Overwatch announces wild new Experimental patch designed by top streamers

A new Overwatch patch has just gone live on PS4, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch bringing in multiple hero changes that need to be seen to be believed.

The Overwatch developers have revealed that the next big balance patch will be designed by three of the game’s biggest streamers and there are some over-the-top changes.

Overwatch hasn’t had a big patch in awhile and now all that has changed thanks to three Twitch streamers: Flats, Violet and Somjuu with each balancing DPS, tank and support heroes.

Some of the changes include increasing the size of D.Va’s Defense Matrix, letting Roadhog lift himself into the air with Wholehog, letting Hanzo’s Storm Arrows bounce of walls, letting Ana Nano herself and letting Zen’s Discord Orb apply to barriers.

It should be noted, however, that due to the ridiculousness of some of these changes, the devs have no plans to actually implement these into the live game.

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However, if the April Fools patch is any indication, there is always a chance that some of these updates could actually find their way into the game.

The card will also feature a tournament for players to sign-up for and partake in on December 10 with as much as $5,000 on the line for first place in North America.

CREATOR EXPERIMENTAL UPDATE

In this limited-edition Experimental Card, we will feature over-the-top balance changes coming directly from Overwatch content creators. Each creator will submit changes for any of the heroes within their role. Here are the first Creator Experimental Card participants responsible for each of the role changes:

Violet—Support Heroes

Flats—Tank Heroes

Somjuu—DPS Heroes

Be sure to read up on the patch notes, jump into the game, and practice with your team to prepare for the Creator Cup tournament! Hop on over to the Overwatch Flash Ops: Experimental Card Creator Cup page to learn more and sign up!

HERO UPDATES

 

TANKS

D.Va
Defense Matrix

• Size increased by 10%

Boosters

• Duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds
• Speed increased by 25%

General

• Ejecting out of the mech now ejects you at 15 meters per second up, and 10 meters per second in the direction you are holding
• Pilot D.Va quick melee damage increased from 30 to 100

Orisa
Protective Barrier

• Health reduced from 600 to 300
• Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds

Fusion Driver

• No longer slowed while firing

Fortify

• Duration increased from 4 to 6 seconds
• Can now be headshot while using Fortify

Halt

• Cooldown reduced from 6 to 4 seconds
• Health changed from 200 health and 250 armor, to 1 health and 399 armor

General

• Now wears a Christmas hat

Reinhardt
Barrier Field

• Health increased from 1600 to 2000

Fire Strike

• Damage reduced from 100 to 80
• Now has 2 charges
• Projectile speed increased by 100%

Earthshatter

• Knockdown duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds
• Now deals 400 damage in a 1.5m radius around the impact point (where the hammer hits the ground)
• Blocking an enemy Earthshatter now plays the voice line “You shame yourself”
• Blocking an enemy Earthshatter now shows up in the kill feed (using Rein’s shield icon)

Steadfast

• Knockback resistance increased from 30% to 40%
• Armor health increased from 200 to 225 (total health 525 now)

Roadhog
Chain Hook

• Impact damage increased from 30 to 80
• Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6

Take a Breather

• Healing reduced from 300 to 250

Whole Hog

• Now lifts Roadhog while using it if he is pointed downward
• Scrap Cannon pellet damage reduced from 6.6 to 5.0
• Maximum health reduced from 600 to 500

Sigma
Experimental Barrier

• This ability is now disabled. It is experimental after all…

Accretion

• Impact damage increased from 30 to 40
• Explosion damage increased from 40 to 50
• Now susceptible to Reflect/Deflect abilities, such as Defense Matrix
• Sigma now uses his “Yes” voice line after every use

Kinetic Grasp

• Cooldown reduced from 12 to 8 seconds
• Now increases Sigma’s movement speed by 100% while active

General

• Sigma is now able to hold Jump while airborne to slow his descent
• Health increased from 300 to 400 (500 total)

Winston
Jump Pack

• Now deals up to 100 damage to enemies within 4 meters of the launch location
• Travel speed increased by 30%

Primal Rage

• Health bonus increased from 500 to 1000
• Knockback effects are now 30% less effective against Winston

General

• Winston deals 100% more damage to deployable objects (Barriers, Turrets, etc.)

Wrecking Ball
Grappling Claw

• Max duration is now 3.5s

Roll (Ball Form)

• Jump height increased by 100%
• Full speed impact damage on collisions reduced from 50 to 40
• Can now change directions a lot more quickly and easily

Piledriver

• Minimum damage reduced from 20 to 15
• Maximum damage reduced from 100 to 80
• Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds
• Can now be used from a slightly lower height

Adaptive Shield

• Shield granted per target reduced from 75 to 50
• Duration increased from 9 to 12 seconds
• Cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds

Zarya
Particle Cannon

• Alt fire explosions no longer hurt yourself
• Alt fire knockback increased by 150%
• Primary fire minimum damage increased from 75 to 85 damage per second

Particle Barrier & Projected Barrier

• Health increased from 200 to 250
• Size increased by 50%

DAMAGE

Ashe
Coach Gun

• Now has 2 charges

Dynamite

• Cooldown increased from 12 to 14 seconds

The Viper (Weapon)

• Hip fire recovery reduced from 0.25 to 0.22 seconds
• Aim-down-sight movement penalty reduced from 30% to 10%

Cassidy

Fan the Hammer

• Damage increased from 50 to 55

Combat Roll

• Now usable while airborne

Flashbang

• Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds

Deadeye

• Now spawns more tumbleweeds. Mind the thorns.

