The Latest PTR Patch Changes as of May 3

Reaper and the Shimada brothers get buffs while Reinhardt sees a nerf.

The latest Overwatch patch has gone live on the PTR today, including some small changes to mechanics of certain heroes that might have big consequences in-game.

Reaper, Hanzo and Genji are the targets of low-key buffs: the three saw mechanical changes that will result in fights being more favorable to them. The Shimadas' attack cooldown has now been removed post-wall climb, meaning that you can wall climb and immediately attack instead of having to wait a few seconds for you to strike. Hanzo received some extra help, with his special arrows being able to be charged while wall climbing (as long as the corresponding button for that arrow is pressed), which should give Hanzo some attack versatility. Reaper has the biggest buff thanks to his Wraith Form essentually acting like McCree's roll; his weapons are fully reloaded after he exits Wraith.

Reinhardt, on the other hand, saw a slight change to his Earthshatter - the hitbox height of the ultimate has been lowered from three meters to two. While this is a subtle change, this could have some serious effect on key fights, especially if a PharMercy team is in play.

The rest of the buffs and nerfs can be seen below:

Genji

• Removed the attack cooldown from Genji’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
   

Hanzo

• Removed the attack cooldown from Hanzo’s wall climbing ability, allowing him to engage with enemies immediately after completing a climb
• Storm Bow
  • Increased charge speed by 10%
  • Charged arrows now maintain their charge after climbing a wall, provided the button is continuously held
     

Orisa

• Fusion Driver
  • Damage reduced by 15%
• Protective Barrier
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds
     

Reaper

• Wraith Form
  • Ammo is now entirely refilled when Wraith Form is used
     

Reinhardt

• Earthshatter
  • Effective height has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters
  • The height threshold of objects that Earthshatter can "climb" has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters, making Earthshatter less likely to climb tall objects as it "crawls" along the ground.
     

Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle
  • Bullet damage decreased from 20 to 19

 

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