Overwatch Patch Notes – April 10, 2018

A new patch is now live on PC. Read below to learn more about the latest changes.

To share your feedback, please post in the General Discussion forum
For a list of known issues, visit our Bug Report forum.
For troubleshooting assistance, visit our Technical Support forum.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS


New Seasonal Event: Overwatch Archives 2018

Experience pivotal moments from history in Overwatch Archives. Join a team of four heroes and participate in cooperative, story-driven missions that give a new perspective on the era before the fall of Overwatch.

This year, take command of the agents of Blackwatch and face off against Talon in an exciting new brawl, Retribution. Players also get a second chance to stop an omnic insurrection as last year’s Uprising mission returns for a rematch. You’ll earn Archives Loot Boxes as you play, unlocking new cosmetics based on moments from Overwatch’s past including legendary skins like Blackwatch Moira, Scion Hanzo, Soldier: 24 Reaper, Talon Doomfist, Specimen 28 Winston, and more.

To learn more about Overwatch Archives, click here.

GENERAL UPDATES


General

• Players can choose to “Avoid as Teammate” with a dropdown menu in the Career Profile

Developer Comments: The addition of the “Avoid as Teammate” option gives players the ability to craft their online gameplay experience. Up to two players can be selected with this feature. If you use the “Avoid as Teammate” option on a player, the matchmaker will no longer place you on a team with the avoided player for one week. To learn more about this feature, click here.


Report Menu

• The “Poor Teamwork” dropdown menu option has been removed
• The “Griefing” dropdown menu option has been renamed “Gameplay Sabotage”

Developer Comments: Due to player confusion about the most appropriate category to report players for poor or toxic gameplay, we are removing the Poor Teamwork option from the reporting system. Players should instead use the Gameplay Sabotage option when players actively harass or disrupt their own team with game mechanics or their actions. Players should not be reported simply for performing poorly, since everyone occasionally has a bad game.

Heroes

• Sombra’s “Enemies Hacked” commendation card now also displays her offensive assists
• Brigitte’s Golden Weapon variant will now also give her a golden shield
• Changed Mercy’s Valkyrie voice line

HERO UPDATES


Brigitte

• Barrier Shield
  • An option to “Toggle Barrier” has been added under Options > Controls > Brigitte

D.Va

• Micro Missiles
  • Explosive damage reduced from 6 to 4
• Boosters
  • Impact damage reduced from 25 to 10

Developer Comments: D.Va’s burst potential is a bit too high, so we’re reducing the damage of her Micro Missiles and Boosters impact. Prior to this change, each missile dealt 3 impact damage and 6 explosive damage. We’re reducing explosive damage from 6 to 4 but leaving the impact damage the same, the net result being 21% damage reduction.

McCree

• Added additional voice lines for Lifeguard McCree

Mei

• Endothermic Blaster
  • Now pierces through enemies

Developer Comments: This change helps Mei combat multiple targets that are clumped up and makes it easier for her to keep freezing a specific target if another enemy gets in the way. This change also helps her ultimate more consistently freeze enemy targets, especially if they are near each other. Note: While her shots now pierce enemies, they still do not pierce barriers such as Reinhardt’s shield.

Reaper

• Death Blossom
  • Reloads Hellfire Shotguns after use
• Wraith Form
  • Move speed bonus increased from 25% to 50%
  • You can now cancel the ability by pressing the Shift or Primary Fire hotkey

Developer Comments: These changes help Reaper use Wraith Form more consistently as an escape, but they also open up new options, such as chasing down key targets.

Moira

• Biotic Grasp
  • Transparency increased the closer you are to a target
• Coalescence
  • Now becomes more transparent the closer its visual effects are to a player’s camera
• Fade
  • Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Developer Comments: Due to issues with visibility, we have made most of Moira’s visual effects fade away the closer they are to the camera. We have also made modifications to Coalescence to greatly increase the ability for foes and allies alike to see through it when facing it.

