Overwatch duplicate drop rates drastically reduced (on the ptr)

Ever open a ton of loot boxes excited as all hell only to find that every item is just a duplicate? Welcome to loot box hell. Well, Blizzard has finally addressed the issue and the duplicate drop rates have been drastically reduced. Because duplicates give you credits (which we need for skins and or in game items) Blizzard is increasing the credits we can get from loot boxes. "We'll make sure that your credit intake will be at least the same, if not more," game director Jeff Kaplan said in the latest Developer Update video. (pc gamer)

This is great news! One of my missions for Overwatch is to eventually unlock every item in the game and getting dupes all the time was always a drag. I'm somewhere near level 350 now so I've been there, done that. These are some impressive changes but honestly it should have come a long time ago. This was something that the guys at Blizzard should have thought about and fixed somewhere near the beginning of the launch of the game. But as they say, c'est la vie. 

 There's also a new option that allows for you to permanently save your highlight videos. This all live on the ptr right now.

Overwatch PTR patch 1.7

Here I'd like to talk about some of the changes on the latest ptr (public test region servers) patch. There were major changes to Roadhog, Ana, and Sombra..

Roadhog's hook has been adjusted further. In the last patch they changed (nefed, but made more consistent) Roadhog's hook so that it would hook people right in front of him when he successfully hooked but it was the persistent line of sight from the position of Roadhog that was getting on peoples' nerves. People could hide behind a tree and the hook would automatically break. Blizzard decided it was too much so they're not making that extreme of a change to the hook anymore.

If part of somebody's body is seen during the hook, it will still hook them. It's not gonna break the hook. They're adding a heavy slow when hook applies. Also, they fixed it so that Roadhog can't hook you, spin 180 degrees and drop you off a cliff.

Applying a hook won't work against people you can't see. That's the major thing to take note. If you hook someone they will still be reeled in. Blizzard wants us to feel like when you get hooked, that its fair. This looks like a step into the right direction.

Ana saw a big nerf. The last patch reduced biotic grenade's healing (on allies) increase from 100% to 50%. On top of that the grenade only has a 4 second duration instead of 5. This is a way to combat the current tank heavy meta. Ana is a big part of this tank meta and weakening her might change things up a lot. This might bring Mercy back into play for competitive more so than Ana. However, I will still be playing Ana a lot. 

Sombra got a buff, yay! In the last patch we saw her hack time take 0.8 seconds instead of 1 second, and the cooldown of hack has been reduced to 8 seconds from 10 seconds. This means Sombra can hack a health pack, run away, and then hack an enemy player in combat. Hacking health packs and players has become easier.

I'm super happy about the Sombra hacking buff because Sombra is one of my favorite dps characters. I have 5 hours of play time with her and most of it was wins. She plays like spy from Team Fortress on steroids. It will be fun playing her when this patch goes live. Which will be sometime soon. .

I can't help but feel like the ptr is Blizzard's way of having us players test the game for them for free but it is refreshing that they're changing things about the game that the player base doesn't agree with like Roadhog's hook. 

Smell ya later Overwatch agents

New Overwatch map

So a new Overwatch patch went live today. They added a new map called Oasis.

This is what the patch notes say:

New Control Map: Oasis
Oasis is one of the world's most advanced cities, a shining jewel rising from the Arabian Desert. A monument to human ingenuity and invention, researchers and academics from around the region came together to found a city dedicated to scientific progress without restraints. The city and its inhabitants are governed by the Ministries, a collection of brilliant minds who possess many secrets, which have attracted the interest of powerful organizations from around the world.

"Oasis is set in the Arabian desert in Iraq. It is a technologically advanced city founded by scientists who wanted to push the boundaries of human science. They accomplished this by turning an inhospitable desert into a thriving settlement. The Vishkar Corporation desires to have a presence in the city." (overwatch.gamepedia.com/oasis)

The map was revealed during BlizzCon 2016.

Oasis features Overwatch's second jump pad, after Lúcioball.

Oasis was added to the PTR on November 29, 2016 and to the live versions on January 3, 2017.

This map seems interesting to me because its a city in the middle east within Overwatch's world. More importantly its in Iraq in a war game with guns and tons of explosions. They definitely did this on purpose because Iraq had such a strong impact on the American viewpoint of war.

But other than that Americans tend to think of the middle east as some sort of impoverished and third world countries but this isn't always the case. There are some cities in the middle east that make LA and New York look like Milwaukee. I've heard of ski resorts in the middle of the Arabian desert and stuff. They're rolling in dough just like Americans.

Anyways, check out the map here. As you can see there's a lot to the map but its basically a futuristic Arabian city with some super fast cars on the edge of the map. There's a lot of artistic detail here but when you're in the heat of battle you don't focus on it much, if at all. But I should give more credit where credit is due because the artwork here is absolutely fantastic. I'm going to play games just to walk around the map and look at every detail.

I will also look around the map more and find out all the areas to utilize for attacking and defending. From what I've played so far I feel like Pharah and Symmetra are super strong on this map. Pharah because its such a big open space with lots of places for her to land and take flight again. Symmetra because there's a lot of closed spaces where she can get in and just murder you with her laser.

This map was a nice surprise for the new year. Blizzard said that it wasn't going to go live until next year. Well, this is really early next year and we already got it. Splendid.

Cheerio!

