The Overwatch hero Ana receives a buff. For this, Mercy will be nerfed even stronger!
Initially, players assumed that not many more details about Overwatch and upcoming changes would be released ahead of BlizzCon 2017. However, Jeff Kaplan once again took the time to write some posts in the official forum regarding hero balance and explained what the developers were currently discussing.
Ana’s damage increases by almost 17%
One of the biggest revelations was an improvement for Ana. The healer has fallen into the background since Mercy’s rework. Especially after her Nanoboost and damage potential had already been nerfed before, she lost favor with players.
The damage of Ana’s Biotic Rifle is increased by nearly 17%. A hit will no longer deal 60 damage points, but rather 70. The healing remains unchanged at 75 per shot.
An increase from 60 to 70 damage has massive consequences, as many heroes in the 200 HP category (McCree, Junkrat, Pharah, etc.) will die after 3 hits instead of 4.
Internally, Blizzard has already tested the changes and was satisfied. Blizzard’s “Competitive Group,” consisting of employees with a skill rating of Master and Grandmaster, found the changes to be great.
Mercy’s resurrection now has a casting time
A nerf to the healer Mercy is already in effect. The latest version of Patch 1.17 is deployed on the PTR and has massively nerfed the Swiss woman’s resurrection. The feedback from the community has been taken into account and the resurrection now has a casting time!
- Resurrection now has a casting time of 1.75 seconds
- Mercy’s movement speed is reduced by 75% during resurrection
- Resurrection can now be interrupted by pushing, stunning, or hacking Mercy
- While Valkyrie is active, resurrection has no casting time
This should make Mercy significantly weaker when this patch goes live.
Changes to Hanzo and his spread arrow are also under discussion. Although the shot is considered a clear skill shot from the developers’ perspective, which is anything but a “no skill” ability, they are still not satisfied. The idea behind the character and the ability was not to shoot at the opponent’s feet.
However, concrete improvements will have to wait. They should arrive “soon on the PTR.”
What do you think of this buff for Ana? Was it desperately needed? Or can the healer still perform excellently without these changes?
Have you seen Junkrat’s strange bug? A jump destroys his ultimate!
