Overwatch PTR patch: This ‘remaster’ aims to fix the game

Blizzard has announced a massive patch for Overwatch. They are trying to “remaster” the game and fix most of its issues. This should address, among other things, the fact that Sigma’s entrance has fundamentally changed the meta by creating the double shield meta. While these changes are only in PTR right now, these should be implemented by the start of the next competitive season.

Who is being changed?

In this big patch, the changes include buffs to D.Va, Winston, Roadhog, and Lucio, as well as downgrades to Symmetra, Doomfist, Sigma, Moira, Baptiste, Orisa, and Sombra. All of the heroes everyone agreed were too powerful got nerfed, while all the heroes people missed playing got buffs.

This brings one question to the forefront: Will the meta shift? We truly won’t know until professionals get their hands on this in a LAN environment, but we do know it will change regular competitive players’ experiences. Both Orisa and Sigma have nerfs to how often they can deploy their shields, while Doomfist and Symmetra get overall nerfs on cooldowns and damage. On the buff side, D.Va’s defense matrix gets a faster regeneration time, Winston’s shield gets stronger, Lucio’s speed boost gets faster, and Roadhog gets more shots in his scrap gun.

What does this patch mean for the future of competitive Overwatch?

We won’t truly know how much of a change this will cause. But one thing all players are looking forward to is something new. Also, coming fast around the corner after the Overwatch League Grand Finals is the Overwatch World Cup. Whatever the meta shifts to, it will be the one that we will see in the World Cup. This leaves these players having to adapt fast, especially if they made it into the play-ins and needed to train in the current meta.

But this also means that this relatively skill-less play of Symmetra holding down left click won’t be there. Doomfist one-shot kills won’t be as common. We’ll be able to see more flexibility and more team changes, which is right now what fans want to see.

If there is anything we learned from GOATS, it’s that fans don’t want to see one meta for a year. And with this remaster patch, it seems double shield is already coming to an end.