It’s already been confirmed that Kiriko will be the first support to be added to Overwatch in three years. There are also changes to the game including a new Battle Pass system to replace the controversial loot boxes from Overwatch. Blizzard has recently posted a blog that reveals more changes to the game. These changes are based on the feedback given by players during the public beta test and are related to balancing the abilities of heroes. The changes will come via a pre-launch patch for Overwatch 2.
Change to Ultimates and new DPS Passive
When players change heroes during a match, 30% of their ultimate charge will be refunded back to the hero. This change was initially implemented for DPS heroes only but was later changed because of the feedback given by the community. Here’s what the devs had to say about the changes: We’re curious to see how long it takes for players to adapt to these changes. The devs admit that players rarely swap heroes mid-game. Initially, the devs wanted to implement the change to DPS heroes only. To make up for this, they’ve have added a new passive skill where DPS heroes gain a 25% reload speed bonus as well as faster movement speed for 2.5 seconds after every elimination. It doesn’t stack following multiple kills but each score does reset the cooldown timer. The devs believe that this is the “right balance of rewarding players who perform well in the Damage role without being overpowered.” They will experiment on the buff in later seasons to shake up the meta.
Player specific changes
The two new heroes, Junker Queen and Sojourn, will be nerfed when OW2 launches. Junker Queen’s ultimate Commanding Shout will have the healing bonus reduced from 100 to 50 while the duration is lowered from 5 to 3 seconds. The cooldown of the ability has been increased from 11 to 15 seconds. Meanwhile, Sojourn’s rail gun will gain less energy from shooting non-player objects such as shields and turrets. The energy gain will be reduced to 50% when firing at objects. On the other hand, Orisa will receive a buff of 25 points for both health and armor, raising them from 250 to 275. Her Energy Javelin’s cooldown will also go from 8 to 6 seconds. In addition to this, D.Va will have her Boosters impact damage increased from 10 to 25 and her micro missiles will have their cooldowns reduced from 8 to 7 seconds. The cost of her Call Mech ultimate will be reduced by 12%. Brigitte’s Inspire ability cooldown will be reduced from 6 to 5 seconds. Baptiste will have his Bionic Launcher primary fire damage increased from 24 to 25 while the minimum fall-off range has also increased from 20 to 25 meters. Bastion’s Ironclad passive is now back after it was removed during OW2 beta. Reaper’s shotgun will have its spread reduced from 8 to 7 degrees. Sombra will have her hack ability lockout duration increased from 1 to 1.75 seconds. Lastly, Mercy’s Guardian Angel mechanic has been fixed. Pressing crouch during Guardian Angel will automatically launch the player up. Pressing crouch while in flight will activate Angelic Descent. Players can test out these changes once Overwatch 2 launches. Overwatch servers will be down on October 2 to prepare them for transition to OW2.
