You can get a sneak peak at Overwatch’s latest patch now by accessing the Public Test Region. To participate in patch 1.7.0 testing you must have a valid Overwatch game license attached to your Battle.net account, then access the PTR server by doing the following:

1. Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
2. Click on the Overwatch tab from the game list on the left side of the Battle.net desktop app.
3. Select “PTR: Overwatch” from the REGION/ACCOUNT drop-down. 
4. Click “Install”
5. Once the client is installed, click “Play.”

Overwatch’s Public Test Region server is only available on the PC version of the game. Accounts from worldwide are able to connect and play on the PTR, but the servers are hosted in Blizzard’s Americas region, so those overseas may have latency and performance issues. There is a 10k player cap on the PTR as well, so if the server hits the cap you’ll be placed in a queue.

You can play on the Overwatch Public Test Region server with a copy of your account from the live game. However, any progress made during PTR gameplay, levels, stats, skill ratings, loot boxes, etc, won’t be carried back over to your live profile.

The upcoming Overwatch patch 1.7.0 currently in testing adds or changes the following (including nerfing Roadhog):

GENERAL UPDATES

General

• Emote Wheel
  • Players can now equip up to 4 emotes, sprays, and voice lines from within the hero gallery
  • Voice line and emote submenus can be accessed using the left and right mouse buttons from within the Communication wheel
  • Players can now bind individual sprays, emotes, and voice lines to unique keys or mouse buttons

HERO BALANCE UPDATES

Ana

• Biotic Grenade
  • Healing boost on allies has been decreased by 50%

Developer Comments: The healing boost from Ana’s Biotic Grenade was providing too much healing, especially when used on targets with large health pools.

D.Va

• Health increased from 200 to 400
• Armor decreased from 400 to 200
• Fusion Cannons
  • Bullet damage decreased from 3 to 2
  • Number of bullets per shot has been increased from 8 to 11

Developer Comments: D.Va’s armor often made her feel like she had no weaknesses, even against heroes that are often effective against bigger targets (like Reaper). The changes to her Fusion Cannons will result in a small overall decrease in damage, but they should feel more consistent now.

Roadhog

• Chain Hook
  • Targets are now pulled directly in front of Roadhog (rather than straight to him), except in cases where Roadhog drastically rotates
  • Hooked targets are now released if they leave Roadhog’s line-of-sight before being pulled
  • Line-of-sight checks (which detect if targets should be initially hit by the hook) are now done from Roadhog’s position, rather than the hook’s position

Developer Comments: The hook should now feel more consistent for Roadhog players, but it should also feel more reasonable to his enemies, as they cannot be hooked or pulled around corners anymore.

Sombra

• Hack
  • The time it takes to hack a target has been decreased from 1 second to 0.8 seconds

Developer Comments: Sombra often had difficulty hacking enemies, even when she surprised the target. This change should help her execute hacks more easily.

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

• The “Stay as Team” button lights up when anyone on your team clicks it

Kill Feed

• Hero ability icons are now displayed
• Ultimate abilities are now indicated with an orange arrow
• Headshot eliminations are now indicated with a red icon

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed a bug that allowed spectators to click the “Stay as Team” button after a game ended
• Fixed a bug that caused the “Stay as Team” button to overlap with the “Back” button on the Social menu
• Fixed a bug causing the “Mouse 4” button to execute the “Back” function during menu navigation, preventing it from being used for other features
• Fixed a bug preventing the Social menu from correctly displaying World of Warcraft zones that have a single quotation mark in the name
• Fixed a bug causing heroes to display a “T-pose” on the victory screen following a Mystery Heroes brawl

AI

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Roadhog bot from grabbing enemies with his Chain Hook through a friendly Reinhardt’s Barrier Field
• Fixed a bug that allowed the Sombra bot to hack through barriers
• Fixed a bug that made the Torbjörn bot unresponsive after placing his turret

Competitive Play

• Fixed a bug preventing players from receiving experience points when playing offseason games

Heroes

• Fixed a bug that would cause the cup in Ana’s “Toast” victory pose to appear blurry on the right side of the screen
• Fixed a bug causing a several visual effect issues on McCree’s “Hat Trick” emote
• Fixed a bug causing Mercy’s wings to be improperly placed on her Valkyrie and Sigrún skins
• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from playing a sound effect when destroyed
• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Widowmaker’s Venom Mine from attaching to walls
• Fixed a bug that prevented Zenyatta’s Nutcracker skin from glowing when his Transcendence ultimate ability was activated

Maps

• Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to reach an unintended location on Eichenwalde
• Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to reach unintended locations on Ecopoint: Antarctica
• Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Dorado
• Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
• Fixed a bug on Oasis's garden tier where the border around the capture point inaccurately marked the bounds of the capture point
• Fixed an issue causing texture fragmentation on the Practice Range
• Fixed a bug preventing some projectiles from destroying the piñatas on Dorado
• Fixed an issue preventing the glass railings on Oasis from being easily broken by a melee attack