New Changes to the Overwatch PTR Include Buffs for Genji, Hanzo, and Reaper

[ffronw]

New Changes to the Overwatch PTR Include Buffs for Genji, Hanzo, and Reaper

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1403/1403307.jpgIf you're a fan of Genji, Hanzo, or Reaper in overwatch, you might enjoy the buffs they're getting on the PTR.

Overwatch characters are constantly under scrutiny from Blizzard. The company watches for signs that a certain character may be under- or over-powered, and sometimes, those characters get adjusted. Those adjustments usually get tested on the game's Public Test Region, or PTR.

Blizzard released the patch notes for the newest round of testing yesterday, and they reveal that we can expect to see some buffs to Genji, Hanzo, and Reaper, as well as some slight nerfs to Soldier: 76 and Reinhardt. Orisa is also getting tweaked, but the net effect is mostly neutral.

First up, Genji and Hanzo have both had the cooldown on their attacks after wall climbing removed, meaning they can attack "immediately after completing a climb." Hanzo also gets a 10 percent increase to the charge speed of his bow, and he can maintain the charge while climbing, as long as you don't release the button.

Reaper is getting a bit of a buff to his Wraith Form, as his ammo will be entirely refilled whenever he uses the ability. Blizzard says that this is intended to give him "a fighting chance" if an enemy chases him down after using Wraith Form to escape.

Orisa is having the cooldown on her Protective Barrier reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, which Blizzard says "helps her reposition the barrier more easily when needed." To compensate for this buff, she's had her Fusion Driver damage reduced by 15%.

Reinhardt is getting a bit of a nerf, with the effective height of Earthshatter reduced from three meters to two meters. Earthshatter can now only climb objects that are two meters high, which Blizz says makes the ability "less likely to climb tall objects as it "crawls" along the ground."

Finally, Soldier 76 is having the bullet damage from his Heavy Assault Rifle reduced from 20 to 19. Blizzard says they made this change because "his damage output was making him a must pick, compared to similar roles."

This PTR patch also features a number of bug fixes. You can see the complete patch notes over on the official Overwatch site [https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20722025].


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[KenAri]

I believe it was on this forum that I was previously QQing about Reaper. Not happy to see them take away even more punishment for bad play without also nerfing his ability to 1hitkill 90% of the heroes in the game.

I guess now when he Wraith Forms, you just have to run away and let him go, because otherwise he'll just phasewalk into you and instakill you coming out of his divine shield. That's fun.

Props to Hanzo for being able to climb without his hands and with a bow drawn, though. That's some pretty skillful stuff.

 

[XenoScifi]

I love Reaper. I love everything about him. That said I think this buff is way to fucking OP. And instant immune and ammo refill just sounds like it's going to be really easy to exploit a huge advantage over anybody in a duel. As it is now he can 1v1 any one and already holds an advantage, this just makes him almost certain to confirm a kill in any 1v1 or 1v2.

Hanzo's buff just doesn't make sense. How can anybody climb a wall and at the same time have a bow fully retracted? Are they giving him a 2nd set are arms, because if so that makes more sense. xD

 

[RJ 17]

I believe it was on this forum that I was previously QQing about Reaper. Not happy to see them take away even more punishment for bad play without also nerfing his ability to 1hitkill 90% of the heroes in the game.

I guess now when he Wraith Forms, you just have to run away and let him go, because otherwise he'll just phasewalk into you and instakill you coming out of his divine shield. That's fun.

Props to Hanzo for being able to climb without his hands and with a bow drawn, though. That's some pretty skillful stuff.

I haven't been paying much attention to the updates (I'm a very off-and-on player of the game)...did they ever fix his hitbox? I know that a while back they took away his ability to get headshots just by aiming vaguely in the direction of an enemy - including around corners with the enemy completely out of sight - but then they gave it back to him shortly after because Hanzo players were crying that now they actually had to be good at a sniper weapon that wasn't based of hit detection. So where are we standing on that issue at the moment?

