When does "Overwatch's" favorite Shimada clan archer get his rework on the live servers? Find out everything you need to know about the Hanzo rework and release date, here.
Hanzo has always been difficult to balance in Overwatch. He's a hybrid carry: a cross between sniper and mobile assassin. Widowmaker, with a scope and long distance damage, fills this niche without any problems, leaving Hanzo in an odd spot. To offset some of his weaker points, Blizzard is giving the ranged archer a minor rework. His arrows move swiffer, he can lunge forward while in the air and his Scatter Arrow ability has been replaced with a rapid-fire attack.
According to the developer comment on the PTR patch notes, "The goal of these Hanzo changes is to allow him to have new options and maintain his high damage output, while removing the frustration of fighting against the old Scatter Arrow." Scatter Arrow has always been a gimmicky ability, a close-range burst attack that could kill squishy enemies by shooting under their feet. This change gives Hanzo a reliable way to output damage at long or short range without nerfing his ability to survive in the fight.
When will Hanzo rework go live?
The Hanzo rework hit the PTR on April 19 and Blizzard usually tests changes like this for about 2 to 3 weeks. <s>My guess is that the Hanzo rework, alongside the new Rialto map, will go live the weeks of May 8 or May 15. Blizzard usually rolls out patches on Tuesday at 2 p.m. EDT, but there's no concrete way of knowing what's going on unless you work inside their fortress compound. Game Director Jeff Kaplan just announced that the patch will be rolling out today. This is just speculation and Blizzard has in the past kept changes on the PTR longer than expected when they need fine tuning or are full of bugs.
Hanzo can currently fast-move across the map using his Lunge, going from base to the objective in Lijiang Tower in under 10 seconds. Features like that need to be squashed before they wreak havoc in competitive games.
Here are all the changes Hanzo currently has on the Overwatch PTR. There are no promises that all of these will make it to the live servers, though Blizzard rarely rescinds changes when they make it past this point.
Storm Bow
Projectile speed increased from 85 to 100.
Sonic Arrow
Cooldown decreased from 20 seconds to 12 seconds.
Duration decreased from 10 seconds to 6 seconds.
Radius decreased from 10 meters to 7 meters.
New Abilities
Lunge
Press jump while in the air to leap horizontally.
Storm Arrows
Replaces his existing Scatter Arrow ability.
Hanzo can now rapidly fire up to six arrows that deal reduced damage but are always fired at full power.
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