Overwatch 2 season four began today, and along with bringing in a new support hero Lifeweaver to the roster, Blizzard is making some significant balance changes to a handful of heroes.
Among the balance changes, which were released on the official Patch Notes webpage, were nerfs to tanks Reinhardt and Sigma. Some of the notable changes are ones fans will be ecstatic to see, including a decrease to Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade damage, a reversal of Mercy’s Guardian Angel nerfs, and a rework to Brigitte’s Rally ultimate.
These hero tunings were added to the game’s live servers this afternoon, and will likely remain the most up-to-date patch notes for hero balance until the mid-season patch, which typically drops a month into every season, and usually lasts about two months.
Overwatch 2 season 4 hero balance patch notes
Reinhardt
- Armor health reduced to 250, down from 300.
- Base health increased to 200, up from 175.
Reinhardt has been a mainstay as one of the most used tanks in the game, and developers are noting his increased “offensive capabilities” as a reason for him “overperforming” in season three. Without changing his punching power potential, the developers seem to think that a slight adjustment to his health could force players to be a little bit more tactful. While he can still swing hard, he won’t have quite the same tankiness anymore and players will need to think twice before mindlessly flailing his hammer.
Sigma
- Accretion impact damage reduced to 40, down from 60. This will make his total damage for the ability 80 with its explosion.
- Accretion knockdown duration increased to to 1.1 seconds, up from 0.8.
This give and take is intended to keep Sigma’s crowd control potential high without making his damage potential too potent. The dev comments mentioned that Sigma’s Accretion and primary fire combo have started to make him similar to previous version of Roadhog’s Chain Hook, which frustrated players because of its one-shot capabilities.
Cassidy
- Base health reduced to 200, down from 225.
- Magnetic Grenade damage reduced to 120, down from 131.
Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade has drawn ire from fans for some time now, making it a prime candidate for a nerf. In their notes, the developer mentioned that one primary fire shot by Cassidy when combined with a Magnetic Grenade was “too reliable to execute on.” Meanwhile, reductions to his damage falloff in a previous patch made his health less of an issue, so going back down to 200 HP isn’t a problem.
Sombra
- EMP can now disable Blizzard.
Coming in season four, Sombra’s EMP will also be able to hack Lifeweaver’s Tree of Life ultimate as well. Being able to disable Mei’s Blizzard ultimate makes EMP more consistent in how it affects what Blizzard calls “device-controlled ultimates.”
Ana
- Sleep Dart’s maximum duration on Tank heroes reduced to 3.5 seconds, down from five.
Having Tank heroes out of a fight due to a Sleep Dart makes it one of the more impactful abilities in the game, and five full seconds of that type of crowd control on a tank can be frustrating. With most tanks having larger hitboxes, the devs noted that the ability is also easier to land on Tanks as well, making it especially disruptive and in need of a nerf.
Brigitte
- Rally gives Brigitte 100 restorable armor health during the Rally.
- Brigitte no longer gradually builds temporary health like her nearby allies during Rally.
- Rally now upgrades her Barrier Shield, increasing both its size and health.
- Barrier health increased to 750, up from 300, during the ultimate.
- During Rally, Shield Bash now impacts multiple enemies and briefly stuns them.
- Bonus movement speed reduced to 15 percent, down from 30 percent.
- Repair Pack range reduced to 25 meters, down from 30.
Easily the most significant hero update in the patch. According to devs, the change is meant to give the defensive-style ultimate a more immediate impact through a boost to Brig’s armor and an increase in the size and health of her shield. Meanwhile, her bash ability being able to hit multiple targets at the time during Rally will surely be a huge bonus for the hero that is already fairly underrepresented.
Mercy
- Caduceus Staff healing-per-second increased to 55, up from 45.
- Caduceus Staff healing is no longer increased for allies under half health.
- Guardian Angel cooldown reduced from to 1.5 seconds, down from 2.5.
- Guardian Angel Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state duration increased to 1.5 seconds, up from 1.0. The Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state can no longer be manually interrupted to begin the cooldown early.
- Support role passive healing is now active for the duration of Valkyrie.
After admitting to an “overcorrection” to Mercy’s Guardian Angel ability that was a cause for concern from Mercy mains everywhere, Blizzard is still trying to make sure the ability isn’t too powerful. However, they’ve reduced the cooldown to make her a little bit more slippery once again. Meanwhile, Blizzard reverted changes to her healing due to feedback from both Mercy players and people playing against Mercys.
“There wasn’t a satisfying middle ground where we could reduce the potency of this effect while still having it feel impactful,” the devs wrote.
Moira
- Fade can now be activated during Coalescence.
- Coalescence bonus movement speed reduced to 40 percent, down from 50.
- Biotic Grasp lingering heal duration increased to three seconds, up from two.
At times, the increased movement speed from Coalescence didn’t make up for the way it made players feel a little bit exposed during a fight. Being able to fade during Coalescence and then continue the ability, is intended to give Moira players “more playmaking ability” as they reposition mid-ultimate.
