Four heroes are getting some attention in the latest PTR patch. Mercy’s Valkyrie gets a fine tune, Reaper’s shotguns get an adjustment, Symmetra’s primary fire gets a buff, and Roadhog gets his own treatment. Look below for more info.

Mercy

• 15% reduction in Valkyrie’s cost
• Valkyrie’s healing beam buffed from 50 to 60 HP/s

Reaper

• Shotgun spread randomization reduced by 50%
• The Reaping (passive) Life Steal increased from 20% to 30% of damage dealt

Roadhog

Chain Hook

• Delay before pulling hooked target reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.3 seconds
• Now greatly reduces target’s momentum upon being hooked
• Cooldown begins immediately upon activation, rather than after the target has been pulled

Scrap Gun

• Spread pattern adjusted for both primary and secondary fire
• Spread randomization reduced by 50%

Whole Hog

• Knockback max velocity increased by 25% (8 to 10 meters per second)
• Horizontal recoil decreased slightly

Symmetra

Photon Projector

• Primary fire charges 20% faster

You can view the full PTR patch notes here.

As far as the changes to Mercy go, which Blizzard has been slowly dismantling the last few patches, its underwhelming. The changes only affect Valkyrie’s effects, nothing else. Manageable, perhaps, but it’s still disappointing to see.

Roadhogs changes should help a bit, particularly with hooking enemies as they round corners. Too many times I’ve hooked someone as they round a corner and it breaks the chain because LOS is lost.

Symmetra, well, honestly if you use her primary fire you’re doing it wrong. This may add a little incentive to use the primary fire in closer quarters (less than 15m) but it may not be enough. I spam secondary and primary doesn’t get much use unless I’m attacking a shield.

Reapers changes I’m not worrying about. I dont play much Reaper as it is, at least at the moment, so I’m unsure how the changes will affect him beyond the obvious.

Anyway, there are other bugs squashed at the link above. Check it out if you’re bored.