October 10 may have been hyped by the Overwatch community as the return of the Halloween Terror event, but routine maintenance ushered in changes from the test servers that will radically change just about every Overwatch match going forward.
Ultimate abilities - those game-changing character specific skills - were on the receiving end of tweak that while sounding small actually means a great deal.
Unlike similar games character ultimates aren't simply on a cooldown in Overwatch. Though they can be slowly charged up over time, they're typically available much sooner to those doing an admirable job on the battlefield. Once fully charged, players can wait for the best moment to use them hoping to clutch a win for their team, help shut down some tricky opponents, or simply lighten the load.
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But each skill would include an activation time dictated by character animations or other similar setup windows. Being killed during these tiny windows of opportunity would stop the attack for a time.
In an effort to ensure the user doesn't feel cheated of their well-earned attack, they would typically retain charge on their ability based around how soon they were killed when activated. Now, that's no longer the case. Instead deciding to properly reward those who able to ward off a major threat in a split-second decision, if you die while using your Ultimate ability, it's back to the drawing board with 0 charge.
Again, this may sound like a small thing for those not well-versed with how your average Overwatch match plays out. A well-used Ultimate abilitiy can very often secure a victory or extended timer on the few seconds of a match. Shutting down an opponent using their Ultimate ability would once meant the team would likely have to deal with it again very soon. Now they won't have to worry about it coming back for a while.
And now, dying isn't the only threat on the table. Other than simply waiting out the move or dodging right through it, being stunned or hacked by certain other characters will now play havoc with Ultimates already in use. A sneaky Sombra can now hack to interrupt the advances of Reinhardt, Mei, Orisa, D.Va and Ana.
