This year Lúcioball makes its way to Busan Stadium, and your heroes are ready to soak in the sun with some new skins! Over the last few months I’ve had the pleasure of working with professional artists around the world to bring these seasonal skins to life.
It’s a really fun process. It starts with our concept artists sharing their ideas early, which helps hype us up as we start to think of all of the possibilities and details we can add to the models and textures for the final skins, such as making the propellers on the back of D.Va’s Waverunner mech spin faster when she uses her Boosters ability. The 3D artists then choose which skins they want to create and are encouraged to voice their opinions and ideas during the development process so we can help them turn their vision into a reality. Once they have collaborated with us on the digital sculpture and the final in-game model, we then finalize the skins and give them an extra coat of polish in-house with our rigging and skinning, visual effects, audio, and quality assurance testing teams to make sure that they work in-game. The entire effort can take weeks to create a legendary skin, but the end result is always worth it!
This event was especially memorable for me since I got to work with and help train a new artist on our art pipeline. In addition to keeping the process organized and efficient, I also got to get my hands dirty by creating Hana’s model for the D.Va Waveracer skin.
Part of the excitement during the creation process is imagining how fans will receive our artwork—we really hope that you love these skins, and we’re looking forward to reading and hearing what you have to say about them and Summer Games!
—John Gotch, Senior Character Artist Supervisor
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.
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.
Nano Boost
Now also instantly heals the target for 300 health
Range increased from 30 to 40 meters
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.
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
Doomfist
Developer Comments These changes are just quality of life improvements for how Doomfist interacts with Symmetra’s placed objects.
Rocket Punch
No longer impacts Symmetra’s teleporter
Now destroys Symmetra’s sentry turrets without stopping his movement
Hanzo
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.
Lunge
Cooldown increased from 4 to 5 seconds
Lúcio
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.
Crossfade
Aura radius increase from 10 to 12 meters
Sound Barrier
Temporary shields granted increased from 500 to 750
Mercy
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.
Caduceus Staff
Healing beam reduced from 60 healing per second to 50 healing per second
Moira
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.
Biotic Grasp
Passive energy regeneration rate increased from 2 per second to 2.4 per second
Reinhardt
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).
Barrier Field
Decorative insignia no longer protrudes from the shield’s surface
Sombra
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.
General
Reduced the size of Sombra’s head hit volume
Symmetra
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.
Photon Projector
Primary fire range increased from 10 to 12
Widowmaker
Developer Comments The increased cooldown of Widowmaker's Grappling Hook will slightly reduce the frequency that she can reposition herself. This allows her to be threatened more easily by agile enemy heroes such as Winston and Genji.
Grappling Hook
Cooldown increased from 8 seconds to 10 seconds
Zarya
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.
Energy
Drain rate reduced from 2 energy per second to 1.6 energy per second
Graviton Surge
Radius reduced from 8 to 6 meters
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, 2018
Look out world, Wrecking Ball’s here!
Our smallest hero has become one of our team's biggest achievements. When we first introduced Wrecking Ball to the team, making the hamster hero fit in the Overwatch lineup presented an exciting challenge.
Exploration is the key to animation, so we tried many different personality iterations for the hamster. At first, we made him maniacal, but he felt too evil, so we tried instead to highlight the difference between Hammond the critter—cute, cuddly, mischievous—and the Wrecking Ball mech—powerful, imposing, cold, and impersonal. Our eureka moment was nailing his “Relaxed” emote; I feel like it captures Hammond’s character and personality perfectly. He exudes confidence with the way he shifts his weight in the seat to get comfortable, then throws a cheese puff into the air and catches it in his mouth. After seeing it, we knew we has something special.
Wrecking Ball is one of our most agile tank heroes so far and has unique mechanics that I haven’t seen in other games. It was so exciting to see how much people loved him when we finally announced him. Be sure to roll into a match as Wrecking Ball and, while you’re at it, check out how he uses his trackball to pilot the mech!
—Ryan Denniston, Lead Animator
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
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.
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)
Hanzo
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.
Storm Arrows
Duration reduced from 6 to 5 seconds
Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds
Sombra
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.
