Well well, Blizzard sure have been busy with Overwatch. Not only are we getting a deathmatch game mode complete with a brand new map built for the new game mode, we are getting another escort map, and some very interesting character tweaks.
The latest map is Junkertown, the home of our favourite Australian madmen Junkrat and Roadhog. In Overwatch lore, Australia was one of the places hit hardest by the Omnic crisis, and turned into a completely irradiated wasteland by our aforementioned heroes. Junkertown rose from the ashes of this devastation.
On top of this new map, big changes are coming to two heroes, the biggest of which includes a huge overhaul to Mercy’s ultimate ability.
If you’re a Mercy main like myself (50+ hours as her), this new change comes as a bit of a shock. Now, you can no longer have that huge, game changing four man resurrection and instead, the resurrect ultimate ability is being changed to a regular ability.
- Ability now targets a single player, instead of every player within a radius
- Radius reduced to 5 meters
- Ability cooldown is 30 seconds
- Mercy is no longer granted invulnerability while Resurrect is active
Valkyrie is the new ultimate ability, which unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie Suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds:
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- Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s healing and damage boost beams now affect all allies near the targeted teammate, and the staff’s effective range has been extended
- Caduceus Blaster: Granted infinite ammo, while simultaneously increasing damage and fire rate
- Guardian Angel: Increased range and movement speed
- Resurrect: Cooldown is instantly reset when Valkyrie is activated and reduced to 10s after the initial cast
- Hover: Mercy gains the ability to fly freely, at increased movement speed
- Regeneration (Passive): No longer interrupted when Mercy takes damage
The second of the big changes are coming to D.va.
- Micro Missiles (New Ability)
- D.Va fires a barrage of small rockets that detonate on impact, dealing damage in a limited radius around each explosion. These can be fired while D.Va is using any other ability or firing her Fusion Cannon
Along with a brand new ability, some tweaks are coming to how her other abilities work; D.va can now fire whilst flying, and her Defense Matrix will now deplete twice as quickly
These incoming changes are expected to shake up the current competitive meta, and as season 5 is coming to a close on August 29th, we may see more changes brought out before the new season.
About the Author
Dylan Fewings
When he isn't studying at University, you can probably find Dylan absorbed in a JRPG, adding more albums to his record collection, or watching old school horror flicks with his cat.
