Overwatch PTR changes see replacement of Skirmish, barrier nerfs

Big changes are on the way to Overwatch as the latest update on the PTR is a new patch that sees the power of shields reduced significantly.

Orisa's Protective Barrier has been reduced by a third, dropping from 900 to 600 health, Sigma's Experimental Barrier now has 900 rather than 1500 and 1600 is the new total for Reinhardt's Barrier Field.

Moira's healing has also been reduced while Genji has been given 30 Shuriken, adding six to his arsenal.

As well as these specific hero changes, Skirmish mode is no longer the only option as you wait for a match.

Instead, a 'While You Wait' option is in its place. Players can choose to enter into the Practice Range, Custom Game, Deathmatch or stay traditional with Skirmish.

The full patch notes are as below and can be found with developer comments on the Blizzard forums:

INTRODUCING “WHILE YOU WAIT”

Coming with this patch, we will be removing the current “Skirmish” feature that allowed you to spar while waiting to start a game and replacing it with a brand new option called “While You Wait”.

When in queue, players will now be prompted to pick, if they want to, between the following game modes:

• Practice Range - Now available to be entered as a group
• Skirmish - Spar freely with other players without keeping track of score
• Deathmatch - Compete for the top place on the scoreboard
• Custom Game - Pick a custom game from the Custom Game Browser or create your own game mode
• Note that Custom Game will have to have the new setting "Allow players who are matchmaking" available in order to be selected

All “While You Wait” game modes are optional and can be accessed by a single player or as a group, but only the group leader can decide which mode to pick.

WORKSHOP UPDATES

• Custom Games - Practice Range Mode
• New Workshop Values
  • Game Mode
  • Current Game Mode
• New Workshop setting
  • "Allow players who are matchmaking": allows players who are matchmaking to participate in the Custom Game created

HERO UPDATES

General

• Armor damage reduction increased from 3 to 5

Orisa

General

• Base armor increased from 200 to 250

Fusion Driver

• Movement speed penalty reduced from 30% to 20%

Protective Barrier

• Health reduced from 900 to 600

Fortify

• Cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds

Sigma

Experimental Barrier

• Health reduced from 1500 to 900
• Barrier health regeneration rate reduced from 150 to 120 health per second

Kinetic Grasp

• Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds
• Damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%

Reinhardt

Barrier Field

• Health reduced from 2000 to 1600
• Movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 25%

Steadfast (Passive)

• Knockback resistance increased from 30% to 50%

Moira

Biotic Grasp

• Healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)

D.Va

Defense Matrix

• Cooldown decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Widowmaker

Grappling Hook

• Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds

Torbjörn

Overload

• Cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds

Genji

Shuriken

• Ammo increased from 24 to 30

Zarya

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
• Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20

BUG FIXES

General

• Color Blind Mode - Fixed an issue which caused models affected by infra-sight to appear washed out when using colors other than red
• Workshop - Fixed an issue causing map names and dropdowns from being displayed in the incorrect case
• Workshop - Fixed an issue preventing D.Va from being detected in Player Died events
• Custom Games - Renamed Assault/Escort to Hybrid
• Fixed a bug that could cause heroes with regenerating health/shields to not take full damage when damaged while at full health
• Various hero abilities (e.g. Symmetra’s Turrets, Roadhog’s Hook, Sigma’s Accretion, Orisa’s Halt, etc) will now respect the collision boxes on vending machines and other such props
• Fixed a bug that caused High Precision Mouse Input to cause toggle crouch to behave inconsistently

Maps

• Black Forest (1v1) - Fixed a bug that allowed Reaper to Shadow Step through the breakable doors

Heroes

Doomfist

• The default circle is now hidden when using advanced reticle settings
• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented the sound effect of Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut from playing
• Fixed a bug where Seismic Slam could land on an enemy’s head while playing FFA modes

Junkrat

• Fixed a bug where Junkrat grenades would not explode when slowly rolling down steep inclines

Orisa

• Fixed an issue where Orisa’s halt projectile could sometimes appear to go through the ground when viewed in 3rd person.

Roadhog

• Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s hook from damaging turrets and barriers

Widowmaker

• Turning off the toggle zoom control option for Widowmaker while zoomed in no longer remains stuck in the zoomed state