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes-September 13, 2016

This is one of the biggest patches Heroes of the Storm has ever received. It's great to see that Blizzard is still giving this game much deserved love. Here's all the stuff you need to know.

General

New Special Event: Xel’naga Artifact Hunt

Xel'naga artifacts have begun to appear all across the Nexus, and SCVs are being deployed to collect them. Terminate these interlopers with extreme prejudice and collect artifact pieces to earn some sweet new rewards!

• Daily Quest:
  • Collect 12 Artifact Pieces during a single game.
  • Reward: 1 Day Stimpack
• Event Quest:
  • Collect 150 Artifact Pieces before the Machines of War liftoff from the Nexus on October 18, 2016.
  • Reward: Xel’naga Artifact Portrait

• SCVs and Artifact Pieces will have a 50% chance to spawn at the start of a game if any players on the team have not yet completed their Artifact Hunt Daily Quest. This task will be difficult to accomplish alone! Teammates must work together to eliminate the SCVs and reclaim the Artifact Pieces before the game begins.

Free Hero for All!

After downloading today’s patch and logging into Heroes of the Storm, all players will be able to add a new Hero to their collections for free!

• On login, players will be able to pick one of the following three Heroes: Anub’arak, Thrall, or Tyrande.
  • If any of those Heroes are already owned, they will be replaced by Nazeebo, Sonya, or Uther on the selection screen.
  • Players who already own all six of these Heroes will automatically receive 4,000 Gold instead.
• Learn more by reading our recent blog post.

New Battleground, More Often

We are currently working to resolve an issue affecting the reduced Battleground pool, and New Player Battleground Progression rules mentioned below. During this time all players can be matched for games on any of the Battlegrounds that were available in matchmaking queues prior to today's patch. Click here for more information.

• Starting today, the pool of Battlegrounds available in all modes, except Custom Games, will be temporarily limited to the following:
  • Braxis Holdout
  • Towers of Doom
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Sky Temple
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Tomb of the Spider Queen
• This has been done to increase the frequency with which players encounter the new Battleground, Braxis Holdout.
• During this time, players can still select and play on any Battleground they wish using Custom Games.

• A second group of 6 Battlegrounds will replace those listed above during the week of September 26, and the reduced Battleground pool will remain in effect until the Machines of War event concludes during the week of October 17.

New Player Battleground Progression

• New Heroes of the Storm players who enter matchmaking modes will initially only be matched for games on certain Battlegrounds. As they complete more games, new players will unlock additional Battlegrounds as follows:
  • 0 games played: Players will only receive matches on Cursed Hollow. 
  • 5 games played: Players can now be matched on any of the Battlegrounds listed in the reduced pool mentioned above.  
   

  New Hero: Alarak

  Not all heroes are born of altruism. . . some, like Alarak, simply desire vengeance. As the new Highlord of the Tal’darim, Alarak leads his people to a destiny free of the corrupt influence of the fallen Xel’naga, Amon.
  Trait
  Sadism
  You deal 100% bonus Ability damage versus enemy Heroes.​
  Basic Abilities
  Discord Strike (Q)
  After a 0.5 second delay, deals damage to enemies in front of you and silences them for 1.5 seconds.
  Telekinesis (W)
  Push yourself and any enemies hit from the targeted point toward the targeted direction. Enemies pushed by Telekinesis also take light damage.
  Lightning Surge (E)
  Deals damage to an enemy and all enemies between you and the target. You are also Healed for 75% of the damage dealt to Heroes.
  Heroic Abilities
  Counter Strike (R)
  Become Protected and channel for 1 second. If you are attacked during this time, you will send a shockwave forward that damages enemies in its path.
  Deadly Charge (R)
  Channel and then charge in the targeted direction, dealing damage to all enemies in your path. Charge distance increases based on the amount of time spent channeling, up to 1.6 seconds.
  While channeling, movement commands will cancel Deadly Charge at no cost. Taking damage will interrupt channeling.
  
  

  New Battleground: Braxis Holdout

  The Dominion used the remote and hostile planet Braxis to conduct experiments on ways to turn the Zerg swarm into a weapon they could unleash on their enemies. Though the Dominion's main psi disrupter was destroyed, this space platform's beacons remain fully operational and ready to be used. Capture the beacons and watch what happens when a flood of weaponized Zerg ravages the battlefield.
  
  Capture the Beacons
  

  • Two Beacons will periodically spawn near the center of the Battleground. Capture both to fill your team’s Holding Cell with Zerg over time.

  Fill Holding Cells
  

  • The longer a team holds both Beacons, the stronger and more numerous their Zerg army will become. Once either team has completely filled their Holding Cell, both will open, unleashing Zerg forces into each lane.

  Unleash the Swarm
  

  • Each team must decide whether to defend against the opposing Zerg rush, or push with their own to lay siege to all who stand in the way of the Swarm. 

  Art

  Battlegrounds
  

  • Several Battlegrounds have received additional optimization to help improve performance.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • The following Heroes have received new Talent icon tints to help players more easily differentiate between talents that modify the same Ability and exist on the same Talent tier:
    • Muradin
    • Tyrael
    • Zagara
  • The Butcher has received updated visual effects to coincide with his Talent rework.
  • Medivh’s Portals have received additional visual polish to make their presence on the battlefield more apparent to allies.
  • The Imposing Presence Talent has received updated visual effects to coincide with its new functionality.