Reinhardt is getting a bit of a nerf, with the effective height of Earthshatter reduced from three meters to two meters. Earthshatter can now only climb objects that are two meters high, which Blizz says makes the ability "less likely to climb tall objects as it "crawls" along the ground."

As I mentioned above: I'm very off and on with this game...but from what I remember, Reinhardt's ult climbing stuff was never a problem...as you could ult from the bottom of the stairs in the last room of Hanimura (the ones that lead up to the walkway that runs behind the capture point) and not hit anyone that was standing two stairs up from you.

 

[IceForce]

The Reaper buff I'm fine with, as (maybe people didn't know) but there's about half a second between the end of his wraith-form and him being able to shoot again. Nailing a Reaper in the head as Widow the instant his invulnerability ends is an awesome feeling.

The Hanzo buff I'm not a fan of. In fact, I'm not a fan of Hanzo in general. To me, he's just bad game design.
There shouldn't be a hero who can one-shot almost everyone in the game from any range (close range AND long range), that's way too overpowered. Widow can one-shot people, sure, but she's absolutely crap at close range. If you dive her, she's dead. But if you dive a Hanzo (as Tracer or Genji, or anyone really) he still one-shots you with either a scatter or just a normal arrow.
Additionally, Hanzo's weapon and projectiles are incredibly spammable (unlike Widow's), which makes bullshit 'accidental' kills way too common too.

Normally when you get outside a hero's effective range (eg: away from Reaper, or close to Widow) they become no real threat at all. But with Hanzo, he's ALWAYS a threat, which makes countering him rather difficult. And as I say, that's pretty bad game design.

 

[linkblade91]

Not sure about the Orisa changes. I appreciate having the shield up more often, but connecting with her gun is already kind of obnoxious; now it's going to hit for less? That's a bummer.

 

[IceForce]

As I mentioned above: I'm very off and on with this game...but from what I remember, Reinhardt's ult climbing stuff was never a problem...as you could ult from the bottom of the stairs in the last room of Hanimura (the ones that lead up to the walkway that runs behind the capture point) and not hit anyone that was standing two stairs up from you.

My experiences have been a bit different. I'm been hammered-down as Pharah when I've been hovering just over Rein's head, not even touching the ground at all.

 

[IceForce]

Not sure about the Orisa changes. I appreciate having the shield up more often, but connecting with her gun is already kind of obnoxious; now it's going to hit for less? That's a bummer.

It's an indirect buff to Bastion. Because as things are right now, the Orisa/Bastion match-up is basically even. ie: It takes about the same amount of time for Bastion (sentry mode) to shred a 900hp Orisa barrier and a fortified 400hp Orisa, as it does for an Orisa to drill enough fatal damage into a 300hp ironclad Bastion.
This will no longer happen, Bastion is now favored in this match-up. Which is a good thing, as Bastion was redesigned to be a tank/barrier shredder (and Orisa was never supposed to counter him).

Besides, Bastion is even more important now, with Orisa's reduced barrier cooldown. Because if your team can't deal 900 points of damage in ~8 seconds, then Orisa will effectively be able to block infinite damage (by continually refreshing the barrier). Bastion is basically the hard-counter to that.

 

[Rednog]

Snip

Snip

Not to be a complete ass but are you guys really low ranked or something....?
This Reaper change is literally one of the insignificant "buffs" ever.
Reaper's reload is instantaneous and can be animation canceled, any Reaper worth their salt can hit R and immediately wraith form and come out of wraith with fully loaded weapons.
Like I'm literally flabbergasted anyone would say this is OP.

 

[RJ 17]

As I mentioned above: I'm very off and on with this game...but from what I remember, Reinhardt's ult climbing stuff was never a problem...as you could ult from the bottom of the stairs in the last room of Hanimura (the ones that lead up to the walkway that runs behind the capture point) and not hit anyone that was standing two stairs up from you.

