The latest significant change that came to Overwatch was on August 13. On this patch (patch 1.39.1.0), Sigma was officially introduced into Overwatch, ultimate costs were increased, and several other key changes were made to heroes like Brigitte, Reinhardt and Symmetra.
But, since that point, no significant changes have come to Overwatch and players are caught in a game filled with shields and beams that are in need of some desperate adjustments. Because it has both been a while since any changes and the game is in a state that seems imbalanced, it’s time to theorize what patch changes may be on the horizon for patch notes 1.40.
Heroes Needing Nerfs
Sigma
Overall, Sigma was introduced to the game a bit too powerful for his own good. This was great, on the one hand, because players got to utilize the new hero in a meaningful way from the beginning, but it has been unfortunate to see just how much a Sigma can dominate a match.
What makes him so powerful is how rounded his kit is. He has a shield, a stun ability and a way to absorb damage when his shield is down. At best, Reinhardt and Orisa have two of those three elements. So, to adjust Sigma, hit kit needs to be pretty severely nerfed. Here is one suggestion that could help balance Sigma, while still keeping him a viable hero:
Experimental Barrier: 1500 health down to 1000 health
Kinetic Grasp: 13 second cooldown up to 15 seconds
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Orisa
The other reason that the shield meta is so prevalent right now is due to how strong Orisa is. Her consistent barriers mixed with her ability to resist crowd control and halt enemies make her a handful to get past, especially as a defender.
She doesn’t need much adjusting, as too much may plummet her back into irrelevance, but here are some potential changes that could keep her in the meta.
Fortify: Duration down from 4 seconds to 3 seconds
Protective Barrier: Cooldown increased from 9 seconds to 10 seconds
Reaper
The third and final hero that needs some adjusting is Reaper. The dual-wielding DPS has slowly crept into a powerful position in just about any situation, with Control points being especially deadly. Heroes like Reaper and Mei seem to be more situationally powerful right now, while Reaper just seems altogether too strong.
Here are some changes that would help reduce his ability to dominate backlines without much required coordination on behalf of the team.
The Reaping: Healing down from 40% of damage dealt to 30%
Heroes Needing Buffs
Soldier: 76
Since long ago in the days of double hitscan dive, Soldier: 76 has been relatively unused in most Overwatch metas. He’s by far the most vanilla character in Overwatch, outside of maybe Widowmaker, but he still needs to be more viable than he currently is.
With how strong shields are right now, here is a small change that could bring Overwatch’s most honest hero back to the forefront and make him just a bit more mobile.
Helix Rockets: Now do double damages to shields (240 damage on direct hit)
Sprint: Increase from +50% to +60%
Ashe
Ashe is a hero that has never really been viable in the meta. She debuted with the opposite problem as Sigma, where she came into the game as one of the worst heroes. In order to make her more viable vs someone like McCree or Widowmaker, Ashe needs to have the more niche elements of her kit see a boost. Here’s a sample of what that could look like.
Dynamite: Area of Effect increased from 5 to 7 meter radius
Coach Gun: Damage per pellet increased from 6 to 8 (up from 90 to 120 per shot)
Tracer
For a game that markets its posterchild hero so much, she sees a very small amount of playtime outside of a traditional dive meta. The issue is, even if the game reverts back to dive, there are now so many viable options in Sombra and Doomfist. Even in her best meta, Tracer could struggle to get usage. That is an issue. To help remedy that, some very small tweaks could be made.
Recall: Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 11
Pulse Bomb: Ultimate cost reduced from 1260 to 1160.
Overall, these changes come as pure speculation based on what heroes are strongest in the current meta. For a list of those heroes, be sure to check out our September 2019 Overwatch Tier List, and stay tuned to all of the other Overwatch related content here, at The Game Haus.
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