Overwatch - Discussion Thread

[Syndrome]

How do you feel knowing you just got swindled by a countdown leading to just another countdown? ):

Well, it still adds to the lore of 2 maps, the junkers and Sombra, so I'm not that disappointed. I expect her to be officially revealed Friday or Saturday and on the PTR/Live sometime next week.

 

[JJ Styles]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post direct links to articles but to those interested with the upcoming changes which was discussed previously on my part, here they are courtesy of Rock paper Shotgun

Overwatch PTR Hero changes explained

I've previously mentioned on the changes coming to D.Va, Widowmaker, and Mercy which are pretty much buffs, and I've also expressed my displeasure on D.Va's buffs considering how she was already buffed several times in older patches.

Regarding Widowmaker's future buffs.. Ever since Blizzard nerfed her several times, she's just been pretty much below average. Heck, I'd make a big explanation on why Widowmaker seems to be out of place with how Overwatch plays but that explanation will contain a lot of technical and gameplay design Jargon. (A user in the Overwatch forums have made a really good explanation on why Widowmaker "Sucks" regarding her place with Overwatch's general gameplay design). However, it seems that Blizzard is addressing how they overnerfed Widowmaker by increasing Widow's Kiss' charge rate by 20%, along with the already buffed scope time of 0.33 seconds.

And yes, I've been playing Widowmaker for the past few days. Feels good to land those hits.

Pharah's changes are still pretty controversial for me. Oh sure, give her a 25% Direct hit damage buff to her already decent and current damage output. But reducing the minimum explosion knockback to to 0% of rocket's total knockback (formerly 75%)? Whatever explanation Blizzard has on their official announcement of their patch notes should make any deal of sense. But i could theorize this change mainly since Blizzo may want to reduce the amount of Area of effect damage that the game has.. then again, if they wanted to do that, they should have also hit on Junkrat, who is overwhelmingly popular in all game types.

Soldier 76 Buffs? Yes please! Ever since that senseless Spread Recovery nerf they gave him months ago, I feel like playing S76 was a lot more cumbersome than how i experienced it months before they gave him that senseless change. Now by buffing his primary weapon damage, he can now deal damage against anyone especially in those times where controlled bursts are key. Heck, ever since the Spread Recovery nerf, i've been practicing my controlled bursts on long range to take out stray heroes.

There's more for me to talk about but I think i should point out the biggest change in the future which is more likely to affect the overall gameflow:

Every single ultimate cost has been increased by 25%

Yep. This is the big one ladies and dudes. Increasing EVERY ULTIMATE COST. From Reaper's Death Blossom, Soldier's Tac Visor, Mercy's "HEROES NEVER DIE", Widowmaker's Infra-red scanners, Genji's Japanese Battlecry, Hanzo's MEME, Junkat's Tire, Bastion's Tank form, everything under the Talon terrorized sun.

For one thing, I kinda like this change. This basically means that people are going to rely on more gunplay for once and lessen the stuff that people complain about. This also lessens the burden on Roadhog who actually is such a damage sponge that attacking him actually has a lot of benefits for ult recharging.

This will probably slow down a lot of games but hey, that means more time for EVERYONE to enjoy.

 

[Syndrome]

She's finally here. Apparently she's an offense character, which is weird because I swore she'd be a support. They mentioned her stealth and ability to hack enemy abilities. I'm ready.

EDIT: We also get 2 new game modes (Arcade 1v1 & 3v3 brawl) and a new map based in Antarctica.

EDIT 2: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/sombra/

 

[Klippy]

Super pumped for her.

Also I feel like there's an Overwatch name collab now that I need to get in on...

Sombra
Tracer
McCree
Reinhardt or Hanzo

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

Super pumped for her.

Also I feel like there's an Overwatch name collab now that I need to get in on...

Sombra
Tracer
McCree
Reinhardt or Hanzo

Reinhardt is the cooler name but you're going to find a lot more/better fan art for Hanzo haha.

 

[JJ Styles]

After watching Blizzcon's Overwatch World cup, I think i get it know.

Zarya for setups
Reinheart for reasons
Ana for Roids
Mei is bae
Reaper or Genji whoever gets the Zarya Shields and Ana roids

And yes I spent an entire night and morning watching nothing but Blizzcon's Overwatch World Cup tournament where each team, representing their home country are fighting out for national pride.

I'm quite pleased to see Reaper actually being played in the competitive scene where he's basically the team's walking Death Bomb where a setup from Zarya's gravition bomb, Mei's Blizzard, and of course Ana's roids (and the Zarya shield). Watching a Nanoboosted Reaper just rip and tear an entire teamfight is such a joy to watch.

Oh and yeah KR Overlords:

 

[Meganium]

For those of you with PTR, how are y'all doing with Sombra?

I feel like she is very OP with the ability to disable medkits as well as hacking through abilities. Don't you think they could tone it down a bit?

