Several Overwatch heroes received changes following the PTR’s (Public Testing Region) latest update. Geoff Goodman, principal designer for Overwatch, revealed the changes in a forum post on Battle.net.
“I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on whats been going on the PTR as far as hero changes are concerned,” Goodman writes. “We just updated the build so feel free to jump on and check it out, but there is a quick change list of what’s changed in this update and in the last few days.”
As the change list reveals, the development team gave quick melee a slight reworking. Standard quick melee attacks will now cancel if the player performing them uses their Ultimate.
“The general philosophy here is that quick melee shouldn’t interrupt abilities and visa versa,” says Goodman. However, because Ultimates occur at rarer rates than other special abilities, they should be given higher priority than quick melee attacks.
Hanzo and Soldier: 76 saw specific changes to their designs as well. So far, Hanzo has shined – perhaps a little too brightly – on the testing server.
“Hanzo is feeling great on the PTR, and a lot of people have given feedback that he might now be too strong with these changes,” says Goodman. “The goal of these changes is to allow Hanzo players to feel like they have more control over their shots, and skilled Hanzo players can be much more consistent. While this is certainly true now, it might be a bit too easy to land very powerful shots with the combination of his new projectile speed and his old projectile size.”
To compensate for the increased fluidity in Hanzo’s aim and consistency, the size of his arrow projectile has been decreased by 33%.
Soldier: 76 received changes to his primary weapon also. His Heavy Pulse Rifle’s projectile spread was altered so that damage spreads sooner, but recovers more quickly as well. Goodman says this should make Soldier: 76’s more viable at greater distances:
“The net result of these changes should improve his effectiveness when burst-firing his weapon, and helps get back into a more accurate state quickly when you’ve hit max spread. The end result should increase his effectiveness at longer ranges.”
This Overwatch update is only for the PTR and features in it are subject to change; however, PC players shouldn’t let that stop them from checking it out. It is live on the PTR now, which also includes the option to play on Overwatch’s upcoming map, Eichenwalde.