Today, Blizzard posted a Developer Update that addresses upcoming changes to three Overwatch heroes on the game's PTR (Public Test Realm). As usual, the Developer Update starred game director Jeff Kaplan, who laid out the upcoming changes for Mei, Sombra, and Doomfist.
First up is Mei, who Kaplan says is fairly well-balanced already, but could use some oomph. To accomplish this, the development team has decided to increase the duration of her freeze mechanic, extending the time from 1 second to 1.5 seconds.
This change should give her better openings to place some well-aimed headshots. Mei's secondary fire will also receive a stock bump, allowing for a few more shots before she needs to reload.
Several changes are being made to Sombra, which will significantly alter how she plays. With the way Sombra is currently, many players rely heavily on hacked health packs to charge her Ultimate quickly. Too quickly, Kaplan says, adding that the Overwatch team felt this routine was awkward. Thus, the team is moving Ultimate generation into damage done, instead. Due to this switch, there are changes being made to Sombra's gun as well, though Kaplan doesn't elaborate.
Sombra's hack time is also being reduced and will affect heroes in ways it has not before. For example, when hacked, Genji now loses his ability to double jump. Additionally, Sombra will have more time on her translocator, giving her some extra breathing room while behind enemy lines.
Doomfist will also be getting some minor tweaks. His ammo recovery rate will be increased, allowing for his hand cannon to auto-reload faster. His weapon will also shoot more bullets, but do less damage.
After explaining what's coming to the PTR, Kaplan briefly discusses what heroes are next on the schedule, as well as some of the tweaks his team have been kicking around internally. He says that once the above heroes have been fully tested on the PTR and kinks have been ironed out, the team will move on to Hanzo, Symmetra, and Torbjörn.
The Lunar New Year event is currently taking place in Overwatch, this time around celebrating the Year of the Dog. There was a new map added that is located in Thailand, and the game brought back Capture the Flag with a few smart improvements. And, of course, the event introduced gobs of new Lunar New Year-themed cosmetic items, including some truly gorgeous skins.
Speaking of skins, the event also brought along a sorely needed feature to Overwatch, one that has been requested often by its player base. It is now possible to swap skins from the player selection screen before hopping into a game. No longer do players have to go through the hassle of navigating to the main menu just to swap a costume.
Overwatch is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.