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Overwatch patch notes, v1.21: Brigitte lands alongside Sombra nerfs

overwatch patch 121 brigitte

This is going to be a fun patch cycle. It’s not just a patch cycle for a new hero, Brigitte, but the first new hero since the Overwatch League began. How will it change the cycle and development process? Will Blizzard be gentler with buffs, harsher with nerfs? We’ll see over the next few weeks, but for now, here’s the current patch notes.

Speaking of the Overwatch League, here’s the basics on everything you should know about Blizzard’s esports league

Overwatch Patch 1.21 Release Date

Developer Aaron Carter has said that Brigitte will hit the live game on March 20, and it is indeed live now.

Overwatch Patch 1.21 New Hero

Brigitte

Brigitte is the next Overwatch hero! As a support/tank hybrid, she’s got a unique place in a team, and is seemingly most effective both in and against a dive composition.

Rocket Flail

  • Brigitte’s melee weapon has an extended range, enabling her to strike multiple enemies with a single swing.

Inspire

  • Striking enemies with your flail heals Brigitte and nearby allies.

Repair Pack

  • Brigitte throws a Repair Pack that can heal an ally. Any healing over that ally’s maximum health provides them with armor instead.

Whip Shot

Barrier Shield

  • Brigitte deploys a frontal energy barrier to absorb a limited amount of damage.

Shield Bash

  • Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, Brigitte can dash forward to stun an enemy.

Rally

  • Brigitte moves faster and provides all nearby allies with armor that lasts until it’ is removed by damage.

Brigitte competitive mode launch

While Brigitte will be ready to go in quick play and arcade when the 1.21 patch drops, we’ll have to wait a little longer to take her into Competitive mode. In line with Blizzard’s recent decision to launch new maps and heroes alongside seasons,Brigitte will become available in Competitive when season 10 begins. Sadly, given that season 9 only started on February 28, that means we’ll have to wait until almost the end of April.

Brigitte concept art

Here’s a neat look at Brigitte’s visual conception:

Overwatch Patch 1.21 Brigitte skins

Brigitte rare skins

Bla

brigitte rare skin bla

Gron

brigitte rare skin gron

Plommon

brigitte rare skin plommon

Rod

brigitte rare skin rod

Brigitte epic skins

Carbon Fibre

brigitte epic skin carbon fire

Ironclad

brigitte epic skin ironclad

Brigitte legendary skins

Mani

brigitte legendary skin mani

Sol

brigitte legendary skin sol

Engineer

brigitte legendary skin engineer

Mechanic

brigitte legendary skin mechanic

Overwatch Patch 1.21 hero updates

Sombra

Sombra balance changes

  • Hack
    • Now goes on a 2-second cooldown when interrupted by damage.
    • Now more consistently interrupted when targets break line of sight.

Developer Comments: We’re also removing the 0.1 second window of time during a hack where it couldn’t be canceled via line of sight or with other abilities including Tracer’s Recall and Zarya’s Particle Barrier, which was originally put in place so the hack wouldn’t be interrupted by small objects such as light posts. We’ve implemented a separate fix for that issue, so she should still be unaffected by those small objects.

Overwatch Patch 1.21 user interface changes

  • The Team Information Screen now displays the ultimate charge of your teammates.

Overwatch Patch 1.21 bug fixes

Heroes

  • Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from traveling forward if he had been hit by an enemy Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented players from aiming Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when facing an enemy
  • Fixed an issue that allowed players to jump over Doomfist’s Rocket Punch when on an incline
  • Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Seismic Slam to cancel if he could not get close to his target
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rising Uppercut cooldown countdown from displaying if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
  • Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch cooldown to delay counting down if he was in a movement hindering ability (e.g. Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Junkrat’s Steel Trap)
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from hitting enemies that were close to him
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Junkrat’s RIP-Tire kills from being credited in the Kill Feed if the targets had a long death animation (e.g. D.Va’s Mech)
  • Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Regeneration to occur instantly if she took damage while at full health
  • Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s wings to separate from her body if her Zhuque skin was equipped during her Toast victory pose
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orb from receiving kill credit if it expired at the same time it killed an enemy
  • Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Fade visual effects to indicate the direction she was traveling in when she used the ability
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge from pinning enemies
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the chunks from the pumpkin in Reinhardt’s Pumpkin Smash emote from appearing after he obliterated it with his Rocket Hammer
  • Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to appear at the top of an opponent’s screen if he used it against an enemy Mercy when she used Valkyrie
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from receiving environmental kill credit if she kills an enemy using Hack
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Sombra to be visible to enemies without displaying a “Detected” notification during Stealth
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes failed to teleport players using Symmetra’s Teleporter if they used an ability that increased their movement speed when passing through it (e.g. Doomfist’s Rocket Punch)

Maps

  • Fixed a bug that caused some objects to block projectiles on Blizzard World (e.g. souvenir carts)

User interface

  • Fixed a bug that prevented the “Restore Defaults” button from resetting all settings in the Social Options tab
  • Fixed a bug that caused players to delete characters in the “Save Highlight” text box if they pressed down the delete input while their settings were below 60 FPS
  • Fixed a bug that caused the user interface to indicate two control points on a single control point map when playing a custom game