Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller may have postponed his regular “Dev Take” blog last week, but if you’re as tired of getting one-shot as most players, his latest article is well worth the wait.
Just one week away from season five, Keller used his blog post today to preview some of the upcoming balance changes to Overwatch 2, and some of the nerfs that are on their way have been a long time coming.
Along with telling fans that Lifeweaver is getting some much needed buffs, Keller noted that Junker Queen, who was perhaps buffed a little bit too much last month, would be brought back down to earth.
However, the biggest changes coming to season five will be for a few of the game’s DPS heroes that are especially frustrating to play against. Widowmaker and Hanzo have always been among the most annoying heroes in the game because of their one-shot capability, and Keller said that the team is looking to finally address those long-standing concerns.
Related: Overwatch 2 fans agree Widowmaker needs nerfs—but what they should be isn’t so simple
Damage fall-off to Widowmaker’s snipes is set to be reduced to 40-60 meters. Previously, her scoped headshots could take out opponents from 70-100 meters with no damage falloff. Meanwhile, Hanzo’s damage is due to a nerf that will make him unable to one-shot 250 health heroes, and his Sonic Arrow will be easy for enemies to recognize, making it less likely that they mindlessly round a corner that Hanzo has sights on.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Keller added that Mei’s primary fire is going to be reverted back to having a slowing effect that is similar to what we all experienced prior to the release of Overwatch 2. At the same time, the team is adding more crowd control to Cassidy’s kit. Decreasing the damage of his Magnetic Grenade, the team is adding a slow and movement ability block to it.
Related: How to counter Mei in Overwatch 2
“We have a lot of high-mobility heroes in the roster, and a team can’t always rely on their tank to take [care] of them,” Keller said. “So we’re softening our approach here. We don’t want to return to the state the game was in previously, but we feel like there is room for more CC, especially soft CC, in our lineup.”
While I’m as stoked as I’m sure you are to see that Hanzo and Widowmaker will be less of a pain to go up against, I think Keller’s post left all of us with some mixed feelings about how more crowd control might negatively impact our comp matches.
