Overwatch 2.79 Update Patch Notes | Winter Wonderland and some balance changes

The Overwatch 2.79 update patch notes bring forth the most wonderful time of the year yet again. Yes, this means that the Winter Wonderland seasonal event is back once again for the fourth time. However, like many of the recent limited-time events, this winter event is basically the same as last year with a few new skins and cosmetics. It makes sense, given that Overwatch 2 is on the (distant) horizon. There are also some other changes coming to the game like all the shield nerfs that are meant to dampen the oppressive double barrier meta. Regardless, here are the rest of the Overwatch update patch notes that are live on every platform.

Overwatch 2.79 Update Patch Notes | Winter Wonderland event returns

The Winter Wonderland has started up again on every console and is the first time it is coming to the Switch. Like the aforementioned paragraph stated, this event is mostly a repeat of past years, meaning the same brawls (Yeti, Snowball Fight) will return. Of course, this means new skins and cosmetics for the cast, which you can see below. Also, if this is like past events, logging in during a certain period will net you five loot boxes. The event ends on January 2.

ALSO: Why Overwatch 2 is such a groundbreaking sequel

Overwatch 2.79 Update Patch Notes | Winter Wonderland skins

The new Overwatch Winter Wonderland skins are:

Rime Sigma
Snow Angel Mercy
Holly Moira
Ugly Sweater 76 Soldier 76
Jötunn Doomfist
Mountain Man McCree
Rat King Reaper

And there are also obviously sprays, victory poses, emotes, player icons, and highlight intros for other characters, too.

Overwatch 2.79 Update Patch Notes | While You Wait

Skirmish, as it was, is dead and now players can use the While You Wait feature to load into a game. When you or your group are in a queue, you can go between the Practice Range, Skirmish, Deathmatch, or a custom game. This should cut down on downtime between actual matches.

Overwatch 2.79 Update Patch Notes | Balance changes

This patch also brings forth the shield nerfs and Tank changes. For one, the previous change to armor has been reverted, meaning armor now reduces damage by five instead of three. This basically means armor is a little more effective for most kinds of attacks.

Orsia has had her base armor go up to 250 (from 200) and her movement penalty while firing her weapon has been reduced from 30% to 20%, meaning she can move faster while shooting. Her Fortify cooldown has been decreased from 10 seconds to seconds. Her barrier, however, now has 600 health instead of 900. Overall, these changes are to make her a little more independent and less oppressive as a team player.

Sigma’s barrier also got hit, as its health dropped from 1,500 to 900. The regeneration rate also went from 150 per second to 120. His Kinetic Grasp had its cooldown reduced to 10 seconds (from 13) and his damage-to-shield gain ratio was increased from 40% to 60%, which means more of the damage he sucks in gives him more health now.

Reinhardt wasn’t hit as hard. His iconic barrier was dropped from 2,000 health to 1,600, but his movement speed penalty is now 25% and not 50%, effectively doubling his shield movement speed. He is also has higher knockback resistance, as it increased from 30% to 50%, which means he won’t be as susceptible to Lúcio boops.

The developers say that all of these changes are meant to decrease “the overall amount time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas” and this should be a “significant change to the pace of the game.”

Other heroes were also changed too. Moira’s Biotic Grasp now heals her 65 health per second instead of 80 because it was “proven to be too potent.”

D.Va’s Defense Matrix cooldown is now 1.5 seconds (was two seconds). Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook’s cooldown is now 12 seconds (was 10) because of barriers being less effective at locking down long sight lines. Torbjörn’s Overload power now has a cooldown of 10 seconds (down from 12) to make him more effective. Genji’s ammo count has been increased to 30 to give him a “small boost.” And lastly, Zarya’s secondary fire now has a radius of 2.5 meter (was two) and now cost 20 ammo instead of 25 because the secondary fire felt “weak.”

Full Overwatch 2.79 update patch notes

Here are the full Overwatch 2.79 update patch notes:

WINTER WONDERLAND 2019

‘Tis the season to get merry!

Overwatch is getting into the holiday spirit for the next three weeks! Expand your collection and enjoy three winter brawls: Yeti Hunter, Mei’s Snowball Offensive, and the brand-new Snowball Deathmatch! Visit Blizzard World to watch the snow fall, admire its twinkling nighttime lights, and savor the sight of confectionary-inspired décor.

Of course, we have new presents for you to unwrap from our Winter Loot Boxes! Unlock new seasonal items—including legendary skins like Rime Sigma, Jötunn Doomfist, Rat King Reaper, and more. Overcome weekly challenges with wins in Quick Play, Competitive Play, or Arcade to earn a series of festive rewards. And don’t forget to collect three special Yule Log sprays just by logging in!

