A new patch was added to the Overwatch live server on February 8th. Along with this, the new Lunar Year event, ‘Year of the Dog,’ has begun. Players can now get new seasonal items, including new legendary skins, and can also enjoy the new version of Capture the Flag.

Players can now choose to play Capture the Flag, a 6vs6 arcade game, in the new map or in competitive mode. Capture the Flag is a game mode where players need to bring the enemy flag to their home base in order to win, and will take place in Ayutthaya, a new map specially made for this mode during this event.

The changes made to Capture the Flag include new rules which allow instant flag pickup and also make certain restricted movement abilities drop the flag instantly.

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Whichever team gets 3 flags in the allotted time will automatically win; if the time runs out, the team with more flags will win. If both teams are tied, then the Sudden Death rule will apply and the distance between the flag and the home bases will be shortened; the team to get the flag first will win.

As for Competitive Capture the Flag, it will be open for 4 weeks and will take place in several maps including Ayutthaya, Ilios Ruins, and Lijiang Garden. Just like regular competitive mode, players will be able to get points after 10 placement matches, and special sprays and icons will be given to the top 500.

New loot boxes have been added- they include legendary skins for Pharah, Genji, Mercy, Zarya, McCree, and Widowmaker, as well as over 50 items such as new highlights, emotes, and victory poses.

Along with the event, the client has been updated to version 1.20. Players can now pick the skins they want in the Hero Select screen, and small changes have been made, including a balance patch for Doomfist and Reaper.

For Doomfist, the damage for his Hand Cannon has been reduced from 11 to 6, although the number of the bullets fired has been increased from 6 to 11. The damage inflicted won’t change much overall, but players can inflict more consistent damage now that it spreads in a more consistent pattern.

As for Zenyatta, several changes as well as bug fixes have been made. Using his Orb of Discord and Orb of Harmony on a target will display the target’s name on the bottom right part of the screen.

The following is the detailed patch notes for update 1.20.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Seasonal Event: Lunar New Year 2018

Get ready to ring in the Year of the Dog!

This year, we’re celebrating Lunar New Year with over 50 new seasonal items including legendary skins like Red Phoenix (Zhu Que) Mercy, Black Tortoise (Xuan Wu) Zarya, White Tiger (Bai Hu) Genji, and Black Lily Widowmaker. Experience our updates to our Capture the Flag mode—including a competitive Capture the Flag mode and Sudden Death—on a brand-new map, Ayutthaya.

To learn more about the new Capture the Flag changes, click here.

Hero Skin Selection

Fashion-forward heroes, rejoice! Players can now change hero skins with the “Select Skin” dropdown menu in the Hero Select screen at the start of a match. Show off your favorite unlocked skins when playing solo or coordinate with your friends to be the best dressed on the battlegrounds of tomorrow.

HERO UPDATES

Doomfist

Hand Cannon

Damage reduced from 11 to 6
Number of bullets fired increased from 6 to 11
Spread pattern made more consistent

Developer Comments: We have made a lot of progress with Doomfist’s movement in recent patches but we wanted to revisit his Hand Cannon. While the damage per bullet has been lowered, the number of bullets he fires per Hand Cannon shot has been increased which makes his overall damage output unchanged. Overall, these changes will help his Hand Cannon feel much more consistent.

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

General

Matchmaking UI now displays the game mode players have queued for while waiting for players
Competitive Play leaver messages now display as a chat notification

The Hero Select screen now displays the game mode and map type

Heroes

Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord and Orb of Harmony will now display its target’s hero name

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed a bug that caused the mouse cursor to lose focus when using third party overlays (e.g. Discord)

Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented the Overwatch League scheduled matches of the day from loading

AI

Fixed a bug that prevented bots from voting on cards at the end of the match on Hybrid and Control maps

Competitive Play

Fixed a bug that prevented capture progress UI on Assault and Hybrid maps from displaying the correct team colors

Fixed a bug that allowed players to use the Hero Select screen during the loading screen at the start of a match

Deathmatch

Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Infra-sight from functioning if it was used at the same time as another Widowmaker’s Infra-sight

Fixed a bug that caused Torbjörn to collide with his turret

Fixed a bug that caused Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets to continue targeting Junkrat’s Steel Trap after it was destroyed

Fixed a bug that prevented players from being able to stand on top of enemy players

Fixed a bug that allowed backfilling players to enter at 9th place during the match