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
MAP UPDATES
MAP UPDATES
General
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.
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
Assault Maps
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.
Objective time reduced from 5 minutes to 4 minutes per control point in Quick Play and Arcade modes
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
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
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, 2018
We’re super excited about this patch because we are adding some social features that we hope you guys really like!
First, our Endorsement system. Endorsements give you a way to acknowledge other players for having a positive impact on your gaming experience. We have ways to report people for poor conduct, but now, if you have teammates who coordinated well, a leader who gave great direction, or even someone who was just being positive you can now let them know how much you appreciated it with an endorsement!
Second is Looking for Group. A long-awaited feature that we’ve being dying to get in the game. Looking for group allows you to find like-minded players before you queue to make sure you have the kind of Overwatch experience you want! Things like specifying what game mode want to play, preferring voice chat, and knowing that a player wants to play a certain role before you go into battle together goes a long way toward solid hero compositions and team work. One small tip: Once you have created a LFG group you can browse the list and search for groups that meet your needs and invite them to join up! This is a more proactive approach to getting a group together faster.
We can’t wait for you guys to start using these systems!
—Jeremy Craig, Principal Game Designer
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
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."
All heroes in the Defense and Offense categories have been merged into a new category: Damage
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
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.
Meteor Strike
Bonus movement speed increased from 150% to 200%
The Best Defense…
Shield gain increased from 30 to 35 for normal abilities
McCree
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.
Deadeye
Range increased from 70 meters to 200 meters
Orisa
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.
Supercharger
Ultimate cost reduced by 15%
Symmetra
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.
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 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
MAP UPDATES
Horizon Lunar Colony
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.
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
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: Gibralter
Fixed a bug that caused the first Attacker spawn room to extend past its walls
JUNE 14, 2018
A new patch is now live on Windows PC. Read below to learn more about the latest changes.
To share your feedback, please post in the General Discussion forum.
For a list of known issues, visit our Bug Report forum.
For troubleshooting assistance, visit our Technical Support forum.
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
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
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 block shots meant for allies that do. Increasing her magazine size makes it less likely to be forced into a reload in the middle of an important fight.
Biotic Rifle
Projectiles will now pass through allies with full health
Ammo increased from 10 to 14
Brigitte
Developer Comments Brigitte’s ultimate is very powerful, especially when it is placed on the entire team. 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.
Rally
Maximum armor per player reduced from 150 to 100
Shield Bash
Cooldown increased from 5 to 6 seconds
Hanzo
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.
Storm Arrows
Damage reduced from 80 to 70
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 grenades)
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
Ana
Fixed a bug that caused Ana's Biotic Rifle crosshair to disappear momentarily when scoping and unscoping
Bastion
Fixed a bug causing Bastion's Dune Buggy skin textures to stretch when waving hello
Brigitte
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 being tracked
Doomfist
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist's hand from animating when using Hand Cannon immediately after Rocket Punch
Hanzo
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 equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented players from modifying Hanzo's Lunge ability cooldown in Custom Games
Fixed a bug that prevents Hanzo's reticle from constricting when using Storm Arrows
Lúcio
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio's Soundwave animation to play twice if he used his quick melee attack immediately afterward
McCree
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 using his Take a Load Off emote
Mei
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
Mercy
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 victory 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
Orisa
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
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that caused the player's camera to zoom into Reinhardt's Rocket Hammer when struck by it
Soldier: 76
Fixed a bug that caused Soldier: 76's jacket collar to clip into his shoulder with his Classic skin equipped
Sombra
Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra's laser sight from tapering at its end with her Talon skin equipped
Symmetra
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
Tracer
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer's Recall to appear jittery for spectators, in highlights, and in replays
Torbjörn
Fixed a bug that made Torbjörn's turret lose sync with his breathing animation in his Medal victory pose
Widowmaker
Fixed a that caused Widowmaker's crosshair to disappear for a moment when scoping and unscoping
Winston
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
Numbani
Fixed a bug that caused projectiles shot at Attacker spawn room doors to slide upward
Rialto
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
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
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
