Overwatch

[Tokkan]

Originally Posted by Keila

What was the issue with Mei's ulti? It's a floating orb that you can lob a crazy distance across the map (on Anubis, you can throw it from the arches (choke point) right onto capture point A).

They think it doesn't perform as well as it should, whereas an ult with a very similar purpose like Reinhardt's works very well.

Apparently they're also working on adding a second active ability (an "E") to Mercy, but their current plan is to make it one you use more passively (like Symmetra's shield). It won't necessarily actually happen though, it's not set in stone Mercy will get an "E".

[barcode120x]

Originally Posted by Stark700

Just curious but what are your guys' thoughts on picking Widowmaker, Hanzo, or Ana on KOTH maps?

Even if these players aren't sitting on the point and sniping in the back, I don't mind AS LONG as they are getting a good amount of kills. Which of course, is like 5% of the time.

[Keila]

There may be some 'bias' here, but I think they should just give Mercy 'lifegrip (WoW)'. The ability to Roadhog hook your teammates back to you as a utility option would be amazing. Mercy (ideally) is already going to be in a safe position, being able to 'grip' someone out of danger (or slingshot them to a higher elevation) would be great fun.


Mei's ulti could probably use a longer duration (to make it a pure area denial), but increase the 'freeze' speed or the radius would lead to all sorts of shenanigans

[barcode120x]

Originally Posted by Keila

he ability to Roadhog hook your teammates back to you as a utility option would be amazing. Mercy (ideally) is already going to be in a safe position, being able to 'grip' someone out of danger (or slingshot them to a higher elevation) would be great fun.

That would be AWESOME. I've also thought of Reinhardt's Charge ability to carry an ally on his back with him. If not, maybe allow Reinhardt to Charge into an ally to bring them to safety/bring them back. Then again, I can see people trolling with that ability so maybe not

[Stark700]

Season 2 changes (for competitive)

[Tokkan]

1-5000 skill rating scale.
Skill rating now in tiers (Bronze-Silver-Gold, etc), once you reach a tier you can't lose it (except for the top 2 tiers).
Sudden Death removed, ties now implemented across all game modes. They anticipate that ties will be extremely rare.
Escort and Hybrid now use the timebank system from Assault.
Any Competitive Points you have now as well as the cost of gold weapons have been increased by a factor of 10; this change is so that they can give competitive points as a reward to both teams for ties.
If you stop playing competitive play for 7 days, the is a passive skill rating decay of 50 skill rating per 24hrs of not playing competitive, but only at the top 3 tiers.

[barcode120x]

Originally Posted by Tokkan

Skill rating now in tiers (Bronze-Silver-Gold), once you reach a tier you can't lose it (except for the top 2 tiers).

Probably my most favorite update notes right now. Assuming competitive coins are based on tier and not skill rating (1-5000), it allows a player not in the top 2 tiers to continue playing even if they are going down in rating, but keep their end-season tier/coins. I've been at SR 53 and I have NOT been playing because I'm afraid of losing and dropping rank before the season ends and end up getting less coins.

[barcode120x]

Originally Posted by kayos

The rewards are based on your peak SR. So you're getting coins based on how high you've gotten not what you're currently at.

You've already locked in 80 CP, maybe try to go for 65 and get that 300.

Hah, I guess if I played more I would have known that! Good to know. Kind of late now

[Keila]

The increase in competitive point cost (x10) feels like a massive kick in the nuts to people who didn't really play comp until the last few weeks (ie, summer games) of season 1. I totally get it, but when you realise you could have easily gotten into a bracket (ie, 65+) and a gold weapon skin if you had actually bothered to play (and now you don't have to time to) it's a bit frustrating.


Completely agree / rejoice with all the other changes though.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by Keila

The increase in competitive point cost (x10) feels like a massive kick in the nuts to people who didn't really play comp until the last few weeks (ie, summer games) of season 1. I totally get it, but when you realise you could have easily gotten into a bracket (ie, 65+) and a gold weapon skin if you had actually bothered to play (and now you don't have to time to) it's a bit frustrating.


Completely agree / rejoice with all the other changes though.

They're going to multiply the number of CP you already have by 10 to account for the changes. There is realistically no difference in how fast you will get the golden weapon skins. They only increased them all x10 because they wanted those rare ties to be worth the time investment for both teams (in the event of a tie, both teams get 5 CP).

And the locking-in the max watermarked SR you acquire has been active for a while. It was announced a few patches back.

[MeoTwister5]

I... never knew playing Winston was so much fun. Leaping in and going all apeshit (I made a pun!) is just as fun and violent as it sounds.

[Stark700]

New map preview Eichenwalde:

[Tokkan]

Apparently it's a reverse Hybrid? Escort Payload THEN capture the point(s)? Attacking team takes a battering ram to breach the castle and then cap the point inside? Just weird murmurs I'm hearing, would be nice if true.

Edit: Apparently confirmed standard hybrid. I suppose that's to be expected.

Edit: PTR is up. They've added 2 more emotes to each character (except Bastion and Tracer who only have 1 new emote). D.Va has a legendary emote where she streams herself playing games while drinking Mtn Dew and eating Doritos (not joking); she's also the only character to have a legendary emote, the rest are all still epic. So now every hero has a laughing emote and a sit emote (except Bastion, who only got a laugh emote). These emotes are purchasable.