  Bundles
  

  • New Bundles
    • Machines of War Bundle – Available starting September 13 until October 18, 2016.
      • Gain early access to all of the StarCraft-themed items from the Machines of War event by purchasing the Machines of War Bundle.
      • Click here for complete Machines of War Bundle details!
    • Herald of N’zoth Alarak Bundle – Available until September 27, 2016.

  New Hero
  

  • Alarak has been added to the in-game Shop.

  Mounts
  

  • New Mounts
    • Ghost Speeder*
    • Obsidian Cyberwolf**
  • Returning Mounts
    • Demonic Hellsteed
    • Blackheart’s Doubloon
  • Removed Mounts
    • Cloud Serpent
    • Cyberwolf

  Skins
  

  • Herald of N’zoth Alarak
  • Master Alarak
  • Queen of Ghosts Kerrigan*
  • Raider Rexxar*
  • The Butcherlisk*

  * This item is exclusive to the Machines of War Bundle until it is officially released at a later date. Click here to view a full release schedule for Machines of War items.
  ** The Obsidian Cyberwolf Mount is exclusive to the Machines of War Bundle, but may return to the Nexus at a later date.
  
  
  

  Sound

  General
  

  • Even the music of Heroes of the Storm has been invaded by the Machines of War!
    • Enable music in the Sound Options menu (or press CTRL+M) to listen as the sounds of the Koprulu Sector clash with those of the Nexus.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • All Heroes should now properly play voiceover lines when clicked repeatedly.
  • Medivh’s Portals have received some additional sound effect polish to make their presence on the battlefield more apparent to allies.
  • The Lost Vikings have received unique death notification sounds which should be a little less jarring for allies.
  • The Spell Shield and Imposing Presence talents have received updated sound effects to coincide with their new functionality.

   
   

  User Interface

  General
  

  • The Breaking News icon will no longer display in the menus when there is no breaking news to read.

  Color Blind Mode
  

  • The Health bar color for the player’s own hero has been changed from dark blue to yellow.
  • Neutral Mercenaries will now appear dark purple on portions of their models that use team colors. This should help players and observers better differentiate them from captured mercenaries.

  Daily Quests
  

  • Any Hero selected during Ranked or Unranked drafts will now count toward progression of any role or universe-specific Daily Quest.
    • This has been done so that players can still complete their Daily Quests while picking the best Heroes for their team composition, rather than Heroes who satisfy a quest requirement.
  • ​Daily Quests are now available to all players, beginning at account level 1.
  • New Daily Quest: Play 3 games
    • Reward: 300 Gold
    • This is the only Daily Quest that level 1 players can receive and will only be available until account level 11. After reaching level 11, it will be replaced by the Play 8 Games quest.

  MVP System and Commendations
  

  • Players can now show off their individual prowess on the field of battle via the MVP System and end of match commendations.
  • Five players will receive awards for their in-game performance and individual achievements at the end of every game played in any mode except Custom Games.
  • MVP and End of Match Awards
    • Each match will feature one MVP, or Most Valuable Player, and four other players will receive awards for specific in-game feats.
      • The MVP award is granted to the player who had the greatest overall impact on the match, which is determined by their performance across all in-game stats.
      • The remaining four match awards will be granted for a wide variety of achievements, such as top healing, longest killstreak, most Doubloons turned in on Blackheart’s Bay, and so on.
      • End of match awards, including MVP, can be granted to players on either team, regardless of victory or defeat.
  • Commendations
    • Once the awards have been given out, all ten players can then commend the award recipients to show appreciation for their in-game accomplishments.
      • Players who receive many commendations at the end of a match will also be rewarded with a little extra fanfare.
    • Award-specific icons will also appear on the end of game stats screen next to the name of each player who received an end of match award.
  • Click here to read our recent blog post on the End of Match Awards System.

  Hero Select
  

  • Hero Search
    • Searching for a Hero during Draft Mode or Hero Select will now sort the results first by the Hero whose name most closely matches the player’s search terms.
      • For example: Searching for “Diablo” will now show Diablo as the first result, followed by all other Heroes from the Diablo Universe.
  • Hero Sorting
    • New sorting buttons have been added to Hero Select and Draft Mode, and can be found next to the search field:
      • Toggle Favorites: Heroes who have been marked as favorites in the player profile will be sorted to the top of the Hero list.
      • A-Z: Sort Heroes alphabetically
      • XP: Sort Heroes by level

  Ranked Play
  

  • Grand Master League
    • The maximum number of Hero League Grandmaster players has been reduced from 500 to 200. The Team League maximum remains at 100 players.
  • Promotion and Demotion Matches
    • Players will no longer receive a flat 250 ranked point adjustment after winning a promotion match or losing a demotion match. Instead, these matches will now award or remove the same amount of points as a normal ranked game.
    • Upon earning enough ranked points to reach a promotion match, any points earned beyond the 1,000 point division cap will now be stored and applied at the end of the promotion match.
      • Winning a promotion match will now award any excess points that were stored prior to that match in addition to the normal ranked points earned for the win.
      • Losing a promotion match will subtract the normal ranked points for a loss minus the number of excess ranked points that had been stored prior to the promotion match.
      • Demotion matches do not store lost ranked points, and losing a demotion match will only cause the player to lose the normal amount of ranked points.
       
