Overwatch’s New Patch Is Live, Brings Sombra, Arcade Mode, Nerfs And Buffs

Blizzard just launched Overwatch’s Patch 1.5.0.2, which adds the newest hero, Sombra, along with the new Arcade mode that features a variety of game modes, and more hero adjustments.

The biggest attraction of the new update is Sombra, the new hacker hero with a fully automatic Machine Pistol and the ability to hack and block enemy abilities,  hack health packs and Torbjorn’s turret, making them useless to her opponents. You can read more about Sombra in our earlier report.

The next new feature is the Arcade mode. This mode allows you to choose from a variety of regularly rotating game modes, maps, and rulesets that are a little different from what you get in Quick Play or Competitive Play. From 1-on-1 duels to 3-vs-3 skirmishes, you can go with the alternating selection of brawls, or special rulesets like “no hero switching.”

Additionally, it’s worth noting that the rule that was implemented for Competitive Play that only allows a hero to be chosen once per team has gone into effect for Quick Play with the update. That means no more teams of 6 Meis. However, heroes can still be selected multiple times in the 6v6 “No Limits” mode in Arcade.

Those of you with shiny new PlayStation 4 Pro consoles will also be happy to know that the patch adds PS4 Pro support for the first time.

A quick heads up for those of you into Overwatch’s Competitive Play—the second season will end on November 23, 4pm PDT (0:00 UTC). The third season begins on November 30 at 4pm PDT (0:00 UTC).

Here are some adjustments made for some of the heroes:

Ana

• Nano Boost
  • No longer increases move speed

Developer Comment: The increased speed from Ana’s Nano Boost made the ability feel unstoppable and forced Ana players to select targets that could really take advantage of the speed boost. Removing the speed boost means that Ana has a reason to apply Nano Boost to a larger variety of heroes, and enemies can fend off the attack more easily.

D.Va

• Call Mech
  • Ultimate cost has been decreased by 20%
• Mech health increased to 200 (formerly 100). Armor remains at 400
• Movement speed while firing has been increased by 25%

Developer Comment: We reduced the cost of the Call Mech ultimate ability to compensate for the increased ultimate cost across all heroes (detailed above). D.Va players shouldn’t experience a noticeable change. The rest of these changes help D.Va’s withstand attacks, which will allow her to keep pressuring enemies.

Lúcio

• Amp It Up
  • Healing per second has been decreased by 10%

Developer Comment: Lúcio’s overall healing output has always been on par with (or even higher) than Overwatch’s other healers, and his other benefits made him an almost mandatory pick.

Mei

• Blizzard
  • Ultimate cost has been increased by 15%

Developer Comment: Mei’s ultimate was recently given a much larger radius. Now it’s coming up too frequently, considering the impact it can have.

Mercy

• Passive health regeneration now activates when Mercy avoids taking damage for 1 second (formerly 3 seconds)

Developer Comment: This change allows Mercy to survive more easily by evading enemy fire.

Pharah

• Rocket Launcher
  • Minimum explosion damage has been increased by 13%
  • Minimum explosion knockback has been decreased to 0%
• Jump Jets
  • Lift increased by 35%

Developer Comment: These changes will make the explosions from Pharah’s Rocket Launcher more deadly, so hitting multiple targets should feel better. Her Jump Jets are also getting a boost to increase maneuverability while hovering.

Soldier 76

• Pulse Rifle
  • Bullet damage increased from 17 to 20
  • Maximum bullet spread increased from 2.2 to 2.4

Developer Comment: Soldier: 76’s damage felt a little low when compared to similar heroes. This increase affects both his normal fire and his ultimate.

Torbjörn

• Scrap is now automatically generated over time
• The amount of scrap collected from a fallen enemy has been decreased by 40%
• Forge Hammer
  • Swing speed increased by 25%
  • Damage decreased by 27%

Developer Comment: Armor Packs have always been a powerful tool in Torbjörn’s arsenal, but it was often difficult to gather enough scrap to give your team a legitimate boost when they needed it. Conversely, if a team held on long enough, the scrap collected from fallen enemies was often able to generate so many armor packs that enemy teams had a difficult time turning the tide. Automatically generating scrap over time helps smooth out these differences and makes Torbjörn more viable. His hammer swing speed was increased to help him construct level 2 turrets more quickly.

Widowmaker

• Venom Mine
  • Explosion no longer damages the player who placed the mine
• Widow’s Kiss
  • Charge rate increased by 20%

Developer Comment: These changes allow Widowmaker to be more flexible and reactive.

Zarya

• Particle Barrier
  • Power gained from barriers decreased by 20%
• Projected Barrier
  • Power gained from barriers decreased by 20%

Developer Comment: Considering her potential damage output, Zarya was starting to feel like a mandatory pick in most situations. Rather than reduce her damage output, this change makes achieving her maximum power and damage output slightly more difficult.

Overwatch is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can read the full patch notes here.