After being leaked yesterday the Overwatch Uprising Update has now finally arrived to the live servers. It brings with it some massive balance changes for Lucio and the 2CP maps (Hanamura, Volskaya, Anubis), a variety of skins and other cosmetics, and even a PvE mode to mess around in!
If you're interested in seeing what the Uprising Update is all about, here are two of the recently posted teaser trailers. The first one showcases the PvE mode and some of the skins you can collect, while the second one mostly relates to the story behind the events you'll be playing through. Have a look:
I've been playing the PvE mode for a couple of hours now, and I must say I am quite impressed with the work Blizzard has done. If they could expand the concept onto new maps, perhaps even add a couple of new objectives and enemy types, I could easily see this becoming a fully fledged game mode. Its challenging, its fun, and its certainly a better way to train your aim than spending 30 minutes alone against Ana bots.
As for the patch notes, you will find the full list on the official website. If you're just interested in the short version, however, here are all of the important changes:
General
• Details about each hero’s unique backstory, along with information about some of their lore-inspired skins, have been added to the Hero Gallery
• [PC] The Player Report system has been redesigned, adding new reporting options and activity examples to better capture the reason for each report
• In-game voice conversations for the Overwatch Uprising event can now be displayed as subtitles. This can be enabled under the “Sound” tab in the “Options” menu
Competitive Play
• A tracking system has been added to Assault and Assault/Escort Maps that will allow us to break ties based on the progress that was made toward capturing the objective.
Developer Comments: To mitigate draws in Competitive Play, we're implementing a system that tracks each team's progress on the objective. This will work similarly to the system that's already in place for Escort and Assault/Escort maps, which grants a win to the team that pushes the payload the furthest. Now, even if neither team successfully captures the objective, a winner can be determined based on which team captured the largest portion.
Custom Games and Game Browser
• Custom Game settings can now be saved as a preset from the game’s details page. This can be accessed by right-clicking on the map image from the Create Game page, right-clicking a game name from inside the Game Browser, or via the save button on the settings page
• Players can now change weapon clip and magazine size or grant unlimited ammunition when creating a custom game
Maps
• A new route has been added to Eichenwalde that connects the attacking team's spawn area to the capture point
Lúcio
• Sonic Amplifier
- Damage increased by 25%
- Projectile speed increased from 40 to 50
• Alternate fire now considers vertical orientation when knocking targets back
• Crossfade
- Area of effect radius has been decreased from 30 meters to 10 meters
• Heal Song
- Healing-per-second has been increased by 30% (also applies to Lúcio's Amp It Up ability)
- Self-healing has been reduced by 25%
• Wall Ride
- Movement speed increased by 20% when wall riding
- Lúcio now receives a burst of speed when leaping off a wall
Developer Comments: Lúcio has often felt like a must-pick due to his raw healing output and the versatility of providing a speed bonus to your entire team. The goal of these changes is to keep those elements feeling strong, but making them harder to apply to everyone on your team at all times. The end result is that he should feel stronger with teams that he can stay close to but not as strong when on teams with heroes that are often spread out (such as Pharah, Widow, Genji, etc). Much of Lúcio’s character power was tied up in his large passive auras, which caused other elements of his kit to be weakened over time in an attempt to balance him. Now that his auras are more focused it will allow them to be much stronger and allow Lúcio to be more active in his role.
Orisa
• The size of Orisa’s head hitbox has been decreased by 15%
And finally, if you're interested in a brief patch overview by Overwatch's Game Director Jeff Kaplan you'll find the most recent Developer Update video right below. Enjoy!