Bring in the DPS drama for Overwatch 2. Lead hero designer for the game, Geoff Goodman, joined the Overwatch League Watchpoint pre-show to reveal some new details about two of the game’s most beloved DPS heroes, Bastion and Sombra.
Sombra’s visual rework was revealed at Summer Games Fest in June, but this is our first look at her new kit. Both heroes have had their ultimate abilities completely redesigned for the sequel. Fans of Sombra should look forward to dealing more damage, and Bastion enthusiasts should be gearing up for more tactical attacks.
Sombra rework
Both Goodman and game director Aaron Keller noted that a big goal for Sombra was reducing her crowd control effects and increasing her potential damage. Based on what we saw during the preview, they’ve definitely accomplished that goal.
Sombra’s key ability, Hack, will last eight seconds with a reduced three-second cooldown, but it will now have two different “components” in Overwatch 2, according to Goodman. In Overwatch, Hack takes away abilities for heroes for a period of time. In the sequel, however, this portion will only last for a single second. The other seven seconds of her Hack ability will show the location of enemies to Sombra and her team.
When a target is hacked, Sombra can do 50 percent extra damage to them, giving her more power to finish kills and take out specific heroes. Sombra will also be able to hack while in Stealth mode, though she’ll be briefly revealed to the enemy team.
The biggest change to Sombra’s kit deals with her ultimate, EMP. In the base game, this ultimate removes abilities from enemies and is essentially a widespread version of her Hack ability.
In Overwatch 2, EMP will deal damage to enemies equivalent to 40 percent of their current health and hack them. Not all shields will be removed, however, so enemies have a chance to escape her wrath. Stacked with her new Hack passive, Sombra will be able to demolish single targets much more quickly.
Bastion rework
Pharah may be the usual choice for raining justice from above, but Bastion is joining the fray in Overwatch 2.
Many of his current abilities have been removed or completely reworked to fit the pace of fights in the sequel. One of his key abilities, Self-Repair, has been removed, making Bastion a more vulnerable target.
Bastion will have a new ability called “Tactical Grenade,” a projectile that bounces off walls and sticks to players to deal large amounts of damage. His primary weapon in his upright form no longer has spread but has a reduced rate of fire, now resembling a sniper or burst-fire rifle.
In Sentry form—the bane of many Overwatch players’ existences in ranked mode—Bastion will now be able to slowly move around the map instead of staying in one place. This mode will have a cooldown, however.
The omnic’s ultimate, Tank, is now completely gone. His new ultimate is called “Artillery Strike” and gives players a chance to select three areas on the map where rockets will rain down from above.
Goodman revealed on the Watchpoint pre-show that this attack will do a total of 600 damage on a direct strike, divided into 300 impact damage and 300 explosion damage, though Goodman says direct strikes are rare.
As if Bastion didn’t get enough of a makeover on his kit, he also gets a fancy visual update. Apparently, he’s formed a friendship with Torbjӧrn and snagged one of the mechanic’s hats. It might be a small change, but it certainly ups the cuteness factor.
Goodman and Keller were notoriously tight-lipped about any potential release date for the game, but both noted that playtests were ongoing and working well. Overwatch League players got a chance to test Overwatch 2, and their exhibition match will be revealed during the league’s Grand Finals broadcast.
