- Blizzard Entertainment is planning a lot of nerfs for Overwatch 2’s next season
- The aim is to shake up the game’s current meta
- The nerfs include the reverting of many changes added in previous seasons
It seems Blizzard Entertainment has finally decided to step up and make major changes to Overwatch 2 ahead of Season 7.
Blizzard Will Nerf Many Heroes
Many players have been complaining about Overwatch 2’s current meta and it seems like the game’s devs have finally heard them. With Season 7 approaching fast, Blizzard have begun to outline balance changes that will be included in the next big update. This should shake up the meta that is currently being dominated by just a few heroes.
Blizzard’s, Alec Dawson explained what the team is planning to do to change the current meta. Some changes have already been implemented, such as Zarya’s recent increase of her allied barriers’ HP, which was also made larger and has a reduced cooldown. “Our aim here was to add more incentive to Zarya bubbling allies versus using two bubbles for herself (a fairly common behavior),” Dawson explained in a recent blog post. “How do we incentivize that enough? How do we make it noticeable in-game? A common strategy we employ here is to layer multiple changes onto a hero that all help achieve our stated goal.”
However, the next update will see many heroes’ abilities axed by following the same philosophy. Bastion, Orisa, and Torbjorn are all on the chopping block, with the first one having his armor repair removed when transforming into Configuration Assault. In fact, this has already been included prior to Season 7 in a small patch.
Meanwhile, Orisa Fortify buffs will be getting either reverted or pulled back, making her a lot easier to kill. This hero seems to be one of the biggest thorns in the side of the Overwatch 2 community, as many have complained she is too powerful. In fact, a lot of players have even said that Orisa should be removed from the game, if she does not receive massive nerfs.
Mei is another hero who will be hit hard by the nerfs. She had her freeze charges introduced in Season 5, but they will be removed, with Dawson explaining the reason behind the team’s decision: “On those reverts to Mei, it’s important to recognize when a swath of changes isn’t resulting in improved gameplay,” he explained. “Our goal of trying to reintroduce some of her previous mini-game to her primary fire was a good one, but it resulted in a hero that was more frustrating to play against – especially from a Tank point of view – and wasn’t clearly more engaging or effective to play.”
It seems that Blizzard is finally taking into account the lamentations of the Overwatch 2 community seriously, but time will tell if what the company does will have the desired effect.
