Upcoming major hero changes PTR patch

[NoiseTank13]

I'm actually surprised Winston has had no changes. He fails as a tank. They nerfed his bubble absorbing and cd at the very start yet rein still has hours big ass shield that absorbs what? 4x more AND regenerates and he does more damage with almost the same range

The only use he has is the sniper counter or the occasionally bad genji who doesn't know how to out range winston

I'm giving Blizz the benefit of the doubt here, they said they want to use PTR to test more zany things out, and obviously you don't shake the whole damn thing up otherwise you'll never get good data, so I'm not upset they didn't put the Sym changes or change anyone else.

These particularly changes look purely numerical rather than functions. "Would Soldier lose the 'poor man's McCree' title if we buff his damage?"

[Graeham]

The damage buffs to Soldier seem insane.

They're sorely needed and I hope that they stick. He's pretty versatile and fun to play but he ends up competing with McCree who just hits that much harder and has a 'better' ultimate. 76's ultimate isn't useless but up against a competent team it's pretty easily countered and not too much of a threat.

Him hitting harder is a good thing - especially in a game that insists on letting 'tank' characters dish out a ridiculous amount of damage.

[NoiseTank13]

76's main thing is he feeds enemy support ults a bit too much. His damage wasn't bad, persay, but compared to McCrees "bang-bang yer dead terrorist" it was inferior. Dead allies give no healer ult charge.

[Very Tired]

The Mei buffs are delicious~

+Activation speed on Blizzard
+Radius size on Blizzard

The D.Va buffs are decent.

The damage buffs to Soldier seem insane.

I still think that Genji could use some touch ups of some sort.

Junkrat I feel needs to be nerfed really hard.

I feel Pharah needs to have a velocity increase on her primary rockets. The lead time you need on them is pretty insane.

Junkrat is actually in the F tier range, so nerfs are probably the last thing you can expect to see for him. Highly likely he will actually be getting more buffs in the future.

[Mormolyce]

Re: Winston I don't know why they wouldn't just buff his HP. They buffed D.Va's and she needed it far less than he does.

76's main thing is he feeds enemy support ults a bit too much. His damage wasn't bad, persay, but compared to McCrees "bang-bang yer dead terrorist" it was inferior. Dead allies give no healer ult charge.

I dunno about that, McCree's ulti is considerably easier to dodge. But overall people viewed McCree as a better S76 so I think buffs are justified. Currently his assault rifle hits like a pop gun.

Junkrat is actually in the F tier range, so nerfs are probably the last thing you can expect to see for him. Highly likely he will actually be getting more buffs in the future.

What makes you say that?

[Hctaz]

The Mei buffs are delicious~

+Activation speed on Blizzard
+Radius size on Blizzard

The D.Va buffs are decent.

The damage buffs to Soldier seem insane.

I still think that Genji could use some touch ups of some sort.

Junkrat I feel needs to be nerfed really hard.

I feel Pharah needs to have a velocity increase on her primary rockets. The lead time you need on them is pretty insane.

Did they actually buff the range and activation? They are not on the official patch notes. Also Genji needs buffs not nerfs. Mainly just his double jump after wall climbing back. I think he's fine other than that.

[Shadow Fox]

Did they actually buff the range and activation? They are not on the official patch notes. Also Genji needs buffs not nerfs. Mainly just his double jump after wall climbing back. I think he's fine other than that.

A lot of the changes arn't in the patch notes.

[Hctaz]

A lot of the changes arn't in the patch notes.

Are you sure? Literally everything else is in the patch notes. It's probably just placebo effect. That shit happened in Smash 4 all the time during patches.

[Very Tired]

Re: Winston I don't know why they wouldn't just buff his HP. They buffed D.Va's and she needed it far less than he does.



I dunno about that, McCree's ulti is considerably easier to dodge. But overall people viewed McCree as a better S76 so I think buffs are justified. Currently his assault rifle hits like a pop gun.



What makes you say that?

He's F tier range? Less than 5% use in high ranking competitive matches. Slow moving projectiles and abilities that don't scale well at higher skill levels.

[Mormolyce]

He's F tier range? Less than 5% use in high ranking competitive matches. Slow moving projectiles and abilities that don't scale well at higher skill levels.

Oh, top tier play. So like, a fraction of a percent of all games.

I'm unsure what Blizzard's actual policy is re: balance. To me it would make a lot more sense to balance around average play levels than the top tiers of competitive. Junkrat is very effective there.