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

For those of you with PTR, how are y'all doing with Sombra?

I feel like she is very OP with the ability to disable medkits as well as hacking through abilities. Don't you think they could tone it down a bit?

What's her cooldowns like for that? And if she hacks the medkit, does it just become inactive for a period of time of does it have a negative effect on the hero when picked up?

 

[Alex]

For those of you with PTR, how are y'all doing with Sombra?

I feel like she is very OP with the ability to disable medkits as well as hacking through abilities. Don't you think they could tone it down a bit?

Unfortunately if you tone that down she just isn't fun to play. She needs some sort of viability. I think her kit is great and a real game-changer. I only dislike her ability to wallhack low health enemies. I find that unnecessary and, indeed, overpowered.

What's her cooldowns like for that? And if she hacks the medkit, does it just become inactive for a period of time of does it have a negative effect on the hero when picked up?

I forget exactly what her cool down numbers are. I'd say in the ball park of Pharah and McCree cool downs. Hacked medkits are hacked for 60 seconds unless another medkit is hacked (and maybe if the hacker Sombra dies, not sure). Hacked medkits are effectively useless to the hacking Sombras enemy team and respawn twice as fast, which means the hacking Sombras team gets double the use out of them within the 60 second period.

it's quite an ability. her whole kit is incredible. I just find her wallhacking abilities overpowered.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I forget exactly what her cool down numbers are. I'd say in the ball park of Pharah and McCree cool downs. Hacked medkits are hacked for 60 seconds unless another medkit is hacked (and maybe if the hacker Sombra dies, not sure). Hacked medkits are effectively useless to the hacking Sombras enemy team and respawn twice as fast, which means the hacking Sombras team gets double the use out of them within the 60 second period.

it's quite an ability. her whole kit is incredible. I just find her wallhacking abilities overpowered.

So let me see if I can wrap my head around this. Team's with Sombra on it will be able to use that medkit 2x as fast, while the opposing team will not be able to use it at all correct? And as for the "wallhacking," how does that operate? I've kept myself in the dark for the most part about Sombra, so I don't really know much about her abilities.

 

[Alex]

So let me see if I can wrap my head around this. Team's with Sombra on it will be able to use that medkit 2x as fast, while the opposing team will not be able to use it at all correct? And as for the "wallhacking," how does that operate? I've kept myself in the dark for the most part about Sombra, so I don't really know much about her abilities.

That's exactly right.

Her wallhacking activates on enemies that are lower than 50℅ iirc. I don't know how long of a range she has for wall hacking. I also don't know if it's necessary for her to have inflicted damage on that enemy for her to see them through walls. But she can see the outline of a low health enemy in order to stalk and kill them. In fact it's incredibly synergistic because her invisibility gives her a boost in walking speed. Even without the wall hacks she could stalk and catch-up to almost any class except maybe tracer, widow, reaper and pharah.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

That's exactly right.

Her wallhacking activates on enemies that are lower than 50℅ iirc. I don't know how long of a range she has for wall hacking. I also don't know if it's necessary for her to have inflicted damage on that enemy for her to see them through walls. But she can see the outline of a low health enemy in order to stalk and kill them. In fact it's incredibly synergistic because her invisibility gives her a boost in walking speed. Even without the wall hacks she could stalk and catch-up to almost any class except maybe tracer, widow, reaper and pharah.

So basically, she has a Widowmaker-Ult-like ability which allows her to see the enemy position through walls as long as she's close enough to them and their health is below 50%? Yeesh, you're not wrong with the fact that that does sound OP coupled with the fact she can go invisible. So this ability, is this passive or does it have a cooldown like her other abilities? And does her invisibility ability deactivate once she starts shooting like in other games that apply a similar ability, or does she stay invisible the whole time?

 

[Alex]

So basically, she has a Widowmaker-Ult-like ability which allows her to see the enemy position through walls as long as she's close enough to them and their health is below 50%? Yeesh, you're not wrong with the fact that that does sound OP coupled with the fact she can go invisible. So this ability, is this passive or does it have a cooldown like her other abilities? And does her invisibility ability deactivate once she starts shooting like in other games that apply a similar ability, or does she stay invisible the whole time?

The wallhacking is passive! Too much IMO.

Her invisibility lasts for up to six seconds. Not sure how long the cool down is. She has a speed boost and the cloak gets cancelled if she shoots or uses any of her abilities. I forget if it gets cancelled if she gets shot. Maybe just a cloak shimmer like in other combat games where stealth is a mechanic.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

Here's a comprehensive chart with strengths and weaknesses for each of the characters, minus Sombra and Ana:

Do you guys find yourself having extraneous difficulties combatting certain characters? For myself, it's always Zarya. I've been practicing her the last few days and understand her play style, but I always find myself never putting in enough DPS on her to kill her, whereas she tends to get me when I push too hard on her.