Bastion
Configuration: Recon

• Bullet spread reduced by 15%

Configuration: Tank

• Now grants 100 bonus armor

Doomfist
The Best Defense… (Passive)

• Shields gained through normal abilities increased from 30 to 40

Meteor Strike

• Landing time after confirmation reduced from 1 to 0.5 seconds

General

• Health reduced from 250 to 225

Genji
Cyber-Agility

• Wall Climbing speed increased by 50%
• Wall Climbing now refunds Double Jump’s availability

Shuriken (Weapon)

• Recovery reduced from 0.68 to 0.6 seconds

Hanzo
Storm Arrows

• Now ricochet off surfaces up to 5 times

Lunge

• Cooldown reduced from 5 to 3 seconds

Junkrat
Total Mayhem

• Grenade count increased by 100% and grenades drop in a 30% wider area

Frag Launcher (Weapon)

• Impact damage reduced from 40 to 30
• Minimum explosion damage reduced from 10 to 8

Concussion Mine

• Maximum damage increased from 120 to 125
• Minimum damage reduced from 30 to 25

Pharah
Hover Jets

• Holding Crouch while airborne increases falling speed

Concussive Blast

• Cooldown reduced from 9 to 8 seconds

Jump Jet

• Cooldown reduced from 10 to 9 seconds

Reaper
Shadow Step

• Movement Speed increased by 40% for 6 seconds after ending

Hellfire Shotguns (Weapon)

• Pellet spread reduced by 15%

Soldier: 76
Sprint

• Automatically reloads Heavy Pulse Rifle after 3 seconds of continuous use

Tactical Visor

• Now increases Heavy Pulse Rifle damage by 10% while active

Sombra
Hack

• Affected targets now take 20% increased damage from all sources for 3 seconds
• Cooldown increased from 8 to 12 seconds

Machine Pistol

• Bullet spread reduced by 10%

Symmetra
Teleporter

• Teleporting now increases movement speed by 50% for 1.5 seconds

Torbjörn
Rivet Gun (Weapon)

• Recovery time reduced from 0.6 to 0.45 seconds

Forge Hammer (Alternate Weapon)

• Damage increased from 55 to 75

Overload

• Now increases Forge Hammer damage to 125 while active

Turret

• Damage reduced from 14 to 11

Tracer
Recall

• Now restores all Blink charges
• Cooldown increased from 12 to 14 seconds

Pulse Pistols (Weapon)

• Ammo increased from 40 to 50

Widowmaker
Widow’s Kiss (Weapon)

• Automatic fire minimum damage after falloff increased from 3.9 to 5
• Automatic fire maximum damage increased from 13 to 15

Infra-Sight

• Now resets Grappling Hook’s cooldown

SUPPORT

Ana
Sleep Dart

• Eliminating sleeping targets resets the cooldown

Nano Boost

• Now applied to Ana when used without a target

Baptiste
Biotic Launcher

• Healing Grenades now affect Baptiste as well

Regenerative Burst

• Now damages enemies instead of healing allies

Exo-Boots

• Now deals 40 damage to enemies within 4 meters upon landing

Brigitte
Inspire

• No longer heals allies. Instead, triggering Inspire now reduces the cooldown of Repair Pack by 0.5 seconds

Repair Pack

• Charges increased from 3 to 5

Lucio
Sound Barrier

• Cost reduced by 30%
• Now deals massive damage to enemies Lucio lands directly on top of

Sonic Amplifier (Weapon)

• Fire rate increased by 15% while Wall Riding. After 1 second of Wall Riding, this bonus is reduced by 50%

Mercy
Valkyrie

• Killing Blows extend the duration by 3 seconds

Caduceus Staff

• Healing now reduces from 55 HPS to 40 HPS over 2 seconds while connected
• Healing returns to its normal HPS over 2 seconds while not active

Resurrect

• Can now be canceled by using Secondary Fire while channeling, refunding 50% of its cooldown

Moira
Biotic Grasp

• Biotic Grasp’s healing now consumes Moira’s own health if used while out of energy

Fade

• Now Cleanses status effects from players Moira passes through and allied players that are around her when it ends

Biotic Orb

• Allies that receive at least 100 healing from the same Biotic Orb are cleansed of all status effects
• Enemies that suffer at least 100 damage from the same Biotic Orb are slowed by 30% for 1.5 seconds

Zenyatta
Discord Orb

• Damage amplification reduced from 25% to 20%
• Can now be applied to Barriers, Turrets, and other attackable objects
• No longer reveals the position of its target through line of sight
• Line of sight return time reduced from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Harmony Orb

• Line of sight return time reduced from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Transcendence

• Total healing reduced from 1800 to 1200
• Now applies Discord Orb to nearby enemies