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Overwatch patch notes v1.28: new Busan map, Hero Gallery filter, Earthshatter fixes

Overwatch’s 1.28 patch is finished and was recently applied to the live game. The big highlight is a new map – Busan, in South Korea – but there’s also a new way to search for cosmetics in the Hero Gallery, some nice quality-of-life changes such as the ability to always see allies through walls, and some long-awaited TLC for Reinhardt’s ult, Earthshatter.

Changes elsewhere are pretty minor. Birgitte’s shield bash now knocks down and gets knocked down by other charging targets (such as Reinhardt), and you should find you’re able to more precisely tune the relative aim sensitivity while zoomed as snipers Ana and Widowmaker. Scintillating stuff. Naturally, there’s the customary cavalcade of bug fixes, though one is somewhat more significant than normal: the ‘fix’ to Roadhog’s damage calculation may, in practice, prove to be a nerf of some substance.

These patch notes are now complete and have been pushed live. Expect the version 1.29 patch cycle to start spinning up on the PTR within the next week or two, but in the meantime, read on for all the details on the latest state of Blizzard’s big shooter.

Overwatch patch 1.28 release date

Patch 1.28 is up now! It was applied to the live game on September 11, 2018. Go play around on Busan.

Overwatch patch 1.28 Busan

Overwatch Busan map

Overwatch’s latest map is set in Busan in South Korea, home of star gamer and selfie-taking mech pilot D.Va, and you can play it right now on the PTR. It’s a Control map divided into three distinct locales: Sanctuary, Downtown, and MEKA Base.

The Sanctuary is surrounded by an ancient temple, beautiful gardens, and historic architecture. Downtown is a bustling metropolitan zone, featuring a busy PC bang, flashy karaoke bar, and light rail station (watch out for the train). MEKA Base is a military district, home of the MEKA squad, South Korea’s frontline defence against the ‘gwishin’ variety of Omnics that plague the city. That means this is where D.Va lives, and you can check out her quarters.

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Busan was unveiled at Gamescom alongside a new animated short starring its most famous resident. Personally I think the Reinhardt short is still the peak, but none of these have disappointed.

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You can read more about Busan in our coverage of its announcement.

Overwatch patch 1.28 HERO GALLERY FILTER

On the PTR, the Hero Gallery has a new ‘Filter’ feature, which enables you to view all Overwatch’s cosmetics in a new, more easily navigable way. You can customise your search for cosmetics by category (including seasonal events, or whether they’re from the Overwatch League), rarity, and whether they are unlocked or yet to be collected.

Overwatch Patch 1.28 General Updates

  • Added visual outlines to make allies visible through walls.
  • In Competitive mode, Grand Master players can now group with players within 350 Skill Rating. That’s up from 250 Skill Rating, meaning GMs now have a larger pool of potential teammates.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause some weapons that fired multiple shots at once to inconsistently deal critical damage (e.g. Doomfist’s Hand Cannon, D.Va’s Fusion Cannons, Genji’s Shurikens, Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns, Torbjörn’s Rivet Gun)

Developer Comments: “While this is a bug fix, we wanted to highlight this change as it can affect gameplay by changing the damage output of the affected heroes in certain situations. After this fix, weapons with spread should now correctly calculate critical damage for each individual pellet that lands in a critical region (e.g. a headshot). The end result is that it should be significantly easier to deal critical damage with any weapon that fires multiple shots simultaneously, such as Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns and D.Va’s Fusion Cannons. In addition, we’ve changed the logic for when these weapons display a critical marker on your screen. It now requires 30% of your shots to be critical, rather than displaying it if a single pellet hits critically.”

Overwatch patch 1.28 HERO UPDATES

Ana

"Ana balance changes"

Biotic Rifle

  • Increased the precision of the Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed slider. This can be found under Options > Controls > Hero > Ana.

Brigitte

"Brigitte balance changes"

Shield Bash

  • Now knocks down and gets knocked down by other charging targets (e.g Reinhardt and Doomfist).

