Hanzo from Overwatch might soon be reworked. The scatter arrow is particularly a thorn in the developers’ side.
Shortly after the release of the “Cosmetic Update” for Overwatch, Game Director Jeff Kaplan took the time to address the community again. In the latest “Developer Update”, Kaplan talks about issues that are important to the players and explains what the development team thinks about certain points. This time, it mainly focused on the balance of various heroes.
Mercy’s resurrection remains!
For almost a year, adjustments have been made to the healer Mercy. She is the most popular character in Overwatch, and at the same time, one of the hardest to balance. In particular, the resurrection has repeatedly caused problems. Part of the community assumes that this ability cannot be balanced at all and should simply be removed from the game.
The developers do not share this view and are confident that sooner or later they will find the right place for the resurrection. However, until that time comes, there will likely still be some PTR cycles.
Hanzo might lose his scatter arrow
Hanzo is particularly a special arrow in the eyes of the developers. The scatter arrow is currently hated by many players, as it does not feel good. For example, a Hanzo can kill Orisa or Reinhardt with just one shot by simply shooting the scatter arrow right at the feet of the respective character.
Blizzard is still unsure how to proceed. They are trying to balance the scatter arrow but also have several ideas on how to completely replace this ability if necessary. We will probably see more about this in one of the upcoming PTR versions.
Toxicity in Overwatch is diminishing
But even outside of the heroes, Blizzard has positive news.
There would slowly be an improvement regarding the toxicity in Overwatch. Since the introduction of the new reporting system, where players also receive feedback when their reports lead to sanctions, there has been 17% fewer incidents of offensive chat messages.
Additionally, players on average spend 20% more time reporting other players, which for Kaplan is a clear sign that trust in the reporting system is growing.
According to Kaplan, they are aware that 17% fewer incidents is not as significant a success as they would like, but at least the direction is correct.
The Overwatch League, by the way, has a problem with racist jokes.
