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Experimental

Experimental is a temporary game mode in Overwatch that allows the development team to experiment with changes outside of the monthly patch cycles. The changes are not necessarily related to hero balancing, and entire game modes may be reworked.

Experimental changes can be applied to Custom Games, under the "Lobby" settings.

Differences from the PTR

Unlike the PTR, Experimental is available in the live version of the game, meaning players in all platforms can use it, and players can level up their accounts while playing it. Furthermore, the main purpose of the PTR is to test stability and bugs; any balance changes on the PTR are intended to go live and modification of the changes, while possible, are usually minor. On the other hand, Experimental tests more radical changes that the team is unsure of and allows players to offer direct feedback; the changes are not guaranteed to go live in any shape or form.

Some changes are impossible to implement on Experimental (i.e. it involves more than changing number values), so the PTR will still used for balance changes. Experimental does not replace the PTR.

While a new PTR patch is generally available within 1 or 2 weeks of a new live patch and lasts for roughly 3 or 4 weeks, the Experimental card comes abruptly and arbitrarily, usually without warning, and only lasts a few days. The Experimental mode rolls out changes server-side, removing the need for a patch to be downloaded. This also, in turn, allows changes to be released on console simultaneously and without affecting PC release scheduling, due to not needing to wait for certification from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. This makes it behave more like an Arcade mode, rather than a large update.

Current Experiment

None.

Previous Experiments

Hero Balancing - December 3rd, 2020, to December 7th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

Baptiste
D.Va
  • Mech health was decreased from 400 to 300; mech armor was increased from 200 to 300. (Total HP remained 600.)
Reinhardt
  • Armor was increased from 200 to 250. (Total HP was increased from 500 to 550.)
  • Rocket Hammer's damage was increased from 75 to 85.

Hero Balancing - November 12th, 2020, to November 16th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

Ana
Brigitte
  • Base health was decreased from 175 to 150.
Hanzo
Mei
  • Ice Wall could now be manually destroyed while dead.
Moira
Symmetra
  • Teleporter could now be manually destroyed while dead.
Torbjörn

Hero balancing and adjusting HP by 25 - October 22nd, 2020, to October 27th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. Notably, many heroes' HP were adjusted by 25 instead of the usual 50 for the first time, to better fine tune them. All of the changes came live, though the changes to Baptiste-ability4 Amplification Matrix were delayed by a patch.

List of changes

Baptiste
  • Biotic Launcher received several changes:
    • Primary fire's recovery time was decreased from 0.45 seconds to 0.38 seconds, but its damage was decreased from 25 to 24.
    • Alternate fire's recovery time was increased from 0.8 seconds to 0.9 seconds, but its healing was increased increased from 50 to 60.
  • Amplification Matrix's width was increased from 5 meters to 9 meters.
Brigitte
  • Base health was increased from 150 to 175. (Total HP was increased from 200 to 225.)
McCree
  • Base health was increased from 200 to 225.
  • Peacekeeper's reload time was decreased from 1.5 seconds to 1.2 seconds.
Mei
  • Cryo-Freeze could now restore 15 ammo per second.
  • Ice Wall's cooldown was decreased from 13 seconds to 12 seconds.
Symmetra
  • Base shields was increased from 100 to 125. (Total HP was increased from 200 to 225.)
Widowmaker
  • Base health was decreased from 200 to 175.

Soldier: 76 changes - October 3rd, 2020, to October 7th, 2020

Soldier: 76 changes were experimented on. All the changes came live; however, it was proven to be too strong so he also received a small damage nerf.

List of changes

Soldier: 76
  • Icon-ability.hpr Heavy Pulse Rifle received several changes:
    • Bullet spread was removed.
    • Constant recoil was added.
    • Ammo was increased from 25 to 30.

Hero Balancing - September 18th, 2020, to September 22nd, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. Most of the changes came live, with the exception of using Ability-mccree2 Combat Roll in the air.

