Today’s Overwatch update makes Assault maps less punishing for defenders

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Today’s Overwatch update brought some important changes to how Assault maps work.

Attackers who capture Point A will now be rewarded with three minutes for their attack on Point B instead of four. Also, defending players who are eliminated while or shortly after attackers capture Point A will respawn in no longer than 3.5 seconds.

These changes will affect Hanamura, Horizon Lunar Colony, Paris, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries, and any other Assault map in the future in both Quick Play and Competitive. Blizzard commented on why it made such changes.

“Assault match lengths are averaging higher than we’re happy with, particularly in Competitive where there are multiple rounds,” the company wrote in the update patch notes. “We’re also concerned with how often Offense fully captures Point A and Point B.”

Therefore, Blizzard believes reducing the total time pool available to attackers from eight minutes to seven will address both issues. The reduction of the respawning time should make defending Point A in a pinch less punishing since players no longer have to worry about leaving their team at a numbers disadvantage once opponents reach Point B. They should be ready for battle again before their opponents reach it.

In professional Overwatch matches, especially in the Overwatch League, teams who are defending Point A avoid sending players to the point after an opponent has started capturing it and start setting up a defense on B. That’s because in the previous Overwatch version the attackers could make the defenders start Point B at a disadvantage if they delayed the elimination of one of their players in Point A. That player would take so long to respawn that attackers would go to Point B in a six-versus-five situation and easily snowball to capture it.

The Overwatch League should still take a few weeks to use the new update in its matches, so we’ll take a while to see how these changes will affect professional matches in Assault maps.

This change is in effect for all players today.