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Sombra Steps Out of the Shadows with New Overwatch Patch - November 15 Patch Notes

Find out more about the newest patch for Overwatch, Blizzard's team-based FPS.

Josh Hawkins

November 15, 2016 1:25 PM

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Those who enjoy playing Overwatch on console have every reason to celebrate today, as the newest hero, Sombra is making her way to every platform starting today. In a new patch released this afternoon, Sombra, the new Arcade, and the newest arena map are now live in the game. The patch also includes an update for the upcoming third season of Competitive Play.

For those who haven’t been following Overwatch as closely, Sombra is the newest offensive hero to hit the roster. Heralded as one of the most notorious hackers in the world, Sombra is a mysterious infiltrator who can hack her enemies abilities, and even take control  of enemy health packs and turrets. The new feature, the Arcade, gives you even more ways to play Overwatch. You can choose from a variety of rotating game modes including maps, rulesets, and even brawls.

The latest patch is now available for all the currently supported platforms, so you can update and hop on in to start using Sombra and enjoying the new features added with the latest patch. You can take a look at the full patch notes by heading over to the original forum post, but we’ve included the highlights below.

New Hero: Sombra (Offense)

One of the world's most notorious hackers is stepping out of the shadows: Sombra, a mysterious infiltrator who uses information to control those in power.

Sombra is a master manipulator who can hack her enemies, temporarily blocking their abilities. In addition, she can hack health packs and Torbjörn's turret, making them useless to her opponents. She uses her fully automatic Machine Pistol to take out her enemies, getting into position using her Thermoptic Camo, which allows her to become invisible and move more quickly for short periods of time. This gives her the ability to slip past enemy defenses undetected, but she's instantly revealed if she takes damage or attacks an enemy. She also has a Translocator, which can be tossed like a grenade. When it’s activated, Sombra is teleported to its location (even while it’s in flight).

Sombra's ultimate ability, EMP, discharges electromagnetic energy in a wide radius, hacking anyone caught within range and destroying enemy barriers and shields.

New Feature: The Arcade!

Discover brand new ways to play Overwatch in the Arcade. Choose from a variety of regularly rotating game modes, maps, and rulesets that don't quite fit into Quick Play or Competitive Play. Whether it's 1-on-1 duels, 3-vs-3 skirmishes, our alternating selection of brawls, or special rulesets like “no hero switching,” you should have no problem finding a game that fits your mood. Experience is earned just like any other mode, but you can also earn Arcade-specific rewards, like Loot Boxes!

New Arena Map: Ecopoint: Antarctica

Bundle up for a journey to Ecopoint: Antarctica, the former Overwatch installation where climatologist Mei-Ling Zhou was once stationed. While researching severe weather anomalies in the region, the station was hit by an intense polar storm. Running out of options and low on supplies, the team decided to cryogenically freeze themselves until the storm passed. They believed that it would only be for a few months, but Mei awoke nearly a decade later.

Ecopoint: Antarctica is a compact new Arena map that features multiple new game modes, including a 3-vs-3 battle and 1-on-1 duel. Check it out in the Arcade.

Season 3 of Competitive Play

Competitive Play's second season will end on November 23 at 4PM PDT (November 24 at 0:00 UTC), and the third season will begin on November 30 at 4PM PDT (December 1 at 0:00 UTC). During the week-long off season, you'll still be able to queue for matches using the Competitive Play ruleset, but your skill rating will not be affected and no Competitive Points will be awarded.

We've also made a few adjustments to the skill rating system for season 3. Players will be distributed more broadly across the skill tiers, which means that your season 3 rating will probably be lower than the previous season.

Josh Hawkins

Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.