Winter Wonderland 2019 kicked off earlier this week with the new update 1.43 in Overwatch. Blizzard has been making some adjustments in the game and released this patch on the test servers first. Now, players are enjoying the all-new skins and other cosmetics that came with the limited-timed event – Winter Wonderland. As for the update 1.43, here are the patch notes and changes that it has brought in the game.
Overwatch Update 1.43 Patch Notes
General
- Armor damage reduction increased from 3 to 5
Orisa
- Base armor increased from 200 to 250
- Protective Barrier health reduced from 900 to 600
- Fortify cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds
Sigma
Experimental Barrier
- Health reduced from 1500 to 900
- Barrier health regeneration rate reduced from 150 to 120 health per second
Kinetic Grasp
- Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds
- The damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%
Reinhardt
Barrier Field
- Health reduced from 2000 to 1600
- Movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 30%
Steadfast passive knockback resistance increased from 30% to 50%
Developer Comment: The above changes to armor, Orisa, Sigma, and Reinhardt are aimed at decreasing the overall amount of time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas. This is a significant change to the pace of the game and we’ll be monitoring these heroes closely to ensure they retain impactful gameplay in the tank role.
Moira
Biotic Grasp healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)
Developer Comment: Moira’s primary heal has proven to be too potent, largely due to its ability to heal multiple targets.
D.Va
Defense Matrix cooldown decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds
Developer Comment: With role locks in place there is some room to improve D.Va’s impact as a tank, so we’re partially reverting a previous change that increased Defense Matrix’s cooldown.
Widowmaker
Grappling Hook cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds
Developer Comment: With barriers having less uptime, Widowmaker will be even more effective at locking down long sightlines. This change weakens her mobility so she can still be reasonably countered.
Torbjörn
Overload cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds
Developer Comment: Torbjörn has difficulty in extended team fights once his turret is eliminated and Overload has been used. This change allows Torbjörn to be able to rely on his Overload more often.
Genji
Ammo increased from 24 to 30
Developer Comment: As average hero survivability has gone up over time, Genji can sometimes have difficulty finishing off his targets. Loosening his ammunition constraints will help give him a small boost.
Zarya
Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)
- Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
- Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20
Developer Comment: Zarya’s overall damage output is in a good spot but the secondary fire was left feeling a little too weak after the last set of changes.
These are the patch notes for all the heroes in the game. To read every single change, make sure you visit the Overwatch website. What do you think about the changes released in this patch? Let us know in the comments!
Overwatch was released on May 24, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The title doesn’t have an exact release date at this moment but is expected to hit the consoles and PC in 2020.