Overwatch is set to be back in the spotlight for a while this year as not only is Blizzard’s hero shooter coming to the Nintendo Switch, but it is also about to get a big ‘remaster’ update. This won’t be a remastering of visuals, but the Overwatch team is making some sweeping changes to a bunch of characters all at once.

Overwatch patch 1.41 is now live on the Public Test Realm and is roughly an 8GB download, making it one of the biggest patches for the game to date. Some hero characters have been buffed, while others have had some nerfs, in the long run though, Blizzard is hoping that this update will reinvigorate the player base, shake up the meta for competitive play and create better balance.

Here is the list of hero updates coming:

• Va: Defense Matrix regeneration rate increased from 12.5% to 16% per second, delay before regeneration begins lowered from 1 second to 0.75 seconds.
• Orisa: Protective Barrier Cooldown increased from 9 to 10 seconds
• Roadhog: Scrap Gun ammunition increased from 5 to 6.
• Sigma: Kinetic Grasp no longer blocks Chain Hook and Whip Shot. Gravitic Flux high gravity effect duration reduced from 1.2 to 0.9 seconds. Experimental Barrier regeneration rate reduced from 175 to 150 per second, now has a 1 second cooldown after recalling the barrier, initial 0.2 second cast time removed
• Winston: Barrier Projector duration increased from 6 to 9 seconds. Health increased from 600 to 700
• Baptiste: Immortality Field health decreased from 250 to 200
• Lucio: Crossfade speed boost’s effect increased from 20% to 25%. Amp It Up speed boost’s amplification increased from 50% to 60%. Wall Ride speed buff reduced from 40% to 30%.
• Mercy: Valkyrie extra beams now ignore enemy barriers
• Moira: Biotic Grasp self-healing reduced from 30 to 20 health per second.
• Doomfist: Rocket Punch time to reach max charge increased from 1 to 1.4 seconds. The Best Defence shield health gained per hit reduced from 35 to 30
• Sombra: Translocator cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds, cooldown now begins immediately upon deploying the beacon or if it is killed by an enemy
• Symmetra: Photon Barrier duration reduced from 15 to 12 seconds. Health reduced from 5000 to 4000. Sentry Turret damage per second reduced from 50 to 40. Photon Projector primary fire beam should now deliver a louder impact sound to affected players.
• Tracer: Pulse Pistols damage falloff now starts at 13 meters, up from 10 meters.

Other changes include some general big fixes, such as hero win percentages not being displayed for competitive arcade seasons, line of sight issues with some hero powers and a visual big with Winston’s barrier projector.

KitGuru Says: There might be more to come with this patch but for now, these are the bulk of the changes, which bring balance changes to almost half the heroes in the game. Are many of you still playing Overwatch? What do you think of the new changes?

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