New Overwatch PTR Update Out Now, Here's What It Does

The latest update for Blizzard's popular shooter Overwatch has begun its rollout, and the patch notes are in. As posted on the Overwatch site, this new update is out now on PC for the Public Test Realm.

"Many" of the changes listed below will come to PS4 and Xbox One through a future patch, Blizzard said. The PTR is only available on PC.

The patch notes cover general changes such as the ability to disable secondary fire and secondary weapons altogether in custom games. Additionally, players can now turn off one of Symmetra's ultimates, with the other remaining available.

There are also a number of changes for characters, including Genji and Hanzo, who have their wall-climbing ability's attack cooldown removed. This lets you immediately attack an enemy after climbing a wall. Blizzard said this should "make wall-climbing feel better."

The characters Orisa, Reaper, Reinhardt, and Soldier 76 also receive changes with this new update. Notably, the damage from Orisa's Fusion Driver has been reduced by 15 percent, while the cooldown for her protective barrier falls from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.

Today's Overwatch PTR update also includes bug fixes, including one that made Tracer "move oddly" at the start of the tutorial. Additionally, this update fixes a bug that allowed Sombra to move outside of the playspace in the map Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

You can see the full patch notes below, featuring developer insight on the Hero changes.

In other news, after being extended briefly, Overwatch's Uprising event wrapped up earlier this week.

Overwatch PTR Patch Notes:

GENERAL

Custom Games and Game Browsers

• Players can now disable secondary fire and secondary weapons in Custom Games
• You can now disable one Symmetra ultimate while leaving the other active

HERO UPDATES

Genji

• Removed the attack cooldown from Genji's wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb

Developer Comments: This is a quality of life change to make wall climbing feel better.

Hanzo

• Removed the attack cooldown from Hanzo's wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
• Storm Bow
  • Increased charge speed by 10%
  • Charged arrows now maintain their charge after climbing a wall, provided the button is continuously held

Developer Comments: Decreasing Hanzo’s draw time gives him more overall DPS, while also letting him fully charge an arrow and more quickly return to full movement speed when needed. And, like the change to Genji’s wall climbing, this is a quality of life change that will make climbing feel better.

Orisa

• Fusion Driver
  • Damage reduced by 15%
• Protective Barrier
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds

Developer Comments: To help Orisa maintain the front line for her team, we’re reducing the cooldown of her Protective Barrier. This change also helps her reposition the barrier more easily when needed. To compensate for this new defensive strength, we're reducing her Fusion Driver's damage, as it felt too high.

Reaper

• Wraith Form
  • Ammo is now entirely refilled when Wraith Form is used

Developer Comments: Wraith Form is typically used as an escape ability after firing. This change gives Reaper a fighting chance if an enemy chases him down as he uses it.

Reinhardt

• Earthshatter
  • Effective height has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters
  • The height threshold of objects that Earthshatter can "climb" has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters, making Earthshatter less likely to climb tall objects as it "crawls" along the ground.

Developer Comments: Earthshatter tended to climb unexpectedly high, frequently hitting targets that were significantly above the ground. These changes help the ability stay more grounded.

Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle
  • Bullet damage decreased from 20 to 19

Developer Comments: Soldier:76 is in a much better place lately, but his damage output was making him a must pick, compared to similar roles.

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed an issue that prevented voice lines from being heard during the Play of the Game
• Fixed an issue causing shields to display the wrong team color during the Play of the Game
• Added new Kill Feed icons for environmental kills and a number of abilities

Arcade

• Fixed a bug causing the introduction before 1v1 Mystery Duels to be interrupted

A.I.

• Fixed a bug that allowed bots to become stuck around the well on Ilios

Heroes

• Fixed a bug that caused Lucio's healing and speed song auras to be inaccurately projected
• Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa’s Fortify from blocking the alternate fire from Lucio's Sonic Amplifier
• Fixed a bug that prevented Orisa's Protective Barrier from deploying in certain situations
• Fixed an issue that affected some graphics cards, causing an inaccurate ammo count to be displayed with Pharah's Mechaqueen and Raptorion skins equipped
• Fixed a bug that could prevent two charging Reinhardts from being able to kill each other
• Fixed a bug that prevented Winston's Primal Rage ultimate from restoring his health when hit by Ana's Biotic Grenade

Maps

• Fixed a bug that caused Tracer to move oddly when she first appeared in the tutorial
• Fixed an issue causing asymmetry between pillars on the Ruins capture point on Ilios
• Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar