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Patches don’t have to be big to improve the game. That’s the basic theory behind Overwatch‘s latest live patch. Patch 1.40.1 just hit the live servers and it includes a small amount of fixes to problems that have been bothering players for weeks.
The most important change involves heroes who use placement abilities, which are many of the damage heroes picked routinely in this meta. The developers have “reverted edge-placement change for ground targeted abilities,” like Reaper’s Shadowstep (or “teleport”), Mei’s Ice Wall, and Symmetra’s Teleporter.
In the previous update, Patch 1.40, Blizzard made a change to ground-targeted abilities. They would “more heavily prefer edges over placing as far away as possible.” Reaper’s Shadowstep, for example, would more quickly “click” in place to the nearest edge, like an overhang on Numbani, instead of a faraway target.
This made things easier for some heroes, but caused serious problems for others. Mei’s Ice Wall, in particular, was described as “broken” by players since it could no longer be used to block off key choke points. Patch 1.40.1 reverts this change, so these issues should no longer be a problem.
Patch 1.40.1 also fixes issues with Assault map Paris, which was reportedly disabled for much of last week while the developers dealt with a serious bug. Players could shoot through the spawn doors of Paris, giving them an unfair advantage during a game. The bug is fixed and Paris is back in the rotation.
Bastion’s Brick Challenge is ongoing this week and Patch 1.40.1 fixes another issue related to Bastion’s adorable Lego skin. Multiple players on social media called the skin “unplayable” because of the effects on the hero’s weapon. The flash and loudness of the weapon obscured sight, so Blizzard has altered it to better serve players.
Blizzard also said that it “made changes to improve game stability.” While this wasn’t defined, some players have had frame drops within the game and this vague change might be targeted at those issues.
