Patch Notes
Past Experiments
Overwatch Experimental Patch Notes – September 18, 2020
Experimental Hero Updates
The next experiment begins! This time we're hoping to get your feedback on some balance updates. We're using the 2-2-2 Role Queue ruleset so that you can get a feel for how these balance changes might affect the live game.
Ashe
Ashe is still a bit too powerful, but we'd like to keep her rifle feeling impactful so we're taking some power out of her Dynamite ability.
- Explosion damage reduced from 75 to 50
Baptiste
Baptiste generates a majority of his ultimate charge through area-of-effect healing. As we reduced area healing values recently, we're also scaling down the cost of his ultimate.
- Ultimate cost decreased 15%
McCree
After scaling down the damage output of McCree's primary fire, we're looking to give back a bit of power through improvements to his abilities.
- Can now be activated in the air
- Distance increased 20%
- Stun duration increased from 0.7 to 0.8 seconds
Orisa
Increased projectile speed will help Orisa’s weapon feel more responsive, reducing the need to lead targets. We found that recent adjustments to Orisa’s abilities were more impactful than we originally anticipated and have increased her armor to compensate.
- Base armor increased from 200 to 250
- Projectile speed increased from 90 to 120
Roadhog
After the last round of shotgun improvements, Roadhog's Chain Hook combo still wasn't effective against some of the smaller enemy heroes. This change pulls targets closer to melee range for swifter, more reliable combo execution.
- Now pulls targets 0.5 meters closer (3.5 meters down to 3.0 meters)
Overwatch Experimental Patch Notes – September 4, 2020
Experimental Hero Updates
The next experiment begins! This time we're hoping to get your feedback on some balance updates. We're using the 2-2-2 Role Queue ruleset so that you can get a feel for how these balance changes might affect the live game.
General
- Shotgun patterns no longer apply random rotation. This will affect the following heroes:
- Ashe
- Doomfist
- D.Va
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Torbjörn
We’re making weapons that utilize shotgun patterns more reliable by removing the random rotation applied to each shot. Individual pellets within the shot will still have a tiny amount of variance to their firing angle for the sake of the shotgun weapon feel, but this change will provide significantly more control over aiming these weapons.
Roadhog
When combined with the changes to shotgun patterns, we’re looking to keep Roadhog’s Chain Hook combo reliable, but not overly powerful against heroes with higher health pools.
General
- Projectile damage reduced from 7 to 6 (150 total per shot)
Torbjörn
This change to Torbjörn’s secondary fire is aimed at giving it a stronger role at close range. We’re hoping this change allows each shot to feel more impactful, since it has a larger burst. To keep this change in line, we’ve also reduced the damage-per-second.
Secondary Fire
- Recovery increased from 0.6 to 0.8 seconds
- Damage increased from 10.5 to 12.5 per projectile (125 total per shot)
Experiments
The Experimental Mode allows players to try out potential new balance updates, game modes, and rule changes. The content within this mode is not guaranteed to be released and the mode may not always be available.