Balance Changes:
General
-Ultimates that drain their meter now drain the meter faster (.25 seconds instead of 1 second)
-Projectile hitbox changes from last patch have been reverted (because of unintended side effects)

D.Va
-Defense Matrix's delay on recharge time has been upped to 1 second (was .5 seconds)

Hanzo
-Speed decrease while aiming is now 30% (was 40%)
-Maximum projectile speed increaded by 30%

Mei
-Blizzard's projectile now pierces barriers, 10-metre radius (up from 8 metres)

McCree
-Dead Eye now drains meter when activating instead of spending 50% on activation and 50% on confirmation.

Mercy
-Healing Beam has had it's healing increased by 20%
-Ressurected team mates now have 2.25 seconds before they can move (was 3 seconds)

Genji
-Double jump no longer resets off a wall climb
-Dashing no longer damages Widowmaker's Venom Mines or Junkrat's Steel Trap. Dashing also no longer bypasses the Steel Trap.
-Swift Strike no longer interrupts Quick Melee attacks. (RIP AltFire>Melee>Swift Strike combo)
-Dragonblade now lasts 6 seconds (was 8)

Lucio
-Amp It Up's effect on Speed Boost reduced by 30%

Roadhog
-Chain Hook: If the hooked target isn't in Roadhog's line of sight when retracting the hook, they will be moved back to the position where they were originally hooked

Zenyatta
-Orb of Discord now only increases damage by 30% (was 50%)
-Orb of Destruction damage increased to 46 (was 40)

Watchpoint Gibraltar
-First checkpoint removed.

Other nice changes:
-Healers now request players to group up when using the Need Healing command while targeting a player.
-Symmetra now reports how many charges are left on her teleporter when using her Ultimate Status command.
-The ability to display allied health bars is now a global option. Can be set to "Default" (only visible if you are a healer) or "On" (always visible)
-Certain toxic phrases in chat like "gg ez" are now filtered and replaced with canned silly "good game" phrases that imply the person typing is either a child or emotionally insecure in match chat (team chat unaffected).

[Stark700]

Originally Posted by Tokkan

D.Va has a legendary emote where she streams herself playing games while drinking Mtn Dew and eating Doritos (not joking). These emotes are purchasable.

I'm definitely getting this.

[Klashikari]

Genji's nerfs are quite severe. While I'm not surprised dragonblade has been nerfed (although I think the range was more of a problem than the duration), the double jump and the swift strike canceling a quick melee are quite severe.

Basically, Genji maximum burst has been reduced to 134 which is quite weak especially that it will most likely decrease his opportunities to score an elimination, thus making him even more cautious when to use SS.
Not being able to kill tracer in a single combo completely change the matchup.

[Last Sinner]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Genji's nerfs are quite severe. While I'm not surprised dragonblade has been nerfed (although I think the range was more of a problem than the duration), the double jump and the swift strike canceling a quick melee are quite severe.

Basically, Genji maximum burst has been reduced to 134 which is quite weak especially that it will most likely decrease his opportunities to score an elimination, thus making him even more cautious when to use SS.
Not being able to kill tracer in a single combo completely change the matchup.

This is true, but here's the problem.

The meta was primarily revolving around Genji.

Lucio and Zenyatta were the only supports seen on the pro circuit and nearly all of top end competitive play. Why? Because their ults could counter Genji. Mercy vanished because she was a prime target for Genji. Throw in the other DPS faves of recent weeks - Tracer and Reaper - Mercy was in a permanent nightmare. McCree is always going to be there at this rate so I didn't include him. Deadeye isn't what is most effective on the pro scene, while Genji had something that could cause an instant wipe with proper communication.

If you watched the Overwatch Open, close to every single set was determined by who had the best Genji play. The casters predicted a Genji nerf was surely coming. People that mained Genji at the top ranks of competitive said Genji would get nerfed. Yes, Genji has a high skill requirement - but the ceiling was too high. Soldier 76 and Pharah had vanished completely from that tournament and from the top end of competitive because Reinhardt and Zarya are ever present. Defensive heroes effectively never get played on the pro circuit and sparingly in top end competitive play. Lucio and Zenyatta were the only supports appearing. Things had to change. It's not just for what was available now but for other characters to appear in the future. When only the tanks position is getting all of their characters to appear in the pro/high end competitive scene, it's concerning.

[Keila]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Genji's nerfs are quite severe. While I'm not surprised dragonblade has been nerfed (although I think the range was more of a problem than the duration), the double jump and the swift strike canceling a quick melee are quite severe.

Basically, Genji maximum burst has been reduced to 134 which is quite weak especially that it will most likely decrease his opportunities to score an elimination, thus making him even more cautious when to use SS.
Not being able to kill tracer in a single combo completely change the matchup.

I don't really see the nerf's as all that severe. He's still retaining a significant part of his mobility (double jump) and his ability to cleave large sections within his immediate proximity. A burst of 134 is still 67% of a 200hp hero's health.

[Stark700]

From a video I've seen related to the PTR, the Hanzo buff is pretty strong. I don't play Hanzo much but is interested now..

[barcode120x]

RIP Genji, bout time they took the camera off McCree haha. I ain't complaining though

[Drake]

Genji needed some tweaking for sure, though I think they should have paid more attention to fine tuning the defensive hero's to better counter him.

That said, taking away his ability to reset his double jump on wall climb will make Mei a little more viable a counter. Since before he would simply double jump>then wall climb>then double jump again out of range of her freeze and disappear.