Today is a huge day for fans of Overwatch who love fighting on the moon and thought Reaper was just a bit too weak. A new PTR patch just dropped, giving players a chance to experience the first Assault map added to the game since launch that just happens to be on the moon. Let’s take a deep dive into these patch notes and dissect the hidden truth behind Winston’s home turf.
Horizon Lunar Colony- Super-intelligent apes have taken over a base on the moon; it feels like the Overwatch team can get away with anything. HZL is an Assault map that’s smaller than Hanumara and Volskaya Industries, but still has plenty of space for heroes to battle. The walkways and upper levels of the map, designed for apes to move around easily, allow for double-decker fights that Genji and D.Va will dominate.
Fans are still dissecting every little nook and cranny of this space station, trying to find clues that Blizzard may or may not be hiding. There’s the simple stuff, like Hammond and the other monkeys on a paused security camera, but there’s also some deeper lore at work here. When you look through the giant telescope in the spawn point of heroes on Attack, you get an overhead shot of Watchpoint: Gibraltar with three spots designated “potential landing site.”
Watchpoint: Gibraltar was one of the original bases the Overwatch team used as an orbital launch facility. After the downfall of the organization, the base showed zero signs of activity until Winston tried to get the team back together. Why is this telescope looking at W:G? Did the scientists plan to head back to earth before the riot happened, or were the apes preparing their own assault?
Reaper Passive Rework- Reaper is a squishy assassin who likes to dive into the middle of a fight, do his damage and get the hell out of dodge. Overwatch ’s developers wanted to make him beefier without increasing his health, so now he gains back 20 percent of the damage he deals as health. You can argue that Reaper’s will now be impossible to kill, dropping into the middle of a fight with a “die, die, die” that can’t be killed. He’s still got the same weaknesses, hard crowd control and range are still his enemies, but now he can last a bit longer in the middle of a fire fight.
McCree Deadeye Changes- There’s nothing more satisfying than lining up the perfect McCree ultimate, taking down every member of the enemy team in an instant. There’s nothing more infuriating than having that shot ruined because you couldn’t lock onto anyone and wasting the ability. These experimental changes lower the time it takes to lock on, but now scales the longer you keep your aim. That way, you don’t have to be the fastest draw in the West in order to gut some folks.
Roadhog Nerfs- Oh Roadhog, why does the Overwatch team enjoy mangling you so much? The one man apocalypse is losing 33 percent of the damage on his Scrap Gun, but gaining another ammo shot and 30 percent faster firing speed. The goal is to give Roadhog more tools to work with besides the hook+ headshot combo that’s become the centerpiece of his kit. Blizzard does giveth as well as take away: the hitbox on his head is shrinking 25 percent.
How do you feel about these changes? Tell us in the comments.
- Amazing Art Style
- Balanced Mechanics
- Characters Keep You Coming Back For More
- No Single Player
- Overwhelming At First
