Despite itsreports from two weeks agothat the heroes inOverwatch 2were performing on a pretty level field, producer/developerBlizzard Entertainmenthas announced some necessary changes to five particular characters. As pointed out byMy Nintendo News, the five heroes — Sombra, Genji, Zarya, D.va, and Kiriko — are all due for tweaks to lessen the effects of their powers.
According to Blizzard’sHero Balance Dev Updatefrom October 28, the changes are intended to bring those particular heroes “more in line with the rest of the roster.” The changes are scheduled to take effect in a November 15 update.
RELATED:Overwatch 2: Best Characters, Ranked
To start off, Sombra’s hacked damage multiplier will be reduced from 40 percent to 25 percent and hacked opponents will not be valid targets for hacking for the effect’s duration. Additionally, the lockout duration for the hack ability will be reduced from 1.75 seconds to 1.5 seconds. Blizzard reports that the ability has made Sombra “too deadly for a flanker with easy access to the enemy’s backlines,” and the developer wishes to bring her abilities more in line with similar characters like Reaper and Tracer.
Genji, another flanker, will receive some slight debuffs, with his shuriken damage being reduced from 29 to 27 and his maximum ammo count reduced from 30 to 24. Like Sombra, Blizzard stated Genji’s changes will bring him more in line with other flankers.
Zarya, whom Blizzard had listed as the most overachieving character in its notes earlier this month, will have a shorter barrier duration, having its total time reduced from 2.5 seconds to two seconds, and the cooldown time for the barrier will increase from 10 seconds to 11 seconds. Early reports Blizzard had received from players predicted that Zarya would be among the weakest solo tanks on the roster, but those playing against her since then have expressed concern that she “has very limited windows of vulnerability, which feels difficult to deal with when combined with her ramping damage potential” the report states. The changes should provide a fix for her invulnerability and make it harder for her to gain energy.
Kiriko wll recieve just one change, but it cuts the invulnerability period of her swift step power nearly in half, reducing it from .4 seconds to .25 seconds. While the invulnerability period was intended to protect Kiriko from dying after potentially teleporting into a dangerous situation, Blizzard said, “it ended up being a little too long and led to some confusion when shooting at Kiriko.”
Lastly, D.va will receive a “partial revert,” reducing her boosters impact damage from 25 to 15 but increasing the spread of her fusion cannon from 3.5 to 3.75, the only notable buff among the coming changes. The developer noted players concerns regarding the improvements to her defense matrix, but it is leaving that ability alone, hoping the reversion will balance out her capabilities with the other characters.
