Home Gaming Overwatch [PC] Patch Notes–McCree and Widowmaker receive slight nerfs

Overwatch [PC] Patch Notes–McCree and Widowmaker receive slight nerfs

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The speculated patch notes are in and, as you guessed it, McCree and Widowmaker received small nerfs. Many felt the changes were coming as McCree was able to unload a combination of his skills and kill almost any tank. Widowmaker was a crucial marksman causing way too much damage, even unscoped she was dealing more damage than Soldier:76.

In competitive games McCree and Widowmaker were first tier heroes. McCree was fantastic at spamming Fan the Hammer to break down shields, and Widowmaker offered a fantastic backline defense and offense with extreme mobility. These were the only two balance fixes for heroes in the latest patch, and they were acompanied by a number of bug fixes as well.

McCree damage debacle

In the past McCree could unload a flashbang, Fan the Hammer, Combat Roll, and Fan the Hammer combo which, when done correctly, could unload over 800 damage. This was insane amount of damage which makes the following changes necessary.

  • Alternate Fire
    • Recovery time (i.e. the amount of time before McCree starts reloading) decreased from 0.75 seconds to 0.3 seconds
    • Bullet damage decreased from 70 to 45

Developer Comments: “McCree was performing too well against all targets, making him feel like a must-pick in many situations. By reducing the damage of his alternate fire, McCree is now significantly weaker against tanks like Roadhog and Reinhardt, but still maintains his lethality against smaller targets like Tracer and Genji.”

mcreeeee

Many speculated that his flashbang may receive a change as well, as it was deemed slightly overpowered. However, it was just his alternate fire which received a nerf, but don’t count him out yet. The change makes his left click, which was not as common as the combination mentioned above, a bit stronger and does promote a lot more skill in his gameplay. Some Maths regarding the change:

Using only one Fan the Hammer:

  • No armor: 420 reduced to 270
  • Armor: 390 reduced to 240

Using the double Fan the Hammer combo:

  • No armor: 840 reduced to 540
  • Armor: 780 reduced to 480

This means most tanks will now survive versus the dreaded McCree combo, and with the added bonus of having a healer close by McCree will be aptly dealt with.

Widowmaker:76

As mentioned above, Widowmaker’s power comes solely from her backline defense/offense. Often punishing enemies for being out of position, Widowmaker also had extremely power close range automatic fire which did a considerable amount of damage.

  • Widow’s Kiss – Alternate fire (Scoped Shot)
    • Base damage decreased from 15 to 12
      • Note: Scoped shot damage multiplier remains unchanged
    • Headshot damage multiplier increased from 2x to 2.5x
    • Players must now wait for the unscoping animation to completely finish before scoping
  • Infra-Sight (Ult)
    • Ultimate charge cost increased by 10%

Developer Comments: “In the right hands, Widowmaker can often feel unstoppable—even when just landing body shots instead of critical heads shots. The changes to her alternate fire weaken body shot damage while leaving her headshot damage unchanged. Additionally, we felt her Ultimate ability, Infra-Sight, was coming up a little too frequently, especially considering its impact on the game.”

third obj

The biggest change here, which could directly affect your choice of picking Widowmaker, is the change to her Scope. The need to wait for her unscoping animation means no more quick scopes. She will still be an effective marksman in the right hands, as her headshot damage has not changed.

  • Old headshot: (15*2) *10.0 = 300
  • New headshot: (12*2.5) *10.0 = 300

If you’re still able to get those necks in, your Widowmaker will still be extremely potent, so get practicing.

The final change, which is quite important, is the improvement of the “High Bandwidth” option in custom games which brings the servers up to 60 tick. What this means is that your shots/attacks register faster and you won’t feel like you should have got that kill. Now if you hit, you should get it.

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Last Updated: June 15, 2016

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