[Shadow Fox]

I'd still prefer the Hit Registration to be resolved before balance change, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

20hz (tick rates) is godawful.

[Pendulous]

Good news, Blizzard will revert pilot D.va's ult charge to normal, before the 25% nerf, so she can still get her mech back in the same amount of time.

[xChurch]

I'd still prefer the Hit Registration to be resolved before balance change, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

20hz (tick rates) is godawful.

I'm pretty sure they changed it to 60hz not to long ago.

[Very Tired]

Oh, top tier play. So like, a fraction of a percent of all games.

I'm unsure what Blizzard's actual policy is re: balance. To me it would make a lot more sense to balance around average play levels than the top tiers of competitive. Junkrat is very effective there.

Yeah pretty much. I think from my experience from WoW they balance everything from the top levels of play, regardless of how fair or underpowered it may be for everyone else (the majority of people). Which makes sense to do after all if you want your game to be taken seriously as a E-Sport which Blizz is dropping strong hints they do.

Unless they want to leave the hero as is and just admit X hero shouldn't be picked at all in any serious high level match, but as far as I can tell they are going with the "no hero left behind" strategy. Which also makes a bit of sense. After all, this game is built on counters and you don't want to give whoever Junkrat or Soldier counters an easier time just because they're not viable at all.

[Shadow Fox]

I'm pretty sure they changed it to 60hz not to long ago.

Only for Ranked and Tournaments I had read, and those where 40hz?

Anycase, it's still terrible and needs to be resolved.

157,000 pages worth of complaints and tests on Overwatch Hit Registration system.

[Mormolyce]

Yeah pretty much. I think from my experience from WoW they balance everything from the top levels of play, regardless of how fair or underpowered it may be for everyone else (the majority of people). Which makes sense to do after all if you want your game to be taken seriously as a E-Sport which Blizz is dropping strong hints they do.

Unless they want to leave the hero as is and just admit X hero shouldn't be picked at all in any serious high level match, but as far as I can tell they are going with the "no hero left behind" strategy. Which also makes a bit of sense. After all, this game is built on counters and you don't want to give whoever Junkrat or Soldier counters an easier time just because they're not viable at all.

That's certainly true of WoW, I don't know if they'd apply the same thinking to OW though.

Anyway, I wouldn't object to Junkrat buffs, I've played a lot of him this season :P

[OnlineSamantha]

Only for Ranked and Tournaments I had read, and those where 40hz?

Anycase, it's still terrible and needs to be resolved.

157,000 pages worth of complaints and tests on Overwatch Hit Registration system.

No, they've changed all PC games to have a 60 Hz tick rate (I think it's actually 63 Hz). Only consoles have a 20 Hz tick rate now.

[ati87]

Junkrat is actually in the F tier range, so nerfs are probably the last thing you can expect to see for him. Highly likely he will actually be getting more buffs in the future.

Junkrat isn't F-tier because he is weak...it's because other hero's are better overall when you form a group of wellrounded and balanced hero's.

Doesn't mean that either Junkrat or that other needs a nerf or a buff, its just how the meta is right now.

Sym on the other hand is weak and only works against brain-death teams.
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Also Zarya needs a lower cooldown on her barriers (adjust her accordingly) because for a tank hero she really can't take or prevent a punch.

[shammypie]

Junkrat isn't F-tier because he is weak...it's because other hero's are better overall when you form a group of wellrounded and balanced hero's.

Doesn't mean that either Junkrat or that other needs a nerf or a buff, its just how the meta is right now.

Sym on the other hand is weak and only works against brain-death teams.
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Also Zarya needs a lower cooldown on her barriers (adjust her accordingly) because for a tank hero she really can't take or prevent a punch.

except zayra is a top tier tank right now. high damage and versatility.

[Woobels]

Junkrat isn't F-tier because he is weak...it's because other hero's are better overall when you form a group of wellrounded and balanced hero's.

Doesn't mean that either Junkrat or that other needs a nerf or a buff, its just how the meta is right now.

Sym on the other hand is weak and only works against brain-death teams.
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Also Zarya needs a lower cooldown on her barriers (adjust her accordingly) because for a tank hero she really can't take or prevent a punch.

Hahahaha Zarya needs BUFFS? Are you insane?

Zarya is probably the one hero I'd say needs either significant nerfs or changes because her existance makes it so you can't play half the hero roster, this was a step in the right direction.

The notes sound really good, hopefully they work out.

The Ana-boost ult nerf was good too, hopefully this means 3X3 gets played less.