List of changes

Ashe
  • Ability-ashe2 Dynamite's explosion damage was decreased from 75 to 50. (Total damage was decreased from 175 to 150.)
Baptiste
McCree
  • Ability-mccree2 Combat Roll could be used in the air and the roll speed was increased from 15 meters per second to 18 meters per second (which increased the distance travelled by 20%).
  • Ability-mccree3 Flashbang's stun duration was increased from 0.7 seconds to 0.8 seconds.
Orisa
  • Armor was increased from 200 to 250. (Total HP was increased from 400 to 450.)
  • Ability Orisa Fusion Driver Fusion Driver's projectile speed was increased from 90 meters per second to 120 meters per second.
Roadhog
  • Ability-Roadhog3 Chain Hook's distance between the pulled target and Roadhog was decreased from 3.5 meters to 3 meters.

Hero Balancing - September 4th, 2020, to September 9th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

General
  • Shotguns no longer applied a random rotation.
Roadhog
  • Ability-Roadhog1 Scrap Gun's pellet damage was decreased from 7 to 6. (Total damage was decreased from 175 to 150.)
Torbjörn
  • Ability-torbjorn1 Rivet Gun's alternate fire recovery time was increased from 0.6 seconds to 0.8 seconds, but the pellet damage was increased from 10.5 to 12.5. (Total damage was increased from 105 to 125.)

Scaling Down Power - August 24th, 2020, to August 28th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on to scale down damage and healing. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

General
  • Armor's reduction to beam damage was increased from 20% to 30%.
Ana
Ashe
  • Ability-ashe1 The Viper's ammo was decreased from 15 to 12. Also, damage from aiming down sights was decreased from 85 to 80.
Baptiste
  • Baptiste-ability1 Biotic Launcher's alternate fire ammo was decreased from 12 to 10.
  • Baptiste-ability2 Regenerative Burst's healing per second was decreased from 30 to 15 for allies. (It remains 30 for Baptiste himself.)
Junkrat
  • Ability-Junkrat1 Frag Launcher's impact damage was decreased from 50 to 40. (Total damage was decreased from 130 to 120.)
McCree
  • Ability-mccree1 Peacekeeper's primary fire recovery time was increased from 0.42 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
Moira
  • Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Biotic Grasp recieved multiple changes:
    • Biotic energy was decreased from 180 to 140. (Maximum primary fire duration was decreased from 9 seconds to 7 seconds. Passive generation per second remains at 2.4%, which decreased it from 4.32 per second to 3.36 per second.)
    • Primary fire's healing per second was increased from 65 to 70.
    • Primary fire's lingering healing was changed from 65 over 4 seconds to 35 over 2 seconds.
    • Alternate fire's attach angle was decreased by 37%.
    • Alternate fire's energy gain per second was increased from 18.75 to 21.875. (With the passive generation, percentage of the total energy gained per second was increased from ~12.82% to ~18%.)
Orisa
  • Ability Orisa Halt! Halt!'s radius was increased from 4 meters to 5 meters, also its projectile speed was decreased from 30 meters per second to 25 meters per second.
Pharah
  • Ability-parah1 Rocket Launcher's recovery time was increased from 0.75 seconds to 0.85 seconds.
Symmetra
  • Ability-symmetra1 Photon Projector's maximum alternate fire impact and explosion damage were both decreased from 70 to 60. (Total damage was decreased from 140 to 120.)
Widowmaker
  • Ability-widowmaker1 Widow's Kiss received multiple changes:
    • Ammo was increased from 30 to 35.
    • Alternate fire's ammo cost was increased from 3 to 5. (Number of shots is decreased from 10 to 7.)
    • Alternate fire was given damage falloff, starting at 60 meters and scaling down to 50% damage at 85 meters.
Zarya
  • Ability-zarya1 Particle Cannon's alternate fire ammo cost was increased from 20 to 25. (Number of shots was decreased from 5 to 4.)

Moira Changes - August 18th, 2020, to August 21st, 2020

Moira changes were experimented on. Phasing was also changed, which indirectly nerfed Reaper. None of the changes came live.

