Overwatch 2 season four drops on April 11 and other than the introduction of new hero Lifeweaver, a number of balance changes are on their way. This includes changes to Ashe, who is receiving a controversial nerf.
The nerf is labeled as a “bug fix” in April 6’s patch notes, leading to players calling out Blizzard. “Fixed a bug that allowed Ashe to gain Ultimate while B.O.B. was active,” the change reads.
Overwatch players on Reddit argued this nerf is disguised as a bug fix. To back up their claim, they shared patch notes from 2019 when Blizzard mentioned fixing a bug where Ashe wasn’t gaining ultimate charge while B.O.B. was active.
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B.O.B.’s damage is an efficient way to charge up Ashe’s ultimate since she has more opportunities to deal damage thanks to his presence. If she can no longer gain charge from her trusty sidekick, this will surely hinder her place in the meta.
“I thought it was the intended behavior for a long long time, but was it a ‘bug’? How long did it take Blizzard to realize this?” one player on Reddit said. “It’s gonna be a huge nerf to her if they keep this. Gonna need some sort of compensation to her ult charge,” another added.
This change sparked debate on whether heroes should be able to charge up their ultimates when using them. Some players argued Ashe wasn’t supposed to be able to charge her ultimate while B.O.B. was active in the first place, but other heroes can also do this, including Wrecking Ball and his Minefield.
It’s unclear whether the bug fix refers to an abnormal amount of ultimate charge Ashe was getting from B.O.B. or if it simply removed the possibility entirely. Players will be able to test it out themselves when season four releases on April 11.
