Patch Notes

May 22, 2018

Overwatch Patch Notes – May 22, 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.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Seasonal Event: Overwatch Anniversary 2018

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

  • Biotic Rifle
    • Projectiles will now pass through allies with full health
    • Ammo increased from 10 to 14

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 potentially block shots meant for teammates that do need it. Increasing her magazine size makes it less likely that Ana will be forced into a reloading in the middle of an important fight.

Brigitte

  • Rally
    • Maximum armor per player reduced from 150 to 100
  • Shield Bash
    • Cooldown increased from 5 to 6 seconds

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.

Hanzo

  • Storm Arrows
    • Damage reduced from 80 to 70

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.

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
  • 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 Frag Launcher)
  • 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 Game

  • 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

  • Fixed a bug that caused Ana’s Biotic Rifle crosshair to disappear momentarily when scoping and unscoping
  • Fixed a bug causing Bastion’s Dune Buggy skin textures to stretch when waving hello
  • 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 from being tracked
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s hand from animating when using Hand Cannon immediately after Rocket Punch
  • 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
  • Fixed a bug that prevented players from modifying Hanzo’s Lunge ability cooldown time in Custom Games
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s reticle from constricting when using Storm Arrows
  • Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio’s Soundwave animation to play twice if he used his quick melee attack immediately afterward
  • 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 he used his Take a Load Off emote
  • 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
  • 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 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
  • 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
  • Fixed a bug that caused the player’s camera to zoom into Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer when struck by it
  • Fixed a bug that caused Soldier: 76’s jacket collar to clip into his shoulder with his Classic skin equipped
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s laser sight from tapering at its end with her Talon skin equipped
  • 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
  • Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Recall to appear jittery for spectators, in highlights, and in replays
  • Fixed a bug that made Torbjörn’s turret lose sync with his breathing animation in his Medal victory pose
  • Fixed a that caused Widowmaker’s crosshair to disappear for a moment when unscoping
  • 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

  • Fixed a bug that caused projectiles shot at Attacker spawn room doors to slide upward
  • 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
  • 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
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May 8, 2018

Overwatch Patch Notes – May 8, 2018

A new patch is now live on 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.

BUG FIXES

General

  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the client to freeze
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May 8, 2018

Overwatch Patch Notes – May 8, 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.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Charity Skin: Pink Mercy

As a brilliant scientist and the guardian angel of Overwatch, Dr. Angela Ziegler—codename Mercy—has dedicated her life to helping and healing others. Now you can help the Breast Cancer Research Foundation work toward a cure for breast cancer by purchasing the new PINK MERCY skin, available for a limited time on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Blizzard Entertainment will donate 100% the proceeds that it receives from all Pink Mercy skin sales to BCRF, with a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 (USD). Blizzard Entertainment will disclose the total amount of its donation following the end of the campaign.

Log in to Overwatch any time between May 8 and May 21 and unlock a BCRF-themed player icon!

We’ve also partnered with community artist  ONEMEGAWATT  to create a series of themed Twitch Drops, including a new player icon and four all-new sprays. Available only during this event, you can earn these special Pink Mercy cosmetics by viewing select streams on Twitch during the two-week promotional period.

IMPORTANT: To be eligible to receive  Pink Mercy Twitch Drops , you must first link your preferred Blizzard account to your preferred Twitch account. Visit the  Twitch Connections  page to log in and complete the link now.

To learn more about the Pink Mercy Charity Event, click  here. 

