Overwatch patch changes Mercy, Roadhog, and more

Fariha Bhatti Published 23/10/2018

A new Overwatch patch is aiming to change to change the strength of some of the game’s most popular heroes.

PTR patch 1.30 focuses on a number of hero buffs to try and balance each of them and bring them in line with the strength of the remaining hero roster. As the patch is only on the PTR server, it’s unavailable for console users.

Mercy’s ultimate cost has been reduced by 15% so that it can be used more frequently. The strength of her chain healing while her valkyrie ability is active will now do 60 points of healing per second instead of 50.

Symmetra’s primary fire now charges 20% faster, making it a bit easier to use in fast and chaotic engagements.

Roadhog has received changes to his weapon fire and ultimate to make his attacks more reliable. His scrapgun has received a spread pattern adjustment and the spread randomisation of his weapon has been reduced by 50%. His ultimate ability now has an increased knockback velocity, pushing targets back at 10 meters per second rather than eight. It also has decreased horizontal recoil, making aiming easier.

The final ability to be adjusted for Roadhog is his hook, which has received a minor rework.  The hook now causes enemy momentum to be reduced at the point of contact, and will pull in enemies faster with only a 0.3 second delay, down from 0.5. The ability cooldown now starts as soon as contact is made rather than once the target has been pulled in, which will prevent cooldown variance based on enemy distances.

Reaper’s primary fire has also been given a reduction in weapon spread randomisation by 50%. This means that each of his hits will be more consistent when aimed at the same spot. His passive ability now also has increased life steal, returning 30% of damage dealt as health to Reaper.

The patch’s final update is that the Windows 10 spatial audio setting can now be used within Overwatch, allowing players another choice in how their in-game audio is processed.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile

Read Also

Kick

Kick’s Eddie Craven Addresses Ongoing KPP Complaints and Viewbotting Khizar Mundia Several Kick streamers have taken to social media to publicly air their grievances about their KPP apparently being reduced. Kick director Ethan Wright recently responded to the complaints, and now Eddie Craven has also discussed the issue for creators. Stake-backed livestreaming platform Kick has made its place in the industry, in large part because of its higher revenue potential. While there have been one-off incidents where Kick has been criticized ...

Fortnite

Leaks Suggest That a Fortnite X One Piece Collaboration May Be Coming Hannan Mundia Fortnite has collaborated with all sorts of franchises over the years, but a potentially leaked collaboration with One Piece may be the largest yet. When it comes to games collaborating with known IPs, it’s borderline impossible to compete with Fortnite. The battle royale game has some insane collaborations under its belt, including one with Kingdom Hearts when the Square Enix IP’s popularity is at an all-time high. However, if recent ...

Kick

FaZe Banks Thinks N3on’s AI Clone Could Be Worth $100M — How AI Is Changing Streaming Khizar Mundia Rangesh “N3on” Mutama may have received widespread backlash following his decision to use an AI model for certain content, but FaZe boss Richard “Banks” Bengtson has compared the streamer to legendary TikToker Khaby Lame. N3on was recently in the limelight after viewers noticed that a GTA 6 streamer NPC resembles him. The Kick streamer wasted no time in recreating the GTA 6 Netflix Extended Look in an IRL livestream, and ...

Twitch

Twitch Is Testing An AI Stream Coach — Here’s How It Works Khizar Mundia Amazon-backed livestreaming platform Twitch is testing a new feature that will act as an AI coach for streamers, giving them personalized feedback to improve. Twitch has been playing around with several experimental features to improve things for its users. One of these includes auto clips, which was a feature that would automatically generate clips from the best moments of a stream. Another is AI-generated summaries of what happened in a ...

Twitch

Kai Cenat Talks Streamer University, Vivet, and Streaming Future Khizar Mundia Kai Cenat recently sat down with The New York Times for an interview. In a wide-ranging discussion, the Twitch streamer talked about what he looks for in Streamer University participants, and also delved into both his Vivet brand, as well as what the future holds. Kai Cenat may have gone on a break following his massively successful Mafiathon 3, but the creator returned with with a bang in Streamer University ...

League of Legends

Riot Games eyes Polymarket and Kalshi for esports sponsorships Michael Hassall Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends and VALORANT is reportedly exploring the protentional of sponsorship deals with prediction market operators including Polymarket and Kalshi, as per reports emerging late last night (Sep. 10). First reported by Cecilia D’Anastasio of Bloomberg, Riot has started conversations with the two top prediction market operators, Kalshi and Polymarket, with a view to one or both of them becoming sponsors within Riot Games’ ...

Slots

This Is How Gates of Olympus 2500 Builds On The Iconic Series Ian John Since the first Gates of Olympus slot hit casinos in 2021, the series has evolved into one of the most recognisable in the Pragmatic Play stable. The combination of scatter wins, tumbling symbols and dramatic multipliers has established a formula that has been followed in a number of sequels and spin-offs. The latest in that series is the Gates of Olympus 2500 slot, but this game takes a slightly more ...