     

    Design and Gameplay

    Mounts
    
  • Movement Speed reduced from 40 to 30%

  Regeneration Globes
  

  • Time before Globes despawn reduced from 8 to 6 seconds

   

  Battlegrounds

  Mercenaries
  

  • Timing Changes
    • Previously all Mercenary camps spawned at 120 seconds. The following adjustments have been made to spawn times:
      • 90 seconds: Sappers, Doubloon Pirates
      • 120 seconds: Siege Giants (unchanged), Impalers (unchanged)
      • 150 seconds: Knights, Fallen Shaman
      • 180 seconds: Grave Golem (unchanged)
      • 300 seconds: Headless Horseman (unchanged)
  • Captured Mercenaries will no longer grant Experience when killed.

  Developer Comments:  We started playtesting with staggered Mercenary Camp spawn times, and quickly began to realize that it added more strategic depth to the game, and coincided with some of our Battleground events. We have been happy with the changes overall, and are listening to any feedback you may have!

  Try Mode
  

  • The following features have been added to Try-Me Mode:
    • Boss Camp
    • Ability to change the enemy hero
    • Ability to change the game speed​

  Towers of Doom
  

  • Headless Horseman
    • Attack damage increased from 145 to 158

  Battlefield of Eternity and Infernal Shrines
  

  • Khazra Impaler
    • Captured Impaler attack damage increased from 40 to 46

       Return to Top
  

  Talents

  Imposing Presence (Active)
  

  • New functionality:
    • Heroes that attack you have their Attack Speed slowed by 20% for 2.5 seconds
    • Activate to Slow the Attack Speed of nearby Heroes and Summons by 50% and Slow their Movement Speed by 20% for 2.5 seconds

  Developer Comments:  We did not like the power of the Attack Speed slow for Imposing Presence given how little counter-play there is. We’ve decided to move some power out of the passive portion of the Talent and give it a new activated effect in order to create some bigger moments for players who choose to take it.

  Spell Shield (Passive)
  

  • Added functionality:
    • Spell Shield can now be toggled on or off to allow for better control of which Abilities you want to mitigate

  Support

  Brightwing

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • New Talent: Pixie Charm (Active)
      • Each time Soothing Mist heals an allied Hero, excluding yourself, gain a stack of Bribe. Use 20 stacks to Bribe a Mercenary, instantly defeating them. Does not work on Bosses. Maximum of 80 stacks.
    • Bribe (Active)
      • Replaced by Pixie Charm

  Developer Comments:  See Falstad’s comment for Bribe changes.

       Return
  

  Kharazim

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 13
    • Relentless (Passive)
      • Removed
    • New Talent: Sixth Sense (Passive)
      • Stuns and Roots against Kharazim grant 50% damage reduction from Basic Attacks for 4 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Li Li

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 16
    • Shake it Off (Passive)
      • New functionality:
        • Stuns and Roots against Li Li grant Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25 for 3 seconds. Cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Lt. Morales

  
  Abilities
  

  • Displacement Grenade (E)
    • Displacement Grenade no longer explodes on contact and passes through everything. After a 0.0625 second delay, players can now re-activate the Grenade causing it to explode on command, damaging and displacing enemies. Displacement Grenade automatically explodes if it reaches max range.

  Talents
  

  • Level 4
    • Upgraded Ballistics (Passive)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  We have been looking for ways to add gameplay to our Supports, and believe that Lt. Morales’s Displacement Grenade is a place where we could give her more control. We’re hoping that this gives players an opportunity to make bigger plays by having more control of where they want the enemy hero to move with the Grenade’s knockback

       Return
  

  Malfurion

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 16
    • Hindering Moonfire (Passive)
      • Now only slows Heroic units

       Return
  

  Rehgar

  
  Abilities
  

  • Ghost Wolf (Trait)
    • Movement Speed reduced from 30% to 20%

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Wolf Run (Talent)
      • Movement Speed reduced from 40 to 30% while in Ghost Wolf

  Developer Comments:  Alongside the adjustments to Mount speed, we’re also reducing the Movement Speed bonus offered by Rehgar’s Ghost Wolf Trait.

       Return
  
  

  Warrior

  Anub'arak

  
  Abilities
  

  • Burrow Charge (E)
    • Anub'arak is no longer Invulnerable when Burrow Charging, and is now only Unstoppable

  Developer Comments:  When looking at Burrow Charge, we liked that this Ability provided an immense amount of mobility and allowed Anub’arak to dive the back line, but we didn’t like that he had an Invulnerability on a 16 second CD. Essentially, Anub’arak could hold this to completely nullify a Pyroblast or any huge damage source, which is not intended. By changing this to Unstoppable, we still allow Anub’arak to be very slippery and get out of bad situations quickly.

       Return
  

  Cho

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 13
    • Surge of Stamina (Q)
      • New functionality:
        • Using Surging Fist grants Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25% for 3 seconds.  Reduces the cooldown of Surging Fist by 4 seconds if it hits an enemy Hero.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Diablo

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Devastating Charge (Q)
      • New functionality:
        • Shadow Charge grants Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25% for 4 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  E.T.C.

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Just Keep Rockin’ (E)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Johanna

  
  Abilities
  

  • Condemn (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now deals 200% increased damage to Minions and Mercenaries

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Knight Takes Pawn (W)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  As our heroes develop over time, we often find niches for their roles that are only available via Talents. While we love that our Talents augment our Heroes in interesting ways, we are wary when a Hero is picked specifically for a role that they are given via a Talent. We did a pass on our current roster and found a couple of these cases in Johanna and Muradin. We like how Johanna is seen as a warrior with good wave clear, and how Muradin is seen as an anti- auto-attacker. We’ve decided to make these features part of their base kits, and will be keeping an eye on others in the future.

