After Hanzo’s rework, the archer dominates ranked play in Overwatch. His overhaul seems to have made him a bit too strong. A nerf is set to fix that.
Hanzo’s Storm Arrows will be nerfed: The Storm Arrows are a new ability for Hanzo. He received the Storm Arrows as a replacement for his Scatter Arrow, which the developers considered too strong. The Storm Arrows now have the same issue: they are too powerful.
When Hanzo activates the ability, he fires the next 6 arrows in quick succession with a fully drawn bowstring. Each of them previously dealt 80 damage. This will now be reduced to 70 damage per arrow. This was announced by Overwatch developer Geoff Goodman in the US-Overwatch forum.
Many players were frustrated by the spam
The Storm Arrows have become a problem for many players. Hanzo can use them and roughly aim the next 6 arrows in the direction of the enemy, as the projectiles arrive almost instantly at the target. The arrows have an almost hitscan-like quality.
The damage of the arrows is currently enough to kill heroes with 150 health points such as Tracer or D.Va without her mech immediately if Hanzo hits the head. If he also has Mercy’s boost, he can even take out targets with 200 health points immediately.
With the reduction of damage to 70 per arrow, this is no longer possible. Without Mercy, he can no longer one-shot Tracer, and even with increased damage, he cannot eliminate heroes with 200 health points either. Opponents should no longer feel powerless.
Hanzo is the most played DPS hero: With his current strength, Hanzo is on all platforms (PC, PS4, Xbox One) the most played DPS hero in competitive play on average over the last week (as of May 16). In the Grandmaster tier on PC, he is played almost three times more often than the second-place hero, Widowmaker. Only Junkrat is played more frequently in the Bronze and Silver ranks.
The patch is yet to come: Currently, the patch for the live servers is not yet in sight. Blizzard will soon roll out the nerf for Hanzo on the PTR. When it will then be released on the live servers is still unknown.
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