My experiences have been a bit different. I'm been hammered-down as Pharah when I've been hovering just over Rein's head, not even touching the ground at all.

Well that's a joke in itself...one would think that being in the air would protect you from such a ground-based attack.

 

[bjj hero]

I love the soldier nerf. It is like Blizzard cockslapped everyone complaining that Soldier was OP.

I believe it will now take him a whole 6 extra bullets to drop a Rhin shield.

Im a good soldier so Im more than happy. I cannot wait for the hanzo buff and disappointed with the Orisa nerf. I quite like her on certain maps and she is already rarely played.

The Reaper buff is nice but fairly pointless.

 

[Aeshi]

I love the soldier nerf. It is like Blizzard cockslapped everyone complaining that Soldier was OP.

Not necessarily, it was a mere +3 Damage buff that turned him into the omnipresent monster he is now.

 

[KenAri]

Snip

Snip

Not to be a complete ass but are you guys really low ranked or something....?
This Reaper change is literally one of the insignificant "buffs" ever.
Reaper's reload is instantaneous and can be animation canceled, any Reaper worth their salt can hit R and immediately wraith form and come out of wraith with fully loaded weapons.
Like I'm literally flabbergasted anyone would say this is OP.

Everything I can find online says that Reaper can't animation cancel his reload, including several test videos (and one guy who claims in his video that Blizz even stated there was no animation cancelling, but didn't provide a source for it). You have your own video proof of the contrary by any chance? Would be interested to see.

But my point wasn't that the buff is extreme. My point was that it's a change that removes another punishment for bad play. I'm of the mindset that clever positioning and aiming should reward you, and poor positioning, taking unfavourable fights and bad mechanics should punish you. My criticism of Reaper is that he does not suffer for making any of these mistakes since going 1:1 is essentially guaranteed, and this buff further assures that.

But maybe they're trying to subtly encourage a TwitchPlaysReaperwatch channel.

EDIT: Source for the Blizzard quote:
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745186024?page=5#post-86

 

[Rednog]

Snip

Snip

Not to be a complete ass but are you guys really low ranked or something....?
This Reaper change is literally one of the insignificant "buffs" ever.
Reaper's reload is instantaneous and can be animation canceled, any Reaper worth their salt can hit R and immediately wraith form and come out of wraith with fully loaded weapons.
Like I'm literally flabbergasted anyone would say this is OP.

Everything I can find online says that Reaper can't animation cancel his reload, including several test videos (and one guy who claims in his video that Blizz even stated there was no animation cancelling, but didn't provide a source for it). You have your own video proof of the contrary by any chance? Would be interested to see.

But my point wasn't that the buff is extreme. My point was that it's a change that removes another punishment for bad play. I'm of the mindset that clever positioning and aiming should reward you, and poor positioning, taking unfavourable fights and bad mechanics should punish you. My criticism of Reaper is that he does not suffer for making any of these mistakes since going 1:1 is essentially guaranteed, and this buff further assures that.

But maybe they're trying to subtly encourage a TwitchPlaysReaperwatch channel.

EDIT: Source for the Blizzard quote:
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745186024?page=5#post-86

Indon't know what you are searching...but a basic google search of reaper animation cancel has several videos.
Or just go into game, as soon as you hit R hit wraith,tele, or melee. The animation of Reaper dropping his guns and pulling out new ones will be interupted, but after your weapons will be fully reloaded. Other characters require the visual animation of the new clip touching their weapon before their ammo count is changed. Reaper on the other hand has his values immediately updated as soon as his weapons leave his hands. So as soon as you hit R you can do anything else, no other action will stop Reaper from actually reloading as compared to other characters.

 

[KenAri]

Snip

Snip

Not to be a complete ass but are you guys really low ranked or something....?
This Reaper change is literally one of the insignificant "buffs" ever.
Reaper's reload is instantaneous and can be animation canceled, any Reaper worth their salt can hit R and immediately wraith form and come out of wraith with fully loaded weapons.
Like I'm literally flabbergasted anyone would say this is OP.