       Return
  

  Muradin

  
  Abilities
  

  • Thunder Clap (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now also slows enemy Attack Speed by 25% for 2.5 seconds

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Reverberation (W)
      • Moved to Level 4
      • New functionality:
        • Increase Thunder Clap’s Attack Speed slow to 50% and increase the duration of Thunder Clap from 2.5 to 3 seconds
  • Level 4
    • Third Wind (Trait)
      • Moved to Level 1
    • Thunder Burn (W)
      • Now also applies the 25% Attack Speed slow with the second activation of Thunder Clap.

  Developer Comments:  See Johanna’s comment.

       Return
  

  Stitches

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Relentless (Passive)
      • Removed
  • Level 13
    • New Talent: Flea Bag (Passive)
      • Whenever Stitches is Stunned or Rooted, reduce basic ability cooldowns by 3 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Bug Fixes

  General
  

  • Corrected a number of typos and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.
  • Repeatedly changing Region and Language settings to and from Chinese will no longer limit region selection to China on the login screen.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing a small number of players from rejoining games.

  Art
  

  • Core: Fixed a bug in which Shield impact effects on the Core were not displaying when struck by some Abilities.
  • Keep: Flags will no longer appear detached from a Keep’s model when it is heavily damaged.
  • Artanis: Activating Twin Blades just as Hearthstone completes channeling will no longer cause Artanis to stand while Mounted.
  • Rehgar: The Totemic Projection Talent now uses the correct icon tint.

  Battlegrounds
  

  • Tomb of the Spider Queen: Medivh will now properly fly over the Spider Queen’s Altars while in Raven form, rather than path around them.
  • Towers of Doom: Sappers can sometimes stop attacking their targets and start following enemy Heroes.
  • Try Mode: Brightwing can now properly Phase Shift to the Healing Dummy.
  • Try Mode: Helping Hand is no longer removed from Stitches’ Ability bar after clicking Reset Talents.
  • Try Mode: Repeatedly casting Stitches’ Gorge on the Target Dummy will no longer prevent it from leashing back to its spawn location.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • Fixed several bugs in which splash damage from Basic Attacks could still deal damage while the attacking player was Blind or the target was Evading.
  • Heroes can no longer push captured Mercenaries by walking into them.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Tyrael, Uther, and Gall players to incorrectly receive AFK Warnings due to the combination of their post-death effects and lengthy death timers at later levels.
  • Abathur: Monstrosity can no longer push Minions or captured Mercenaries by walking into them.
  • Anub'arak: Beetle damage listed in the Scarab Host Trait tooltip will now update correctly when Anub’arak levels up.
  • Auriel: Sacred Sweep’s increased range, gained by learning the Majestic Span Talent, will now correctly benefit from the Righteous Assault Talent.
  • Chromie: Temporal Loop’s clock graphic will no longer disappear if the target becomes polymorphed.
  • Dehaka: Isolation’s parasite will no longer visually persist until death on a target that was simultaneously hit by Isolation and Chromie’s Time Trap.
  • Diablo: Overpower’s target will no longer be stunned for the Ability’s full duration if Diablo is interrupted by a knockback at the same time Overpower is cast.
  • Diablo: Apocalypse will now correctly target enemies trapped by Anub’arak’s Cocoon.
  • E.T.C.: Rockstar’s Attack Speed bonus will now be properly applied when E.T.C. casts Stage Dive.
  • Gall: An icon has been added to the buff bar for the Dark Descent Talent, and the icon’s tooltip will track Runic Blast damage bonuses earned via Hero Takedowns.
  • Gul'dan: Learning the Health Funnel Talent and using Drain Life to kill a Hero with a post-death effect, such as Uther, will now properly reduce Drain Life’s cooldown.
  • Johanna: Condemn will now be correctly interrupted when Johanna becomes Polymorphed.
  • Kerrigan: Using the Overdrive Talent will no longer remove the Energizing Grasp Talent’s Mana cost reduction for Primal Grasp.
  • MULE: Will now properly acquire a new repair target if the Structure it is actively repairing is destroyed.
  • Murky: The camera will no longer automatically snap to Murky’s Egg location if he is killed with camera follow enabled.
  • Nazeebo: Zombie Wall will no longer attack Murky’s Pufferfish.
  • Li Li: The Shake it Off Talent will no longer reduce the duration of the Garden Terror's Queen's Curse Ability.
  • Lunara: Fixed a rare issue in which casting Leaping Strike toward terrain could cause Lunara to run back to her original location after landing.
  • Lunara: Will no longer receive the “Stuck” notification when a Wisp is stuck by Tracer’s Pulse Bomb.
  • Rexxar: Misha’s Basic Attack target can now correctly be switched by right-clicking as long as she did not already have an order to Focus on a particular target.
  • Rexxar: Misha can now push Minions and allied Mercenaries, but will not push enemy or uncaptured Mercenaries.
  • Uther: The tooltip for the Gathering Radiance Talent will now properly indicate the amount of bonus Healing and Damage earned after multiple nearby Allies are hit by Holy Radiance.
  • Sgt. Hammer: Basic Attack range indicators should now appear consistent while Sgt. Hammer is in both Tank and Siege Modes.
  • Stitches: Vile Gas applied by a Retchling after learning the Restorative Fumes and Indigestion Talents will now properly Heal Stitches, rather than the Retchling.
  • Tychus:  Attack commands should no longer automatically switch targets after using Run and Gun.
  • Xul: Skeletal Warriors will no longer attack Murky's Pufferfish if it is in their path.
  • Zagara: After learning Medusa Blades, Zagara will now deal the correct amount of damage to her secondary Basic Attack targets.
  • Zeratul: Void Prison will no longer cancel Rehgar’s Feral Lunge or Olaf's Charge as long as the target of either Ability is still in range when Void Prison ends.

