Latest Overwatch Patch Update Comes With New Gameplay and a Ton of Bug Fixes

The latest event in Overwatch is now live and in case you missed our previous coverage showing off all of the new skins, there are more than a few reasons to get back into the game! New skins, new mode, new lore … it’s fantastic!

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With a new event however comes a few key fixes. Blizzard has just updated their patch notes for their beloved FPS and it brings with it not only new gameplay for fans of the title, but also a few critical bug fixes as well. Because the patch is so big, we’re just going to jump right into what’s new, and what’s different, in the world of our favourite heroes:

New Seasonal Event: Overwatch Archives 2018

Experience pivotal moments from history in Overwatch Archives. Join a team of four heroes and participate in cooperative, story-driven missions that give a new perspective on the era before the fall of Overwatch.

This year, take command of the agents of Blackwatch and face off against Talon in an exciting new brawl, Retribution. Players also get a second chance to stop an omnic insurrection as last year’s Uprising mission returns for a rematch. You’ll earn Archives Loot Boxes as you play, unlocking new cosmetics based on moments from Overwatch’s past including legendary skins like Blackwatch Moira, Scion Hanzo, Soldier: 24 Reaper, Talon Doomfist, Specimen 28 Winston, and more.

GENERAL UPDATES

General

Players can choose to “Avoid as Teammate” with a dropdown menu in the Career Profile

Developer Comments: The addition of the “Avoid as Teammate” option gives players the ability to craft their online gameplay experience. Up to two players can be selected with this feature. If you use the “Avoid as Teammate” option on a player, the matchmaker will no longer place you on a team with the avoided player for one week. To learn more about this feature, click here 69.

[PS4/XB1] Voice Chat Mode

An option to toggle Voice Chat Mode has been added under Options > Sound

Report Menu

The “Poor Teamwork” dropdown menu option has been removed
The “Griefing” dropdown menu option has been renamed “Gameplay Sabotage”

Developer Comments: Due to player confusion about the most appropriate category to report players for poor or toxic gameplay, we are removing the Poor Teamwork option from the reporting system. Players should instead use the Gameplay Sabotage option when players actively harass or disrupt their own team with game mechanics or their actions. Players should not be reported simply for performing poorly, since everyone occasionally has a bad game.

Heroes

Sombra’s “Enemies Hacked” commendation card now also displays her offensive assists
Brigitte’s Golden Weapon variant will now also give her a golden shield
Changed Mercy’s Valkyrie voice line

HERO UPDATES

Brigitte

Barrier Shield

An option to “Toggle Barrier” has been added under Options > Controls > Brigitte

D.Va

Micro Missiles

Explosive damage reduced from 6 to 4

Boosters

Impact damage reduced from 25 to 10

Developer Comments: D.Va’s burst potential is a bit too high, so we’re reducing the damage of her Micro Missiles and Boosters impact. Prior to this change, each missile dealt 3 impact damage and 6 explosive damage. We’re reducing explosive damage from 6 to 4 but leaving the impact damage the same, the net result being 21% damage reduction.

McCree

Added additional voice lines for Lifeguard McCree

Mei

Endothermic Blaster

Now pierces through enemies

Developer Comments: This change helps Mei combat multiple targets that are clumped up and makes it easier for her to keep freezing a specific target if another enemy gets in the way. This change also helps her ultimate more consistently freeze enemy targets, especially if they are near each other. Note: While her shots now pierce enemies, they still do not pierce barriers such as Reinhardt’s shield.

Reaper

Death Blossom

Reloads Hellfire Shotguns after use

Wraith Form

Move speed bonus increased from 25% to 50%
You can now cancel the ability by pressing the Shift or Primary Fire hotkey

Developer Comments: These changes help Reaper use Wraith Form more consistently as an escape, but they also open up new options, such as chasing down key targets.

Moira

Biotic Grasp

Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Coalescence

Now becomes more transparent the closer its visual effects are to a player’s camera

Fade

Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Developer’s Comment: Due to issues with visibility, we have made most of Moira’s visual effects fade away the closer they are to the camera. We have also made modifications to Coalescence to greatly increase the ability for foes and allies alike to see through it when facing it.

Zenyatta

Orb of Destruction

Secondary fire rate of fire reduced by 15%

Developer Comments: Zenyatta is meant to be able to deal a lot of damage, especially for a support, but his alternate fire burst damage was a bit too high. This change keeps the overall damage the same but lowers the DPS slightly and makes it harder to hit multiple shots at very long ranges.

GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES UPDATES

General

Lockout Elimination cards in the Arcade are now just referred to as Elimination
Added Ayutthaya to the map rotation in 3v3 Elimination game modes

MAP UPDATES

Blizzard World

Moved the first payload checkpoint (Pylon Terrace) back 10 meters

Developer Comments: We moved the checkpoint back for two reasons. The original location swung the map’s balance too far in one direction (favoring the defenders). Also, once the payload reached the checkpoint, defenders returning from spawn could get pinned in this area, usually resulting in their death.