BUG FIXES

Game Browser and Custom Games

  • Fixed a bug that prevented players from navigating the custom game lobby when using a controller

AI

  • Fixed a bug that prevented training bots from returning to their original position and behavior after being hit with an ability (e.g. Lúcio’s Soundwave)
  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to use the wrong route when tracking down the player if their target jumped off a ledge
  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck on the siege tank in the StarCraft area of Blizzard World

Game Browser and Custom Game

  • Fixed a bug that caused custom game invites to persist on the invitee’s screen

Heroes

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion’s Zwing Zwing Zwing voice line from playing if the Null Sector skin was equipped
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte from using abilities or Rocket Flail while her Repair Pack was in flight
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s Repair Pack from reaching an ally if she was stunned while it was in flight
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s melee attack from making sound effects
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s golden weapon variant from displaying its golden sheen when some skins were equipped
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-TIRE to be immune to the freeze effects of Mei’s Endothermic Blaster
  • Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to spawn inside of walls
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to move around while caught in Junkrat’s Steel Trap
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to travel straight up using Wall Ride
  • Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio to lose movement speed if he landed on a wall from certain angles
  • Fixed a bug that prevented crowd control abilities from affecting Resurrect (e.g. McCree’s Flashbang)
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s flask from displaying in her Erlenmeyer victory pose when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
  • Fixed a bug that caused Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns to float when previewing his Dance emote in Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the camera to not focus correctly when viewing Roadhog’s Mug Shot victory pose
  • Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to float during his Footsteps highlight intro
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the laser sight from Sombra’s Machine Pistol golden variant from tapering at its end if her Talon skin equipped
  • Fixed a bug that caused Widowaker’s HUD to disappear if she used Widow’s Kiss while looking through the scope
  • Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Symmetra’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Torbjörn’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the game to stutter during Tracer’s Recall when playing above 60 FPS

Maps

  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck walking into the side of the Rikimaru Ramen Shop on Hanamura
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets in unintended locations on Horizon Lunar Colony
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Horizon Lunar Colony
  • Fixed a bug that caused the pig head on the bike to float after the bike had been destroyed in Junkertown
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets and Symmetra’s Teleporter in unintended locations in Junkertown
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May 3, 2018

Overwatch Patch Notes – May 3, 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.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Escort Map: Rialto

Rialto was home to Talon agent Antonio Bartalotti’s sprawling estate and the backdrop to the infamous “Venice Incident,” a turning point for Overwatch and Talon. The Italian government has taken great steps to preserve Venice, and the results are striking. Tourists visiting this picturesque town can sample the regional cuisine, enjoy a relaxing gondola ride, visit Galleria D’arte Omnica, or simply take in the sights with a stroll along the canal.

NOTE: Rialto will not be available in the Competitive Play rotation until a future patch.

HERO UPDATES

Brigitte

  • Shield Bash
    • Cone angle reduced from 90 to 60

Developer Comments: When fighting against Brigitte, it often felt like Shield Bash was able to hit players who felt like they were out of its range and should have dodged it. On the flip side, when playing as Brigitte sometimes players would hit the wrong enemy in the middle of a fight. With the cone being reduced, the ability is more accurate to its visual representation.

Genji

  • Deflect
    • Hitbox size has been reduced

Developer Comments: The hitbox on Genji’s Deflect was big enough that it would sometimes reflect projectiles that were pretty far away from him. We’ve tightened up the hitbox, which should solve this problem while still fully protecting him from projectiles that would hit him from the front.

Hanzo

  • Storm Bow
    • Projectile speed increased from 85 to 100
  • Sonic Arrow
    • Cooldown decreased from 20 seconds to 12 seconds
    • Duration decreased from 10 seconds to 6 seconds
    • Radius decreased from 10 meters to 7 meters
  • New Abilities
    • Lunge
      • Press jump while in the air to leap horizontally
    • Storm Arrows
      • Replaces his existing Scatter Arrow ability
      • Hanzo can now rapidly fire up to 6 arrows that deal reduced damage but are always fired at full power

Developer Comments: The goal of these Hanzo changes is to allow him to have new options and maintain his high damage output, while removing the frustration of fighting against the old Scatter Arrow. Hanzo is now much more mobile with his new Lunge ability, and with the combination of the bow projectile speed increase and the new Storm Arrows ability he can now deal his high damage more consistently than ever before.

Junkrat

  • Frag Launcher
    • Projectile size decreased from 0.3 to 0.2
  • RIP-Tire
    • Tire movement speed decreased from 13 to 12

Developer Comments: These changes are aimed at lowering some of the most frustrating parts about playing against Junkrat. Decreasing the Frag Launcher’s projectile size means he will have to aim a bit more carefully to land powerful direct hits and slowing the RIP-Tire’s movement speed gives his opponents slightly more time to destroy it before it detonates.

