Overwatch's Latest Patch Finally Nerfs Reaper's Healing

If you're playing Overwatch right now, odds are you've either been frustrated by, or enjoyed the benefits of, Reaper's healing abilities. Since he recovers health equal to 40% of damage done, Reaper is extremely difficult to kill in many situations, to the point where it can feel impossible. Thankfully, the latest update being put through its paces on the Overwatch Public Test Realm indicates that Blizzard will make Reaper a bit easier to kill.

The Overwatch PTR patch notes detail a number of changes for Hanzo, McCree, Orisa, Sigma, Baptiste, and of course Reaper--and many of them are quite significant. Reaper's health regeneration will be dropped down to 30% of damage done, which should make fights against him a little more winnable. Hanzo, meanwhile, has had his Storm Arrow damage reduced, while Orisa has received a variety of nerfs.

McCree players will be happy to hear his health has gone up a little and Deadeye no longer locks aim, but his primary fire has slightly more recovery time. The range on Sigma's Hyperspheres has been reduced and Baptiste's secondary fire healing is a little less effective, among other things. You can see the full list of changes below. Keep in mind these are only available on the PTR, where the changes will be tested and, if necessary, tweaked, before being pushed out to the live game for everyone. The PTR is only available to players on PC.

Hero Updates

• Hanzo
  • Storm Arrows - Damage reduced from 70 to 60
• McCree
  • General - Base health increased from 200 to 250
  • Peacekeeper (Primary Fire) - Recovery time increased from 0.42 to 0.5 seconds
  • Deadeye - Firing Deadeye no longer locks the player’s aim
• Reaper:
  • The Reaping (Passive) - Healing amount reduced from 40% to 30% of damage dealt
• Orisa
  • Fusion Driver (Primary Fire) - Damage reduced from 11 to 9
  • Fortify - Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds
  • Halt! - Snare duration reduced from 1 to 0.65 seconds
• Sigma
  • Hyperspheres (Primary Fire) - Range reduced from 22 to 20 meters
  • Gravitic Flux - Can now be interrupted before targets begin falling and impact slow duration reduced from 0.9 to 0.6 seconds
  • Accretion - Explosion damage reduced from 60 to 40
• Baptiste
  • Biotic Launcher (Primary Fire) - Recovery time increased from 0.36 to 0.45 sec
  • Biotic Launcher (Secondary Fire) - Heal explosion reduced from 60 to 50

Overwatch is currently celebrating the Lunar New Year with an event that gives players the chance to unlock more cosmetic customization options. These include the Monk skin for Doomfist, Ancient Chinese Bronze Winston, and Papercutting Wrecking Ball. Overwatch's seasonal events are expected to slow down as Blizzard shifts its efforts to developing Overwatch 2. As of yet, the sequel doesn't have a release date, but Blizzard has committed to supporting the original game alongside the sequel.