Overwatch has introduced a new limited-edition Experimental Card that features many over-the-top balance changes coming directly from Overwatch content creators. This experimental mode allows players to test out possible changes made to character abilities without introducing them directly into the core game modes.

Support and tank roles seem to have gotten the most interesting revisions in this mode. The most notable change is definitely shifting Symmetra back to the support role and giving her healing turrets over damage turrets. Mercy’s ultimate has also returned to mass resurrection while moving her current Valkyrie ultimate to ability 2. Rounding out the craziest additions allows Zenyatta to elevate by holding the jump button.

Tank characters have been made extra durable at the cost of damage output. Most damage-related effects have also shifted to slows or other forms of utility. Some notable mentions are allowing Reinhardt to cancel his Charge ability and changing Orisa’s Halt into a 1.5 second tether. Rounding this out is Zarya providing speed boosts and a slow-fall passive added to D-Va while in her mech.

Most characters in the damage role received only small tweaks to their existing abilities, though Mei got some love with the ability to launch heroes into the air with her Ice wall.

These are the full patch notes below.

CREATOR EXPERIMENTAL UPDATE

In this limited-edition Experimental Card, we will feature over-the-top balance changes coming directly from Overwatch content creators. Each creator ideated on changes for heroes within their role. Here are the Creator Experimental Card participants behind each of the role changes:

  • ML7—Support HeroesLemonKiwi—Tank HeroesJake—Damage HeroesWanted— Damage Heroes

Be sure to read up on the patch notes, jump into the game, and practice with your team to prepare for the Creator Cup tournament! Hop on over to the Overwatch Flash Ops: Experimental Card Creator Cup page to learn more and sign up!

HERO UPDATES

General

  • Maximum hitscan fall off range increased to 50% from 30%There is now a +75% global cap for movement speed buffs applied to allies. Previously this would have only affected Lucio but several other heroes can now increase ally movement speedAdded a global 75% cap to movement speed buffs applied to allied heroes (Orisa, Zarya, Lucio, Symmetra

TANK

  • All tank weapon, ability, and ultimate damage reduced by 50% Crowd control durations applied to tanks are reduced by 50% for the following types – stuns, sleep, knockdowns, knockbacks, slow/freeze, root/trap The following crowd control abilities are still full duration for tanks- Mei Blizzard, Reinhardt Shatter, Zarya Graviton Surge, Winston Primal Rage

  • Armor increased from 200 to 400

Fire Strike

  • Enemies hit by Fire Strike now receive 50% less healing for 4 seconds

Charge

  • Can now pin multiple targetsMovement speed is increased by 40% for the first 2 seconds of the chargeCan now be canceled by pressing the ability input again

  • Armor increased from 250 to 500

Fortify

  • Now grants 40% increase to movement speedAllies within 8 meters have 20% increased movement speed and 20% damage reduction

Halt!

  • No longer fires a projectileNow attaches a Halt tendril to the nearest enemy target within 5 meters and tethers them to Orisa for 1.5 second

Supercharger

  • No longer grants allies a damage buffNow slows all enemies within 10 meters by 40%

  • Health increased from 200 to 300 Armor increased from 0 to 300 Shield health pool removed

Particle Barrier

  • Provides up to 50% movement speed boost to Zarya, based on current energy with 0.5% movement speed per 1 energy

Projected Barrier

  • Provides up to 50% movement speed boost to allies, based on current energy with 0.5% movement speed per 1 energy

  • Armor increased from 0 to 200Shield health pool removed

Hyperspheres

  • Now fires 1 projectile per shot, down from 2Recovery reduced from 1.2 to 0.5 seconds

Accretion

  • Now receives an additional charge on a successful hit Spending additional charge puts the ability on cooldown

Kinetic Grasp

  • Sigma is now immune to crowd control while Kinetic Grasp is active

Experimental Barrier

  • Cooldown reduced to minimum 0.1 seconds

Grappling Claw

  • No longer automatically detaches after 6 secondsCan no longer reach maximum speed, deal damage, or knockback enemies if Grappling Claw has been active for more than 6 seconds

Minefield

  • Minefield now blinds enemies for 2.5 seconds when damaging enemies. When blinded, the player is unable to see anything except for their HUD

Piledriver

  • Piledriver now reduces the cooldown of Adaptive Shield by 1 second for each enemy hit

