Overwatch Aug 5 update buffs Soldier, Genji, Roadhog & more: patch notes

A new Overwatch patch just went live on PC, PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch consoles, bringing in a bunch of buffs to multiple heroes.

The big winner of the patch seems to be Genji, who, despite having his primary fire damage increased by just one, becomes a lot more lethal with certain combos.

Thanks to the improved damage break points the extra bit of damage does, it ends up actually helping him quite a bit, and anyone who mains the cyborg ninja should really take advantage of his newfound lethality.

Soldier 76 is also becoming more of a threat, especially for Pharah with his own damage increase. While his Biotic Field healing has been reduced to compensate, anyone who can land shots with Soldier should find themselves securing more frags.

Elsewhere, Roadhog has received a very Overwatch 2 inspired change. In Overwatch 2, tanks will generate less ultimate charge when shot at and now, Roadhog will be giving foes 25% less when they damage him.

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Now, Roadhog players should feel better about body blocking or face-tanking oncoming fire, making him more of a meat shield for his team – not to mention, his survivability increases in some fights with enemies gaining less ultimate charge to use ultimates on him.

Wrecking Ball is getting a bit of a nerf buff, in the form of Grapple automatically being on a cool down when he spawns. This change should make him way less oppressive at stalling objectives, but his Adaptive Shields last slightly longer to compensate.

It will be interesting to see how these changes affect the meta, especially with Overwatch League playoffs play-ins beginning at the end of August.

Full patch notes:

Doomfist

Meteor Strike

• Now speeds up the cooldown rate of his abilities by 100% while in the air

Developer Comments: The accelerated cooldown times will enable more fluidity with setting up Doomfist’s combos when using the Meteor Strike ultimate.

Genji

Shuriken

• Damage increased from 28 to 29

Dragonblade

• Damage reduced from 120 to 110

Developer Comments: The Shuriken damage increase doesn’t sound like a lot but it crosses a threshold or “breakpoint” against some enemy targets, enabling them to be eliminated with one less attack landed. To help balance out this increased power for his primary weapon we’re reducing the damage of the Dragonblade ultimate, which is also a breakpoint against some targets when being damage boosted.

Moira

Biotic Grasp

• Self-healing increased from 20 to 24 health per second

Developer Comments: Moira has recently been underperforming a little bit. This increase to her self-healing with Biotic Grasp will help improve her survivability while in range to recharge her healing resources.

Roadhog

General

• Enemies now generate 25% less Ultimate Charge from damage dealt to Roadhog

Developer Comments: Roadhog tanks for his allies by being a large and threatening target with high durability which draws a lot of fire from the enemy team. We’re reducing the amount of ultimate charge he provides to better enable him in this role without as much of a downside for his own team.

Soldier: 76

Heavy Pulse Rifle

• Damage increased from 19 to 20

Biotic Field

• Healing reduced from 40 to 35 health per second

Developer Comments: The damage-per-shot for the Heavy Pulse Rifle has been adjusted several times now as it’s an important tuning breakpoint for Soldier: 76. It was last reduced when his weapon spread was replaced by recoil to help account for the increased accuracy potential, though with the recent reductions to his damage falloff at long range, it’s reasonable to increase his damage output once again while pulling some power out of his area-of-effect healing utility.

Wrecking Ball

Grappling Claw

• Now begins on cooldown after respawning

Adaptive Shield

• Cast time reduced from 0.2 seconds to 0 seconds
• Duration increased from 7 to 9 seconds

Minefield

• Proximity mines no longer stick to walls

Developer Comments: Wrecking Ball is the fastest hero in the game which works well for his disruptive playstyle. However, to help reduce his contribution to objective stalling, his Grappling Claw ability will now start on cooldown upon respawning. Proximity mines will no longer attach to walls as it resulted in accidental bunched up placements, out of range from most enemy targets, more often than any intentional clever uses.