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★ I passed my LNA exam today! Now it's just a matter of waiting for the results to arrive by mail so I can send it in to the Board of Nursing and get my license reinstated.
★ Ashe went live on the Overwatch servers TODAY, along with a number of other character adjustments from the PTR, and I had a lot of fun trying out all the new stuff.
Ashe: She kinda feels like a Borderlands character plopped into the world of Overwatch--she can ADTS (much faster than Widow and Ana can), is strongest at mid-range, and her coach gun knockback is best used for self-mobility so it feels like she has a Borderlands TPS type superjump at her disposal, even with the cooldown aspect. Her Dynamite seems pretty meh if you just throw it out and wait for it to blow up--it moves slowly enough that people can just move out of its range--but if you detonate it early by shooting it (either in the air or just after it lands) it's a lot more threatening. The burn effect is stronger than I expected although any type of healing will cleanse it.
Her ultimate B.O.B. is interesting. He's thrown out as a projectile like Mei's Blizzard or Zarya's Grav, and once the projectile hits a surface B.O.B materializes and just....runs down the map until he hits something at which point he starts shooting at anything in sight. I didn't pay attention to how long the duration is, but it felt like 6s-8s? Given how much damage he can put out instantly it seems a little long although if you summon him in a bad spot he's worthless--it doesn't seem like you can re-position him if you throw him out in a way that makes him run away from the enemy team.
Mercy: Her ultimate, Valkyrie, charges 10% faster and her healing while in Valkyrie is 60 HPS instead of 50. In practice, this means getting Valkyrie up roughly every other fight, and I had two games where I started a teamfight with Valkyrie and the fight lasted long enough for me to get another one to end it. Having better HPS also means there's some wiggle room for Rez/damage boost to so there's just...a lot more utility overall with her ultimate. I still think Valkyrie is in a weird spot where it's not strong enough defensively to be used as a counter-ult, and not particularly good as an initiation ultimate like Nanoboost or Rally, but at least you get them quickly so you can use it more freely.
Roadhog: His hook and gun spread got tweaked, so that his hook reels in people faster and his damage is more consistent and predictable so ideally there are fewer instances where hooked targets survive with like, 4 HP and escape. In practice it didn't seem like there was much difference but I suppose that was the intent.
Reaper: His shotgun spread also got tweaked to be more consistent (though not tighter) and he heals 30% of damage dealt rather than 20%. Unfortunately he still sucks because his ideal range is still right in your face, he doesn't have a good way of getting into that range without getting stopped by a zillion different CC/stun abilities, and his damage even at ideal range plummets if he's shooting into armor health which he is doing basically all the time. Poor dude can't catch a break.
★ For my next phlebotomy class i have to bring in a volunteer and I'm kind of nervous about having someone I know come in because what if I severely mess up and hurt them? I've been doing this weird thing where I ask someone about volunteering and the moment they agree I immediately try to talk them out of it. Still, I have two people committed for this week's classes so I just have to....not suck.
★ Ashe went live on the Overwatch servers TODAY, along with a number of other character adjustments from the PTR, and I had a lot of fun trying out all the new stuff.
Ashe: She kinda feels like a Borderlands character plopped into the world of Overwatch--she can ADTS (much faster than Widow and Ana can), is strongest at mid-range, and her coach gun knockback is best used for self-mobility so it feels like she has a Borderlands TPS type superjump at her disposal, even with the cooldown aspect. Her Dynamite seems pretty meh if you just throw it out and wait for it to blow up--it moves slowly enough that people can just move out of its range--but if you detonate it early by shooting it (either in the air or just after it lands) it's a lot more threatening. The burn effect is stronger than I expected although any type of healing will cleanse it.
Her ultimate B.O.B. is interesting. He's thrown out as a projectile like Mei's Blizzard or Zarya's Grav, and once the projectile hits a surface B.O.B materializes and just....runs down the map until he hits something at which point he starts shooting at anything in sight. I didn't pay attention to how long the duration is, but it felt like 6s-8s? Given how much damage he can put out instantly it seems a little long although if you summon him in a bad spot he's worthless--it doesn't seem like you can re-position him if you throw him out in a way that makes him run away from the enemy team.
Mercy: Her ultimate, Valkyrie, charges 10% faster and her healing while in Valkyrie is 60 HPS instead of 50. In practice, this means getting Valkyrie up roughly every other fight, and I had two games where I started a teamfight with Valkyrie and the fight lasted long enough for me to get another one to end it. Having better HPS also means there's some wiggle room for Rez/damage boost to so there's just...a lot more utility overall with her ultimate. I still think Valkyrie is in a weird spot where it's not strong enough defensively to be used as a counter-ult, and not particularly good as an initiation ultimate like Nanoboost or Rally, but at least you get them quickly so you can use it more freely.
Roadhog: His hook and gun spread got tweaked, so that his hook reels in people faster and his damage is more consistent and predictable so ideally there are fewer instances where hooked targets survive with like, 4 HP and escape. In practice it didn't seem like there was much difference but I suppose that was the intent.
Reaper: His shotgun spread also got tweaked to be more consistent (though not tighter) and he heals 30% of damage dealt rather than 20%. Unfortunately he still sucks because his ideal range is still right in your face, he doesn't have a good way of getting into that range without getting stopped by a zillion different CC/stun abilities, and his damage even at ideal range plummets if he's shooting into armor health which he is doing basically all the time. Poor dude can't catch a break.
★ For my next phlebotomy class i have to bring in a volunteer and I'm kind of nervous about having someone I know come in because what if I severely mess up and hurt them? I've been doing this weird thing where I ask someone about volunteering and the moment they agree I immediately try to talk them out of it. Still, I have two people committed for this week's classes so I just have to....not suck.
