Gaming

Sombra receives a substantial buff in the latest Overwatch patch

Sombra’s ability to ambush just became a whole new nightmare for her enemies.

July 24, 2018

Today’s Overwatch patch brings the much anticipated and newest hero to the game: Wrecking Ball, the mech-wielding hamster tank. But he’s not the only change coming to the game today. Everyone’s favorite purple-haired hacker just got a lot more dangerous.

Sombra received a substantial buff that will make her ambush abilities much more powerful. She now has the ability to stay in stealth indefinitely (assuming she doesn’t take damage) and her translocator will also last indefinitely (unless it’s destroyed). These changes are sure to change how teams manage their back line, as Sombra now has the ability to take as much time as she needs to get behind teams and take out their healers.

Developer Comments – These changes allow Sombra to more easily play as an infiltrator and scout for her team, as well as give her time to pick and choose when to reveal herself to ambush her enemies.”

Stealth

Now lasts indefinitely
No longer can contest objectives while invisible
Movement speed buff decreased from +70% to +50%

Translocator

Now lasts indefinitely
Can now be destroyed (has 5 health)
Radius reduced

Hanzo got a slight knock in today’s patch as his kit was deemed a bit too powerful by the development team, specifically his Storm Arrows. I’ve been taken out by these quite a bit recently and it definitely feels like they’re a bit too strong.

Developer Comments – Hanzo’s new kit has proven to be a bit too powerful, especially his new Storm Arrows ability. We’re lowering the frequency that he can have this ability available to make it more reasonable to play around.

Storm Arrows

Duration reduced from 6 to 5 seconds
Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds

The other most notable change was an adjustment to damage falloff on mid-range weapons. Bastion, McCree and Soldier 76 all had the minimum damage at max range for their weapons increased from 30% to 50%, the goal being to slightly reduce the impact of damage falloff. The falloff for Mei’s secondary fire, the Endothermic Blaster, has been completely removed. Lastly, Widowmaker’s automatic primary fire now has damage falloff applied, 50% at max range.