Blizzard's Aaron Keller discussed a number of upcoming game changes in a Director's Take blog post at the end of June, including changes to the hero balance planned for the mid-cycle patch.
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Several hero balance adjustments made during the first few weeks of Overwatch 2 season five represented philosophical shifts for Blizzard’s hero design team. The mid-cycle patch for the game, which is due out in July, is also expected to further reshape the competitive landscape.
Blizzard’s Aaron Keller discussed several upcoming game changes in a Director’s Take blog post at the end of June, including changes to the hero balance planned for the mid-cycle patch. Blizzard hasn’t formally stated when that will be, but they typically release it a month after the beginning of each season. The month-long wait for a mid-cycle patch falls exactly in the middle because seasons last for two months. In addition, players should anticipate the mid-cycle patch the following week, most likely on Tuesday, July 11, given that season five began on June 13.
The only information we currently have on the changes to hero balance in the mid-cycle patch comes from Keller’s blog post, but some of them are fairly significant and have the potential to significantly alter the meta. Keller listed a total of seven heroes whose kits will change as a result of the mid-cycle patch. The mid-cycle balance patch will be more substantial than usual thanks to “several” additional changes, which he also mentioned. This is especially true in light of the recent midseason changes to Mei, Cassidy, and Lifeweaver.
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It appears that Blizzard wants to make Sojourn’s Railgun’s spread easier to manage. Since Soldier: 76’s primary fire functions similarly, I anticipate that players will be able to lessen her spread by tapping the weapon instead of holding it down.
Last but certainly not least, Zenyatta will be getting a Nerf to his Orb of Discord. Keller didn’t give details, but he said the devs will give a “slight adjustment to weaken” the ability. The ability is the bane of every tank’s existence in Overwatch 2, and most players have strong feelings about Zenyatta because of it. Whether they think he’s overpowered or appropriately tuned, he’s been a consistent point of conversation in the community.
This small adjustment could be as straightforward as changing the numerical percentage from the damage taken debuff, but it could also involve changing another aspect, such as how long the orb remains on targets that are not in the line of sight. Either would be a nerf, but the viability of the healer would almost certainly suffer from any numerical adjustment to the percentages involved in the debuff. As a Zenyatta main, I’m not looking forward to this change at all, but I’d be totally cool if the developers changed anything besides the debuff that causes 25% more damage to be dealt with.
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Keller stated that although the team is “increasing the front-line capability” of both Reinhardt and Orisa. This makes me think that the tanks will receive somewhat more substantial shielding. Reinhardt is already armed with a reasonably effective shield. Although he can do nothing while shielding, the developers may be considering increasing the health of his shield to make him more useful than other shielding tanks like Sigma and Ramattra.
Blizzard wants to divert attention from these two heroes’ turrets. Due to how heavily centered their kits have been on the things that they construct, both historically have been relatively niche choices that have never really become a staple in any meta.
Blizzard, according to Keller, is concentrating more of their power “into the rest of their kit and away from their turrets.” They might be more adaptable in more circumstances as a result, but I’m a little worried that this might not always be a good thing. He didn’t say that Blizzard would eliminate those abilities; rather, he said that power would be diverted from them. Outside of a few specific circumstances, those turret abilities weren’t particularly potent, to begin with.
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