@Zazmo_ @UniedSomething @OW_SVB SHH!
@UniedSomething @OW_SVB We goofed on the URL. Shhh.
Support has arrived. Boost your healing with these essential tips for Support heroes from @OW_SVB. ❤ OW:… https://t.co/nEto2SacDy
Hey everyone!
We’re back with another Experimental mode focused on testing quality of life changes and minor balance adjustments. As with all Experimental modes, these changes are not guaranteed to reach the live version of the game.
What are we trying to address?
In recent Experimental modes, we’ve been focused on balance adjustments to address under- and over-performing heroes. We’d like to shift our focus for this Experimental mode to test out some quality of life changes. With that said, we have also built in a few minor balance adjustments for select heroes following feedback.
What are we testing?
We’re making some changes to a number of heroes to offer players more control. This includes the ability to cancel Hanzo’s Storm Arrows manually, as well as manually destroying deployables like Mei’s Ice Wall, Torbjörn’s Turret, and Symmetra’s Teleporter while dead. We’re also testing with Ana’s Biotic Grenade to allow the grenade itself to pass through allies with full health and giving Pharah the ability to use her Hover Jets to accelerate downward by crouching while mid-air.
We’ll keep an eye on feedback to see if these quality of life changes have impacts to balance. For more direct balance adjustments, we’ll also be undoing the health buff to Brigitte from the most recent Retail patch and will be reducing the rate of decay for Moira’s healing resource, effectively giving the hero an extra second of healing at max resource.
We hope you check out the new Experimental mode and provide us with your feedback! Science will reveal the truth – And all great science requires data! As always, this is an Experiment, so the changes in this test may not reach the live game.
Thank you!
A new patch is now live on Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Read below to learn more about the latest changes.
To share your feedback, please post in the General Discussion forum.
For a list of known issues, visit our Bug Report forum.
For troubleshooting assistance, visit our Technical Support forum.
The next experiment begins! This time we’re hoping to get your feedback on some balance and quality of life changes. We’re using the 2-2-2 Role Queue ruleset so that you can get a feel for how these balance changes might affect the live game.
GENERAL UPDATES (ONLY IN EXPERIMENTAL)
HERO UPDATES (ONLY IN EXPERIMENTAL)
Ana
Biotic Grenade
Brigitte
General
Hanzo
Storm Arrows
Mei
Ice Wall
Moira
Biotic Grasp
Pharah
Hover Jets
Symmetra
Teleporter
Torbjörn
Deploy Turret
Season 25 of Competitive Play is here!
Unlocked at level 25, Competitive Play is designed for those players who want to put their skills to the test, and offers a more serious experience than our Quick Play or Arcade Modes.
Before you can kick off your competitive career, every player will be required to complete five placement matches in a selected role to obtain their seasonal skill rating for that role. Within the standard Role Queue competitive mode, players will earn separate skill ratings (SR) for each role in Competitive Play, for a total of three distinct SRs. This rating will be a number between 1 and 5000, with higher values indicating a greater skill level. Players will also be assigned a tier per role based on their rating—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, or Grandmaster – and climbing into the next tier is possible as you improve. Open Queue will utilize the same rating and tier system, but since there is no Role Queue system, you will have a separate, single SR reflective of your performance across all heroes within this game mode.
Skill ratings and tier icons will be visible at the beginning of every match. As you compete, your selected role or Open Queue skill rating will increase or decrease with each win or loss based on a number of factors, including your own performance and the skill of the other players in the match.
A detailed breakdown of the skill tiers, along with icons and information about the corresponding skill ratings can be found by pressing the “Information” button under the Competitive Play menu.
In addition to experiencing the thrill of victory, players can also unlock unique rewards through Competitive Play. Anyone who completes their placement matches in any role or Open Queue during a Competitive Season will receive a special spray and player icon.
On top of that, as you complete competitive matches, you’ll earn a currency called Competitive Points. When the season concludes, you’ll also receive a number of Competitive Points based on the highest Skill Tier you obtained during the season per role to spend on golden versions of your favorite heroes’ weapons. This also applies to your highest Skill Tier reached within the Open Queue.
Here’s the Skill Rating (SR) to Competitive Point (CP) breakdown:
| Bronze | 25 | 65 | 140 |
| Silver | 50 | 125 | 275 |
| Gold | 100 | 250 | 550 |
| Platinum | 200 | 500 | 1100 |
| Diamond | 300 | 750 | 1650 |
| Master | 450 | 1200 | 2550 |
| Grandmaster | 650 | 1750 | 3700 |
The best of the best players compete across five separate Top 500 Leaderboards. Within Role Queue, one for each role, along with an additional combined average leaderboard. The combined Role Queue Top 500 Leaderboard will be based on the player’s average skill rating across all three roles. To be eligible for a role-specific leaderboard, players must complete at least 25 games in that role. To qualify for the combined Top 500 Leaderboard, players must be eligible for all three role-specific leaderboards. Open Queue will have its own Leaderboard that will require at least 50 games played within the game mode for qualification. At the end of the season, players who earn a spot within the Top 500 players for any of these leaderboards on their platform and region will receive an additional player icon and animated spray.
Season 25 is live RIGHT NOW on Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, so power up your favorite gaming machine and join the fight. We’ll see you in-game!
happy birthday, jehk72!
the gift is all mine...
thank you all =]
<3
“Look at me! A natural.” @timthetatman uppercuts the competition as Doomfist. ❤ OW: https://t.co/PZ892y3YqK https://t.co/B5RuA7PIf6
@Monarchscomic Incredible work! Thanks for making this Halloween extra spoopy.
@notesbynoah Thank you so much for pushing the payload with us! https://t.co/TatnyA68mf
@skoolbus1 @Monarchscomic So very spoopy
@sigma_overwatch @Monarchscomic Well hello.
Stay spoopy, heroes. From all of us on the Overwatch team, have an unBOOlievable Halloween. 🎨@monarchscomic https://t.co/8nQpTn0rig
The fright ain't over yet. This is your last chance to earn spooky rewards – Overwatch Halloween Terror ends Novem… https://t.co/1NIPhZZ76d
RT @Anka_Ephemere: New cosplay works of Mercy with her Winged Victory skin. [PART 1] "The world needs more heroes!" 🧚Mercy: Hanxiaoyue 📸P…
Crusader online! Master the art of the shield with the top 10 Reinhardt tips from @JonathanMoxness and @tgnTV. ❤… https://t.co/PuW5IC0lO6
With today’s patch to live servers, we’re adding some of the hero updates recently tested within the Experimental Mode. You may have noticed that Baptiste’s Amplification Matrix change is missing from this update. We think that the width increase from 5 to 9 meters is a positive change to Baptiste’s gameplay because it makes the ability more easily usable for his allies without gathering closely together. We’re planning to add this update to the live game in an upcoming patch after an art polish pass.
Thanks for all your feedback on the Experimental mode! We look forward to bringing this change to the live environment soon.