Latest Overwatch Update Includes Hero Balancing, Bug Fixes & Changes to Selection Tips

Yesterday, Blizzard released a new Overwatch update on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, adding the Summer Games seasonal event, which runs until August 22 and includes over 100 seasonal items and the new Lúcioball.

The update also included a number of improvements, bug fixes, and balancing changes, which you can see in the patch notes below (apply to all platforms; PC-only changes not included):

General Updates

Competitive Play

  • Players who leave a competitive match before its conclusion will now have to wait for at least 10 minutes before joining another competitive match
  • During subsequent rounds on Assault maps (Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries), the amount of time provided for team assembly has been reduced

Miscellaneous

  • Added Lúcio as an AI hero in Practice vs. AI, Play vs. AI, and Custom Game modes
  • Several minor, behind-the-scenes improvements have been made to the in-game matchmaker

Map Balance Updates

  • Made several minor adjustments across Watchpoint: Gibraltar to ensure better balance for defending and attacking teams

User Interface

  • Zenyatta’s Transcendence speed increase is now noted on the Hero Details screen
  • Players can now select which type of Loot Box (standard or seasonal) they’d like to open next

Made several minor improvements to the way hero selection tips work:

  • The “No Builder” and “No Sniper Hero” warnings have been removed
  • “No Support Hero” now reads as “No Healer” (does not apply to Symmetra)
  • Hero selection tips are no longer displayed during team assembly in a Brawl

Bug Fixes

General

  • Fixed a bug where Widowmaker’s “Noire” skin and the Origins Edition skins would not count towards unlock progress of the “Decked Out” Achievement
  • Fixed a bug where “The Path Is Closed” Achievement could not be obtained by D.Va while in her mech
  • Fixed a bug that caused Custom Games to ignore the “Return to Lobby” setting when the game mode was set to Competitive
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the Tutorial to become unplayable after players switched heroes

Maps

  • Fixed a bug causing the “old timey” end-of-round music filter on Hollywood to remain active after leaving a match
  • Fixed a bug that kept the 30-seconds-remaining music from activating correctly on Payload maps.

Heroes

  • Fixed a bug that was affecting the majority of Ana’s “Most in Game” career statistics
  • Fixed a bug that caused Ana’s Biotic Grenade to miss an allied Reaper while in Wraith Form
  • Fixed a bug with that caused Junkrat’s “Jester” and “Fool” skins to incorrectly display during a Highlight Intro
  • Fixed a bug that kept Soldier: 76’s Ultimate charge meter from displaying progress gained for the Tactical Visor ability in the Tutorial
  • Fixed a bug that caused the visuals and sound effects on Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer to malfunction when hitting an enemy
  • Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s “Widow’s Kiss” spray to be replaced by the “Je Te Vois” spray

Competitive Play

  • Fixed a bug that kept grouped players from being able to rejoin a match when disconnected
  • Fixed a bug that caused a player’s Skill Rating to be displayed incorrectly when rejoining a match in progress

A.I.

  • Fixed an issue hindering Ana from restoring allies to full health
  • Fixed an issue allowing Reaper to use Wraith Form to escape in situations where he should be stunned

And here’s a list of all the changes specific to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Overwatch:

General Updates

Competitive Play

  • Attacking teams now have 4 minutes to capture the first point on Assault maps (down from 5 minutes)

Hero Balance Updates

Ana

Biotic Rifle

  • Rate of fire increased by 20%
  • Magazine size increased from 8 to 10

McCree

Peacemaker

Primary Fire

  • Damage falloff range decreased by 10 meters
  • Damage falloff amount is unchanged
  • As a result, even with this change, McCree’s effective range is still higher than it was at launch

Alternate Fire

  • Rate of fire increased by 15%

Flashbang

  • Recovery time (i.e. the amount of time before McCree can fire again) decreased from 0.5 seconds to 0.35 seconds

Bug Fixes

General

  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the killcam to show a black screen
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused players to lose the ability to select a hero using a controller on the hero select screen

Heroes

  • Targets of Ana’s Sleep Dart will no longer instantly recover when damaged (recovery time is now 0.5 seconds)
  • The correct hit pip sound will now play whenever one of Ana’s darts impact with a barrier
  • All of Ana’s in-game sounds now have proper occlusion

User Interface

  • Fixed a bug that caused “Attack” and “Defend” indicators to not always display on the hero select screen
  • Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause Lúcio, Mei, and other models to only partially render (or disappear)
  • Fixed a bug that caused the scoreboard to sometimes display the wrong stats if you switched hero mid-match
  • Fixed a bug in Competitive Play that caused the numbers on the post-match skill rating bar to not increment correctly

In the above video, Game Director Jeff Kaplan reveals that Summer Games will return again next year if the players like it, possibly with new content.

[Source: Battle.net via VG247]

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