Hollywood

Corrected the spelling on a poster from Thespian 4.0 to Thespion 4.0

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

General

Heroes can now be selected by double-clicking the hero icon during Hero Select
Added leaderboard information to the competitive information screen. This can be accessed by right-clicking the menu on the competitive card
Simplified Hero Select tips for roles

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed a bug that caused camera movement to be jittery when players ran against a moving ramp
Fixed a bug that prevented oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers in spawn rooms from propelling after taking damage

Fixed a bug that caused bots to attempt running outside of the spawn room before the match began on Assault/Escort maps

Heroes

Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s sidearm from displaying golden coloration from her Golden weapon when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from firing projectiles immediately after going into Tank configuration
Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from being knocked back while transforming during Configuration: Tank
Fixed a bug that caused Ganymede’s tail feathers to be cropped during Bastion’s Toast Victory Pose
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s Gatling gun barrel to disappear if he took damage while reloading in Sentry mode
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to not animate or play sound effects when transforming from Recon to Sentry mode while trapped inside Zarya’s Graviton Surge
Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to emit blood instead of oil visual effects when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s impact effects from playing when hitting the environment
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s aim to be slightly offset after using Shield Bash
Fixed a bug that caused details to detach from Brigitte’s Rocket Flail when she swung it
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hero portrait on voice line icons to have low resolution when unlocked from Loot Boxes
Fixed a bug that caused team names on Brigitte’s armor to distort when Overwatch League skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hand to clip through her head when her Hilarious emote was used
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail and melee sound effects to stop playing after a few strikes
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s shield to emit blood visual effects
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail to not cast a shadow when using her Cheer emote
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s flag to disappear and abruptly reappear during Rally when using her Rocket Flail
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s High Five spray to have a transparent square in her torso
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Excelsior decal to fragment in unintended areas
Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s foot, leg, and shield to clip into the ground during her Defender highlight
Fixed a bug that caused a player’s camera to jitter when spectating Doomfist during his Meteor Strike
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike from landing where it was telegraphed when standing close to a ledge
Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to access unintended locations
Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to penetrate angled surfaces as he descended
Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from impacting enemies
Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to face the wrong direction during her default victory pose when posed to the left of her MEKA
Fixed a bug that caused the glass window of D.Va’s cockpit to distort when her Palanquin skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented the triangle texture on D’Va’s MEKA control stick from glowing when her Officer skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s dagger from displaying golden coloration from his Golden weapon when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat from being knocked back while piloting his RIP-Tire
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s skin textures to have a visible seam
Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s Ornament spray to appear at a low resolution
Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio’s shoulder strap to clip into his shoulder when during his Medal victory pose
Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Peacekeeper to grow substantially during the hero select screen when certain skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused the symmetry of McCree’s collar to distort when the Van Helsing skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot through Mei’s Ice Wall when trapped behind it
Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s The Witch spray to appear at low resolution
Fixed a bug that caused a hero to unavailable to pick in the Hero Select screen if the dead player had the Hero Select screen open after selecting a new hero
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to float outside the Attacker spawn room in Dorado before the beginning of a match
Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to pass through Mei’s Ice Wall
Fixed a bug that allowed Orisa’s Halt! to sometimes affect enemy targets behind walls
Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Earthshatter visual effects to display after it was interrupted by Sombra’s EMP
Fixed a bug that caused the camera to clip through the floor during Soldier: 76’s Light’s Out highlight
Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Photon Projector beam to move plants erratically on Ayutthaya
Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s non-cybernetic arm to have a gap along its seam
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn to wipe his face with his hammer in his hand during his Refreshing highlight when certain skins were equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn’s to emit the sounds effects of his default skin when his Magni skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Alliance and Horde emotes to animate at a slow framerate
Fixed an issue with Tracer’s neck animation during her Bomb Spin emote
Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Recall to activate differently based on the player’s latency
Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s wrist twist during his Glasses highlight intro
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s legs to clip into each other during her Casual victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s Particle Cannon would clip into her torso during her Check Out This Gun victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented textures on Zarya’s nails from loading if an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that prevented the Zarya’s logo textures to flicker when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s Orb of Destruction to appear it fired from his chest if he used his melee ability immediately following a fully charged Orb of Destruction

Competitive Play

Fixed a bug that prevented the two-minute leaver warning from appearing in chat during off-season games
Fixed a bug that caused ungrouped players under level 25 that clicked on the Competitive Play option to receive the error message, “All Group Members Must Be Level 25”

Ayutthaya

Fixed a bug that caused certain hero abilities to glow blindingly bright
Fixed a bug that caused certain textures to not load
Fixed a bug that caused shadows to appear where they shouldn’t on the terrain
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on top of doorways
Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to shoot enemies exiting their spawn room

Blizzard World

Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to fly indefinitely when falling against the Pylon in the StarCraft II area
Fixed a bug that allowed turrets to be built and hidden inside vines
Fixed a bug that allowed players could stand on a ledge above the spawn room outside the Diablo area
Fixed a bug that caused players to get stuck between a column and bush in the StarCraft II area

Dorado

Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to get stuck between a table and corner inside a building while using Seismic Slam
Fixed a bug that prevented an interior windows on the last point from blocking abilities (e.g. D.Va’s Self Destruct)
Fixed a bug that allowed small heroes to use decorative pipes and avoid taking damage

Eichenwalde

Fixed a bug that allowed sprays to be applied to the spawn door behind walls

Hanamura

Fixed a bug that allowed Mei’s Ice Wall to reach unintended locations
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a doorway ledge
Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to regain Jump Jet fuel at an increased rate on the second point

Hollywood

Fixed a bug that caused Pharah’s wingtips to poke through walls

Ilios

Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles to pass through rubble

Junkertown

Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her turrets inside a wall
Fixed a bug that prevented turrets from being built on a television if it was damaged

Lijiang Tower

Fixed a bug that caused Winston to clip through outdoor walls and take damage

Nepal

Fixed a bug that caused some textures to not load
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a rock in an unintended area
Fixed a bug that prevented a control point hologram from activating after the start of a match
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a ledge in an unintended area
Fixed a bug that caused the bell tower to hover

Numbani

Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to shoot grenades through a closed spawn door
Fixed a bug that caused large heroes to get stuck between chairs in the spawn room

Oasis

Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on library archways

Volskaya

Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on some ledges
Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot projectiles through the ceiling
Fixed a bug that allowed the Custom Game spectator camera to escape the intended play area
Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on an invisible ledge

Watchpoint: Gibralter