A new patch is live on Overwatch retail servers, and it brings some changes to the Experimental queue. These changes are all hero balance updates, and they are not final yet.
Hero changes
Ashe is getting the most changes in this update. Her magazine is increasing from 12 to 15 shots, her shots will fire faster and more consistently, and it takes six shots instead of four to reach maximum bullet spread.
These changes should help Ashe players out a lot. The hero has seen little to no play in the Overwatch League, even with Hero Pools banning out other popular heroes. Ashe isn’t as effective as McCree from close and mid-range and can’t contest Widowmaker from a distance.
Genji and Pharah are both getting buffs to their damage. Genji’s Secondary Fire recovery is dropping from .75 to .65 seconds, which will allow him to throw Shurikens faster. Pharah is getting an increase to her Rocket Launcher explosion damage. Her direct impact damage is going down, but the increase to the explosion damage makes it so she will deal the same amount of damage on direct hits and more damage to targets she only hits with the explosion.
Mei’s ammo is getting a mild nerf. It’s being reduced from 200 to 120, but her Secondary Fire will only cost 10 ammo instead of 20. This will make it so that Mei has less ammo to shoot her primary fire with, without impacting her secondary fire.
Lastly, Reinhardt’s steadfast passive knockback resistance is being reduced from 50% to 30%. This will make it easier to peel him off of his targets with knockback abilities. He’s a common pick in the Overwatch League, so Blizzard is trying to tone him down a bit.
The Experimental mode will be 2-2-2 role lock, just like competitive play. This should help give players a more authentic experience while testing potential balance changes. If the changes seem fair and feedback is positive, it is likely that they will make it live in Overwatch in the future.
