‘Overwatch’ PTR Update Buffs Reaper, Tweaks D.Va and Brigitte

A new update has gone live for Overwatch’s Public Test Realm (PTR) servers and it brings with it a few generic changes with a focus on Brigitte, Reaper, and D.Va. Though this update is smaller than previous ones pushed in recent months, it’s only the beginning for much bigger changes on the horizon.

As with all PTR patch notes, Blizzard warned “Please note that the below patch notes only include changes currently available for testing on the PTR. While many of these changes will also be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a future patch, the PTR is PC-only and therefore will only reflect changes coming specifically to that platform.”

Regarding the changes specifically, check out the official patch notes below:

Brigitte

According to Blizzard: 

• Rally
  • Now has a maximum duration of 30 seconds

Developer Comments: Sometimes Rally could cause a snowballing effect where it was too difficult to deal with the increased health of Brigitte’s allies before she built up another one. This change puts a cap on how long her Rally effect can last to make it a bit more manageable in those situations.

Reaper

The studio added: 

• The Reaping
  • Life steal increased from 30% to 50% of damage dealt

Developer Comments: Reaper’s passive is one of the main tools he has which allow him to play aggressively when near his enemies. This change allows him to keep the pressure up as long as he can stay near his enemies enough to keep dealing damage. This change is particularly effective versus tanks, as they tend to do less damage than damage heroes, and also take more damage from his Hellfire Shotguns due to their larger hit volumes.

D.Va

D.Va’s changes are actually something the community has been asking about for awhile now as far as her cooldown goes. Her latest tweak includes her Defense Matrix cooldown being increased from its usual 1 second run-time to 2 seconds. The reason for this, as explained by Blizzard, “This change allows D.Va’s enemies to try to play around her Defense Matrix by increasing its downtime between uses.”

General Changes

As far as general changes go: 

• Damage reduction from armor reduced from -5 to -3

Developer Comments: Before this change armor reduced all incoming damage by up to 5, maxing at half of the normal amount. This change reduces the damage reduction to 3, while still capping at half. This change will be mostly noticeable on heroes that fire quickly or in a burst of shots (such as shotguns), and which do more than 6 damage per shot. For example, Soldier: 76’s Heavy Pulse Rifle will now do 16 damage per shot to armor, up from 14, an increase of 15%. Armor was a bit too strong overall, especially when being healed quickly and often. This change will help more heroes fight against higher armored enemies.

Thoughts on the latest PTR patch for Overwatch? What else do you hope they tackle next? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below, or hit me up over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy.