Overwatch’s Public Test Realm has received another update, this time tweaking Mercy yet again as well as changing Ana. Mercy, who has been subject to a number of changes in recent weeks, has been nerfed once more: Resurrect now has a cast time, meaning she can now be interrupted while reviving teammates. In addition, her movement speed is now 75% lower while casting her Resurrect ability.
Developer Blizzard is testing the change on Overwatch’s PTR as it feels Resurrect “still feels too strong and frustrating to play against,” even though the company believes “Mercy’s recent rework has been successful.”
In a blog post, the developer continued: “Now that [Resurrect] 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.”
Ana has also been tweaked. Her Biotic Rifle now does 70 damage rather than 60, as it did previously. “Ana has been outshined by other support heroes lately,” Blizzard stated. “Boosting her damage will help her defend herself and make her more threatening to the enemy team.”
These changes are live now on the PTR, which you can check out if you own Overwatch on PC. However, be aware that these latest changes are not yet live in the live game (and may never go live there), as Blizzard wants to continue experimenting before implementing anything.
There is, however, plenty to check out in the live version of Overwatch. This year’s Halloween Terror event is still happening right now, and it brings back last year’s co-op Brawl mode and new cosmetics. You can check out all of the Overwatch Halloween skins and weapons in our gallery.
Overwatch PTR Update Patch Notes – Nov 1
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
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.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed several issues that prevented the announcer voice lines from playing correctly in Competitive, Elimination, and Capture the Flag game modes
- Fixed an issue causing Roadhog’s Chain Hook to latch on to enemy players for longer than intended