  User Interface
  

  • Color Blind Mode: Fixed an issue which caused damage and Heal over time effects in Hero Health bars to display in red and green while Color Blind Mode was enabled.
  • Death Recap: Zagara’s Healing received from the Hydralisk Transfusion Talent will now be correctly displayed in her Death Recap.
  • Draft Mode: Fixed an issue that could cause the draft interface to become unresponsive if the player’s game client was minimized while entering draft mode.
  • Replays: Pausing a replay prior to opening the Talent Panel (TAB) will no longer prevent Quest Talent progress from displaying.
   
   My goodness! Quite the update. This might just change everything. I feel like it already has and I haven't even played Alarak or the new Battleground yet. The most noticeable thing is all the tweaks to the heroes. Some of their abilities are slightly different or perhaps even a lot different. The biggest thing I noticed is that you have to hit E to detonate Lt. Morales' knockback grenade. Took me a second to realize that. Before it would just hit stuff and blow up on its own. I also noticed the mount speed nerf to one of my favorite characters Rehgar. It's okay. He's still awesome. It's just he's less fast. It's very noticeable as soon as you play him.
  
  Another thing that stands out is the new end game screen. You get to vote for players on your team or the enemy team that got awards like MVP, most killstreak, most damage, etc. It's basically just like Overwatch's system. Kind of funny how they added that. It does make the game feel more like a community I suppose so kudos to Blizzard for doing that.
  
   
  I haven't gotten to play the new Battleground because when I played my matches today I just never got placed in it. However, I did get to see an enemy Alarak player in action. He wasn't that good and got rekt super hard by me and my team but I see good things from this new hero. He seems like he's going to be a very strong dps character-at least for now. One player described him as near Li-Ming launch damage level. That sounds very promising. 
   
  I'll be playing more of the game and let you know about all this stuff as I experience it. I'm at 14,000 gold so I should be able to get Alarak by tomorrow-quests and stimpacks pending.  
   

Overwatch's latest PTR patch notes (they changed everything)

(Straight from Blizzard's forums)

Competitive Play Season 2
We've made some big changes to Competitive Play in anticipation of the launch of Season 2 on September 6. The most noticeable change is the introduction of skill tiers, which we hope will better communicate players' relative skill levels. Competitive Play will put a greater emphasis on skill tiers over specific ratings, and as such, a player's tier will be more prominently displayed throughout the game. We've also switched the skill rating system to a 1-5000 scale to give players more detailed information about how each match affects their specific rating.
Sudden Death is also going away in Season 2. Instead, matches that are tied when the clock runs out end in a draw—though, it should be a rare occurrence. Because of this, we've made some changes to our game modes in Competitive Play to help reduce the chance that a draw will occur.
We've also made a few minor adjustments to leaver penalties, the top 500 system, and the competitive point system. Read on below to learn more!

New Assault/Escort Map: Eichenwalde
The forest has slowly begun overtaking the abandoned village of Eichenwalde, but the scars will never completely fade. During the Omnic Crisis, Eichenwalde was the site of a key battle. General Balderich von Adler took a handful of crusaders to the village in an effort to outflank the omnic army. Balderich's soldiers were able to break down the enemy forces, giving the German military an opportunity to push back, but the Crusaders didn't make it out of the battle. General Balderich finally collapsed in the castle's great hall.

New Legendary Skins
Balderich - The armor of General Balderich von Adler, Reinhardt's commanding officer during the Omnic Crisis.Greifhardt - After General Balderich collapsed in Eichenwalde's great hall, his armor slowly became overgrown by vegetation.

General

• When activating the "Ultimate Status" communication, Symmetra now reports the number of charges left on her teleporter
• When activating the "Needs healing" communication while targeting a teammate, Ana, Lúcio, Mercy, and Zenyatta will now tell allies to group up to receive healing. A marker will appear above the player's head, allowing teammates to locate the healer more quickly
• Added Torbjörn as an AI-controlled hero in Practice vs. AI, Play vs. AI, and Custom Game modes
• Sit and laugh emotes are now unlockable for all heroes

