Blizzard Entertainment have released patch 1.8 to the Overwatch servers, adding in a ton of new fixes and tweaks in addition to some new features that should make the game more fun to play. As always, you can go here to read the full patch notes or you can read on to find out about the most important changes in this patch.
The biggest new feature has to be the game browser, which has finally made it to the game after a few months of the community asking for it non-stop. This game browser makes it easier than ever before to set up a custom game and allows you to customize your game’s ruleset.
For example, if you want to increase the speed of Pharah’s rockets or remove the cooldown from McCree’s Combat Roll, the power is yours. Once you’re happy with your settings, and you’re ready to launch your game, you’ll need to set up permissions. You can limit the people who can join your game by toggling the “Friends Only” or “Invite Only” options, but if you want to put your strange creation to a real test, set your server to “Public” and click the launch button.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62vG0BIzpTE
Following the success of the Capture the Rooster brawl from the Chinese New Year event last month, Blizzard are making this Capture the Flag mode permanently available in Overwatch‘s Arcade mode. The inclusion of this mode comes with 12 Capture the Flag maps across several familiar locations set all over the world.
And now onto the buffs Blizzard gave to everybody’s favorite chirping turret of death and despair: Bastion.
The goal of these changes is to move some of Bastion’s power from Configuration: Sentry to Recon, while keeping its sentry mode a strong option, especially versus tanks and barriers. Overall, Bastion should feel stronger and more flexible with these changes.And what a strong option it is! With these changes, Bastion can change from his sentry mode to his Recon mode in 1 second; half a second lower than before. The bullet spread will no longer ramp up the longer you shoot Bastion’s minigun and the spread has been increased by 50%, making it a little harder to snipe glass cannons in 2 seconds flat. However, the magazine size has been changed from 200 to 300 and you will no longer deal critical damage when you play as Bastion.
Bastion’s Recon mode, which allows Bastion to walk around as a mobile DPS, has also been given some significant tweaks. The bullet spread in Recon mode has been reduced by 25% and the magazine size has been increased from 20 to 25. Self-Repair is now bound to the secondary fire button and can now also be used when Bastion is on the move. Furthermore, taking damage no longer interrupts Bastion’s Self-Repair skill. This does not mean that you can walk around the map a fully armored and self-healing juggernaut, though, since the Self-Repair mechanic now uses a resource bar that depletes when you heal and slowly refills itself when you’re not. Lastly for Bastion, his Configuration: Tank Ultimate no longer grants you bonus armor while it’s active but Bastion takes 35% less damage while he’s in Sentry or Tank mode.
Another hero that’s been given some developer love is Mercy. With this patch, Mercy will no longer be vulnerable to enemy fire while she’s resurrecting her teammates with her ultimate ability. This will increase Mercy’s survivability dramatically, allowing you to freely resurrect anyone without having the fear that you’ll be put under mid-resurrect.
Other changes to heroes include new customization options for abilities of select heroes like Widowmaker, Sombra, Zarya and Zenyatta as well as some animation tweaks and a 15% decrease for critical hits on Winston. There’s a ton of little tweaks you can sort through to see if your favorite feature or most-hated bug has been squelched in this update.
What do you think of the new features introduced in Overwatch with Patch 1.8? Let us know in the comments!