List of changes

Moira
  • Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Biotic Grasp's alternate fire attach angle was decreased by 37%.
  • Ability Moira Biotic Orb Biotic Orb received multiple changes on the damage orb:
    • Sticked to enemies when impacting them, instead of piercing through them.
    • Only dealt damage if stuck to a target.
      • Once stuck, it dealt a constant 60 DPS to all nearby enemies and remained on a stuck player for 3 seconds or until 120 damage was dealt to that player (whichever happened first).
    • The Orb was destroyed if it hits an enemy barrier.
    • The maximum number of bounces became 1.
    • Projectile speed was increased from 20 meters per second to 25 meters per second.
  • Ability Moira Fade Fade received multiple changes:
    • Phased out all heroes within 6 meters of Moira (including Moira herself) for 1 second after Moira exited the ability.
      • This required line of sight and was blocked by barriers.
    • No longer freed Moira or allies from Ability-zarya4 Graviton Surge or Abilities-sigma5 Gravitic Flux.
    • Cooldown was increased from 6 seconds to 8 seconds.
Reaper

Hero Balancing - August 6th, 2020, to August 13th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. Most of the changes came live, with the exception of the increase to Ability-symmetra1 Photon Projector's primary fire charge uptime.

List of changes

Brigitte
  • Base health was decreased from 200 to 150. (Total HP is decreased from 250 to 200.)
  • Inspire PNG Inspire's the total healing was decreased from 150 to 90 but the self-healing is no longer halved. (Healing per second was decreased from 21.667 to 15 for allies and increased from 10.833 to 15 for self.)
Orisa
  • Base armor was decreased from 250 to 200. (Total HP was decreased from 450 to 400.)
  • Ability Orisa Halt! Halt!'s radius was decreased from 7 meters to 4 meters but its projectile speed was increased from 20 meters per second to 30 meters per second.
Pharah
  • Ability-passive Hover Jets now increases movement speed by 20% but its resource regeneration per second was decreased from 50% to 35%. The maximum vertical velocity was increased from 4.11 meters per second to 4.27 meters per second.
  • Ability-parah4 Barrage's duration was decreased from 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds. (Number of rockets was decreased from 90 to 75.)
Roadhog
  • Ability-Roadhog1 Scrap Gun received multiple changes:
    • Ammo was decreased from 6 to 5.
    • Damage per pellet was increased from 6 to 7.
    • Recovery time was increased from 0.7 seconds to 0.85 seconds.
Sigma
  • Abilities-sigma2 Experimental Barrier's barrier health was decreased from 900 to 700, also the barrier health regenerated per second was decreased from 120 to 80.
  • Abilities-sigma3 Kinetic Grasp's cooldown was increased from 10 seconds to 12 seconds.
Symmetra
  • Ability-symmetra1 Photon Projector's delay before losing charge for its primary fire was increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.
  • Ability-symmetra4 Teleporter's cooldown was decreased from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
Zenyatta
  • Ability-zenyatta1 Orb of Destruction's alternate fire charge time per orb was decreased from 0.6 seconds to 0.52 seconds, also the rate of fire was increased from 8.5 shots per second to 9 shots per second.

Failed Assault Rework - July 30th, 2020, to August 4th, 2020

The Assault game mode was reworked. This was advertised as a failed experiment, meaning it was never intended go live.