Everything I can find online says that Reaper can't animation cancel his reload, including several test videos (and one guy who claims in his video that Blizz even stated there was no animation cancelling, but didn't provide a source for it). You have your own video proof of the contrary by any chance? Would be interested to see.

But my point wasn't that the buff is extreme. My point was that it's a change that removes another punishment for bad play. I'm of the mindset that clever positioning and aiming should reward you, and poor positioning, taking unfavourable fights and bad mechanics should punish you. My criticism of Reaper is that he does not suffer for making any of these mistakes since going 1:1 is essentially guaranteed, and this buff further assures that.

But maybe they're trying to subtly encourage a TwitchPlaysReaperwatch channel.

EDIT: Source for the Blizzard quote:
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745186024?page=5#post-86

Indon't know what you are searching...but a basic google search of reaper animation cancel has several videos.
Or just go into game, as soon as you hit R hit wraith,tele, or melee. The animation of Reaper dropping his guns and pulling out new ones will be interupted, but after your weapons will be fully reloaded. Other characters require the visual animation of the new clip touching their weapon before their ammo count is changed. Reaper on the other hand has his values immediately updated as soon as his weapons leave his hands. So as soon as you hit R you can do anything else, no other action will stop Reaper from actually reloading as compared to other characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK9x1lKadaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-AAsw76Vg

Two videos of the animation cancelling and proof that it does not speed it up. There's also one of the game designers stating that it does not help.

But if you want to link some proof to the contrary instead of just claiming that it exists, please go ahead.

 

[Rednog]

Snip

Snip

Not to be a complete ass but are you guys really low ranked or something....?
This Reaper change is literally one of the insignificant "buffs" ever.
Reaper's reload is instantaneous and can be animation canceled, any Reaper worth their salt can hit R and immediately wraith form and come out of wraith with fully loaded weapons.
Like I'm literally flabbergasted anyone would say this is OP.

Everything I can find online says that Reaper can't animation cancel his reload, including several test videos (and one guy who claims in his video that Blizz even stated there was no animation cancelling, but didn't provide a source for it). You have your own video proof of the contrary by any chance? Would be interested to see.

But my point wasn't that the buff is extreme. My point was that it's a change that removes another punishment for bad play. I'm of the mindset that clever positioning and aiming should reward you, and poor positioning, taking unfavourable fights and bad mechanics should punish you. My criticism of Reaper is that he does not suffer for making any of these mistakes since going 1:1 is essentially guaranteed, and this buff further assures that.

But maybe they're trying to subtly encourage a TwitchPlaysReaperwatch channel.

EDIT: Source for the Blizzard quote:
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20745186024?page=5#post-86

Indon't know what you are searching...but a basic google search of reaper animation cancel has several videos.
Or just go into game, as soon as you hit R hit wraith,tele, or melee. The animation of Reaper dropping his guns and pulling out new ones will be interupted, but after your weapons will be fully reloaded. Other characters require the visual animation of the new clip touching their weapon before their ammo count is changed. Reaper on the other hand has his values immediately updated as soon as his weapons leave his hands. So as soon as you hit R you can do anything else, no other action will stop Reaper from actually reloading as compared to other characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK9x1lKadaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-AAsw76Vg

Two videos of the animation cancelling and proof that it does not speed it up. There's also one of the game designers stating that it does not help.

But if you want to link some proof to the contrary instead of just claiming that it exists, please go ahead.

