Overwatch June 16 update buffs Hanzo & Genji, nerfs Echo: patch notes

June 2023 · 7 minute read

A new Overwatch patch has hit the live servers and with it, a slew of buffs have come through for the Shimada brothers of Hanzo and Genji.

The buffs were first tested in the Experimental Mode on June 2 and have now made their way to the live servers. Notably, all the changes except for the Moira adjustments have come through.

With Genji, the cyborg ninja is now far more lethal. An increase to his primary fire’s damage from 28 to 30 is big when you factor in the fact he fires three Shuriken at once.

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Now, a barrage of three to the head combined with a melee or Swift Strike will result in a speedy elimination on any 200 HP hero.

Additionally, his secondary fire spread has been greatly reduced. This means that it will be far more reliable and your shots are likely to connect with your target. In close range, Genji will be a menace for supports in the backline.

Hanzo’s Storm Bow has been buffed.

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Finally, his Deflect can now be canceled manually. This is a huge change that Genji players have been wanting for a long time. Previously, the only way to cancel it would be to either wall climb or Swift Strike, but now there’s a unique level of counterplay with Deflect.

If that wasn’t enough, Deflect now lasts half a second longer, which could be a major factor when encountering an Ultimate like Pharah’s Barrage or Roadhog’s Wholehog.

Elsewhere, Hanzo’s Storm Arrow has been buffed from 60 to 70 damage, making him into a more lethal threat. Now he can two-tap any 200 HP hero with a headshot followed by a body shot or vice versa.

Echo is a bit weaker with a nerf to Focusing Beam’s range.

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Lastly, Echo’s Focusing Beam has been nerfed pretty hard with a range nerf down to 4 meters. This means that players will need to be a lot closer to the action for the beam to connect and play a lot more carefully if they want to get the maximum value the ability brings.

Full Overwatch June 16 patch notes are listed below:

GENERAL UPDATES

New Feature: Priority Requeue for Collapsed Games

If a competitive game collapses due to a player leaving early, you are now granted a priority requeue the next time you queue to play. You will see a small icon on the interface to denote this status. When you queue for a game with priority queue status, the matchmaker tries to prioritize finding an appropriate game for you. This normally results in significantly lower times waiting in queue.

HERO UPDATES

Focusing Beam felt slightly too long-ranged given how lethal it has the potential to be. Echo may have to get a bit closer to utilize the ability but certainly has the mobility to do so.

Focusing Beam

We’re looking to strengthen Genji’s close-range combat effectiveness to help solidify his viability as a mobile burst-damage hero. We’ll keep a close eye on his overall power as we’re increasing both the flexibility of Deflect and improving the shuriken damage consistency at the same time.

Shuriken

General

Secondary Fire

Deflect

The previous combination of changes to the projectile speed and the damage of Storm Arrows impacted Hanzo more than intended so we’re reverting the Storm Arrow damage back its previous value.

Storm Arrows

Halt!

WORKSHOP UPDATES

New Workshop Actions

New Workshop Values

BUG FIXES

General

Heroes

Echo

Mei

Sombra

Symmetra

Workshop

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