Overwatch 2 is ready to enter into its seventh season and we just had the first peak at the upcoming changes. The changes include balance changes along with a few reworks to existing heroes. Zarya, Illari, Sombra, and Roadhog will be receiving changes that will drop on the 10th of October.
Why does Overwatch 2 release developer updates?
Blizzard has a tradition for games where they save the biggest update for the start of each season, along with another mid-season update that matches the feedback of the community. To ensure that the players are on board with the patches and the reasoning behind the changes, they always release the developer’s insight into the update.
The developer update will explain the thinking process and the reasoning that went into it before the rework was implemented. For example, we learned last season that the primary goal of adding new heroes is to bring a spark of change to the current meta and playstyles. A hero release or rework should always bring about a shift in viability or else they regard it as a failed implementation.
It’s good to know that Blizzard isn’t a fan of mindlessly changing the numbers in-game to break or make a character. The end goal is to ensure that all heroes are viable and fun to play for the most part.
What are the Overwatch 2 hero reworks?
Sombra is an agile and swift hacker known for her elusiveness. Blizzard hasn’t released the exact changes that will be done to her, but we do know the expected result of the changes. The developers want to improve the player’s ability to commit towards engagement when using Sombra. This is mostly due to the character having a low-damage primary weapon. They also want to preserve the unique hacker-like characteristic of Sombra whilst improving the “active feel” of her kit. We believe this means that the developers want to transform Sombra into both a proactive and reactive character.
Broadhog is a tank who excels at positioning and protecting his teammates. The upcoming hero rework aims to preserve the hero’s unique playstyle by keeping his hook and heal. But there will be changes that will allow Broadhog to better zone off enemies and claim more territory.
Illari is a support hero in Overwatch 2 who spends most of her time healing her allies and providing crucial backup to her teammates. Both the developers and the community felt that the hero lacked the grasp to fully commit to her role within a composition. Therefore, the new changes will aim to increase the healing potential of Illari’s secondary fire.
As of now, these are the changes that are teased by the Overwatch 2 developers. We do have news that there are changes to both Orisa and Torbjorn, but the information is still too vague to bring out. We’ll be releasing more news on the subject as the developers proceed to fully unveil the upcoming changes over the next few weeks.
