Overwatch 2’s Latest Patch Buffs Tanks, Nerfs Damage Heroes

Overwatch 2 Season 6, AKA Invasion, is upon us, and with it, the new support hero Illari and a new game mode called Flashpoint. While the aforementioned new arrivals are exciting additions to the team-based hero shooter, any seasoned Overwatch player knows the real question is whether or not its tandem patch update will nerf your main into the ground or elevate them to new heights. If you’re a tank main, this patch is what you’ve been waiting for. Damage players, not so much.

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Tank heroes got buffed overall

Doomfist, a tank that Overwatch 2’s developers acknowledged has been seeing more deaths on average compared to his fellow tanks, had his survivability increased, along with his seismic slam cooldown being reduced from 7 to 6 seconds and his power block reducing damage from explosive projectiles regardless of what direction he’s facing when hit.

The cooldown on D.Va’s boosters has been reduced from 4 to 3.5 seconds, meaning she’ll be able to bully stragglers on the enemy team even harder. And she is now immune to damage while ejecting out of her exploding mech for 0.4 seconds. While those seconds might seem insignificant on paper, that slim window of time means enemy combatants can’t damage her with a quick melee attack before a D.Va main like myself can collect their bearings and take control of a “baby D.Va.”

Here’s every other tank change:

Orisa

• Fusion Driver damage falloff range increased from 15 to 20 meters
• Bonus health from Fortify increased from 75 to 125

Ramattra

• Block now reduces damage from explosive projectiles
• His ultimate now costs an additional 12 per cent to fully charge

Sigma

• His base movement deceleration increased, so he’s less flat when knocked back

Winston

• His Tesla Canon’s recharge time has been reduced from 1.2 to 1 second, and his recovery time has increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds. Basically, he’s a juiced monkey.

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The attack heroes who got nerfed

While tank characters experienced an overall buff this season, attack characters were somewhat nerfed this time around. That is, unless you’re a Bastion main. Bastion got a lot of changes. So much so that my brain whirls just trying to compute how many bells and whistles this bird-loving bot can now use to wipe me off the map. Here’s a list of his changes that might make sense to Bastion mains:

A-36 Tactical Grenade

• Maximum explosion damage falloff was reduced from 70 per cent to 50 per cent
• Detonation time was reduced from 0.5 to 0.35 seconds
• Recoil adjusted so it recovers quicker
• The projectile size of bullets increased from 0.2 to 0.25
• Impact damage increased from 15 to 30 (holy shit)

Configuration Recon

• His reload time was reduced from 1.5 to 1.2 seconds, so he’s a lil faster now.

Configuration Assault

• Transforming into Configuration Assault mode now repairs 50 of his armour health

Configuration Artillery

• His targeting state movement speed increased from 20 to 25 meters per second

Cassidy’s health has increased from 200 to 225. His Peacekeeper damage was also reworked, making its damage falloff happen at 25 to 35 meters, and his Magnetic Grenade got its distance reduced as well to make him more of a mid-range hero.

You can no longer preserve your Storm Bow’s draw strength while wall climbing as Hanzo because it “often resulted in some frustrating behaviour for enemy players” according to developers. They never outright say what that behaviour is, which leads me to believe that it’s ‘being tilted.’

Sombra’s ultimate now costs an additional 15 per cent to fully charge because developers say her EMP frequency has been “a little too high,” and it will no longer cancel out Lifeweaver’s ult, Tree of Life.

Soldier 76’s Helix Rockets (those things players panic use to kill their opposition with ease) have had their damage reduced from 90 to 80 and his ultimate now costs an additional 10 percent to fully charge.

Torbjorn’s weapon swap time is slightly faster (0.5 to 0.4 seconds), and his recovery time from his Forge Hammer has been reduced (0.75 to 0.6 seconds). Additionally, the recovery time of his Rivet Gun has been reduced slightly, too (0.55 to 0.48 seconds), to make up for his turret damage being decreased.

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Support heroes got a bit of both

If you’re wondering what has become of my support characters, their updates are a bit of a mixed bag. Here are their changes:

Ana

• Her Biotic Riffle damage and healing have been reduced from 75 to 70
• Her unscoped projectile size has been slightly reduced from 0 to 0.1 to help you heal allies and damage enemies

Brigitte

• Her Barrier Shield’s health went from 300 to 250
• Her ultimate, Rally, now costs an additional six per cent to be ready to use

Kiriko

• She no longer has knockback when she uses Protection Suzu
• Her healing has been reduced from 50 to 40
• She now heals an additional 30 of health when she’s having a teammate’s negative effects like poisons and whatnot
• Her kunai damage increased from 40 to 45
• Kunai recovery time reduced from 0.55 to 0.5 seconds
• Kunai critical damage multiplier has been nerfed from 3 to 2.5

Lifeweaver

• His health reduced from 200 to 175, but this shield health has gone from 0 to 50
• The spread of his Torn Valley projectiles has been reduced by 25 per cent
• The healing from his Rejuvenating Dash has increased from 25 to 50 HP
• Life Grip duration has increased from 0.45 to 0.75 seconds.
• His ultimate, Tree of Life, now has 50 per cent of its haling converted into Overhealth.

Lucio

• His self-heal with Amp It Up no longer has a penalty, which means he can survive longer while you wallride on the point to keep overtime alive.

Mercy

• Damage boost was reduced from 30 to 25 per cent, so pocket-boosting nice teammates will no longer be as effective.