Fixed a bug that caused targets hacked by Sombra to appear purple instead of red

Fixed a bug that caused the displayed hero on the lobby screen to appear in low detail when entering and exiting the Overwatch League screen

Game Browser and Custom Games

Fixed a bug that allowed players to summon infinite bots in custom games

Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to lose her Self-Destruct ultimate if she died out of her mech when the “Spawn with Ultimate Ready” option was enabled

Fixed a bug that caused the Victory voice line to play when a match ended in a draw while spectating
Heroes

Fixed a bug that caused airborne heroes to lose speed when changing direction

Fixed a bug that prevented golden weapon visual effects from displaying when an Overwatch League skin was equipped

Fixed a bug that caused heroes’ scoped shots to be calculated as misses in the accuracy statistic

Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s Candy emote from displaying when viewing Kill Cam footage

Fixed a bug that caused Doomfist’s Rocket Punch to impact with D.Va’s mech before it materialized during her Call Mech ability

Fixed a bug that prevented kills caused by Doomfist’s Rocket Punch from receiving environmental kill credit

Fixed a bug that prevented Genji from sheathing his katana after using his Whirlwind emote

Fixed a bug that prevented Genji from using his Cyber-agility occasionally

Fixed a bug that caused Hanzo’s Dragonstrike to be calculated in the accuracy statistic

Fixed a bug that prevented Hanzo’s Wall Climb from activating occasionally

Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Caduceus Staff to disappear when using the Parasol emote

Fixed a bug that caused Mercy to fly in an unintended direction if she was stunned during Guardian Angel

Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy from destroying breakables she collides with in her flight path when using Guardian Angel

Fixed a bug that caused Mercy’s Valkyrie flight controls to not be precise when using Resurrect

Fixed a bug that caused Moira’s Biotic Grasp’s hits against barriers to be calculated as misses in her accuracy statistic

Fixed a bug that extended the cooldown of Orisa’s Halt! by one second if it successfully pulled an enemy

Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to block Reaper’s Death Blossom if she used her Marioneta emote

Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt to have a blank expression during his Toast victory pose

Fixed a bug that allowed projectiles to sometimes penetrate Reinhardt’s Barrier Field

Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt’s Charge bonus damage from being dealt if the target was sandwiched between a charging friendly Reinhardt and a charging enemy Reinhardt

Fixed a bug that caused Reinhardt to knock back a target instead of pinning them if he collided with an enemy at the start of his Charge

Fixed a bug that prevented Roadhog’s canister from appearing when viewing Overwatch League skins

Fixed a bug that caused Roadhog’s Chain Hook to clip the first-person camera when pulling in a target

Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra’s EMP from canceling an enemy Sombra’s Hack if it was in progress

Fixed a bug that prevented Symmetra’s Shield Generator from displaying in the Overwatch League skin preview screen

Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn’s lava ball from appearing in his Batter Up emote if his hammer was equipped

Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s hair to not hang properly in the Hanging Around Highlight Intro when an Overwatch League skin was equipped

Fixed a bug that caused Widowmaker’s Venom Mine to use Overwatch League team colors when an Overwatch League skin was equipped

Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook animation from playing when using the ability

Fixed a bug that caused Winston to lose some upward momentum when using Jump Pack off small inclines

Fixed a bug that caused Overwatch League team decals to disappear from Winston’s suit when he used Primal Rage

Fixed a bug that caused Zenyatta’s Discord Orb to fly in an odd direction if its target died before arriving

Hero Gallery

Fixed a bug that prevented players from purchasing non-hero sprays

Maps

Fixed a bug that caused some heroes to get stuck behind the lamp post directly outside the first Defender spawn room in Blizzard World

Fixed an issue that allowed players to reach unintended locations in Blizzard World

Fixed a bug that prevented D.Va’s Micro Missiles from passing through piñatas on Dorado

Fixed a bug that allowed Junkrat’s RIP-tire to travel under the trailer at the final point on Hollywood

Fixed a bug that prevented Moira’s Biotic Orbs from bouncing off the wooden pillars on Hollywood

Fixed a bug that caused the UI to show a fraction of a meter to go when reaching checkpoints on Escort and Assault/Escort maps

UI

Fixed a bug that prevented the hero portrait from displaying when watching Highlights when an Overwatch League skin was equipped

Fixed a bug that prevented player portraits from displaying during the Play of the Game, Kill Cam, Spectating, and Highlights