List of changes

Assault
  • Game mode overview
    • Teams take turns attempting to capture points on the map. The game begins with Team 1 attempting to capture Point A. Once Team 1 either succeeds or fails to capture Point A, the teams switch sides and Team 2 attempts to capture the same point. If both teams succeed in claiming Point A, the next round will then move to Point B and the game continues. The team who succeeds in capturing more points wins the game.
  • Gameplay Flow
    • Each team starts with 6 minutes of time to score as many points as possible.
    • Every time a capture point is successfully claimed, the attacking team scores 1 point.
    • After each point is successfully claimed or defended, teams switch sides and respawn.
    • Once both teams attack capture Point A and if the score is tied 1-1, both teams then attempt to attack and capture Point B.
    • After each team attacks capture Point B, and if the score is still tied at 2-2, teams go back to attempting to capture the Point A and this cycle continues one team wins, or both teams' remaining time reaches zero without a winner. A draw is then declared.
    • Attacker respawn time has been reduced to 8 seconds, and defender respawn time has been extended to be 11.5 seconds.
    • After each team initially attacks capture Point A, each successive round has a shortened setup time.
      • After the initial attack by both teams on capture Point A, additional attempts to claim Point A in later rounds will have the defenders spawn in a new temporary spawn area.
      • The new temporary defender spawn area is only active until the round begins.
    • This new temporary defender spawn room was placed closer to capture Point A to allow for the shorter setup time. After the round starts, defenders will spawn in their normal spawn room.
  • Time Adjustments
    • This game mode uses similar "time bank" rules found in Competitive Play, even when played outside of Competitive.
    • If the game is tied at the end of each team's attacking rounds, if one or both teams have less than 60 but more than 0 seconds remaining, then an equal amount of seconds is added to both team's available time until both have at least 60 seconds remaining.
    • If one team has 60 seconds or more time remaining, and the other team has no time remaining at all, then only the team with at least 60 seconds of time will have an additional opportunity to attack and win.
  • Win Conditions
    • If Team 1 fails to fully claim a capture point, the Team 2 wins if they fully claim the capture point or can exceed the first team’s capture percentage with a minimum of 33% captured.
    • If a team fully takes the point and the other team fails to completely take the point, then the team that captured the point wins.
    • If both teams cannot fully claim a capture point, the team with the greater capture completion percentage (with a minimum of 33%) wins.
    • If neither team can achieve at least a 33% capture completion %, the game ends in a draw.

Hero Balancing - July 23rd, 2020, to July 28th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. The changes to Genji came live; the changes to Moira did not.

List of changes

Genji
  • Ability-genji1 Shuriken's damage was decreased from 30 to 28, also the alternate fire's recovery time was increased from 0.65 seconds to 0.75 seconds.
Moira
  • Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Biotic Grasp's alternate fire attach angle was decreased by 37%.
  • Ability Moira Biotic Orb Biotic Orb received multiple changes on the damage orb:
    • Attach radius was decreased from 4 meters to 3 meters.
    • Projectile speed while tethered was decreased from 5.5 meters per second to 4 meters per second.
    • Damage per second was changed from a fixed 50 to 25–150, depending on the distance from the orb. (At 0–1 meter, it was a fixed 150; from 1–3 meters, it scaled down to 25.)
  • Ability Moira Fade Fade phased out (made immune to damage and CC effects) all heroes within 6 meters of Moira (including Moira herself) for 1 second after Moira exited the ability.
    • This required line of sight and was blocked by barriers.

Hero Balancing - June 23rd, 2020, to June 26th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

Ashe
  • Ability-ashe2 Dynamite's cooldown was increased from 10 seconds to 12 seconds.
Brigitte
  • Repair Pack Repair Pack could no longer overheal its target with extra armor.
  • Barrier Shield Barrier Shield received several changes:
    • Barrier health was increased from 200 to 250.
    • Barrier health regeneration per second was decreased from 100 to 85.
    • Cooldown when destroyed was increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds.
D.Va
Junkrat
  • Ability-Junkrat2 Concussion Mine's trigger delay was decreased from 0.156 to 0.1 seconds.
  • Ability-Junkrat5 RIP-Tire's time to regain control of Junkrat after it detonates was decreased from 1.5 to 0.9 seconds.

Hero Balancing - June 2nd, 2020, to June 5th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. Most of the changes came live, with the exception of the adjustments to Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Biotic Grasp.

List of changes

Echo
  • FOCUSING BEAM Focusing Beam's range was decreased from 20 meters to 16 meters.
Genji
  • Ability-genji1 Shuriken's damage was increased from 28 to 30. Also, the alternate fire spread was decreased from 12 to 9.
  • Ability-genji2 Deflect became manually cancellable and its duration was increased from 1.5 seconds to 2 seconds.
Hanzo
Moira
  • Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Biotic Grasp's primary fire healing per second was increased from 65 to 70, but the alternate fire damage per second was decreased from 50 to 40.

