Overwatch’s New Hero Moira Is Playable Now On PTR

Overwatch ’s latest playable character, Talon geneticist and support hero Moira , made quite a stir when she was recently announced at Blizzcon. Turns out she’s now playable on the PTR, a lot sooner than anyone thought.

In order to access the PTR, you need an Overwatch game license on Windows PC attached to your Battle.net account. Here are the steps to participate in the newest patch:

Step 1: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.

Step 2: Navigate to the Overwatch tab on the left-hand menu.

Step 3: Select "PTR: Overwatch" from the REGION/ACCOUNT drop-down menu.

Step 4: Click "Install" to begin the installation process.

Step 5: Once the PTR client is installed and updated, click "Play" to begin!

Moira’s abilities make her a “mobile healer and damage dealer capable of adapting to any situation.” Her main attack, Biotic Grasp, lets her choose between healing allies and draining enemy health. Her primary fire is a cone of energy that heals all teammates in range, but drains her biotic energy, which replenishes slowly over time. Her alternate fire is a beam that attaches to the closest enemy and drains their health to regenerate the biotic energy she needs to heal her allies some more.

Think Reaper, if he could heal his teammates by gobbling those Soul Orbs, plus Zenyatta, if his orbs could tether to more than one target, with a little Symmetra health-sucking action just for fun. "Want to know how to spell Moira?" game director Jeff Kaplan joked back during the Overwatch showcase when Moira was introduced. "OP AF."

Moira’s Biotic Orb ability launches an energy sphere that heals allies in its range or damages enemies until it dissipates. Her Fade ability, another Reaper-analogue, lets her disappear for a brief time, grants her a sprint and makes her invulnerable for its short duration. Moira’s Ultimate is called Coalescence: a long-range beam of chaotic energy that pierces barriers while it heals allies and damages enemies. Blast that healing right in your team’s face !

For more information on Moira’s abilities, check out our breakdown here or Blizzard’s official page here. There are a few other tweaks in play on the PTR, most importantly to Ana and Mercy. Ana’s damage has received a small boost, while Mercy’s Resurrect has received another nerf (one that is suspended during her Valkyrie ult). You can check out these changes below:

Ana

• Biotic Rifle: Damage increased from 60 to 70

• Developer Comment: Ana has been outshined by other support heroes lately. Boosting her damage will help her defend herself and make her more threatening to the enemy team.

Mercy

• Resurrect: Cast time increased from 0 seconds to 1.75 seconds; Mercy’s movement speed is now reduced by 75% while casting; can now be interrupted when Mercy is knocked back, stunned, or hacked

• Valkyrie: When activated, Resurrection no longer has a cast time; While active, casting Resurrect does not reduce Mercy's movement speed

• Developer Comment: We feel that Mercy’s recent rework has been successful, but her Resurrect ability still feels too strong and frustrating to play against. Now that it has a cast time, there is more room for enemies to counter the ability. However, casting Resurrect happens instantly when Valkyrie is active. This should make her feel powerful when she transforms on the battlefield.

A few general, A.I., hero and map bugs have been fixed as well. However, the Blizzard World map does not appear to be available yet. We’ll let you know when that changes.

Have you tried Moira on the PTR yet? How do you feel about her? What about the changes to Ana and Mercy? Still looking forward to running rampant in Blizzard World? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.