As players wait for Doomfist to finally enter the main game, Blizzard has tweaked the multiplayer shooter's 25th hero in the Overwatch PTR, while also making changes to four other heroes.
There is no specific release date yet for Doomfist, but dataminers have discovered that the brawler will launch with 67 cosmetics and four more event-specific items for an unannounced Summer Games event.
Doomfist Nerfed
Doomfist, added to the Overwatch PTR last week after his official introduction through an amazing anime-style origin story video, offers unique skills for a playstyle that more resembles a character from fighting games than one from a shooter.
One of his skills is the Rocket Punch, which functions like Reinhardt's Charge. The ability can be used to initiate certain combos and can deal immense damage when Doomfist knocks an opponent into a wall. Rocket Punch also goes through shielded heroes such as Orisa and Reinhardt.
It appears that the development team decided to tone down the power of Rocket Punch. In an Overwatch PTR update, it was reported that the total distance that Doomfist travels with the skill was reduced by around 20 percent. In addition, a new indicator has been added to Doomfist's Seismic Slam to show the damage it will deal and how much damage it dealt. Targeting the ability while in the air has also been restricted to locations that are lower than the player's current height.
McCree, Reaper, Reinhardt, And Zarya Buffed
While Doomfist was found to be too powerful, the Overwatch development team decided to increase the power of four other heroes.
McCree's Flashbang now slows opponents that it stuns, making it less likely for enemies to slide away around a corner if they are stunned by the skill.
The voice-over and sound effects distance of Reaper's Shadow Step have also been drastically reduced, which will make it much harder for opponents to respond to a surprise attack.
Reinhardt, meanwhile, gained a hammer swing speed increase by about 10 percent, while also receiving timing tweaks to make his hammer more responsive. His Charge skill, meanwhile, was changed to no longer deal damage to both characters when it meets another charging Reinhardt or Doomfist. Both heroes will still get knocked down though.
However, the biggest buff was to Zarya and her Graviton Surge. The Russian hero's ultimate skill now also disables the movement abilities of all opponents caught inside it. This makes her much more dangerous against Tracer and allows her to better team up with Doomfist, who can follow up the Graviton Surge with his own Meteor Strike ultimate for massive damage.
