The latest update to the Overwatch PTR landed on March 25 and will look to test out numerous bug fixes, hero changes and more before bringing the patch to the actual game.
A host of heroes including Ana, Baptiste and Mei will finally have problematic bugs addressed, while the team at Blizzard are issuing fixes to multiple maps in the game.
Blizzard will also be introducing a host of hero updates, some of which could add a different take to how players approach Reaper if the devs move the update along to the live servers.
Hero Buffs
Junkrat is getting a bit of a buff to his Frag Launcher which will increase the speed of projectiles from 20 to 25, but the grenades will “bounce less but explode sooner.”
The devs say the change won’t affect the arc of his projectiles, meaning they should still feel similar when shooting.
Reaper’s Shadow Step can now be used in mid air, while also making him invisible for the entire time upon exiting the move. The devs wanted Reaper to be able to use the ability in a more flexible way, allowing tons of offensive potential to the move.
Symmetra mains will be happy to hear that railings or breakable objects will no longer block the Teleporter’s placement and use.
Bug Fixes
A bug that prevented Mei from being healed by some heroes while in her Cryo-Freeze has been fixed, which won’t stop the problem of Mei being able to be healed by other heroes while she’s in her Cryo-Freeze.
A bug has been fixed where Baptiste’s Immortality Field wasn’t destroyed when hit by the payload.
A small but welcomed change comes in the form of a new option that lets players set their Victory Pose to random in the Hero Gallery.
Map Fixes
Blizzard has also cleaned up numerous spots throughout the Black Forest, Horizon Lunar Colony, Busan, Rialto, etc where flying or climbing heroes could get stuck in trees and the like.
The coming changes to the PTR are pretty extensive, so check out the full patch notes below.
Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – March 25, 2019
A new Overwatch patch is in development and now available for testing! To share your feedback or report any issues, please post in the PTR Feedback or PTR Bug Report forums.
Please note that the below patch notes only include changes currently available for testing on the PTR. While many of these changes may also be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a future patch, the PTR is PC-only and only reflects changes coming specifically to that platform.
Junkrat
- Frag Launcher
- Projectile speed increased from 20 to 25
- Grenades now bounce less but explode sooner
Developer Comments: With this change, we’re looking to slightly increase the range at which Junkrat can land direct hits. The speed of his bombs has increased, but we tuned it so this wouldn’t affect the arc of his projectile. This means that aiming with it will feel the same. The grenades bounce less and explode sooner, which will allow Junkrat to aim them more deliberately. This will reduce the amount of rolling grenade spam when playing against him.
Reaper
- Shadow Step
- Can now be used in air
- Time to exit Shadow Step reduced from 1.0 second to 0.5 of a second
- Reaper is now invisible for the entire time it takes to exit shadow step
- Can now teleport onto surfaces that would usually break, like railings
Developer Comments: Shadow Step was originally intended to be purely an out-of-combat mobility tool to traverse the map, since Wraith Form was already a great tool for disengaging. However, this made Shadow Step very situational, so we’re increasing its flexibility to make it a better, less niche ability. This will enable Reaper to use Shadow Step in more offensive situations.
Symmetra
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- Teleporter
- Railings and other breakable objects no longer block teleporter placement and teleporting
Hero Gallery
- You can now set your Victory Pose choice to random
Social
- There is now an option to set your profile so only your current group can view it
General
- Fixed a bug that caused your view to become jittery if you were standing on certain objects
- Fixed an issue where the camera would be offset slightly when changing rapidly into third person view
- Fixed an issue where players were able to shoot through unintended small gaps on the Ilios, Nepal, and Temple of Anubis maps
Heroes
Ana
- Fixed an issue with the steam not rising correctly from Ana’s cup in the Tea Time emote
- Fixed a bug where Ana didn’t receive audio or visual cues when a hero she boosted lands a shot
Ashe
- Fixed a bug where the Orb of Discord sound effect would play when B.O.B. was affected by Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord
Baptiste
- Fixed a bug where Immortality Field wasn’t immediately destroyed when it is hit by the payload
Doomfist
- Fixed a bug where enemies would not collide with walls while being knocked back by Rocket Punch
- Fixed a bug where Seismic Slam wouldn’t break objects that should break
Mei
- Fixed a bug where Mei could not be healed by other heroes while using Cryo-Freeze
Mercy
- Fixed a bug where Mercy didn’t receive audio or visual cues when a hero she boosted lands a shot
- Fixed a bug where Mercy didn’t receive defensive assist credit from healing beams when using Valkyrie
Reinhardt
- Fixed a bug where Reinhardt was unable to raise his shield properly while looking upwards if he had opened his shield while looking downwards
Soldier: 76
- Fixed a bug where his Heroic victory pose didn’t loop properly
Widowmaker
- Fixed a bug where Widowmaker’s rifle goes into her head and shoulders while walking and aiming her scope when wearing the Biathalon skin
- Fixed a bug where dying did not cancel Infra-Sight
Maps
- Black Forest
- Fixed a bug where flying heroes could get stuck on trees and wall climbing heroes could get stuck on birds’ nests
- Busan
- Fixed a bug where flying heroes could get stuck on trees
- Fixed a bug on the Sanctuary map where heroes would bounce when standing on the edge of the first capture point
- Castillo
- Fixed a bug where Reaper could Shadow Step to unintended places
- Dorado
- Fixed a bug where the spectator camera started at the incorrect position
- Horizon Lunar Colony
- Fixed a bug where players could get stuck on top of a worktable
- King’s Row
- Fixed a bug where Junkrat’s RIP-Tire could get stuck in the grates on the ground in King’s Row
- Oasis
- Fixed a bug on the University map where a hero that touches the enemy team’s spawn room doors will take significant damage
- Numbani
- Fixed a bug where D.Va would get stuck behind a desk when using Call Mech
- Fixed a bug where ivy on walls was preventing certain abilities from impacting enemies, like Winston’s Tesla Cannon and Doomfist’s Meteor Strike
- Rialto
- Fixed a bug where players killed on a specific bridge would fall through the bridge
- Fixed an issue where players could become stuck between a dolly, the wall, and a counter
- Watchpoint: Gibraltar
- Fixed a bug where Wrecking Ball would get stuck on ventilation ducts