Overwatch 2 PvP Beta finally receives its first patch. Aside from several bug fixes, there are some interesting things in this patch. One is that Zenyatta is given a new passive ability that gives him a “super kick,” enhancing his melee hits. The bug that causes Wrecking Ball to crash games has also been fixed, and he will be playable again. The newest hero Sojourn is getting some buff to put her up to par with other damage heroes. Roadhog's Whole Hog has also been changed to a Transform ultimate, so Stuns can no longer cancel it.
General
- Enabled Quick Play Open Queue
- Made adjustments to Kill Feed and Activity Feed UI
- Adjusted audio mix:
- Reduced bass frequencies on 3rd person weapons
- Fixed a bug in the reverb system that caused reverberation to play from all directions – now should be fully directional towards the sound's source.
Damage Hero Changes
Sojourn
Railgun Alt Fire
- Projectile width increased from 0.05m to 0.1m
We saw a lot of players at varying skill levels struggling to land shots with her Alt Fire, so we are making the projectile width wider.
Power Slide
- Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds
Sojourn is all about mobility, and we wanted her to move around the maps more freely. We think this will help increase her effectiveness and make her even more fun to play.
Soldier: 76
Heavy Pulse Rifle
- Damage reduced from 20 to 18
Soldier 76 has always been a high damage output hero, but we are seeing fewer counters to him with one less tank per team. We lowered the damage of his Heavy Pulse Rifle to fit with 5v5.
Sprint
- Movement speed reduced from 50% to 40%
We believe Soldier 76 was over tuned during the first week of the PvP beta. He was extremely mobile with the new damage passive that increases movement speed by 10%. We brought his Sprint ability down a bit with the new passive in mind.
Tactical Visor
- Now allows from critical hits, if a shot would have been a critical hit outside his ultimate
- No longer removes damage falloff from his Heavy Pulse Rifle.
We wanted to make Tactical Visor a more interesting ultimate for players who want to push their aim skills through the ability. The point of this change isn’t purely to buff him or counterbalance the nerfs. We wanted to make Soldier 76 more fun to play while rewarding mechanical skill.
Sombra
Stealth
- Movement speed reduced from 65% to 50%
After a week of testing the new damage passive, we decided to balance Sombra’s Stealth speed with the 10% movement speed increase in mind.
Tank Hero Changes
Roadhog
Whole Hog
- This ability has changed from a “Channeled” ultimate (e.g. Pharah, Reaper, Cassidy), into a “Transform” ultimate (e.g. Soldier: 76, Genji, Winston). This means:
- The weapon no longer automatically fires, and you must press Primary Fire to use the ultimate
- You can use normal abilities during Whole Hog without canceling the ultimate
- Stuns will no longer cancel the ultimate
We saw Roadhog underperforming, so we are making his ultimate more interesting, effective, and fun. Roadhog was dying frequently while using Whole Hog, so we are trying to give him more options and flexibility in his ult.
Winston
Tesla Cannon
- Secondary fire ammo cost reduced from 20 to 12
The change to Winston's secondary fire enables him to use it more often without sacrificing as much of his primary fire. We want his secondary fire to feel less restrictive to use and more fluid like his kit.
Wrecking Ball
Roll
- Knockback increased by 36%
We are reverting Roll’s knockback to the original value from when Wrecking Ball was launched. We wanted to give Wrecking Ball a more unique role as a dive tank that can split up enemy teams. We made this change with the Tank passive of 30% knockback resistance in mind.
Zarya
Graviton Surge
- Duration reduced from 4 to 3.5 seconds
There are less counters to Graviton Surge with one less tank per team and phase effects no longer escaping Zarya’s ultimate. We observed the ultimate over-performing, so this change brings it in line with 5v5 gameplay.
Support Hero Changes
Lucio
Crossfade
- Self-healing penalty increased from 30% to 60%
Lucio had incredible survivability with Crossfade stacked with the new support role passive, so we reduced the amount it heals himself.
Baptiste
Biotic Launcher Alt Fire
- Healing ammo increased from 10 to 13
Baptiste is under-performing because teams aren’t playing as grouped up right now. Increasing his healing ammo will let him heal more targets who aren’t necessarily grouped up.
Ana
Biotic Rifle
- Ammo increased from 12 to 15
Biotic Grenade
- Duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
Ana’s Biotic Grenade was too effective with one less tank and more infrequent barriers, so we are reducing the duration of the ability. We also saw Ana using her grenade less frequently on herself because of the new support passive ability. To help compensate for her grenade, we wanted to give her power back through increasing her Biotic Rifle’s ammo.
Zenyatta
- Base shields increased from 150 to 175
Snap Kick
- New Passive Ability
- Increases Quick melee damage by 50% and significantly increases its knockback
Zenyatta has trouble fighting at close range, so he was at a disadvantage if an enemy flanked or jumped on top of him. His new passive, Snap Kick, will help him create space and put enemies at his fighting range.
We think this new passive will be a fun adjustment to his kit, but we also want this change to acknowledge community concerns. We understand 5v5 has made support heroes feel more vulnerable, and we wanted to give Zenyatta tools to help create space between him and enemies.
Brigitte
Shield Bash
- Knockback doubled
It’s difficult to tell when Brigitte lands a Shield Bash because the impact of that ability was not easily noticeable. This is a subtle change that will make the ability feel more satisfying.
General Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where the “Thank you for reporting” message would not clear
- Fixed a bug where names in the friends list would appear alphabetically regardless of game status
- Fixed a bug where heroes that killed themselves would show incorrectly in the kill feed
- Fixed a bug where health packs would sometimes be missing timers
- Fixed a bug where Reaper would sometimes be auto selected on hero select
- Fixed a bug where the control progress bar would sometimes be the wrong color
- Made several adjustments to sound volume and mix
- Fixed several crashes
Hero Bug Fixes
Wrecking Ball
- Fixed a bug where Wrecking Ball could crash the game for other players
Doomfist
- Fixed a bug where Melee attacks would not deal damage to Doomfist during Power Block
Roadhog
- Fixed a bug where Roadhog's hook cooldown would start on return instead of cast
- Fixed a bug where Roadhog's Scrap Gun lacked recovery time while Whole Hog was active
Soldier: 76
- Fixed a bug where his Heavy Pulse Rifle might snap awkwardly during Tactical Visor
- Fixed a bug that causes Soldier: 76 to have a slanted UI when wearing his Ugly Sweater skin.
Symmetra
- Fixed a bug where shooting Symmetra's turrets into the horizon would cause turrets to be unusable
Hanzo
- Fixed a bug where his White Wolf skin would appear invisible
Brigitte
- Fixed a bug where Brigitte's shield did not block damage from above
Ana
- Fixed a bug where using Nano Boost on Doomfist would overwrite his damage reduction
Lucio
- Fixed a bug where Sonic Amplifier could jam and not reload
Map Bug Fixes
Midtown
- Adjusted some geometry on top of the train to prevent players from staying there indefinitely.
Colosseo
- Adjusted some geometry that could be abused by players.
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