HALLOWEEN TERROR 2019
The fright for the future returns!
We’re celebrating the scariest time of the year with a seasonal event: Overwatch Halloween Terror! Expand your collection of spooky gear and relive the chilling tale of Junkenstein's Revenge in our limited-time PvE brawl. Overcome weekly challenges with wins in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade to earn a series of uniquely chilling rewards!
You'll also be able to unlock new seasonal items—including new legendary skins like Pharaoh Ana, Warlock Ashe, and Will-o’-Wisp Tracer—to add to our growing collection from previous years.
GENERAL UPDATES
The Arcade has been expanded to 7 cards, to better handle its increasing variety of game modes.
COMPETITIVE UPDATES
Season 2 of Competitive 3v3 Lockout Elimination has begun.
BLIZZCON SKINS
We’re celebrating 25 years of Azeroth’s past at this year’s BlizzCon—and to mark this legendary occasion, we’ve created a pair legendary Overwatch skins representing two iconic Warcraft heroes. Prepare to seek vengeance against your opponents with Illidan Genji, and call upon the power of the (hard-)light of Elune as Tyrande Symmetra! These new Legendary Overwatch skins are available to BlizzCon attendees and BlizzCon Virtual Ticket holders.
HERO UPDATES
D.Va
Defense Matrix
- Regeneration rate increased from 12.5% to 16% per second
- Delay before regeneration begins lowered from 1 second to 0.75 seconds
Developer Comment: This change will allow D.Va to absorb more damage over time, while still keeping the maximum duration she can absorb at one time the same.
Orisa
Protective Barrier
- Cooldown increased from 9 to 10 seconds
Developer Comment: Orisa’s barrier is often too difficult to deal with. This increased cooldown will make it more reasonable to destroy it before she can place another one.
Roadhog
Scrap Gun
- Ammunition increased from 5 to 6.
Developer Comment: Roadhog is one of the best heroes at breaking down barriers quickly, but often he would be out of ammo and unable to capitalize on a barrier being destroyed. This change gives him more opportunities to poke at these high health targets and still having extra shots to threaten the enemy.
Sigma
Kinetic Grasp
- No longer blocks Chain Hook and Whip Shot
Gravitic Flux
- High gravity effect duration reduced from 1.2 to 0.9 seconds
Experimental Barrier
- Regeneration rate reduced from 175 to 150 per second
- Now has a 1 second cooldown after recalling the barrier
- Initial 0.2 second cast time removed
Developer Comment: Sigma can often feel difficult to counter since he can so quickly reposition his shield and use Kinetic Grasp to block from other directions. We’re opening up some weaknesses in these abilities to allow for more counter play from his enemies.
Winston
Barrier Projector
- Duration increased from 6 to 9 seconds
- Health increased from 600 to 700
Developer Comment: Winston’s barrier often feels unreliable as a protection tool since it can be destroyed so quickly. Raising the health and duration should allow for him to apply pressure and protect his team more consistently.
Baptiste
Immortality Field
- Health decreased from 250 to 200
Developer Comment: Immortality Field is a very strong ability with its weakness being that it is destroyable. We’re lowered the health of the device so that its can be countered more easily.
Lucio
Crossfade
- Speed boost's effect increased from 20% to 25%
Amp It Up
- Speed boost's amplification increased from 50% to 60%
Wall Ride
- Speed buff reduced from 40% to 30%
Developer Comment: Lucio has had previous reductions to his speed that were put in place to reduce his effectiveness when boosting more than 2 tanks. Now that this is no longer possible, he is gaining some of his speed back. The Wall Ride change is there to counteract the increase in speed, so it should feel the same as it did before the change.
Mercy
Valkyrie
- The extra beams created by Valkyrie now ignore enemy barriers
Developer Comment: This change will make Valkyrie makes Mercy’s beams consistent with how they work outside of the ultimate.
Moira
Biotic Grasp
- Self-healing reduced from 30 to 20 health per second
Developer Comment: Moira’s dueling capability is a bit too strong, so we’re reducing the self-healing gain from her Biotic Grasp to make it more reasonable to fight against her alone.
Doomfist
Rocket Punch
- Time to reach max charge increased from 1 to 1.4 seconds
The Best Defense…
- Shield health gained per hit reduced from 35 to 30
Developer Comment: We’re increasing Doomfist’s charge time for Rocket Punch to give players more warning when he is charging this powerful ability. We’re also reducing the shield health gain from his passive ability to weaken how much damage he can soak while dishing out his own.
Sombra
Translocator
- Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds
- Cooldown now begins immediately upon deploying the beacon or if it is killed by an enemy
Developer Comment: Having the Translocator cooldown begin right when it is thrown allows Sombra more flexibility in how she can use it. For example, she can now often redeploy it instantly after teleporting to it, or quickly destroy and reposition it while sneaking around. The cooldown has been increased to compensate for this change.
Symmetra
Photon Barrier
- Duration reduced from 15 to 12 seconds
- Health reduced from 5000 to 4000
Sentry Turret
- Damage per second reduced from 50 to 40
Photon Projector
- Players impacted by the primary fire beam should now hear a louder impact sound
Developer Comment: The duration of Photon Barrier was too high considering its impact on a battle. Recent changes have seen large increases in Symmetra’s overall damage output, so we’re reducing her turret damage in lieu of making further damage adjustments to her Photon Projector.
Tracer
Pulse Pistols
- Damage falloff now starts at 13 meters, up from 10 meters
Developer Comment: This change will allow Tracer to play from slightly further away from her targets, allowing her to stay safer while still keeping pressure on her enemies.
BUG FIXES
General
- Fixed a player profile issue preventing hero win percentages from being displayed for competitive arcade mode seasons
Heroes
Brigitte
- Fixed a bug with Brigitte's Rally checking line of sight from her feet instead of from her head
- Fixed a bug with Inspire's position being affected by the player’s aim pitch
Doomfist
- Fixed a bug that could cause Doomfist's Rocket Punch to not travel forward if he was sliding along a wall while airborne
- Fixed a bug that caused Rocket Punch to briefly stop all movement on a Fortified Orisa
- Fixed a bug that allowed Doomfist to use Meteor Strike before taking impact damage from Sigma’s Gravitic Flux
Sigma
- Fixed a bug that allowed Sigma's Gravitic Flux to ignore line of sight through some ceilings
Sombra
- Fixed a bug with EMP's position being affected by player’s aim pitch
Winston
- Fixed a bug that caused Winston’s Barrier Projector to not consistently play its destroyed visual effects
Zenyatta stretching his legs, that's... creepy! Halloween is coming back in Overwatch on October 15 and it promises to be terrifying. Little information has been leaked about the event and we have to wait until its official launch to learn more about it.