Learn more about Winter Wonderland here.

GENERAL UPDATES

New Feature: “While You Wait”

In this patch, we’re replacing our “Skirmish” mode with a brand-new feature called “While You Wait!” Now you can choose between a variety of game modes to play while you queue for a match

When in queue, players will now be prompted to pick from the following game modes:

Practice Range – Practice your skills—solo or in a group—against training bots
Skirmish – Spar with other players without keeping score
Deathmatch – Compete for the top place on the scoreboard
Custom Game – Select a custom game from the Custom Game Browser or create your own. (If you want your custom game to be available for everyone to play, make sure to choose the setting: “Allow players who are matchmaking.”)

All While You Wait game modes are optional and can be accessed by a single player or as a group. Only your group leader can select the mode for their team.

Note: You don’t have to leave your queue after a match ends to play another While You Wait mode. In order to access the While You Wait menu, click on the game mode you’re queued for and choose a While You Wait option from there.

WORKSHOP UPDATES

Custom Games – Practice Range Mode
New Workshop Values
- Game Mode
- Current Game Mode
New Workshop setting
- “Allow players who are matchmaking”: allows players who are matchmaking to participate in the Custom Game created

HERO UPDATES

General

Armor damage reduction increased from 2 to 5

Orisa

Base armor increased from 200 to 250
Protective Barrier health reduced from 900 to 600
Fortify cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds

Sigma

Experimental Barrier

Health reduced from 1500 to 900
Barrier health regeneration rate reduced from 150 to 120 health per second

Kinetic Grasp

Cooldown reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds
Damage-to-shield gain ratio increased from 40% to 60%

Reinhardt

Barrier Field

Health reduced from 2000 to 1600
Movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 30%

Developer Comment: The above changes to armor, Orisa, Sigma, and Reinhardt are aimed at decreasing the overall amount time players spend damaging barriers while improving the individual heroes in other areas. This is a significant change to the pace of the game and we’ll be monitoring these heroes closely to ensure they retain impactful gameplay in the tank role.

Moira

Biotic Grasp healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)

Developer Comment: Moira’s primary heal has proven to be too potent, largely due to its ability to heal multiple targets.

D.Va

Defense Matrix cooldown decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds

Developer Comment: With role locks in place there is some room to improve D.Va’s impact as a tank, so we’re partially reverting a previous change which increased Defense Matrix’s cooldown.

Widowmaker

Grappling Hook cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds

Developer Comment: With barriers having less uptime, Widowmaker will be even more effective at locking down long sight lines. This change weakens her mobility so she can still be reasonably countered.

Torbjörn

Overload cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds

Developer Comment: Torbjörn has difficulty in extended team fights once his turret is eliminated and Overload has been used. This change allows Torbjörn to be able to rely on his Overload more often.

Genji

Ammo increased from 24 to 30

Developer Comment: As average hero survivability has gone up over time, Genji can sometimes have difficulty finishing off his targets. Loosening his ammunition constraints will help give him a small boost.

Zarya

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20

Developer Comment: Zarya’s overall damage output is in a good spot but the secondary fire was left feeling a little too weak after the last set of changes.

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed a bug that caused players spectating teammates during killcam to be unable to rotate the camera
Fixed a bug that caused the “Prepare Your Defenses” text to appear for the attacking team when a game starts in Mystery Heroes
Fixed a bug that could cause a client crash when attempting to spectate a friend at the start of a quickplay game
Fixed an issue where Max Health granted by heal-over-time abilities was being calculated incorrectly with Gravitic Flux
Color Blind Mode – Fixed an issue which caused models affected by infra-sight to appear washed out when using colors other than red
Workshop – Fixed an issue causing map names and dropdowns from being displayed in the incorrect case
Workshop – Fixed an issue preventing D.Va from being detected in Player Died events
Workshop – Toggling the custom game lobby hot key while viewing lobby settings should now properly close the screen
Custom Games – Renamed Assault/Escort to Hybrid
Fixed a bug that could cause heroes with regenerating health/shields to not take full damage when damaged while at full health
Various hero abilities (e.g. Symmetra’s Turrest, Roadhog’s Hook, Sigma’s Accretion, Orisa’s Halt, etc) will now respect the collision boxes on vending machines and other such props
Fixed a bug that caused High Precision Mouse Input to cause toggle crouch to behave inconsistently

Maps

Black Forest (1v1) – Fixed a bug that allowed Reaper to Shadow Step through the breakable doors

Heroes

Doomfist

The default circle is now hidden when using advanced reticle settings
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented the sound effect of Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut from playing
Fixed a bug where Seismic Slam could land on an enemy’s head while playing FFA modes

Junkrat