Zenyatta

• Orb of Destruction
  • Secondary fire rate of fire reduced by 15%

Developer Comments: Zenyatta is meant to be able to deal a lot of damage, especially for a support, but his alternate fire burst damage was a bit too high. This change keeps the overall damage the same but lowers the DPS slightly and makes it harder to hit multiple shots at very long ranges.

BUG FIXES


General

• Fixed a bug that caused camera movement to be jittery when players ran against a moving ramp
• Fixed a bug that prevented oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers in spawn rooms from propelling after taking damage

AI

• Fixed a bug that caused bots to attempt running outside of the spawn room before the match began on Assault/Escort maps

Heroes

• Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s sidearm from displaying golden coloration from her Golden weapon when Overwatch League skins were equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from firing projectiles immediately after going into Tank configuration
• Fixed a bug that prevented Bastion from being knocked back while transforming during Configuration: Tank
• Fixed a bug that caused Ganymede’s tail feathers to be cropped during Bastion’s Toast Victory Pose
• Fixed a bug that caused Bastion’s Gatling gun barrel to disappear if he took damage while reloading in Sentry mode
• Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to not animate or play sound effects when transforming from Recon to Sentry mode while trapped inside Zarya’s Graviton Surge
• Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to emit blood instead of oil visual effects when Overwatch League skins were equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented Brigitte’s impact effects from playing when hitting the environment
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s aim to be slightly offset after using Shield Bash
• Fixed a bug that caused details to detach from Brigitte’s Rocket Flail when she swung it
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hero portrait on voice line icons to have low resolution when unlocked from Loot Boxes
• Fixed a bug that caused team names on Brigitte’s armor to distort when Overwatch League skins were equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s hand to clip through her head when her Hilarious emote was used
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail and melee sound effects to stop playing after a few strikes
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s shield to emit blood visual effects
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Rocket Flail to not cast a shadow when using her Cheer emote
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s flag to disappear and abruptly reappear during Rally when using her Rocket Flail
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s High Five spray to have a transparent square in her torso
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Excelsior decal to fragment in unintended areas
• Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s foot, leg, and shield to clip into the ground during her Defender highlight
• Fixed a bug that caused a player’s camera to jitter when spectating Doomfist during his Meteor Strike
• Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Meteor Strike from landing where it was telegraphed when standing close to a ledge
• Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to access unintended locations
• Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Meteor Strike to penetrate angled surfaces as he descended
• Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from impacting enemies
• Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to face the wrong direction during her default victory pose when posed to the left of her MEKA
• Fixed a bug that caused the glass window of D.Va’s cockpit to distort when her Palanquin skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented the triangle texture on D’Va’s MEKA control stick from glowing when her Officer skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented Genji’s dagger from displaying golden coloration from his Golden weapon when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat from being knocked back while piloting his RIP-Tire
• Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s skin textures to have a visible seam
• Fixed a bug that caused Junkrat’s Ornament spray to appear at a low resolution
• Fixed a bug that caused Lúcio’s shoulder strap to clip into his shoulder when during his Medal victory pose
• Fixed a bug that caused McCree’s Peacekeeper to grow substantially during the hero select screen when certain skins were equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused the symmetry of McCree’s collar to distort when the Van Helsing skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot through Mei’s Ice Wall when trapped behind it
• Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s The Witch spray to appear at low resolution
• Fixed a bug that caused a hero to unavailable to pick in the Hero Select screen if the dead player had the Hero Select screen open after selecting a new hero
• Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to float outside the Attacker spawn room in Dorado before the beginning of a match
• Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to float outside the Attacker spawn room in Dorado before the beginning of a match
• Fixed a bug that allowed Moira’s Biotic Orb to pass through Mei’s Ice Wall
• Fixed a bug that allowed Orisa’s Halt! to sometimes affect enemy targets behind walls
• Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt’s Earthshatter visual effects to display after it was interrupted by Sombra’s EMP
• Fixed a bug that caused the camera to clip through the floor during Soldier: 76’s Light’s Out highlight
• Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra’s Photon Projector beam to move plants erratically on Ayutthaya
• Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s non-cybernetic arm to have a gap along its seam
• Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn to wipe his face with his hammer in his hand during his Refreshing highlight when certain skins were equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn’s to emit the sounds effects of his default skin when his Magni skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Alliance and Horde emotes to animate at a slow framerate
• Fixed an issue with Tracer’s neck animation during her Bomb Spin emote
• Fixed a bug that caused Tracer’s Recall to activate differently based on the player’s latency
• Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s wrist twist during his Glasses highlight intro
• Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s legs to clip into each other during her Casual victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused Zarya’s Particle Cannon would clip into her torso during her Check Out This Gun victory pose when her Xuan Wu skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented textures on Zarya’s nails from loading if an Overwatch League skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Zarya’s logo textures to flicker when an Overwatch League skin was equipped
• Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s Orb of Destruction to appear it fired from his chest if he used his melee ability immediately following a fully charged Orb of Destruction