Lúcio

  • Wall Ride
    • Wall riding is less likely to be interrupted along a single surface
    • Can now go around corners (both outside corners, and inside corners) without having to leave the wall
    • Can now land back on the same wall after leaping away, provided his leap takes him far enough away from the original jumping off point
    • Added a minimum time that the jump key must be held before Lúcio can ride around corners
  • Soundwave
    • No longer consumes ammo
    • Can now be used while reloading

Developer Comments: Wall Ride has been significantly overhauled to allow it to function more smoothly across more areas of every map. Lúcio players should instantly notice a huge improvement in where and how Wall Ride can be used. In addition, Sonic Amplifier’s Soundwave ability was unnecessarily controlled by both a cooldown and an ammo cost, so we’re removing the ammo cost.

Tracer

  • Pulse Bomb
    • Max damage decreased from 400 to 300

Developer Comments: Pulse Bomb was too good at killing tanks, who can be easy to stick due to their size. This damage reduction makes it less powerful as a tank-destroyer, while keeping it lethal against most other heroes.

GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES

General

  • Mercy’s Regeneration (passive ability) can now be turned off in Custom Game settings
  • Settings for Hanzo’s Lunge and Storm Arrow abilities can now be found in the Custom Game settings

BUG FIXES

General

  • Fixed a bug that caused the option “Invite to a Custom Game” to appear while in the Tutorial and Practice Range
  • Fixed a bug that prevented oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers in spawn rooms from propelling after taking damage

AI

  • Fixed a bug that prevented training bots from returning to their original position and behavior after being hit with an ability (e.g. Lúcio’s Soundwave)
  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to use the wrong route when tracking down the player if their target jumped off a ledge
  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck on the siege tank in the StarCraft area of Blizzard World

Game Browser and Custom Game

  • Fixed a bug that caused custom game invites to persist on the invitee’s screen

Heroes

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion’s Zwing Zwing Zwing voice line from playing if the Null Sector skin was equipped
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte from using abilities or Rocket Flail while her Repair Pack was in flight
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s melee attack from making sound effects
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s golden weapon variant from displaying its golden sheen when some skins were equipped
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-TIRE to be immune to the freeze effects of Mei’s Endothermic Blaster
  • Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s RIP-Tire to spawn inside of walls
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to move around while caught in Junkrat’s Steel Trap
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Lúcio to travel straight up using Wall Ride
  • Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio to lose movement speed if he landed on a wall from certain angles
  • Fixed a bug that prevented crowd control abilities from affecting Resurrect (e.g. McCree’s Flashbang)
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s flask from displaying in her Erlenmeyer victory pose when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
  • Fixed a bug that caused Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns to float when previewing his Dance emote in Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the camera to not focus correctly when viewing Roadhog’s Mug Shot victory pose
  • Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to float during his Footsteps highlight intro
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the laser sight from Sombra’s Machine Pistol golden variant from tapering at its end if her Talon skin equipped
  • Fixed a bug that caused Widowaker’s HUD to disappear if she used Widow’s Kiss while looking through the scope
  • Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Symmetra’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the logos on Torbjörn’s Overwatch League skins to appear faded when viewed in the Hero Gallery
  • Fixed a bug that caused the game to stutter during Tracer’s Recall when playing above 60 FPS

Maps

  • Fixed a bug that caused bots to get stuck walking into the side of the Rikimaru Ramen Shop on Hanamura
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets in unintended locations on Horizon Lunar Colony
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Horizon Lunar Colony
  • Fixed a bug that caused the pig head on the bike to float after the bike had been destroyed in Junkertown
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players to place turrets and Symmetra’s Teleporter in unintended locations in Junkertown
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Live Patch Notes

These patch notes represent general changes made to the Live version of Overwatch and the balance changes listed affect Quick Play, Competitive Play, Arcade, and Custom Games.

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