  • Health decreased from 600 to 300 Armor increased from 0 to 300

Chain Hook

  • Now pulls enemies 75% faster

Take a Breather

  • No longer heals for a flat value of 300Now heals 100 health, plus an additional 100 health per nearby allyRoadhog gains 25% damage reduction when near allied damage heroesThis buff is shared with all allies within 5 metersRoadhog gains 50% damage reduction when near allied tank heroes

Whole Hog

  • No longer knockbacks opponents Now cancelable

  • Passive: Holding the jump key allows the mech to fall slowly

Fusion Cannons

  • Primary Fire damage reduced from 2 to 1 damage per pellet

Defense Matrix

  • Now grants 30% ultimate charge for blocking an enemy Ultimate projectile

Boosters

  • Cooldown reduced from 4 to 2 seconds

  • Armor increased from 150 to 300

Jump Pack

  • Now slightly launches nearby enemies into the air upon landing

Primal Rage

  • Health granted increased from 1000 of 1700Health decays by 75 per second to a minimum health of 350Holding primary fire input now charges up a punch, which can increase the knockback by up to 100%

DAMAGE

Swift Strike

  • Now has two chargesRefund one Swift Strike charge per eliminationActivating Dragonblade also refunds one chargeDamage reduced from 50 to 30

Dragonblade

  • Duration reduced from 6 to 3 secondsAfter Dragonblade ends, Genji gains 40% faster attack speed for 6 seconds

  • New additional passive: using a basic ability that dealt no damage to enemies reduces the current cooldowns of the other two abilities by 1 second

Seismic Slam

  • Can now be canceled after a 0.2 second delay by pressing the ability input again

New Passive: Assimilation

  • Echo heals for 30% of her current missing health when she gets a final blowThis healing generates Ultimate chargeThis passive also affects her Duplicate copy

Glide

  • Speed increased by 15%

  • Fully frozen targets take 100% increased quick melee damage from all sources

Ice Wall

  • Now launches heroes into the air when built underneath them

Cryo-Freeze

  • Size increased by 50%

Rocket Launcher

  • Rocket impacts now apply a 25% movement speed reduction for 0.5 secondsRocket impact knockback increased by 100%

Concussive Blast

  • Now has 2 ability chargesEnemies knocked back by a Concussive Blast become immune to all knockbacks for 1.5s

  • No longer has audible footsteps

RIP-TIre

  • Increased movement speed when detaching from walls

Machine Pistol

  • Weapon spread reduced by 20%Shots per second increased from 20 to 24

Hack

  • Cooldown when interrupted increased from 2 to 3 secondsHack duration reduced from 5 to 3.5 seconds

Stealth

  • Now has an 8 second maximum durationNo longer plays an audio cue if the ability reaches its full duration

  • Character size reduced by 15%

Configuration: Recon

  • Ammo increased from 35 to 100Weapon spread reduced by 20%

Self-Repair

  • Can now be channeled while firing

Dragonstrike

  • The dragons now spawn immediately if the arrow impacts terrain

Storm Arrow

  • No longer fires the next 5 arrows instantlyNow grants a 6 second buff with the following effects:Lunge cooldown reduced from 4 to 1 secondStorm Bow movement penalty removedStorm Bow draw time decreased from 0.75 to 0.45 seconds

Rivet Gun

  • Dealing damage with primary fire adds a stacking buff that increases its damage by 5Each buff lasts for 5 seconds

The Viper

  • No longer reloads ammo individuallyNow reloads all ammo in 2.25 seconds

Coach Gun

  • Cooldown increased from 10 to 13 seconds

Dynamite

  • No longer deals self-damageExplosion no longer has damage falloff

  • Health reduced from 225 to 200

Peacekeeper

  • Weapon recovery reduced from 0.5 to 0.42 seconds

  • Secondary fire removed

Combat Roll

  • Cooldown increased from 6 to 8 secondsCan no longer be used in the air

Deadeye

  • Reduced visual effects around Cassidy while active

Shadow Step

  • Cooldown decreased from 10 to 5 secondsCan now be used during Wraith Form

Wraith Form

  • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 4 secondsNo longer reloads your weaponNo longer applies a movement speed buff

Tactical Visor

  • Reduced visual effects around Soldier: 76 while active

Helix Rockets

  • No longer deals self-damageCooldown increased from 6 to 8 seconds

Grappling Hook

  • Cooldown increased from 12 to 15 seconds

Venom Mine

  • Can now place up to 3 active minesCooldown reduced from 15 to 10 secondsDamage reduced from 15 to 10 per secondEffect duration reduced from 5 to 3 secondsProjectile speed increased from 20 to 30