Developer Comments: “Currently, when two charging targets hit each other, they both fall down and are briefly stunned. You can see this interaction with Doomfist’s Rocket Punch and Reinhardt’s Charge abilities. Brigitte’s Shield Bash previously wasn’t included in this group, which meant that if she used Shield Bash against these other abilities, she would generally stun them and not be affected herself. This change makes it so if she uses Shield Bash against Charge or Rocket Punch, both players will be knocked down.”

Reinhardt

"Reinhardt balance changes"

Earthshatter

  • Will now consistently hit enemies near walls.
  • Will no longer hit enemies that enter the damage cone after the ‘wave’ has passed that area.
  • Will no longer damage enemies behind barriers blocking it, even if the barrier is later dropped or destroyed.
  • Will always travel up inclines and around the payload.

Developer Comments: “We’ve given Earthshatter a complete overhaul to combat inconsistencies with its performance. These changes will make Earthshatter’s behavior more predictable and effective.”

Widowmaker

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Grappling Hook

  • Now retains momentum when used on environments or structures without a ledge (e.g. walls).

Widow’s Kiss

  • Increased the precision of the Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed slider. This can be found under Options > Controls > Hero > Widowmaker.

Overwatch Patch 1.28 map updates

Rialto

  • Payload travel speed has been slightly increased.
  • Length of time the payload pauses at checkpoints has been decreased.

Overwatch Patch 1.28 GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES

FFA Deathmatch

  • Mercy now begins matches with her Caduceus Blaster equipped.
  • Blizzard World is now available to play in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.

1v1 Mystery Heroes

  • Mercy now begins matches with her Caduceus Blaster equipped.

General

  • Modified the Respawn Time Scalar custom game option to prevent respawn times longer than the default.

Overwatch patch 1.28 BUG FIXES

General

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn Armour Packs Created statistic from updating if the ability landed directly on a friendly target.
  • Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes slip off railings.

Communication Wheel

  • [PC] Fixed a bug that caused a delay in selecting options on the Communication Wheel when cycling left using a mouse.

Brigitte

  • Fixed a bug that caused Brigitte’s Shield Bash movement to be interrupted when she hit Symmetra’s turrets.

Doomfist

  • Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Seismic Slam to cancel when using Symmetra’s Teleporter.

D.Va

  • Fixed a bug that allowed D.Va to escape the map if she used Call Mech while standing on Mei’s Ice Wall.

Hanzo

  • Fixed a bug that caused Dragonstrike Arrow size to be larger than his other arrows.

Mei

  • Fixed a bug that caused Mei’s Cryo-freeze to block the line of sight for Mei’s Blizzard.

Mercy

  • Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to gain ultimate charge from using her damage beam on attacks that cannot be damage boosted.

Reaper

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Reaper’s Shadow Step from going on cooldown if he was interrupted.

Roadhog

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s alternate fire now calculates falloff damage correctly.

Reinhardt

  • Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from landing if he was launched into the air during its cast.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to pin targets that were behind him when using Charge.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt from pinning some targets when he turned during Charge.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to use Earthshatter while standing on an enemy’s head.
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from hitting enemies standing on a payload.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Earthshatter from traveling up certain inclines.

Roadhog

  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to break after hitting an enemy while maintaining line of sight.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s alternate fire from calculating falloff damage correctly.

Sombra

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from translocating to a moving platform.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from destroying her Translocator if she was stunned or hacked.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Translocator from accurately indicating where Sombra would arrive when the ability was used.

Symmetra

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s Hack from canceling Symmetra’s Photon Barrier placement.
  • Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s teleport UI to persist after being eliminated.

Widowmaker

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook from connecting to some ledges.
  • Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s scoped shots on hero placed objects to count against her Scoped Weapon Accuracy statistic (e.g. Symmetra’s Teleporter, Torbjörn’s autocannon).

Wrecking Ball

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Wrecking Ball’s Piledriver from dealing falloff damage.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Wrecking Ball’s Piledriver to deal damage twice if he slid off the environment during its duration.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed Wrecking Ball’s primary fire to continue working if it was disabled in custom game.