To say that July 27 was a big day for “Overwatch” players is an understatement. The arrival of the long-awaited Doomfist finally happened, gaining all sorts of reaction among fans, mainly positive. But the latest patch did not just bring us the punch-happy hero; it came with a tweak to Respawn timing and ended up throwing players for a loop. The confusion paved way for Blizzard to explain the change, turning to the forums in hopes of putting players at ease.
Respawn timers: The changes in detail
What prompted forum frequenters to question the changes is one of the points in the patch notes. As indicated by Blizzard, “Adjusted the respawn timing to limit defensive stalling strategies when the offensive team has a clear advantage and plays aggressively.” Some pointed out they understood what the change is bound to alter, but the questionable part is how it will go about doing that.
It was Scott Mercer, principal designer for “Overwatch,” who cleared things up for the confused bunch. The changes made to the respawn timers involves the difference between the two factions – the attackers and the defenders – both within the same point, and how many of them were on the point including the duration.
Mercer started his explanation with the previous mechanism of the game, wherein the respawn time for defenders would increase upon reaching 30 seconds should attackers outnumber defenders. The respawn time would max out when attackers held the advantage for 90 seconds.
The change brought by the update, according to Mercer, is that respawn time would start to increase after 15 seconds, instead of the usual 30, and would max out upon reaching 75 seconds, instead of 90. What this would bring is an easier win to teams in the dominating position, which players responded to quite happily. With meta gameplay leaning towards tanky heroes like Winston who can stall out easier, the altered respawn timing equates to such tactics being minimized, or avoided even.
Other ‘Overwatch’ updates
While players are testing out Doomfist, it might be a little while before these changes sink in, but it’s very likely we’ll be seeing more of both Reaper and Zarya. The update on Reaper isn’t related to gameplay per se, but the new patch minimized his sounds when performing Shadow Step, making him almost unnoticeable. Zarya, on the other hand, received a major buff. Additionally, Reinhardt’s hammer swing speed has been upgraded, and McCree’s Flashbang is now better than ever.
“Overwatch” has made a name for itself, that much is clear, but with the new patch gaining positive response, it looks like will be looking at more players all aboard Blizzard’s team-based multiplayer soon.