Upcoming Updates and How They Affect You

So first let us answer some of the easy questions that may have come up when you read the title. What is the PTR (Public Test Region)? The Public Test Region is an alternative region available on the Battle.net app that allows players to beta test select features before they are put into the full game and is only available on PC. The main thing to take away is Blizzard will make some changes to see what the results are and gage the backlash or praise from the community. All things added to the PTR do not make its way to the "Main" game, but most do. So with that out of the way lets move into what changes are happening now and why they are important. 

1. How Do I Join The PTR?

To participate in the public test, you must have an Overwatch game license for Windows PC attached your Battle.net account in good standing 

Step 1: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
Step 2: Navigate to the Overwatch tab on the left-hand menu.
Step 3: Select "PTR: Overwatch" from the REGION/ACCOUNT drop-down menu.
Step 4: Click "Install" to begin the installation process.
Step 5: Once the PTR client is installed and updated, click "Play" to begin!

2. Season 3 Changes to Skill Rating and Getting Seeded at the Start

Blizzard is planning to initially tune your SR to be slightly lower to start. In turn, fewer players should start the season having their Skill Rating drastically drop despite having close to even wins and losses. This change will mean that some players will not start in the same tier for Season 3 that they were placed in for Season 2 and that your SR gains from winning will be a little higher at the beginning of the season. After you play enough matches, however, your SR gains and losses will go back to normal. They will be looking closely at the results of player placement on PTR and see if their goals are being met and might make further adjustments during this testing cycle that might require a reset of placement matches.

      3. Overwatch Hero's PTR Updates, so far...

General

• Dealing damage to non-players (like Torbjorn's turrets or Symmetra's teleporter), no longer charges ultimate abilities
• Ultimate costs have been increased by 25% for all heroes - This will slow the number of ultimate’s per match and make coordination more important

D. Va

• Mech health increased to 200 (formerly 100). Armor remains at 400
• Movement speed while firing has been increased by 25%
• Call Mech
• Ultimate cost has been decreased by 20% - This will make her Ultimate happen about the same as it did before and give her more survivability. 

Soldier: 76

• Pulse Rifle
• Bullet damage increased from 17 to 20
• Maximum bullet spread Increased from 2.2 to 2.4 

Ana

• Nano Boost
• No longer increases move speed - This will affect her usage a little and make her a little less OP. This may cause a shift in the PRO Meta.

Mei

• Blizzard
• Ultimate cost has been increased by 15% - This will put her ultimate 40% Higher than it is now.

Lúcio

• Amp It Up
• Healing-per-second has been decreased by 10% - This also will make Lucio less of a required pick and may allow for some newer healer combinations

Zarya

• Particle Barrier
• Power gained from barriers decreased by 20%

• Projected Barrier
• Power gained from barriers decreased by 20% - Another move by Blizzard to move Zarya out of the required status

Torbjörn

• Scrap is now automatically generated over time
• The amount of scrap collected from a fallen enemy has been decreased by 40%
• Forge Hammer
• Swing speed increased by 25%
• Damage decreased by 27%

Widowmaker

• Venom Mine
• Explosion no longer damages the player who placed the mine - This allows Widowmaker to use this more as a trap that she can bait people into without splash damage.
• Widow’s Kiss
• Charge rate increased by 20% - I do not think this will make it over.

Pharah

• Rocket Launcher
• Minimum explosion damage has been increased to 25% of rocket’s total damage (formerly 12%)
• Minimum explosion knockback has been decreased to 0% of rocket’s total knockback (formerly 75%) - This means Pharah is getting a little more damage, but at a loss of her ability to "Juggle" an enemy character. 

Mercy

• Passive health regeneration now kicks in when Mercy avoids taking damage for 1 second (formerly 3 seconds) - This increases her survivability and makes her a little more enticing as a healer.

If you want to read the full patch notes, check here: 

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20294485#patchnotes

and

http://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20749857162#1

I hope this has helped and feel free to message me with any questions or comments.