Hero Balancing - May 12th, 2020, to May 19th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

Ana
Bastion
  • Ability-bastion2 Configuration: Sentry's spread was decreased from 3–2 to 2.7–1.8 and the number of shots until max spread reduction was decreased from 60 to 40. (The time to reach the max reduction was decreased from 2 seconds to 1.33 seconds.)
  • Ability-bastion4 Self-Repair's healing per second was increased from 75 to 90 but its resource drain rate was increased by 20%. (The max healing duration is decreased from 4 seconds to 3.33 seconds.)
Junkrat
  • Ability-Junkrat1 Frag Launcher's projectiles got changed to maintain slightly more velocity on ricochet.
  • Ability-Junkrat2 Concussion Mine's projectile speed was increased from 20 meters per second to 25 meters per second and its ricochet distance off of enemy players was greatly reduced.
  • Ability-Junkrat4 Total Mayhem's bomb detonation time was decreased from 1 second to 0.7 seconds and the bomb spread was increased by 50%.
Mercy
Moira
  • Ability Moira Biotic Orb Biotic Orb received several changes:
    • Duration was decreased from 10 seconds to 7 seconds.
    • Projectile speed was increased from 16 meters per second to 20 meters per second.
    • Damage orb effect radius was decreased from 5 meters to 4 meters.
Zenyatta

Crowd Control Reduction - April 23rd, 2020, to April 29th, 2020

Multiple Crowd Control effects were toned down, also Ability-Roadhog4 Whole Hog got buffed. Most of the changes came live, with the exception of the reduction to Shield Bash Shield Bash.

List of changes

Ana
  • Ability-ana2 Sleep Dart's sleep duration was decreased from 6 seconds to 5 seconds.
Brigitte
  • Shield Bash Shield Bash's stun duration was decreased from 0.75 seconds to 0.65 seconds.
Mei
  • Ability-mei1 Endothermic Blaster's freeze duration was decreased from 1.5 seconds to 1.3 seconds.
  • Ability-mei4 Blizzard's duration was decreased from 5 seconds to 4.25 seconds.
McCree
  • Ability-mccree3 Flashbang's stun duration was decreased from 0.85 seconds to 0.7 seconds.
Reinhardt
  • Ability-reinhardt5 Earthshatter's knockdown duration was decreased from 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds.
Roadhog
  • Ability-Roadhog4 Whole Hog's knockback was increased from 11.5 meters per second to 14 meters per second.
Sigma
  • Abilities-sigma4 Accretion's knockdown duration was changed from 0.75 seconds–3 seconds (increasing with distance) to a fixed 0.8 seconds and its cast time is decreased from 0.75 seconds to 0.65 seconds.

Hero Balancing - April 1st, 2020, to April 6th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. All of the changes came live.

List of changes

Ashe
  • Ability-ashe1 The Viper received several changes:
    • Magazine size was increased from 12 to 15.
    • Shots no longer queued up the next shot if pressed slightly before recovery has finished.
    • Number of unscoped shots to reach maximum spread was increased from 4 to 6.
    • The delay between a scoped shot and an unscoped shot was decreased from 0.85 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
    • The delay between a scoped shot and reloading was decreased from 0.85 seconds to 0.35 seconds.
Genji
  • Ability-genji1 Shuriken's alternate fire recovery time was decreased from 0.75 seconds to 0.65 seconds.
Mei
  • Ability-mei1 Endothermic Blaster's ammo was decreased from 200 to 120. Also, the alternate fire ammo cost was decreased from 20 to 10.
Pharah
  • Ability-parah1 Rocket Launcher's explosion damage was increased from 65 to 80 and the impact damage was decreased from 55 to 40. (The total damage remains 120.)
Reinhardt
  • Passive-Reinhardt Steadfast's knockback reduction effect was decreased from 50% to 30%.

