On Saturday, I told you that the next Overwatch update would force a full reinstall of the game. I also told you that there was currently no release date for the update, but we’d keep you informed. Well, here I am, keeping you informed as promised—the aforementioned “full reinstall” update (I named it that myself, that’s not an official title) is now live on all platforms.
The patch—which is officially called Patch 1.30—has been described by Blizzard as a “remaster” patch, that aims to improve load times, optimize memory for “constrained systems”, reduce hard drive space on PS4 and fix bugs across a number of maps. It’s not all background changes though, the patch also introduces Overwatch’s newest hero, Ashe, to the full game (she’s already been available on the PTR), although—as always with new hero’s—she won’t be available in competitive mode for another couple of weeks.
As well as the introduction of Ashe, there are also a number of balance changes, including a buff for Mercy in the way of increased healing per second (up to 60 from 50) and a 15% reduction to her Ultimate cost. Reaper has also had a buff (did he need one?), with his Life steal increased from 20% to 30% of damage dealt and his Hellfire Shotguns given a more consistent spread pattern to make him more effective at close-range. Roadhog and Symmetra also got some buffs (there’s a distinct “buff” theme going on here, isn’t there?); Roadhog’s Chain Hook will now start its Cooldown immediately on use rather than after the target has been pulled, and delay between hooking a target and pulling them in has been reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds. Similarly to Reaper, Roadhog has also had the spread pattern of his Scrap Gun adjusted to give him more consistent damage output, and his Whole Hog’s horizontal recoil has been decreased slightly. Symmetra only got one change, with her Photon Projector’s primary fire beam now charging up 20% faster.
Be warned, the full reinstall will make this a big patch, and Blizzard has warned that you will very likely download up to 20gb worth of data to your system. Blizzard has posted an article of important patching information that you should read before updating, and you can read the full patch notes here.
It’s been a big couple of days for Overwatch; yesterday, the game won the Esports Live Event of the Year for the OWL Grand Finals and Esports Game of the Year. Blizzard Entertainment also won Esports Publisher of the Year for Overwatch.
The winner of the Esports Game of the Year @overwatch #ESPORTSAWARDS pic.twitter.com/CdIP2QC8ND
— Esports Awards (@esportsawards) November 12, 2018
The winner of Esports Live Event of the Year @overwatchleague #ESPORTSAWARDS pic.twitter.com/U6vBU8nwqy
— Esports Awards (@esportsawards) November 12, 2018
Overwatch has been a roaring success for Blizzard, and it looks like it isn’t going away any time soon.
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