Pulse Bomb

  • Ultimate cost reduced by 50%Explosion damage reduced from 350 to 190No longer deals self-damage

SUPPORT

Biotic Rifle

  • Reload time decreased from 1.5 to 0.75 seconds

Sleep Dart

  • Slept targets now appear in kill feedAllies now see an icon above the slept enemyTurrets can now be sleptSleep Dart can now stop D.Va’s mech from flying during Self-Destruct

Nano Boost

  • Now instead of granting increased healing received to the target, it now causes the target to also heal for 50% moreCasting time reduced from 0.15 to 0.05 secondsFinal blows dealt by allies affected by Nano Boost now decrease Ana’s current cooldowns by 1 second

Exo Boots

  • Maximum jump height increased by 50%Time to fully charge increased from 1 to 2 seconds

Immortality Field

  • Duration decreased from 5 to 1.5 secondsCooldown decreased to from 25 to 23 secondsNow prevents allies from dropping below 20% of their maximum health up from 10%

Amplification Matrix

  • Baptiste can now deal self-healing with the Biotic Launcher while the Ultimate is activeDuration lowered from 10 to 8 seconds

Inspire

  • Healing effect expires immediately if Brigitte dies

Shield Bash

  • Distance covered increased by 15%Now retains more velocity when colliding with terrain

Whip Shot

While Rally is active, Whip Shot functionality changes to the following:

  • Damages and knocks back all enemies within a 7 meter radiusRestricts Brigitte’s movement for 0.75 secondsIncreases the cooldown by the remaining duration of Rally plus 4 seconds

Sonic Amplifier

  • While Wall-Riding, damage increased from 20 to 25

Sound Barrier

  • Enemies that are in the area of effect are now knocked back 6 meters

Valkyrie

  • Is no longer an Ultimate abilityIs now Ability 2Healing increased from 55 to 70 health per secondCaduceus Staff beams no longer attach to additional alliesDuration reduced from 15 to 3 secondsCooldown is now 20 secondsFlying movement speed decreased from 7 to 6Guardian Angel movement speed reduced from 25 to 20

Resurrect

  • Is now an Ultimate abilityCan resurrect up to 5 people at onceMaximum range increased from 5 to 8 meters

New Passive

  • Quick melee now slows enemies by 30% for 1 secondThis effect has a 10 second cooldown per enemy

Biotic Grasp

  • Primary fire maximum resource increased by 12.5%

Biotic Orb

  • Orbs no longer change speed when near valid targetsOrbs now moves at a constant 5.5 meters per secondAfter activating the ability, holding primary or secondary fire for 1 second will cause you to fire faster Orb that moves at a constant 20 meters per second

Coalescence

  • Channeling on an enemy target continuously for 2 seconds will now also lift them off the ground for 3 secondsThis effect can happen once per enemy

New Passive: “Elevation”

  • Zenyatta can jump higher if he holds the jump button

Orb of Destruction

  • Ammo increased from 20 to 25

Orb of Harmony

Grant an additional role-specific effect if attached to the ally for at least 2 seconds:

  • Tanks: 20% damage reductionDamage: 10% movement speed increaseSupport: healing received increased from 30 to 40 health per second

Orb of Discord

  • Damage amplification reduced from 25% to 20%

  • Moved from Damage to the Support roleNow sees ally health bars by default like other Support heroes

Photon Projector

  • Primary Fire damage per second decreased from 60/120/180 to 40/80/120Secondary Fire damage reduced from 120 to 80Secondary Fire deals up to 50% increased damage to non-heroes like turrets and barriersAmmo increased from 70 to 80

Sentry Turret

  • Health increased from 30 to 50No longer deals damageNow heals alliesHeals 20 health per second per turretMaximum range increased from 10 to 12 metersBuilding time reduced from 0.75 to 0.5 secondsCooldown reduced from 10 to 8 secondsNo longer slows target movement speed

Teleporter

  • Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 secondsAllies that take the teleporter receive a 40% movement speed increase for 2 secondsThis effect has a 10 second cooldown per ally

Photon Barrier

  • Health reduced from 4000 to 2500 healthDuration reduced from 12 to 10 secondsUltimate cost reduced by 9%