Categories: News

Overwatch ‘Winter Wonderland’ holiday event now live; Patch notes here

GENERAL UPDATES

General

  • Added a new “Boop” unlockable voice line for Sombra
  • Players can now select the 1v1 Mystery Duel and 3v3 Elimination game modes from the Custom Game menu
  • Added a “Stay as Team” feature, which allows players to remain grouped with their teammates after the match has ended

HERO BALANCE UPDATES

Symmetra

  • Photon Barrier (New Ability)
    • Replaces her existing Photon Shield ability
    • Generates a large energy barrier in front of Symmetra that blocks enemy fire as it travels forward
  • Shield Generator (New Ultimate Ability Option)
    • Symmetra's Ultimate ability now offers a choice between Teleporter and a new option: Shield Generator
    • Shield Generator places a device that grants additional shields to allies within its effective radius (regardless of barriers, walls, or obstacles between them and the Shield Generator)
  • Photon Projector (Primary Fire)
    • Range has been increased from 5 meters to 7 meters
  • Sentry Turret
    • Turrets that can be carried have been increased from 3 turrets to 6 turrets
    • Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds
  • Photon Shield
    • Replaced with the new Photon Barrier ability
  • Teleporter
    • Health has been decreased from 200 to 50
    • Shields have been increased from 0 to 350

Zarya

  • Particle Barrier/Projected Barrier
    • Attacks like Reinhardt's Fire Strike or Hanzo's Dragonstrike that deal damage to both the barrier and the hero within the barrier, no longer deal damage to the barrier twice

BUG FIXES

General

  • [PS4 Pro] Fixed a bug that could obscure or hide UI elements on a 4K display
  • Fixed a bug that allowed more than one player to select the same hero on the Assemble Team screen, but forced one player to reselect after spawning
  • Fixed a bug that forced players to join Play vs. AI matches when attempting to spectate a friend
  • Fixed a bug causing a black screen to appear if players switched heroes as the round ended
  • [PC] Fixed a bug that allowed the “H” key to close the Hero Select screen even after that function had been bound to a different key


AI

  • Bots are no longer able to use abilities or attack enemies after a Control match has ended
  • [Console] Fixed a bug that prevented Ana from being selected in 1v1 matches


Arcade

  • Fixed a bug that prevented players from correctly receiving experience after joining an in-progress 3v3 match
  • Fixed a bug preventing BattleTags from being displayed correctly during Highlight Intros and Plays of the Game in 1v1 and 3v3 matches
  • Fixed a bug causing the respawn timer to remain visible during 3v3 matches


Competitive Play

  • Fixed a bug that allowed more than one player to select the same hero in rare situations


Heroes

  • Fixed a bug preventing the nameplate above D.Va’s mech from disappearing while being destroyed, and displaying a “0” instead of the player’s name
  • Fixed a bug causing the “You” indicator (which typically only appears during killcam footage) to appear when D.Va looks directly at the ground
  • D.Va’s video tutorial now includes changes made to her Defense Matrix resource mechanics
  • Fixed a bug causing Genji’s sword to clip through its scabbard
  • Fixed a bug causing Junkrat’s Steel Trap animation to play when detonating a Concussion Mine
  • Fixed a bug causing Reinhardt’s hammer to become invisible to some players after using an emote
  • Fixed a bug that interfered with the accuracy of the alternate fire for Roadhog’s Scrap Gun
  • Fixed a bug that allowed players' Ultimate ability voice lines to play uninterrupted, even if they were hacked by Sombra during use
  • Fixed a bug preventing the sound effects from Torbjörn’s hammer from being played when his Ultimate ability was activated
  • Fixed a bug causing Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook to begin its cooldown after going through Symmetra’s Teleporter
  • [Console] Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to receive Ultimate charge when using her Caduceus Staff to increase teammates’ damage when they’re not damaging enemies
  • [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Reinhardt from deactivating his Barrier Field after being hacked by Sombra
  • [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra’s Hack from cancelling Soldier: 76’s Sprint ability
  • [Console] Sombra no longer receives credit toward her on-fire meter when her EMP ultimate hits Symmetra’s turrets
  • [Console] When multiple Sombras attempt to hack a health pack, the player that initialized the hack first will now control it
  • [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra's Opportunist passive ability from seeing practice bots through the walls on the Practice Range
  • [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra’s reticle from consistently expanding while firing her Machine Pistol


Maps

  • Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy from using Resurrect in rare situations on King’s Row

The Overwatch holiday event is officially live and it's bringing a 'Winter Wonderland' to the game. The Winter Wonderland event is bringing has "decked the halls of Hanamura and King’s Row," filled up Loot Boxes with festive goodies, and brought an all new mode to the game.

Check out the event trailer below (from the looks of the trailer, a number of those predictions were right!)

Event dates: December 13th – January 2nd

Loot Boxes:

  • Loot Boxes have been replaced with 'Winter Loot Boxes' and have over 100 new cosmetic items. Each will contain at least one item from the 2016 Winter Wonderland:
    • Profile icons, sprays, victory poses, emotes, highlight intros, skins, and more
  • Can be earned or purchased

Event:

  • Mei's Snowball Offensive
    • A 6v6 single-elimination mode
    • Mei's Endothermic Blaster has been modified to fire a single overpowered snowball that kills enemies in one hit. Once the Endothermic Blaster is empty it will need to be refilled in a snow pile. Mei's Ultimate turns her blaster into a semi-automatic snowball launcher which allows you to fire continuously.

Tatiana Morris

I work here, so at least I've got that going for me. Catch me on Twitter @TatiMo_GZ

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Tatiana Morris
Tags: Overwatch

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