Overwatch March 22 update breaks the meta with radical Experimental patch

An insane new Overwatch patch has gone live on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch bringing in one of the craziest balance updates the game has ever seen.

The patch, which was designed by streamers and Overwatch League pros has revamped the majority of the game’s heroes, including even changing Wrecking Ball’s character model.

While the changes are unlikely to go through to the live game when all is said and done, the mode will be active through the week, leading up to a special tournament where anyone can compete.

Some of the more outrageous changes include letting Ana Nano Boost herself, giving Torbjorn two turrets, letting Pharah take less damage in the sky and giving Soldier 76 two Helix Rockets.

With so many heroes modified, it’s unclear exactly what the meta will be as teams will likely experiment with these changes leading up to the tournament.

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That said, some of these nerfs and buffs could very well work nicely if tested in a setting that wasn’t so over-the-top and could get a fair chance.

For instance, Soldier 76 having two Helix Rockets that deal a bit less damage seems like a nice addition. As does increasing Sombra’s hack cast time.

Another big change comes with Baptiste’s Immortality Field, which now leaves teammates with just 1 HP, down from 20% of their maximum health. This is a change that would probably be very welcome in the actual game should the devs test it at a later date.

Full patch notes:

EXPERIMENTAL HERO UPDATES

This experiment is intended for use during the Overwatch League Experimental Card Tournament and for you to try out these player-suggested changes yourselves–there is no plan to implement these changes outside of this experimental card.

HERO UPDATES (ONLY IN EXPERIMENTAL)

Ana
Biotic Rifle

• Ammo increased from 12 to 14
  Nano Boost
• Can now be self-cast on Ana by using the interact key

Ashe

Dynamite

• Damage reduced from 100 to 90

Baptiste

Regenerative Burst

• Healing reduced from 75 to 65

Immortality Field

• Now protects teammates to a minimum health threshold of 1 health, down from 20% of maximum

Bastion

Self-Repair

• Now increases movement speed increased by 25% while repairing

Brigitte

Inspire

• Healing removed from teammates when Brigitte is eliminated

D.Va

Boosters

• Duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds

Echo

Duplicate

• When Duplicate ends, Echo will be healed to 50% health instead of 100%

Genji

Shuriken

• (Secondary Fire) Spread reduced from 9 to 8 meters

Dragonblade

• Duration increased by 1 second for each kill while active

Hanzo

Dragonstrike

• Travel speed increased by 20%
• Damage increased by 20%
• Distance before the dragon forms from the arrow shot reduced from 10 to 5 meters

Junkrat

Concussion Mine

• Minimum damage increased from 30 to 35

Lúcio

Soundwave

• Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds

Crossfade

• Radius increased by 50%
• Effectiveness increased by 20% at close range, falling off to -50% at maximum range

Mei

Endothermic Blaster

• Ammo increased from 120 to 140

Mercy

Guardian Angel

• Killing blows now reset cooldown

Orisa

Protective Barrier

• Health increased from 600 to 700
• Cooldown increased from 10 to 11

Pharah

New Passive: Damage taken while airborne decreased by 5% and damage taken while grounded increased by 10%

Reaper

Shadow Step

• Removed voice line triggered upon arrival

Reinhardt

Earthshatter

• Stuns closer targets for up to 3 seconds. Targets at maximum range are stunned for the standard 2.5 seconds

Soldier: 76

Helix Rockets

• Now has two charges
• Damage reduced from 40 impact + 80 splash to 30 impact + 50 splash
• Self-damage scalar reduced from 50% to 40%.

Sombra

Hack

• Activation time increased from 0.65 to 1.15 seconds
• Duration increased from 5 to 6 seconds

Translocator

• Cooldown is now triggered when the translocator used or destroyed, instead of immediately after placement
• Cooldown reduced from 6 to 5 seconds

Symmetra

Sentry Turret

• Placement travel speed increased from 15 to 20 meters per second

Torbjörn

Deploy Turret

• Now has two charges
• Damage reduced by 40%
• Health reduced by 40%

Tracer

General

• Health increased from 150 to 175

Recall

• Cooldown increased from 12 to 14 seconds

Widowmaker

Venom Mine

• Damage increased from 75 to 120

Duration of damage over time effect increased from 5 to 6 seconds

• Trigger radius increased from 3 to 4 meters

Winston

General

• Health/Armor has been redistributed from 350/150 to 335/165

Wrecking Ball

General

• Size reduced by 15%

Quad Cannons

• Ammo reduced from 80 to 70

Grappling Claw

• Cooldown increased from 5 to 7 seconds

Adaptive Shield

• No longer prevents enemies from generating ultimate charge

Zarya

Projected Barrier

• Range increased from 30 to 34 meters

Zenyatta

Transcendence

• Movement speed multiplier increased from 2x to 2.3x