Reinhardt’s reign as the most dominant tank in Overwatch may be ending due to a nerf to his ultimate ability. Earthshatter, an ultimate that knocks enemies to the ground allowing a few moments of precious, free dps for Reinhardt and his team, is being nerfed pretty heavily. Soldier 76 is also being adjusted, as Blizzard feels he’s currently to dominant in damage making him a must-pick for highly competitive teams. Before getting outraged at the nerfs of our favorite heroes, it’s a good idea to look at the Overwatch PTR patch notes and see what exactly the changes will be:

Soldier 76’s Pulse Rifle damage is being reduced from 20 to 19 per shot. This doesn’t seem super significant but may help fix his current dominance as a go-to DPS. While nerfs always make a lot of people unhappy, for the sake of balance it doesn’t make sense to have one character just clearly significantly better than others.

I mentioned above that Earthshatter is getting a pretty significant nerf, but the nerf is structured in a way that makes sense and makes me, personally, wonder why it didn’t already function that way. The way Reinhardt’s ultimate works currently often results in him knocking enemies out of the air who, logically, should be able to avoid the swing of his hammer. Many Reinhardt’s relish knocking Pharah or a stray Mercy out of the sky with a perfectly timed ultimate, but I have to agree that the ability shouldn’t really function that way. As currently implemented on the Overwatch PTR, Earthshatter should not so significantly affect targets in the air with a range reduction from 3 to 2 meters.

Reinhardt will still likely still be a top pick due to how useful a shield combined with mobility is for helping your team advance, but the new addition Orisa is getting a buff that may bring her a little more in line with everyone’s current favorite in the meta. The cooldown on her shield is being reduced from 12 to 8 seconds on the Overwatch PTR, which may help address the most common complaint of Orisa being stuck in one place and less-than-useful to her team. Accompanying this buff is a nerf to her fusion driver of 15%. The team hopes the increased mobility will allow her to be a more competitive pick for her team, and the accompanying nerf to damage shouldn’t be too horrible since she’s first and foremost a tank.

The Overwatch PTR is now available for testing, so before you decide the world is ending, hop online and give it a try!