast majority of the thumbstick's range moves with reduced sensitivity and relatively high acceleration. However, when the thumbstick crosses to the outer 10% of its range, it will move with high sensitivity and relatively low acceleration. This mode will allow for more precise aiming, while still allowing players to turn around quickly
  • Exponential Ramp mode (Old default): As the thumbstick moves toward the outside of its range, the sensitivity is ramped up exponentially. The acceleration remains relatively high throughout

Social Features

  • Certain commendations will now appear less frequently during end-of-round voting, and others will appear more frequently (e.g. Torbjörn's Armor Packs Created will appear less frequently while Offensive Assists will appear more frequently)

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Bug Fixes

General

  • Enemy players that are knocked down no longer lose their red outline
  • Highlight Intros previewed after opening a loot box now loop
  • Fixed a bug that prevented custom key bindings from saving after relaunching the game
  • Fixed a bug that kept players from binding Take Screenshot to other keys
  • Fixed a bug preventing any non-default sprays from appearing during the Play of the Game
  • Heroes that appeared on the main menu screen are no longer visible in the background while viewing items in the hero gallery

Competitive Play: [PS4, XB1] Fixed an issue that was incorrectly displaying a top 500 icon for certain players, even though they had not yet broken into the top 500

Maps

  • Fixed a bug that allowed D.Va to reach unintended locations on several maps when using Self-Destruct
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to capture first objective on King’s Row from extremely high above the point
  • Fixed a bug that allowed the payload to heal players, even when they were negatively affected by Ana’s Biotic Grenade
  • Fixed a bug preventing the health bars on the Practice Range bots from displaying the effects of Ana’s Biotic Grenade
  • Fixed a bug preventing sprays from being applied correctly to some surfaces on Eichenwalde
  • Fixed a lighting issue, causing certain objects to appear darker than intended inside the Eichenwalde castle

Heroes

  • Smoothed the animation during Ana’s zoom-release transition
  • Fixed a bug causing Bastion’s bullet shells to eject backwards while in Configuration: Sentry mode
  • Fixed a bug causing D.Va to be teleported back to a re-spawn point if her Boosters are used inside the team’s dropship
  • Fixed an issue preventing Hanzo’s Sonic Arrow from appearing when selected
  • Fixed a bug preventing Junkrat’s statistics from correctly tracking RIP-Tire kills
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat’s “Roadkill” achievement from being awarded after obtaining 4 kills with RIP-Tire
  • Fixed an issue preventing Mercy’s staff from appearing in some highlight intros while wearing the Valkyrie, Sigrún, and Cobalt skins
  • Fixed a bug causing Tracer’s highlight intros to render at a lower resolution when accessed from the Highlights menu
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to use her Grappling Hook on basketballs
  • Symmetra's “Car Wash” achievement now correctly lists the number of beams required (6 instead of 7)
  • Fixed a time calculation issue that was causing Zenyatta's “Rapid Discord” achievement to be more difficult than intended

Spectating

  • Spectators are now able to see the Assemble Heroes countdown timer on all maps during a Custom Game
  • You are no longer able to see your killer’s red outline while spectating your team before respawning

The Halloween Terror event is now live in Overwatch for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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