 

[EC]

I can't wait to get back into this game. Hopefully they'll have a Christmas/holidays event with lots of juicy skins.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I can't wait to get back into this game. Hopefully they'll have a Christmas/holidays event with lots of juicy skins.

I'm banking on a sexy Tracer-Santa outfit. Please Blizzard, make my unhealthy Tracer obsession a reality.

...I admit that I have a problem lol

 

[JJ Styles]

So for all what I've ranted about with the Pharah AOE blast nerf in the PTR, it seems that Blizzo has at least given her a much better tune up by giving her 35% more Thruster jets. Should this pushes through in live, I'll be definitely be playing Pharah more and more since being able to actually fly and hover indefinitely is something I'd really want and would definitely suit the playstyle that she was meant to be designed for.

Freeze, don't move.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

So for all what I've ranted about with the Pharah AOE blast nerf in the PTR, it seems that Blizzo has at least given her a much better tune up by giving her 35% more Thruster jets. Should this pushes through in live, I'll be definitely be playing Pharah more and more since being able to actually fly and hover indefinitely is something I'd really want and would definitely suit the playstyle that she was meant to be designed for.

Freeze, don't move.

So with this adjustment, does this mean that her cooldown will begin once you activated her thruster jets, or will the cooldown begin once you land? If it's when you first activate the ability, than my god you'll be able to fly indefinitely like you said.

 

[JJ Styles]

So with this adjustment, does this mean that her cooldown will begin once you activated her thruster jets, or will the cooldown begin once you land? If it's when you first activate the ability, than my god you'll be able to fly indefinitely like you said.

I need to sign up for the Overwatch PTR like a real PC gaming warlord to contribute while my console pheasants can sit back and relax. Then make Overwatch videos for that Overwatch $$$$$$$$$$$$ Anyway, this adjustment makes her fly indefinitely as long as she has fuel in her thruster jets.

Definitely a great buff considering that they've already nerfed her AoE/Blast Damage radius. So i like the added maneuverability with the extremely buffed hover jets, definitely turns her from being simply bad (let's face it. Live Pharah isn't any good unless you're a Pharah main, and that Blast radius nerf made her worse) into someone being actually playable, without ruining her character.

Alright, i'm quoting some food for thought coming from a Pharah main, and I'm not a Pharah main, I'm a Junkrat main (for now).

Spoiler:

For what it's worth, I'm a pharah main who has been in and out of top 500 several times this season.

Pharah's changes are as follows:
Rocket Launcher
Minimum explosion damage has been increased to 25% of rocket's total damage (formerly 12%)
Minimum explosion knockback has been decreased to 0% of rocket's total knockback (formerly 75%)
Hover Jets
Lift increased by 35%


These changes are a net nerf to pharah, with the knockback nerf more than offsetting the other two buffs.

Many maps, through their layout or typical enemy positioning, require pharah to engage enemies at mid- to long-range (as an example, the distance from the top of the main gate on Hanamura to the small steps leading up to Point A). At this distance, enemies have time to identify the trajectory of your rockets, and move to avoid them while still engaging you with their weapons. While movement prediction is indeed a skill, and an important one for projectile players, the fact that the enemy has time to actively dodge your incoming rockets means that landing direct or near-direct rockets at these ranges relies significantly on luck or an enemy's skill deficiency. A perfect player, with perfect foresight, will still not be able to reliably land direct or near-direct rockets on enemy players at this range. This means that, for a normal player, their skill ceiling (the best that they could hope to be) in this situation is to reliably land glancing, max-splash-radius rockets.

As she currently is on live, these glancing rockets will produce significant knockback, propeling an enemy into the air with some horizontal momentum. An experienced pharah player, having hit the first glancing rocket, can observe knockback and use the fact that the enemy now has less control over their movement (and are thus, more predictable) to ensure the follow up rockets are direct or near-direct hits. This mechanic is essential to pharah's viability on certain maps, such as offense on Hanamura, both sides of Numbani, both sides of Volskaya, and both sides of Route 66.

In her iteration on the PTR (with the knockback nerfs), pharah's ability to engage enemies at mid- to long- range has been neutered. Since the glancing rockets cause little-to-no knockback, an enemy is fully able to dodge followup rockets after being hit by a glancing rocket. Thus, she must hit players with "naked" direct or near-direct rockets to stand a chance of finishing a kill. This means for pharah that engaging enemies at mid- to long- range becomes less reliant on her player's skill (movement prediciton, knockback trajectory indentification) and more reliant on luck or incompetent enemies.

My purpose here is just to make sure that the dev team knows that, if they push pharah's PTR changes to live as they are now, pharah will be in a worse spot than she was before. This change (the knockback change specifically) will make her unpickable on several maps, maps that she is currently semi-viable on. I do not think the dev team is intending to make pharah worse than she is now, so I hope to clarify that the current changes do indeed make her weaker than she is on live.

 

[MattEnth]

What are people's thoughts on Sombra? I feel like she's pretty OP