After just a day, there’s already been plenty of opinions about Overwatch 2’s new season nine update, which brought wholesale changes to the hero roster, Competitive Play, and more.
Among the changes in the large OW2 update was an increase in hero health and a massive tweak to projectiles, which now mostly travel faster and have a larger hitbox. This has made many feel that DPS heroes are on top of the world, while tanks are feeling rougher to play than ever.
“The game is more DPS-centric and raw healing is worse (who could’ve guessed),” said former Overwatch League pro and analyst Reinforce. “Ashe, Soldier 76, Tracer are strong. If a team has better damage players it’s noticeable more than before. Tank players need to shift their play style and mitigate the DPS passive more by playing around corners or objectives. Previously, you could try to playmake more and chase kills but now it’s about staying alive and setting up your team to win. You could also poke and body tank some, but now you can do so less. The result is strong tanks have some form of mitigation.”
Others in the community, meanwhile, feel that tanks are now “miserable” to play with the changes to projectiles, especially considering there’s just one tank per team in OW2.
“I finished all my placement games and got Masters 1 and it’s simply because there’s way too much damage occurring,” said a member of OW2’s Reddit community. “Even with the health buffs the projective buffs are just way too much, your hitbox is already absolutely massive then you just get melted by Zens with discord, and pretty much any hero with a fast fire rate that has a good headshot multiplier.”
A famed DPS player, former OWL pro and coach Jake, thinks the changes make playing DPS feel more satisfying than ever, rewarding skill to those who work for it.
“Overall, I think these changes reward highly skilled and consistent aimers because more shots to kill generally favors a stronger player,” Jake said. “One lucky shot is not enough, you have to be consistent and keep landing shots on a player who will dodge and fight back. Beyond this, though, the game is MORE FUN. I’ve played long time-to-kill FPS games for over a decade now for one simple reason: I love popping off and chaining insane shots one after another. Now Overwatch is making those shots more consistent while also making that kind of back to back combination more crucial to my success in the game.”
Among the changes elsewhere was a rework of Competitive Play, which now allows players to group up in a wider skill and rank range, meaning friends can play together more than before. And that’s a positive thing for many, especially those trying to play with pals.
“It feels AMAZING to finally be able to stack with my friends,” said OW2 streamer Jay3. “This has been the most fun Overwatch has been in a while. I have people actually COMMUNICATING to win games and the queues has been surprisingly fast. Maybe that’s just a “new season” thing. But so far, it’s been fun.”
More time with the new OW2 update will likely change opinions, but for now, these snap judgments feel mixed depending on what kind of hero you enjoy. Personally, I think the game feels a bit more fun as well, but that’s just me, so keep all of these things in mind when queuing up for your placement matches this season.