Hero Balancing - March 5th, 2020, to March 12th, 2020

Hero changes were experimented on. Most of the changes came live, with the exception of Ability-ashe4 B.O.B.'s immunity to Ability-ana2 Sleep Dart.

List of changes

Ashe
Baptiste
  • Baptiste-ability5 Exo Boots' charge time was decreased from 1 second to 0.7 seconds.
  • Baptiste-ability2 Regenerative Burst's cooldown was decreased from 15 seconds to 13 seconds.
D.Va
  • Ability-dva2 Boosters' cooldown was increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
Mei
  • Ability-mei3 Ice Wall's cooldown was increased from 10 seconds to 13 seconds.
Orisa
Sigma
Soldier: 76
  • Icon-ability.helixrockets Helix Rockets' cooldown was decreased from 8 seconds to 6 seconds.
Sombra

Triple Damage - February 25th, 2020, to March 3rd, 2020

Introduced alongside Experimental, "triple damage" changed the role queue system from 2 tanks, 2 damage, and 2 support to 1 tank, 3 damage, and 2 supports. Many heroes in the tank role received significant balance changes to accommodate being the only tank. None of the changes came live.

List of changes

General
  • Role queue changed from 2-2-2 to 1-3-2.
D.Va
  • D.Va's HP was changed from 400 health & 200 armor to 200 health & 400 armor.
  • Ability-dva1 Fusion Cannons' movement penalty was decreased from 50% to 30%.
  • Ability-dva3 Defense Matrix's maximum duration was increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds. (The recharge time remains the same.)
Orisa
  • Ability Orisa Protective Barrier Protective Barrier's barrier health was increased from 600 to 900 and the cooldown is decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
Reinhardt
  • Reinhardt's HP was changed from 300 health & 200 armor to 200 health & 300 armor.
  • Ability-reinhardt1 Rocket Hammer's damage was increased from 75 to 90.
  • Ability-reinhardt2 Barrier Field's regeneration per second was increased from 200 to 250.
Roadhog
  • Ability-Roadhog1 Scrap Gun's pellet damage was decreased from 6 to 5, lowering the damage per shot from 150 to 125. (This also applies to the alternate fire, after it detonates.)
  • Ability-Roadhog2 Take a Breather created an immobile circular "cloud" upon activation that healed and reduced damage taken for teammates inside.
    • 8 meter radius; lasted 6 seconds; 25 healing per second; reduced the damage taken of allies by 25%.
    • It stacked with the normal Take a Breather, meaning Roadhog could heal himself 450 health with 1 usage.
    • If used in the air, the "cloud" fell directly down until it hit the floor.
    • Effect required line of sight to the center but it ignored barriers.
  • Ability-Roadhog3 Chain Hook's cooldown was decreased from 8 seconds to 6 seconds.
  • Ability-Roadhog4 Whole Hog's ultimate cost was increased from 2240 to 2590.
Sigma
Winston
  • Winston's armor was increased from 100 to 200. (Total HP was increased from 500 to 600. This also increased his Ability-winston4 Primal Rage HP from 1000 to 1100.)
  • Ability-winston3 Barrier Projector's cooldown is decreased from 13 seconds to 10 seconds.
Zarya
  • Zarya's shields were increased from 200 to 300. (Total HP was increased from 400 to 500.)
  • Passive-Zarya Energy gained per damage blocked was decreased from 0.2% to 0.15%. (The maximum Energy gained per barrier was decreased from 40% to 30%.)
  • Ability-zarya1 Particle Cannon's maximum damage per second was decreased from 170 to 140 (primary fire) and maximum explosion damage decreased from 95 to 80 (alternate fire).
  • Ability-zarya2 Particle Barrier's cooldown was decreased from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
  • Ability-zarya3 Projected Barrier created addition barriers for all allies (besides Zarya) within 8 meters of the target and the duration was increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.

Trivia

  • Experimental is one of the few ideas that the development team unanimously agreed upon after the initial pitch.[1]

References

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