Its only been a couple of days since Sombra's grand reveal at Blizzcon, and already she is available on the PTR (Public Test Realm). So if you were itching to give the enemy supports nightmares by uncloaking with the business end of an SMG pointing towards their face, you now have the opportunity to do so!
But even if you don't care about Sombra specifically, you still might want to visit the PTR as Blizzard has also added a brand new Arcade Mode. It allows you to duke it out with your enemies in 1-on-1 duels, 3-vs-3 arenas, a variety of Weekly Brawls and special rulesets, as well as on the brand new and Arcade Mode exclusive Echo Point: Antarctica map!
Since Sombra is quite certainly the highlight of this entire PTR update, it would probably be wise for you to at least have a basic understanding of her spells. With that in mind, allow me to show you the relatively recent hero preview:
Besides the stuff mentioned above, this PTR patch has also brought with it two somewhat controversial changes. First and foremost, Quick Play will now feature the 1-hero limit, which means you will no longer be able to infinitely stall out points with Mei while spamming "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm sorry". This exact change resulted in Competitive Play becoming much more entertaining practically overnight, so chances are high that Quick Play will see equal improvements. But if you're a fan of hero stacking, worry not as the new Arcade Mode will feature an 'unlimited' game mode that will allow you to pick whatever you want, whenever you want it. Best of all, you'll even get bonus Loot Boxes for doing so!
And speaking of Loot Boxes, Blizzard has made it so that each level-up after level 23 requires exactly 20,000 experience, rather than the current 22,000. As such, rolling over to level 101/201/301/etc. will no longer bring with it a shower of Loot Boxes, but the general rate of acquisition will remain more or less the same. While this is a change I disagree with, mostly because its fun getting a ton of Loot Boxes in a short time span, I'm afraid the developers were 'forced' to make it. You see, a significant chunk of people simply stop playing after reaching level 100/200/300/etc. in fear of 'losing out' on free Loot Boxes during a seasonal promotion, which is something that developers must put a stop to because players are quite literally valuing imaginary items more than their own enjoyment of the game. Its a silly situation, but we humans are a silly species, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
There are also a couple of bug fixes and small quality of life changes in there as well, so if you would like to read the whole patch notes I would recommend you head over to the official forums. And if you do decide to hop onto the PTR, make sure to try out Sombra because she really is a blast to play! Have fun!
