Overwatch's Venetian map Rialto hits test servers

When Blizzard whisked the Overwatchers and Underwatchers away to Venice for the cooperative PvE event mission Retribution, they said they'd also make a PvP version of its map. That Escort mode map, Rialto, isn't quite ready but the curious can now try it out on Overwatch's public test servers. Blizard are also testing out some character balance changes, including reworking Hanzo and replacing his Scatter Arrows with a new skill, making Junkrat's grenades less spammy, nerfing Tracer's Pulse Bomb, and improving Lucio's wallrunning.

Rialto is based on Retribution's Venice, shifted into the daytime and reworked as an Escort map. It is a fancy one.

On the balance side, Genji, Hanzo, Junkrat, Lucio, and Tracer are getting touched.

Hanzo's Deflect hitbox has been downsized so it still protects him but can't whack away distant projectiles, while his brother has bigger changes. Hanzo's splitting Scatter Arrow is replaced with Storm Arrows, which lets him quickly blast up to six arrows dealing reduced damage. Hanzo gets a new Lunge ability too, which works like a double-jump letting him dash horizontally in mid-air. Sonic Arrow gets a quicker cooldown but smaller radius and shorter duration. And his arrows fly faster too. Blizzard explain:

"The goal of these Hanzo changes is to allow him to have new options and maintain his high damage output, while removing the frustration of fighting against the old Scatter Arrow. Hanzo is now much more mobile with his new Lunge ability, and with the combination of the bow projectile speed increase and the new Storm Arrows ability he can now deal his high damage more consistently than ever before."

Junkrat's Frag Launcher has a smaller projectile size, meaning he'll need to aim better for direct hits, and his RIP-Tire moves slightly slower too, which Blizzard say "gives his opponents slightly more time to destroy it before it detonates."

Lucio's wallrunning is way cooler, letting him run around corners and also land back on walls after jumping away. I always support better parkour. His Soundwave loses its ammo cost too.

And, finally, Tracer's Pulse Bomb deals 25% less damage, because it "was too good at killing tanks, who can be easy to stick due to their size."

See the test realm patch notes for more information. As with all balance changes, Blizzard may tweak or revert any of these - they won't necessarily make it into the main client. How does all this sound, Overwatchwatchers?