- Tracer received a crucial visual effect update in the game’s newest patch
- However, it makes it easier for other players to track her at close ranges
- This will negatively impact the hero’s performance
Tracer has always relied on her speed to keep herself hard to track, but a recent visual update brings an end to this, to the detriment of the hero.
Tracer Receives Unusual Nerf
Overwatch 2’s most recent patch has arrived and with it come a lot of changes, including various tweaks on its heroes. Usually, these Blizzard informs fans of these adjustments through a myriad of posts on social media. Buffs and nerfs are easily quantifiable, as they tend to be slight tweaks to numbers, the addition or removal of mechanics or interactions, and other such changes that are easily communicated to the player base.
However, not all nerfs are created equal end some are even an unintended consequence of other changes. This seems to be the case with Tracer, who recently got a major “quality of life” change in the most recent patch. It’s about a visual change to the way her dash is read by players, but this might have unintentionally nerfed the hero.
Tracer is a speedy hero, relying on this as her core gameplay mechanic. Her dash has a characteristic visual effect when she uses it, making it difficult for other players to see where she is going. However, the way the newest Overwatch update changed this effect makes it far easier for players to understand where Tracer is dashing to, allowing them to easily cut her off or lead a shot. The new visual effect change is very visible at close range.
How Could This Negatively Impact Tracer
Before the update, Tracer wasn’t too difficult to track from afar. However, due to her previous visual effect of the dash, she was almost impossible to trace at close ranges. Players were required to turn so quickly at such drastic angles makes it difficult to keep her in their sights. Tracer mains used this extensively to keep themselves alive, a crucial mechanic, considering the hero has the smallest health pool in the game at 150 and is extremely fragile.
Now that players are able to more easily track Tracer, the hero’s effectiveness is effectively hit quite a lot. Although Tracer always needed more skillful gameplay to take advantage of her speed, players maining her would now have a more difficult time. There is the possibility that Blizzard intentionally changed her visual effects in order to make it easier for players to keep track of the situation in chaotic team fights.However, one hero that Blizzard unintentionally broke with Overwatch 2’s latest update is Doomfist. His block ability is completely broken now, making Doomfist almost unplayable against certain heroes.