Competitive Play

• Skill rating is now measured on a 1-5000 scale instead of the former 1-100 scale
• Skill Rating Tiers
  • Players will now be assigned to a tier, depending on their skill rating
    • Bronze  - 1-1499
    • Silver - 1500-1999
    • Gold - 2000-2499
    • Platinum - 2500-2999
    • Diamond - 3000-3499
    • Master - 3500-3999
    • Grandmaster - 4000-5000
  • In Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond tiers, a player will not drop out of their tier even if their skill rating falls below the cutoff
  • In Master and Grandmaster tiers, a player whose skill rating falls below the tier's minimum will be moved to a lower tier
  • Players of drastically different skill ratings (more than 500) will no longer be able to group together in competitive matches
  • Players that have reached the Master and Grandmaster tiers must be within 500 Skill Rating of their groupmates
  • Players that are Diamond-tier and below must be within 1000 Skill Rating of their groupmates
• Skill Rating Decay
  • Players in Diamond, Master, and Grandmaster tiers that haven't participated in a competitive match for 7 days will lose skill rating
  • Players with a skill rating above 3000 (Diamond tier or higher) will lose 50 rating points every 24 hours, but their rating will not fall below 3000
  • Competing in a single match will halt skill rating decay
  • Players that haven't participated in a competitive match for 7 days will immediately drop out of the top 500
• Map Changes
  • Several refinements have been made to the time bank system for Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries
  • The time bank system has been added to Dorado, Hollywood, King's Row, Numbani, Route 66, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • Time granted for taking objectives on Dorado, Hanamura, Hollywood, King's Row, Numbani, Route 66, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar has been reduced from 5 minutes to 4
• Competitive Points
  • Existing competitive points saved from Season 1 will be multiplied by 10
  • After winning a competitive match, players will now receive 10 competitive points (instead of 1)
  • Players will now receive 3 competitive points for a draw
  • The cost of golden weapons has also been multipled by 10 from 300 to 3000
  • A soft cap is being placed on the number of competitive points that can be saved
    • Players with more than 6000 points at the start of season 2 will no longer accrue points by playing competitive matches
    • End-of-season rewards will still be granted to players at the soft cap
• Instead of going into sudden death, tied competitive matches will now result in a draw (click here to learn more)
• Players must now win at least 50 competitive matches to be eligible for a spot in the top 500
• Players must now complete more matches to clear their penalty status for leaving a competitive match early

HERO BALANCE UPDATES
General

• Ultimates that consume the ultimate meter when activated will now drain the meter more quickly (.25 second instead of 1 second)
• Reverted a recent change to reduce size of heroes' projectiles
• Most hero abilities will no longer interrupt quick melee attacks
• Ultimate abilities will now interrupt quick melee attacks

 
Developer Comments: Altering the size of projectiles in flight had too many unintended side effects to keep in the game, at least in its current form. We will continue watching this and make additional changes if necessary. We’re also making quick melee more consistent when interacting with enemy abilities.
D.Va

• Defense Matrix
  • After being activated, Defense Matrix will begin regenerating following a 1-second delay (formerly .5 seconds)

Developer Comments: Defense Matrix was too efficient when tapped repeatedly, instead of being held. Now, the recovery delay matches the ability cooldown.
Hanzo

• Hanzo will now experience a 30% decrease in speed while aiming (formerly 40%)
• Maximum projectile speed has been increased by 30%
• Arrow size has been reduced by 33%

Developer Comments: Hanzo has the potential to deal a lot of damage, but he can feel really inconsistent, even at a medium distance. By increasing the projectile speed, we’re extending his reliable range, making it easier to land shots without having to perfectly predict enemy movement. To compensate for the increased projectile speed, we’ve decreased the size of his arrows, meaning his shots now require a bit more accuracy.
Mei

• Blizzard
  • The Blizzard projectile now pierces barriers
  • Radius has been increased from 8 meters to 10 meters

Developer Comments: Mei has an interesting toolkit, but her ultimate often felt like it was too difficult to use effectively. Consequently, it felt weak compared to many other ultimate abilities. The freeze effect has been piercing barriers for some time now, but the projectile would still be blocked. Now, you can throw it down exactly where you want it, so it’s much easier to utilize the full radius effectively.
McCree

• Deadeye
  • Now drains over a .25-second period (instead of displaying a 50% reduction on the ultimate meter when activated and 0% when confirmed)

Developer Comments: If players managed to counter or avoid McCree's ultimate, it would often regenerate very quickly since only half of the ultimate charge was spent. Now, this ultimate works like every other ultimate that has a duration.
Mercy

• Caduceus Staff
  • Healing Beam
  • Healing-per-second has been increased by 20%
• Resurrect
  • Resurrected allies will be able to maneuver after 2.25 seconds (reduced from 3 seconds)

Developer Comments: Resurrection now allows teammates to jump back into the fight more quickly, which should help Mercy survive after activating her ultimate. Mercy's healing is also getting a boost to solidify her role as a strong, single-target healer.
Genji

• Double jump no longer resets when wall climbing
• Dash
  • No longer deals damage to traps like Widowmaker's Venom Mine or Junkrat's Steel Trap
  • No longer bypasses Junkrat's Steel Trap
• Swift Strike
  • No longer interrupts quick melee attacks
• Dragonblade
  • Duration of Genji's ultimate has been reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds

Developer Comments: Genji was a little too difficult to pin down, and these changes will balance his speed. Swift Strike no longer cancels the recovery time from a quick melee attack, so players will no longer be able to get a free melee attack before using Swift Strike. Lastly, Dragonblade's duration was long enough that it often felt too difficult to reasonably counter.
Lúcio

• Amp It Up
  • The boosting of movement speed has been decreased by 30% (from a 100% increase to a 70% increase)

Developer Comments: Thanks to Lúcio's speed increase, he was almost a must pick in every lineup.
Roadhog

• Chain Hook
  • If the hooked target isn't in Roadhog's line of sight when retracting the hook, they will be moved back to the position where they were originally hooked

