The latest patch for Overwatch 2 has drastically disturbed the balance. Blizzard is trying to fix this – and is changing 12 heroes, just a few days after the season started.
Two weeks ago, one of the largest patches in Overwatch 2 went live. Not only did a new season begin, but several fundamental principles of the game were called into question. Now, all characters can heal themselves when they briefly take cover, and DPS characters apply a debuff to hit enemies that reduces the healing received.
But there were many more changes. Overall, the adjustments were so manifold that internally they even spoke of “Overwatch 3”.
In fact, the adjustments were so drastic that in a subsequent patch, a total of 12 characters will be modified.
The major changes are also shown in the trailer:
What was the problem? It was virtually impossible to limit the problems to just one. So much was adjusted that many changes interacted with each other, leading to quite complex issues.
- The projectile size of almost all weapons was drastically increased, which now allows most characters to hit more reliably. In some cases, the projectiles were so large that one could shoot clearly past the target and still hit.
- The health points of the characters were also increased. This made not only all heroes more stable, but many heroes also weaker. Because if everything can endure more and fights between two characters last longer than before, it also changes who of the heroes now has a better chance.
- All characters now heal themselves when they take no damage for a few seconds.
That these diverse changes would not succeed without a few balance problems is clear. Exactly that Blizzard has now fixed with the first hotfix patch of the season.
What was changed? The changes to the heroes often affect the size of the projectiles, but also the damage dealt or the ability to reduce it. The details of the changes are:
D.Va
- Lightgun
- The base size of the projectile was reduced from 0.25 meters to 0.20 meters. The total size is now 0.3 meters.
Roadhog
- Take a Breather
- The damage reduction was increased from 40% to 50%.
Zarya
- Particle Cannon
- The minimum damage of the primary fire mode was increased from 85 to 95 per second.
- The maximum damage of the primary fire mode was increased from 170 to 190.
Hanzo
- The base size of the projectile was reduced from 0.1 meters to 0.075 meters. The total size is now 0.175 meters.
Junkrat
- Remote Detonated Mine
- The cooldown was reduced from 8 to 7 seconds.
- The maximum damage was increased from 110 to 120.
- The minimum damage was increased from 20 to 55.
Soldier: 76
- Heavy Pulse Rifle
- Now uses the 0.05 meter smaller hitscan size modifier for projectiles. The total size of the projectile is now 0.05 meters.
Tracer
- The distance at which the weapon’s damage decreases was reduced from 12 meters to 10 meters.
Widowmaker
- Now uses the 0.05 meter smaller hitscan size modifier for projectiles. The total size of the projectile is now 0.05 meters.
- The distance at which the weapon’s damage decreases in sniper mode was increased from 40 – 60 meters to 50 – 70 meters.
Illari
- Healing Pylon
- The cooldown was reduced from 8 to 6 seconds. When destroyed by an enemy, the cooldown was reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.
- Captive Sun
- The explosion damage of Solar Flare was increased from 100 to 160.
- The explosion of Solar Flare now has a damage reduction of up to 25% the further away you are from the explosion.
Lúcio
- Sound Amplifier
- The base size of the projectile was reduced from 0.15 to 0.1 meters. The total size of the projectile is now 0.25 meters.
Mercy
- Caduceus Blaster
- The base size of the projectile was reduced from 0.25 meters to 0.2 meters. The total size of the projectile is now 0.3 meters.
Zenyatta
- The base health points were reduced from 100 to 75.
- Snap Kick
- The recoil was reduced by 25%.
Season is viewed skeptically: Many players in the community seem unsure about what they think of the latest season. While some absolutely love being able to heal themselves through tactical retreat, others find the game significantly worse. Especially the larger projectiles often lead to comments that characters are now shooting not with bullets but ‘with logs’ – even if that is a bit exaggerated.
What do you think of the current patch of Overwatch? Do you like it and are you enjoying the changes? Or should all of them be reverted?
