Overwatch’s latest Experimental Card adjusts hitscan damage

It’s been nearly a full month since Overwatch players got to test out a new Experimental Card. But today, the developers have come back to the drawing board with some huge changes. 

The June 24 Experimental Card proposes a sweeping change to hitscan heroes’ long-range abilities, knocking off a full 20 percent damage at maximum falloff range. This would massively affect how hitscan heroes operate, forcing them to get closer to enemies and teamfights to be effective. 

There are also hero changes, most notably to D.Va’s overpowered Call Mech ability, which changes how Echo players can take advantage of her Self-Destruct ultimate. Soldier: 76 and Bastion are getting some minor buffs, too. 

As usual, these changes are being tested and are only available on the Experimental Card, which can be accessed on Overwatch‘s home page. There’s no guarantee these adjustments will make it to the live servers in their current form or at all.

Hitscan damage adjustment 

The biggest proposed change in this Experimental Card is a widespread adjustment to how hitscan damage works at long distances. 

• Hitscan damage now scales to 30 percent at maximum falloff range, down from 50 percent for the following heroes:
  • Ashe
  • Baptiste
  • Bastion
  • McCree
  • Soldier: 76
  • Widowmaker
  • Wrecking Ball

Hitscan heroes, or those with weapons that experience no delay from shot to damage, will now experience lower damage when aiming from farther distances. If a McCree attempts to shoot a hero outside of the Peacekeeper’s intended range, for example, he’ll only inflict 50 percent of the weapon’s damage in the current patch. With this update, that damage is dropped to 30 percent. 

“This change may be difficult to notice immediately as it scales damage over a range slightly more than before, but it will lower the impact of hitscan damage outside of their intended optimal ranges,” the developers said. 

Hero changes 

Bastion

• Configuration: Recon weapon spread reduced from 1.5 to 1.2. 

This is a very minor proposed Bastion buff that will narrow the spread on his main weapon as he’s up and moving. His Configuration: Sentry weapon, which operates when he’s stationary and posted in a specific place, remains unchanged. 

D.Va (and Echo) 

• Call Mech damage area reduced from three to 2.5 meters. No longer builds ultimate charge while using Self Destruct until after the mech detonates. 

Every Overwatch League fan should be happy about this proposed change. After D.Va was given a massive buff to Call Mech’s damage in April, Echo players in the league abused the ability as much as humanly possible when copying the hero. This nerf changes the large Call Mech damage radius and stops Echo players from continually building ultimate charge when duplicating D.Va. “Echo’s accelerated ultimate charge enabled her to have Call Mech available before the Self Destruct explosion went off, making it very difficult for enemies to find a safe place to hide,” the developers said.      

Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle damage falloff is disabled while Tactical Visor is active. 

Soldier’s “aimbot” ultimate will remain useful even with the new hitscan falloff damage changes thanks to this proposed buff, which “will make Tactical Visor effective for more than just the aim assist.” 

Widowmaker

• Widow’s Kiss damage falloff range increased from 60-85 to 70-100 meters.

As the game’s premiere long-range sniper, it’s absolutely critical that Widowmaker is effective even if she’s stationed across the map from an enemy. “We’re adjusting Widowmaker’s optimal range to be slightly further out to account for some map locations where counter-sniping was common but just barely outside of the effective range with the damage falloff,” the developers said.