Overwatch Update Adds New Hero Sigma, Role Queue System, And Latest Hero Adjustments

Overwatch’s latest update has brought its new hero Sigma as well as the new Role Queue system that makes players choose from a role of tank, support, or damage before jumping into a match.

Check out the above trailer for a look at Sigma. You can also check out previous report to read more about the new hero.

As for the Role Queue, the new matchmaking system guarantees to match two tanks, two supports, and two damage heroes per team, and players can only select heroes within their chosen roles. Following the match, players must select a role again before entering another game. Players are also rewarded for queuing for roles that are currently in high demand.

Check out the latest hero updates for Patch 1.39.1.0 below:

Ashe

• Reload time per round decreased from 0.3 to 0.25 seconds.

Developer Comment: Ashe’s full reload time felt overly restrictive. However, a long reload time is intended to balance out the power of her gun, so we want to be careful not to eliminate that completely.

Brigitte

Inspire (Passive)

• Healing amount increased from 100 to 130
• Self-healing from Inspire is now halved

Repair Pack

• Now has 3 charges
• Healing amount changed from 150 to 120
• Now heals over 2 seconds instead of instantly
• If you throw multiple packs at the same person, the current duration will be extended by 2 seconds

Whip Shot

• Out-going velocity increased from 60 to 80
• Retracting time reduced from 0.6 seconds to 0.3

Barrier Shield

• Barrier health reduced from 500 to 200

Shield Bash

• Stun duration reduced from 0.9 seconds to 0.75

Rally

• Ultimate cost increased 10%

Developer Comment: The goal of these changes is to make Brigitte more of a primary healer for your team, at the cost of weakening her survivability. Since Brigitte will now be only one of two support heroes for your team, it is important that she can provide enough healing to be valuable in that role.

D.Va

Call Mech

• Pilot ultimate cost reduced by 12%

Developer Comment: This change is just meant to counteract the global increase in ultimate cost. The time it takes to generate a D.Va’s ultimate when out of her mech should remain the same as it was before this update.

Doomfist

Melee

• Quick melee no longer pauses ammo reload.

Developer Comment: This is a quality of life change which allows Doomfist to more freely use Quick Melee as part of his combos, without feeling punished for it.

Hanzo

Storm Arrows

• Storm Arrows ammo reduced from 6 to 5

Developer Comment: The overall damage output of Storm Arrows was too high so we’re reducing the maximum number of shots.

Orisa

Protective Barrier

• Cooldown increased from 8 seconds to 9

Developer Comment: A common point of feedback for playing against Orisa was that it doesn’t feel useful to shoot the barrier as it comes back so quickly. Increasing the cooldown of Protective Barrier will make destroying it more rewarding.

Reinhardt

New Passive: “Steadfast”

• Reduces knock back effects by 30%

Developer Comment: As a frontline, melee-range tank Reinhardt was more adversely affected by knock back abilities than most heroes. To reduce some of this frustration and enable Reinhardt to more easily fulfill his role, he is now more resistant to being knocked back.

Sombra

Hack

• Duration on enemy players reduced from 6 to 5 seconds

EMP

• Activation time increased from 0.2 to 0.35 seconds

Developer Comment: Hack is a potent disabling ability with a long duration. Reducing the duration slightly will make it feel less oppressive as the hacked player without greatly reducing its effectiveness. The increased activation time on EMP allows for more time to react and opens up more counterplay opportunities for the opposing team.

Symmetra

Teleporter

• Now lasts an infinite duration until destroyed
• Players can destroy their Teleporter with the ability 2 input
• Cooldown now starts when Teleporter is destroyed
• Maximum range increased from 25 to 30 meters
• Teleporter is destroyed if the entrance is more than 40 meters from the exit

Developer Comment: Symmetra’s Teleporter is an interesting tool but often felt too restricting to use. Making the Teleporter last indefinitely opens up new opportunities for how Symmetra is used in various maps and group compositions.

Tracer

Pulse Bomb

• Damage increased from 300 to 350

Developer Comment: Pulse Bomb was reduced in power some time ago to make sure it was not overly punishing to Tanks, which are much easier to stick the bomb to. While this is still a goal, we’re restoring some of this lost power to help deal with other hefty targets such as Bastion, or enemies with bonus armor from Brigitte.

Wrecking Ball

Minefield

• Increased projectile speed from 10 to 12, causing the mines to spread out more
• Reduced the activation time from 0.25 to 0.1 seconds

Developer Comment: Wrecking Ball has a very active playstyle, but it often felt difficult to make good use out of his ultimate. This change allows him to spread out his Minefield further if he wants (especially from high in the air), while still allowing for a tighter cluster if he activates it near the ground.

Read the full patch notes here.

Overwatch is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.