We know how the Overwatch team works; to keep the game balanced they modify the abilities of certain characters and test them on the PTR (Public Test Region), after which they make adjustments according to the feedback they get and then launch the changes on live servers.
Recently Blizzard has released a new patch that could change the meta significantly. First, Mei will be able to freeze her enemies for longer (1.5 seconds against 1s before) and her ice picks will consume 20 ammunition instead of 25. Doomfist will also be modified a little, his ammunition will recharge faster (every 0.65s against 0.8). However, the biggest change concerns Sombra.
First, she will no longer be able to load her ultimate on hacked scare packs. At a high level, Sombra was only used for the feature as it allowed her to load her ultimate extremely quickly. Her transducer remains active at 20 seconds and thus gains 5 seconds. This change will allow her to remain in the action for longer and develop more varied strategies.
Sombra will still be able to see her enemies through the walls when they have less than 50% of life but will now also see the life bars of her opponents if they are hit. A big advantage to find the best target. Her weapon was also slightly buffed, the dispersion of the bullets from her machine gun has been reduced by 10%, making it even more lethal at medium range.
But the biggest change comes from her hack capacity which goes from 0.8s to 0.65s. In addition to this buff, the hack allows her to cancel some passive and some new enemy abilities. The Shimada brothers will no longer be able to climb the wall and Genji will no longer be able to double jump. Lucio's music will stop and, therefore, he won't be so much help to his friends. Mercy will not be able to hover, and Pharah will no longer be able to use his reactors.
It turns out, Sombra has become the hard counter for many characters, including the combo Pharmacy (Pharah and Mercy) and Genji, which has bothered many players since the launch of the game. What is surprising is that the cooldown hack has not been changed. Sombra can, therefore, hack enemies and healing packs every eight seconds. Thanks (or because of, you choose) to all these changes, Sombra becomes a more formidable opponent and a valuable ally.
It remains to be seen if these modifications will remain unchanged when they land on the live server. If so, we bet that she will quickly find her place in the meta. This new patch follows some big changes made to Angel lately. These are not the only characters that will be drastically changed, the next step for Jeff Kaplan and his team: Hanzo.
Here are the patch notes:
HERO UPDATES
Doomfist
Hand Cannon
Ammo recovery rate increased from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds per bullet
Developer Comment: This change will help Doomfist more consistently be able to use his weapon as part of his combos.
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
Freeze (slow) duration increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds
Weapon alternate fire ammo cost reduced from 25 to 20
Developer Comment: Increasing Mei's slow duration helps her freeze targets that are particularly elusive such as Genji or Lúcio. Lowering her alternate fire ammo cost allows her to more safely use it without costing her the ability to freeze enemies.
Sombra
Developer Comment: The goal of these changes for Sombra is to remove the necessity for her teammates to take damage and heal themselves with her hacked heath packs to try to get her ultimate charged up quickly. Her ultimate will now come up less often, but there are more abilities that are disabled by Hack so it is more effective when used. Previously, Opportunist would only activate when an enemy's health bar dipped below 50% but now the passive will reveal all damaged enemies which should help Sombra identify targets to pick off. Overall these changes should make her more effective and less reliant on her ultimate.
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
Mercy
Developer Comment: This helps remove some clutter from Mercy players' screens when they use her ultimate
EMP
No longer blocked by small objects (e.g. sign posts)
Hack
No longer gains ultimate charge from health pack healing
Cast time reduced from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds
Now disables the following abilities:
Genji—Cyber-agility
Hanzo—Wall Climb
Pharah—Hover Jets
Lúcio—Healing Boost and Speed Boost (turns off current song entirely), Wall Ride
Mercy—Angelic Descent
Machine Pistol
Machine Pistol spread reduced from 3 to 2.7
Opportunist
Enemey health bars are now visibile when health drops below 100% (formerly 50%)
Her ability to detect enemies through walls at 50% or less remain unchanged
Translocator
Duration increased from 15 seconds to 20 seconds
Valkyrie
No longer shows enemies' health bars unless they have taken damage