Big changes are on their way to Overwatch’s Public Test Region (PTR), according to Blizzard’s post on the official forums on July 18.
Most notably, Zarya and Widowmaker are receiving some pretty substantial alterations on the PTR—in addition to major adjustments for support heroes in Overwatch.
Related: The state of Overwatch’s support heroes
Zarya’s Energy drain rate has been reduced from two to 1.6 per second, while the radius on her Graviton Surge will be lowered from eight to six meters.
“With the reduced Energy drain rate, Zarya should be at higher energy on average resulting in more overall damage and quicker ultimate charge times,” Blizzard said. “We’ve also decreased the wide area of Graviton Surge, so players are more able to aid allies without being pulled in as well.”
Blizzard is also targeting the mobility of Widowmaker and Hanzo. In an effort to “slightly reduce the frequency that Widowmaker can reposition herself,” the cooldown on Grappling Hook is being increased from eight to 10 seconds. Similarly, the cooldown on Hanzo’s Lunge ability is going up to five seconds—Blizzard hopes this will “make him slightly easier to catch.”
Related: Wrecking Ball—aka Hammond—will join Overwatch next week
Other smaller changes that are coming to the PTR will impact Doomfist, Reinhardt, and Sombra. Doomfist’s Rocket Punch won’t affect Symmetra’s teleporter, but it’ll now destroy her sentry turrets “without stopping his movement.” The “decorative insignia” on Reinhardt’s Barrier Field “no longer protrudes from the shield’s surface,” while the hitbox on Sombra’s head will be reduced to make her head volume “much more accurate.”
Although these changes are just being tested on the PTR at this time, they could potentially go live in Overwatch on July 24 when the newest hero, Wrecking Ball, joins the game.
