As Overwatch’s professional circuit Overwatch League goes, so does the actual retail game’s direction and meta. The metagame of Overwatch has been in an absolute state of flux as a result. Many people don’t like the way this plays out, as there are plenty of Overwatch players who don’t give two figs about OWL, especially in a year that’s seen the esport almost completely fall off the map and into obscurity thanks to COVID, bad decisions, player retirements, and Valorant. However, the cogs keep turning and so does the meta, with the emphasis on high-powered damage-dealers being taken down more than a few pegs. McCree, Junkrat, and friends aren’t the only victims, however. The latest Overwatch patch nerfs have absolutely demolished Moira, once the quick play and low-level “healer” of choice and the bane of most people’s online Overwatch experiences.
Here’s the full patch notes, with our analysis below.
OVERWATCH RETAIL PATCH NOTES – AUGUST 31, 2020
HERO UPDATES
Armor
- Beam-type damage reduction against Armor health pools increased from 20% to 30%
In an environment with less pervasive barriers, some Damage heroes have become increasingly lethal. As such, we’re now looking to reduce damage outputs accordingly. As a cascading effect, this also introduces a need to reduce healing outputs for some Support heroes, as there’s less damage being dealt overall.
ANA
Biotic Rifle
General
- Ammo reduced from 14 to 12
ASHE
The Viper
General
- Max ammo reduced from 15 to 12
Secondary Fire
- Aim-down sights damage reduced from 85 to 80
BAPTISTE
Biotic Launcher
Secondary Fire
- Grenade ammo reduced from 12 to 10
Regenerative Burst
- Total healing reduced from 150 to 75
- Baptiste now receives twice as much healing from Regenerative Burst
JUNKRAT
Frag Launcher
- Impact damage reduced from 50 to 40 (Total 130 to 120)
MCCREE
Peacekeeper
Primary Fire
- Recovery increased from 0.42 to 0.50
MOIRA
Biotic Grasp
Healing
- Lingering heal reduced from 4 seconds to 2 seconds (Total healing from 65 down to 35)
- Healing per second increased from 65 to 70
- Healing resource consumption rate increased from 11 to 14 (27%)
Damage
- Attach angle reduced by 37%
- Healing resource gain rate increased by 50%
ORISA
Halt!
- Radius increased from 4 to 5
- Projectile speed reduced from 30 to 25
PHARAH
Rocket Launcher
- Recovery increased from 0.75 to 0.85
SYMMETRA
Photon Projector
Secondary Fire
- Max damage reduced from 140 to 120
WIDOWMAKER
Widow’s Kiss
General
- Max ammo increased from 30 to 35
Secondary Fire
- Scoped ammo cost increased from 3 to 5
- Scoped shots now have up to 50% damage falloff from 60-85 meters
ZARYA
Particle Cannon
Secondary Fire
- Ammo cost increased from 20 to 25
Hard to look at this update as anything other than the “screw everyone, but especially Widowmaker and Moira” patch. The big overall shift is that damage Heroes are being tuned to an aggressive degree. And while some of the changes such as Pharah’s rocket launcher recovery seem small, the change to Widowmaker almost feels like an overcorrection. The damage falloff is especially brutal, given that the ability to stay safe and get away from danger is Widow’s biggest weakness and one that lower-level players will struggle with given her newfound range limitations.
However, the award for the biggest nerfing has to go to Moira, even if it is a long time coming. Moira has long been a bane of bronze and silver players who often haven’t learned the finer points of the game and default to complaining about Moira’s suite of abilities and long, long-range. But more than the nerf on her basic attack range, the changes to her healing numbers feel especially brutal, combining a resource usage increase with a decrease of how long the healing effects hang around.
Will this “fix” the Overwatch meta? Not likely, though it will undoubtedly change it. Healers continue to be devalued and underpowered while the likes of Genji and mobile characters run roughshod over the competition. Tanks can’t seem to find any peace now that Roadhog IS the meta, and hitscan is almost a necessity if you’re expecting to win. Only time will tell how these changes play out in the pro and amateur scenes, as well as for casual players just looking for fun in Quickplay, but one thing is for sure: Someone really hates Moira. These patch changes are available now across all versions of Overwatch.