Overwatch's Next Update Has Big Changes For A Lot Of Characters

It looks like some big changes are on the way to Overwatch. Blizzard has published a new update to the PTR that ships significant changes for a number of characters – all tallied up, around half the cast is being changed in some form. The update is so large that Blizzard is even referring to it as a "remaster" in its patch notes.

This new update delivers changes for the following characters: D.Va, Orisa, Roadhog, Sigma, Winston, Baptiste, Lucio, Mercy, Moira, Doomfist, Sombra, Symmetra, and Tracer. 13 of the game's 31 characters are being changed in this patch, with bug fixes landing for Brigitte, Doomfist, Sigma, Sombra, and Winston in this update as well.

For some characters, the changes are rather small at first glance. With Roadhog, for instance, the only change is that his Scrap Gun ammunition has been increased from 5 to 6, while the cooldown on Orisa's Protective Barrier has been increased from 9 to 10 seconds. Even though these changes don't seem that dramatic, they can still have a big effect on how the post-patch meta shakes out.

Other characters, like Sigma, are getting more substantial changes. Sigma's Kinetic Grasp no longer blocks Roadhog's Chain Hook or Brigitte's Whip Shot, while the effect from Gravitic Flux has been decreased from 1.2 to 0.9 seconds. Experimental Barrier has gone through a number of changes, as its regeneration rate has dropped from 175 to 150 per second, it's now subject to a 1 second cooldown after being recalled, and the 0.2 second cast time has been removed.

So, for some characters in particular, there are a number of big changes on the way. Given the fact that this is a "remaster," Blizzard warns that the update will be a pretty hefty download, though it doesn't say specifically how large the update is. This update should be making its way to the live game in a couple of weeks, but for now, check out the PTR patch notes to see everything that's changing.