Developer Comments: This change means that hooked targets will be less likely to slide along walls, potentially ending up in an odd place after they've been reeled in.
Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle
  • Adjusted weapon spread curve
  • Increased spread recovery speed

Developer Comments: These changes will make burst-firing feel more reliable and increase his effectiveness at longer ranges.
Zenyatta

• Orb of Discord
  • The amount of damage amplified by a target with Orb of Discord has been decreased from 50% to 30%
• Orb of Destruction
  • Damage has been increased from 40 to 46

Developer Comments: Zenyatta is in a far better place since the last update, but the strength of Orb of Discord has turned him into an almost mandatory pick. These changes reduce Orb of Discord's effectiveness, but his damage-dealing potential has been increased. The amount of damage that he delivers should feel largely unaffected by the change.
MAP BALANCE CHANGES
Watchpoint: Gibraltar

• Watchpoint: Gibraltar’s first checkpoint has been removed

Developer Comments: The balance changes that were implemented in previous patches have eliminated the need for Watchpoint: Gibraltar to have an extra checkpoint.
USER INTERFACE UPDATES
General

• A new "Allied Health Bars" option has been added (Options > Controls)
• Contextual menus have been added on the hero selection screen, giving players the ability to report or group up with other players
• Matchmaking UI is now purple in the Competitive Play queue
• Made several minor adjustments to typography in the Spectator UI

BUG FIXES
General

• Fixed a bug that allowed the kill participation metric to go above 100 percent
• Fixed a bug in the Custom Game settings preventing the Ability Cooldown modifier from affecting Ana
• Fixed a bug that caused heroes to die when first spawned in a custom game if Health and Damage modifiers were used simultaneously
• Fixed a bug preventing the hero list in Custom Game settings from being organized alphabetically
• The spectate option now becomes unavailable (the button will be greyed out) when all spectator slots have been filled in a Custom Game lobby
• Fixed an issue causing in-game statistics to run off the edge of the screen in 16:10 aspect ratio

AI

• Fixed a bug that caused Bastion to become stuck, continuously healing himself in the spawn area

Heroes

• Appropriate sound effects now play when Ana shoots barriers, shields, and armor
• D.Va no longer communicates her ultimate status for Self-Destruct while charging her Call Mech ultimate
• Hanzo's “Spirit Dragon” unlockable voice line now correctly plays when using his Okami and Lone Wolf skins
• Fixed various issues with Junkrat's emote and highlight animations
• Fixed an issue causing Mei's Ice Wall to push herself to the side when cast at her feet
• Fixed a bug preventing Mei's Ice Wall from being destroyed by a moving payload
• Fixed a bug that prevented Mei's Ice Wall from appearing at the target location when cast
• Fixed a bug allowing Reaper to reach unintended map locations using Shadow Step
• Fixed a bug causing Reinhardt's shield to jitter when turning in third person
• Fixed an issue that prevented Roadhog's chain from displaying correctly in some situations
• Fixed several issues with Symmetra's emotes and highlight intros
• The scarf on Tracer's Slipstream skin is no longer stiff in the Hurdle highlight intro
• Fixed a bug preventing overtime from being triggered while Zenyatta is using Transcendence
• The names of Tracer's Sprinter and Track and Field skins now display correctly

Maps

• Fixed an issue preventing Genji and Hanzo from reliably climbing a specific crate on Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Well, gosh darn it Blizzard. What haven't you changed in your game? Basically everything in the game was changed. Most of the dominant and most pick heroes were all changed with the exception of Mei and Hanzo. Hanzo feels like he's going to be dominating during Season 2. As a support player its going to be tough not getting instantly headshot by those random Hanzo arrows that he's spamming and somehow I just randomly walk by and get hit. It sucks being on the receiving end of that but when the game first came out I played a lot of Hanzo on my stream (I don't stream often anymore) and those instant headshot kills are very fun and satisfying.

I also like how they buffed Mei's ultimate. I felt like she wasn't getting picked often enough especially for competitive. I played her a lot on competitive Season 1 and did great with her in my games but most of the time at my level I was the only one playing her.

The new German castle map Eichenwalde is a blast to play. It's a medium-sized map but all the twists and corners make it appear to seem bigger than it actually is. It's super fun to play on and sometimes I'll play ptr just to play on the map continuously over and over again. I like to play Mercy on that map the most because it seems like resurrections are super effective, allowing your teammates to get second chances in those tight corridors and wipe out the enemy team. 

The most important thing is the change to competitive. I'm not sure if this will totally fix all the problems that Season 1 had but its a definite step in the right direction. My competitive games on the ptr have been pretty good. I seem to get placed with people at or around my skill level and games are engaging and teamwork is brought to the forefront. Quick Play on the base game has gotten so bad to the point where I won't even play it anymore. It's such a joke now. Competitive (on the ptr as of now, b/c Season 1 is over on the base game), on the other hand still has my vote.

I'm looking forward to how Season 2 plays out. I'm going to get a golden gun skin for either Ana or Mercy. Possibly McCree? Not sure but I'm definitely gonna farm competitive point wins and get me that golden gun! I'm planning on making a return to streaming soon too. You can check out my stream at www.twitch.tv/megaman1597. I was always only streaming for myself so it doesn't make a difference to me if I don't have too many people watching. That'll do it for now. Keep reading and keep gaming!