Overwatch players may want this particular April Fools’ Day prank to stick around.
After adding in annual staples like googly eyes and all-caps Reinhardt dialogue in match chats, Overwatch developers decided to give players a bonus gift to enjoy today. The April 1 Experimental Card includes changes for all 32 heroes, ranging from minor tweaks to truly ridiculous overhauls.
Torbjörn’s Forge Hammer, for example, now does 200 percent bonus damage when Overload is active, making it one of the best melee weapons in the game. Reaper can now fly when he uses Wraith Form, which is both terrifying and hilarious. Symmetra’s Photon Projector range has increased to 16 meters. The developers said the “Photon Projector now projects photons further.”
The Experimental Card’s full patch notes are worth a read solely for the developer comments scattered throughout the post. While there’s no chance that these changes will make it to the live servers, players will likely be able to enjoy this Experimental Card for about a week.
Here are a few highlights from the April Fools’ Experimental patch.
Hanzo
- Storm Arrows now ricochet off the environment.
Longtime fans of Overwatch remember Hanzo’s legendary Scatter Arrow ability, which was replaced with Storm Arrow during his overhaul a few years ago. This Experimental Card brings back the totally skill-based, not at all random ability for all of us to enjoy.
Mei
- Reassigned to the Tank role.
- Character scale increased 15 percent.
- Health increased from 250 to 400.
In a battle between King Kong, Godzilla, and Mei, who wins? We’re putting our money on Mei. She can now be found in the Tank lineup and is a full 15-percent larger, which is genuinely terrifying. Her health has also nearly doubled to make her some kind of immortal demigod.
Mercy
- Guardian Angel can now target enemies.
Healing allies is so 2020. Mercy’s flight ability can now target enemies, meaning she can zoom toward her next victim with devastating ease. “Now would be a poor time to underestimate the surprising amount of damage Mercy’s Caduceus Blaster can do,” the developers said in the patch notes. “There is no escape. I am sorry.”
Reinhardt
- Charge now has 200 percent more power steering.
Are you tired of Reinhardts in your games using Charge to dive right off the map? With this Experimental Card change, they’ll have less of an excuse when they do it three times in the same match. Six-player Earthshatters might be normal for skilled Reinhardt mains, but the newest trend is going to be six-player Charges.
Sigma
- No longer bound by gravity
- Experimental Barrier disabled.
The astrophysicist off-tank now has no barrier whatsoever. That doesn’t matter, though, because he can now fly all the time. Why block damage when you can simply go up to the skybox to avoid it?
Zenyatta
- Can now levitate for up to three seconds by holding Jump.
Sigma may be able to fly, but Zenyatta is working his way up to the skybox as well. “There may actually be no limit to Zenyatta’s power, but he demonstrates great discipline in his moderation,” the developers said. “He enters and leaves the meta at will.” With the power of levitation, Zenyatta is going to forcibly enter any meta he chooses at this point.
The April Fools’ Experimental Card is now available on all Overwatch platforms, including PS4 and Xbox One.
