Does Mei need more power in Overwatch? Players currently think: Mei needs a buff. But that’s delicate.
Blizzard is continuously working on balancing Overwatch to make as many heroes somewhat balanced and playable. The latest patches have adjusted D.Va, Mercy, Junkrat, and Orisa, among others. Since the animated short film about Mei, there have been calls for Mei to receive more love.
Coldly Discarded
The cute Chinese polar researcher Mei-Ling Zhou is among the least played heroes in Blizzard’s hero shooter Overwatch. There are several reasons for this; some of the most important include:
- Mei’s frost beam takes too long to stop mobile heroes.
- Mei’s ice wall can be simply ignored by most heroes in the current (Dive) meta.
- Her greatest strength lies in 1vs1 fights, which hardly ever occur in competitive play.
- She has no mobility, making her easy prey for offensive heroes.
- Her ultimate is easily avoidable despite the buff, and mobile heroes can escape her without issues.
Especially the fact that other heroes bring similar control abilities but don’t take as long to be effective makes Mei appear weak. Good examples of equivalents are McCree’s flashbang or Roadhog’s hook.
Problem: If Mei gets stronger, the meta becomes static
A concise explanation was provided by the master streamer “ster”. According to him, it’s hard to make Mei stronger without making her too strong.
One could leave Mei as she is and only change the meta to make her playable again. However, it is not expected that she will ever move away from mobile heroes at this point. A meta in which Mei shines is, according to ster, “pretty unlikely”.
Mei was already stronger – even too strong
Some time ago, changes were made to Mei that made her alternate fire mode, the icicles, significantly too strong. The projectile damage was still enough at immense distances to instantly kill most heroes with headshots. This was frustrating and a reason for Blizzard to backtrack.
Since Doomfist joined the game, a change in the meta has been underway. However, with this change, thoughts about the seemingly forgotten Mei are surfacing again, leading to questions about a buff. At the latest since the short film “Winter Awakenings,” fans of the Chinese character are advocating for a meta with Mei.
How exactly she should be adjusted is still not precisely known – keeping in mind the knowledge that she is hard to balance and has already been too strong. The solution that many fans suggest was briefly summarized by Twitter user “Pfhor”. Mei should be able to counter the movement abilities of other heroes:
My perfect Mei buff would be to have slowdown affect movement abilities like Genji dash and Tracer blink.
— Pfhor (@Pfhorpls) September 11, 2017
What is your opinion? Does Mei need a buff, or could she soon regain a place among the frequently played characters with the upheaval of the meta-game? Let us know in a comment!
By the way, the release date for the new payload map Junkertown has been announced!