Sigh...I legitimately don't know how I can explain this better.
The videos are talking about animation canceling into firing. Yes you cannot speed up the time it takes from reload to next shot fired with Reaper. The point, however, is that he is not negatively affected by animation canceling his reload. Like in one of the videos the guy shows you can get a "free melee" in during reload with absolutely no penalty to the time in which you can next fire.
This is not true for the rest of the cast (excluding soldier); for the rest of the cast using melee during their reload animation can halt the animation causing you to not actually reload or delay the time until you can fire again. This is because the rest of the cast requires their new ammo clip to actually be inserted into their weapon for it to actually be reloaded. Reaper is unique because he doesn't change clips, he throws away his guns. His ammo counter is immediately replenished upon hitting reload, no one can stop him from having reloaded weapons, thus his ability to cancel his animation and getting the free melee in.

Now we turn back to the "buff" discussion. Reapers clip gets auto reloaded when in wraith. My point is that you can pretty much already do this in game. Just like using melee during reload, wraith form acts the same way. You can hit reload and then immediately wraith without having to wait for the reload animation to finish and you will come out of wraith with fully loaded guns.

If after this write up you still don't get it I can't help you.

 

[KenAri]

Now we turn back to the "buff" discussion. Reapers clip gets auto reloaded when in wraith. My point is that you can pretty much already do this in game. Just like using melee during reload, wraith form acts the same way. You can hit reload and then immediately wraith without having to wait for the reload animation to finish and you will come out of wraith with fully loaded guns.

If after this write up you still don't get it I can't help you.

I understand this. I think what you're failing to appreciate is that even if you animation-cancel with wraith walk, you still have to for the reload timer before you're able to shoot again; After coming out of Wraith Walk, you still have to go through the animation of lifting your guns and straightening them before firing. Additionally, if a player mis-times their cancel and Wraiths before dropping their guns, they're punished for biting off more than they can chew- and this I think is a good thing.

It seems with this buff, that immediately after coming out of Walk, a player can continue sending bullets downstream. I theorize that Walk will be used aggressively, used to get literally melee with a tank before killing them in ~1 second, since the reloading delay timer will be removed. That was why I criticised this change.

 

[IceForce]

It seems with this buff, that immediately after coming out of Walk, a player can continue sending bullets downstream. I theorize that Walk will be used aggressively, used to get literally melee with a tank before killing them in ~1 second, since the reloading delay timer will be removed. That was why I criticised this change.

Reaper can already do exactly what you're afraid of, simply by going into wraith-form with a full ammo counter. The rest is already as you've described.

Additionally, if a Reaper uses his wraith-form to get INTO combat, then he's used literally his only escape method should things go sour, and he can - and should - be punished severely by the opposing team for doing this.

Besides, if an enemy Reaper is coming right at you in wraith-form, then it's pretty obvious what he's about to do. It's probably the most obvious and telegraphed manoeuvre in the entire game.

 

[KenAri]

It seems with this buff, that immediately after coming out of Walk, a player can continue sending bullets downstream. I theorize that Walk will be used aggressively, used to get literally melee with a tank before killing them in ~1 second, since the reloading delay timer will be removed. That was why I criticised this change.

Reaper can already do exactly what you're afraid of, simply by going into wraith-form with a full ammo counter. The rest is already as you've described.

Additionally, if a Reaper uses his wraith-form to get INTO combat, then he's used literally his only escape method should things go sour, and he can - and should - be punished severely by the opposing team for doing this.

Besides, if an enemy Reaper is coming right at you in wraith-form, then it's pretty obvious what he's about to do. It's probably the most obvious and telegraphed manoeuvre in the entire game.

I'm just not sure why they felt the need to make his defensive move also an offensive one. There are already so few opportunities where one has an edge against him, and the previously having to decide whether or not to chase a Reaper while he can't shoot was a fairly tricky one. Might score a kill while he's readjusting his weapons, at the risk of bumping into his team. Now it's wrong in 100% of situations to chase a Reaper, because he'll be able to deal ~400 damage before the Wraithwalk even ends (Favour the shooter <3)

I can't see any reason for this change to occur, but see plenty of reason for it not to. That's my issue with this. But I don't see any reason in 90% of what Reaper is, so I think Blizzard and I just have different ideas about what this character is.