So a shot’s damage is reduced by half if it hits armor, but the reduction is capped on 5. With the PTR changes, the reduction cap is decreased to 3.
Mathematically, this means that the shots with the biggest percentage buff vs armor are the shots that do the closest to 10 damage per pellet. Here is a list of the 5 biggest winners:
- Moira - I wasn’t able to find any data online on how much damage per tick she does or how many ticks per second, so I had to test the damage difference myself. And the results are astounding. Her secondary fire managed to burn through 1000 armor in about 40 seconds on live, but on PTR it took only approximately 29 seconds. It leads me to believe that she shoots 5 ticks of damage per second, each dealing 10 damage, in which case her secondary fire is the ultimate winner of this armor nerf, with a 40% buff vs armor, always.
- Sentry Bastion - at exactly 41.6 meter distance he will have a 40% damage buff vs armor. Increasing the distance will decrease the buff percentage linearly to 20% at the distance of 55 meters, where it will remain even if you increase the distance more. Decreasing the distance will also decrease the buff percentage linearly to 25% at the distance of 35 meters, where it also will stay regardless of the victim moving any closer. I should also mention that his recon mode primary fire body shot damage vs armor at long distance (55+ meters) has received a massive 40% buff!
- Orisa - does 11 damage per body shot. Currently reduced to 6 per body shot vs armor, but on PTR it’s only reduced to 8. This is a 33% damage buff vs armor, as long as you’re only hitting the body. Head shots however, they do 22 damage vs health, 17 damage vs armor on live and 19 damage vs armor on PTR, which is only a 12% buff.
- Fully charged Zarya - does 9.5 damage per tick (20 ticks per second) on her primary fire. Currently reduced to 4.75 vs armor, but on PTR it’s only reduced to 6.5. This is a 37% damage buff vs armor when Zarya has exactly 100 charge. Note though that the buff percentage decreases when the energy decreases, and a Zarya with 26 charge or less has no change whatsoever to her primary fire damage vs armor.
- Soldier - on long distance (55+ meters) his primary fire does 9.5 damage per pellet on body shots. Same numbers as with fully charged Zarya, his damage vs armor will be buffed 37%. On distances shorter than 30 meters though, his body shot damage vs armor is only buffed 14%. Between 30 and 55 meters, it changes linearly.
I’d also like to give an honorable mention to Hammond. While his body shot damage hasn’t been changed whatsoever, his minimum distance head shot damage has increased by 40% vs armor.
I hope you enjoy these numbers! =)
Edit: I thought I could also present buff percentages vs armor for other heroes, as they vary from nothing to quite a bit:
DVa - no change whatsoever.
Winston - no change whatsoever.
Roadhog - nothing for pellets hitting the body, but 0-40% for pellets hitting the head. Distance with highest buff is exactly 26.5 meters. Minimum distance (less than 15 meters) headshot damage vs armor is 28% buffed.
Reinhart - 3% buff.
Ashe Non-Scoped - 6-13% buff for body shots, 2-6% buff for head shots. Distance with highest buff is more than 40 meters.
Ashe Scoped - 2.5-5% buff for body shots, 1-2.5% buff for head shots. Distance with highest buff is more than 60 meters.
Doomfist - exactly the same as Roadhog.
Genji - 14% for body shots, 4% for head shots.
Hanzo - 1.6% buff for body shots, 0.8% buff for head shots.
Junkrat - 1.7% buff for direct hits, 3-29% buff for splash (the further away, the higher percentage).
McCree - 3-7% buff for body shot, 1.5-3% buff for head shots. Distance with highest buff is more than 40 meters.
McCree Fan the Hammer - 4-9% buff. Distance with highest buff is more than 40 meters.
Mei - no buff whatsoever.
Pharah - 1.7% buff for direct hits, 3-18% buff for splash (the further away, the higher percentage).
Reaper - see here.
Sombra - 0-25% buff for body shots (the closer the higher), 0-40% for head shots. Distance with higest buff for head shots is exactly 20.4 meters. Minimum distance (less than 15 meters) is buffed 18%.
Torbjörn Primary Fire - 3% buff for body shots. 1.5% buff for head shots.
Torbjörn Secondary Fire - 0-40% buff for body shots. Distance with highest buff is 10.7 meters. Minimum distance is buffed 27%. 10-40% buff for head shots. Distance with highest buff is 8.9 meters. Minimum distance (less than 7 meters) is buffed 20%.
Tracer - no buff whatsoever to body shots. 0-40% buff to head shots. Distance with highest buff is 14.4 meters. Minimum distance (less than 10 meters) is buffed 29%.
Widowmaker Non-Scoped - 8-40% buff to body shots. Minimum distance is buffed 25%. 10-25% buff to head shots (the futher away, the higher percentage).
Widowmaker Scoped - 1.7-29% buff to body shots. 0.6-8% buff to head shots. Less charge, higher buff.
Ana - I didn’t have time to test this myself, but if all 4 ticks that her shots do damage are reduced by armor, then she receives a 16% buff on her shots vs armor, always.
Brigitte - 7% buff.
Lucio - 13% buff on body shots. 6% buff on head shots.
Mercy Secondary Weapon - same as Lucio.
Zenyatta - 5% buff on body shots. 2.3% buff on head shots.