It has only been four days since Overwatch's Game Director Jeff Kaplan stated how he doesn't believe in buffing heroes in order to guide the meta in a different direction, and already we have a bunch of amazing buffs aimed at countering dive teams. While I am being slightly snarky given how silly the original statement was, I am also very glad they are not only looking to address dive teams, but are doing so in a way that doesn't affect anyone's enjoyment!

As for the patch itself, it has brought with it yet another wave of Doomfist nerfs, but also some nice little buffs for McCree, Reaper, Reinhardt, and most surprisingly of all, Zarya's ultimate! The patch notes are fairly small, so here they are in full:

Doomfist

• Rocket Punch

- Total distance traveled reduced by about 20% (This change has been on the PTR for a little while now)

• Seismic Slam

- Added a new UI indicator to show how much damage it will deal, and how much it dealt. Previously this was only indicated by the default crosshair filling in, but this is only visible when using the default crosshair. The new indicator should always be visible, regardless of any crosshair changes. Also, targeting this ability while in the air is now restricted to locations lower than your current height.

McCree

• Flashbang

- Now slows targets significantly when they are stunned. This makes them less likely to slide away around a corner or something similar once they are stunned.

Reaper

• Shadow Step

- VO and SFX distance dramatically reduced.

Reinhardt

• Hammer

- Swing speed increased by ~10%. On top of the swing speed increase, we've gone through and tweaked many timings and other things about the Hammer to make it more responsive. Overall it should feel a lot better to swing and make contact with enemies.

• Charge

- Impacting another charging hero (Doomfist or Reinhardt) no longer deals damage to both characters, but still causes a knockdown on both.

Zarya

• Graviton Surge

- Now disables all movement abilities of affect targets. This is similar to how Junkrat's trap affects abilities.

While I'm not exactly sure Graviton Surge was the part of Zarya's kit that needed a buff, I am glad to see that almost all of the potential dive counters are receiving some very precisely targeted changes. McCree is no longer going to struggle with Genjis and Tracers sliding all over the place after a flashbang, Reinhardt will be able to more effectively duel people that enter his reach, Reaper will finally be able to flank without yelling "REAPERSITIONING" at the top of his lungs, and Zarya will no longer have to worry about 3/6 of the enemy team just teleporting out of the Graviton. Whether these changes will end up making non-dive playstyles equally as viable as dive, I have no idea, but its certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully a sign of how future balance changes will be handled.