Competitive Play

• Fixed a bug that prevented the two-minute leaver warning from appearing in chat during off-season games
• Fixed a bug that caused ungrouped players under level 25 that clicked on the Competitive Play option to receive the error message, “All Group Members Must Be Level 25”

Ayutthaya

• Fixed a bug that caused certain hero abilities to glow blindingly bright
• Fixed a bug that caused certain textures to not load
• Fixed a bug that caused shadows to appear where they shouldn’t on the terrain
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on top of doorways
• Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to shoot enemies exiting their spawn room

Blizzard World

• Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to fly indefinitely when falling against the Pylon in the StarCraft II area
• Fixed a bug that allowed turrets to be built and hidden inside vines
• Fixed a bug that allowed players could stand on a ledge above the spawn room outside the Diablo area
• Fixed a bug that caused players to get stuck between a column and bush in the StarCraft II area

Dorado

• Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist to get stuck between a table and corner inside a building while using Seismic Slam
• Fixed a bug that prevented an interior windows on the last point from blocking abilities (e.g. D.Va’s Self Destruct)
• Fixed a bug that allowed small heroes to use decorative pipes and avoid taking damage

Eichenwalde

• Fixed a bug that allowed sprays to be applied to the spawn door behind walls

Hanamura

• Fixed a bug that allowed Mei’s Ice Wall to reach unintended locations
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a doorway ledge
• Fixed a bug that allowed Pharah to regain Jump Jet fuel at an increased rate on the second point

Hollywood

• Fixed a bug that caused Pharah’s wingtips to poke through walls

Ilios

• Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles to pass through rubble

Junkertown

• Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her turrets inside a wall
• Fixed a bug that prevented turrets from being built on a television if it was damaged

Lijiang Tower

• Fixed a bug that caused Winston to clip through outdoor walls and take damage

Nepal

• Fixed a bug that caused some textures to not load
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a rock in an unintended area
• Fixed a bug that prevented a control point hologram from activating after the start of a match
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on a ledge in an unintended area
• Fixed a bug that caused the bell tower to hover
• Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to shoot grenades through a closed spawn door
• Fixed a bug that caused large heroes to get stuck between chairs in the spawn room

Numbani

• Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat to shoot grenades through a closed spawn door
• Fixed a bug that caused large heroes to get stuck between chairs in the spawn room

Oasis

• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on library archways

Volskaya

• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on some ledges
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to shoot projectiles through the ceiling
• Fixed a bug that allowed the Custom Game spectator camera to escape the intended play area
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to stand on an invisible ledge

Watchpoint: Gibralter

• Fixed a bug that caused a rock pile in the environment to appear off-color
• Fixed a bug that caused Genji to get stuck in a spawn room wall

Practice Range

• Fixed a bug that caused target dummy arms to jitter when they were destroyed
• Fixed a bug that caused the weights to defy the laws of physics

UI

• Fixed a bug that prevented the “Restore Defaults” button from resetting all settings in the Social Options tab
• Fixed a bug that caused players to delete characters in the “Save Highlight” text box if they pressed down the delete input while their settings were below 60 FPS
• Fixed a bug that caused the user interface to indicate two control points on a single control point map when playing a custom game

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