Overwatch’s New Update Nixes a Beloved Team-Up Combo

Overwatch kicks off its new season today, introducing the hero Doctrine, along with reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, as we dive into the concluding chapter of Blizzard’s year-long storyline. As with every season, a significant balance patch is here, tweaking various heroes across the board. Unfortunately for some and a relief for others, one of the most enjoyable character synergies from this year has been put to rest.

Jetpack Cat was among the first heroes added this year as part of the initiative to expand the roster by ten new characters. This Support hero has a standout ability that allows her to tether to a teammate and lift them around the map. This mechanic is fantastic for gaining high ground, and as a Soldier: 76 player, I appreciate when a skilled Jetpack Cat can elevate me above the enemy team while I unleash my auto-targeting Ultimate.

One character that benefits from this tether is Cassidy, the sharpshooting cowboy whose Ultimate, High Noon, locks onto enemies’ heads for a clean headshot as long as they remain in his line of sight. It’s tough to escape someone’s line of sight when they’re soaring above you. However, Blizzard has decided to change this interaction, making it so that if Cassidy activates High Noon, he will detach from Jetpack Cat’s tether and plummet to the ground.

“Lifeline can create unique interactions with several ultimates, but its combination with High Noon has proven too powerful at repositioning Cassidy to eliminate targets,” Blizzard notes in the patch notes. “High Noon will now prevent Cassidy from attaching to Lifeline. We will continue evaluating other interactions on a case-by-case basis.”

It’s curious that this is the only interaction being altered. Soldier’s Ultimate also locks onto enemies, and Ashe’s B.O.B. can be carried on a tether without any changes. Perhaps those aren’t instant kills like High Noon. I worry we might see Jetpack Cat’s tether receive a timer, as Overwatch tends to patch out infinite states like Sombra’s invisibility and Wrecking Ball’s tether, complicating the use of these characters’ core abilities.

The full balance patch notes include:

Developer Comments: The rework for Roadhog aims to reduce the frustration caused by the lethality of Chain Hook while providing him with a new tool to support his team more like a traditional Tank. His primary fire now shoots in a 2-burst cadence, and slight adjustments to Chain Hook should maintain its strength as a displacement tool while reducing its lethality. Roadhog’s new ability, Trash Compactor, adds utility for him and his team, allowing him to vacuum up projectiles and convert them into explosive projectiles to hurl back at enemies. This ability enhances both his defensive and offensive capabilities, enabling him to make impactful plays beyond just one-shotting heroes.

Scrap Gun – Primary Fire

Scrap Gun – Secondary Fire

Trash Compactor

Chain Hook

Take A Breather

Scrap Hook – Minor Perk

Shrapnel Launcher – Minor Perk

Here, Piggy Piggy – Minor Perk

Pulled Pork – Major Perk

Toxic Exhaust – Major Perk

Developer Comments: Sombra is transitioning to the Support role with this rework. Previously, her identity as a disruptive mastermind conflicted with the expectations of a Damage hero. This shift allows us to fully embrace her hero fantasy while retaining key aspects of her gameplay.

A significant change in this rework is the removal of Hack as an ability. Players often found facing Sombra frustrating due to being unexpectedly locked out of their abilities. By eliminating Hack, we’ve introduced a new debuff called Weaken, which halves an enemy’s damage and healing output. A well-timed Weaken can shift the battle’s momentum without completely disabling an enemy’s abilities.

Machine Pistol

EMP (Ultimate)

Hack

Hotfix

Virus

Cyberspace

Translocator

Opportunist

Conspirator

Encrypted Upload – Minor Perk

Life Hack – Minor Perk

High-Speed Bandwidth – Major Perk

Data Packet – Major Perk

Viral Replication – Major Perk

Cybersecurity – Major Perk

Developer Comments: This patch includes hit volume updates to smooth out hit detection inconsistencies among heroes, leading to a reduction in the size of hitscan projectiles to maintain effectiveness. We’ll monitor how these changes affect projectile consistency.

Developer Comments: Increasing the fire rate of Micro Missiles reduces the time needed to unleash the full volley, enhancing burst potential without raising total damage output.

Micro Missiles

Developer Comments: Domina has struggled to sustain herself against opponents who can consistently pressure her barrier. Reducing Crystal Charge’s cooldown and boosting Reconstruction’s lifesteal enhances her health recovery during prolonged engagements.

Crystal Charge

Reconstruction (Passive)

Developer Comments: Bastion’s Reconfiguration can maintain pressure for extended periods. Reducing its duration emphasizes timing while preserving its overall impact.

Reconfigure

Developer Comments: Lifeline can create unique interactions with several ultimates, but its combination with High Noon has proven too powerful at repositioning Cassidy to eliminate targets. High Noon will now prevent Cassidy from attaching to Lifeline. We will continue evaluating other interactions on a case-by-case basis.

High Noon

Developer Comments: Emre’s damage output is high, but he can struggle to secure eliminations. Reducing Cyber Frag’s cooldown increases its availability, giving him more chances to capitalize on its high burst damage.

Cyber Frag

Developer Comments: Swift Strike’s damage is being increased to enhance Genji’s ability to secure eliminations through his core combos. Changes to Dragonblade aim to avoid damage boost breakpoints created by the Swift Strike increase while improving its overall effectiveness.

Swift Strike

Dragonblade

Developer Comments: Rapid Reload has underperformed as a minor perk and is being replaced with Survival Instinct, offering a more reliable survivability option for aggressive playstyles by extending Evade’s overhealth duration.

Rapid Reload – Minor Perk

Survival Instinct – Minor Perk

Developer Comments: While Groggy can be useful in certain situations, it has generally underperformed compared to its alternative. Local Anesthetic increases Sleep Dart’s utility by allowing it to affect nearby enemies, creating additional uses beyond a single target.

Groggy – Minor Perk

Local Anesthetic

Developer Comments: Doctrine was generally well received during the trial weekend but was overperforming compared to other supports. These adjustments target several areas of his kit while preserving his core gameplay flow. Deliverance will now apply its effects more quickly but for a shorter duration, reducing the overall time both allies and enemies are affected.

Invigorating Drones

Shrouded Momentum

Deliverance

Transfusion – Major Perk

Developer Comments: Previous changes to Sound Barrier reduced its effectiveness more than intended. The duration of its overhealth decay is being reverted while retaining the reduced overhealth amount. Beat Drop is also being adjusted independently and reduced in duration rather than being tied directly to Sound Barrier’s overall duration.

Sound Barrier

Beat Drop – Minor Perk

Developer Comments: We’ve conducted a broad review of the hero roster to align hit volume sizes more closely with similar heroes. The raw values are noted here for clarity regarding the changes relative to other heroes. The hit volume sizes are not strictly standardized due to varying visual models, unique animations, and a range of movement abilities, but they are influenced by factors such as engagement range and mobility.

Ana

Anran

Ashe

Baptiste

Bastion

Brigitte

Cassidy

Doomfist

Echo

Emre

Hanzo

Hazard

Illari

Jetpack Cat

Junker Queen

Junkrat

Juno

Kiriko

Lifeweaver

Lucio

Mercy

Mizuki

Mauga

Mei

Moira

Reinhardt

Sierra

Sojourn

Sombra

Symmetra

Tracer

Torbjorn

Venture

Wrecking Ball

Wuyang

Zenyatta