Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller talked about the upcoming Lifeweaver buffs, Cassidy nerf, Sombra rework, and more.
Ahead of the next Overwatch 2 season, game director Aaron Keller shared some of the biggest balance changes that will arrive in the game. He went into Lifeweaver and armor damage updates alongside an Overwatch 2 Sombra rework plus changes to Cassidy, Torbjorn, Soldier: 76, Orisa, Kiriko, Mercy, Ramattra, Doomfist, and Bastion. Read on for the breakdown and details.
Lifeweaver buffs in Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 Invasion will unleash a new support character alongside changes to the current support heroes. According to Keller, there will be a continued focus on Lifeweaver. Particularly, part of his Tree of Life ultimate's healing will become Overhealth. Lifeweaver will receive increased healing from Rejuvenating Dash as well. Additionally, some of his health will be converted into shields.
- Lifeweaver buffs
- More survivability
- Part of Tree of Life's healing converted into Overhealth
- Converting some of his health to shields
- Increased healing done by Rejuvenating Dash
Cassidy gets Magnetic Grenade nerf
Next, Cassidy's Magnetic Grenade will get nerfed. Its maximum range will have a maximum travel time of 1.5 seconds. Moreover, the cowboy will receive changes to his damage falloff and a health buff.
Meanwhile, Torbjorn's primary fire will shoot at a faster rate. His weapon swamp will also be sped up. As fMeanwhile, Torbjorn's primary fire will shoot at a faster rate. His weapon swamp will also be sped up. As for Soldier: 76, his Helix Rocket damage will decrease while his ultimate will cost a bit more. In terms of Orisa, Fortify will grant 125 bonus health and the beginning of her damage falloff will be extended a bit.
Here's the overview of these changes:
- Cassidy
- Magnetic Grenade gets 1.5-second maximum travel time
- Changes to damage falloff
- Health buff
- Torbjorn
- Increased damage potential of his primary fire
- Faster weapon swap for keeping his turret up
- Soldier: 76
- Reduced Helix Rocket damage
- Slight increase on the cost of his ultimate
- Orisa
- Fortify ability grants 125 bonus health
- Start of damage falloff slightly extended
Overwatch 2 Sombra rework and more
Meanwhile, Kiriko's Protection Suzu will heal less. However, if its cleanse is activated, then it will do some additional healing. The knockback on Protection Suzu will be removed as well. As for Mercy, she'll get a damage boost nerf from 30% to 25%.
Next, Sombra will get some small changes in Season 6, but her rework will debut in Season 7. Finally, Ramattra and Doomfist's blocks will reduce struck damage while Bastion's kit will feel more fluid and increase Tactical Grenade's potential.
Below is the breakdown of these updates:
- Kiriko
- Protection Suzu heals slightly less
- Additional burst of healing if it cleanses a negative effect
- Slight knockback removed
- Protection Suzu heals slightly less
- Mercy
- 30% to 25% damage boost reduction
- Sombra
- A few small changes
- Larger rework in Season 7
- New ability in Season 7
- Ramattra
- Blocks reduce struck damage
- Doomfist
- Blocks reduce struck damage
- Bastion
- Improved kit fluidity
- Increased potential for his Tactical Grenade
Armor changes affecting Orisa and Ramattra
In terms of armor changes, the calculation for it will be updated. It will mostly affect Orisa and Ramattra.
"Armor damage reduction is now additive with other sources of damage reduction and respects the current cap of 50%," Keller explained. "It used to be multiplicative with damage reduction from abilities, creating situations where certain heroes were much more difficult to damage than intended since they were bypassing the damage reduction cap. This shouldn’t be a big change and will mostly affect Ramattra and Orisa."
That's all for now. Are you ready for the new season? Stay tuned on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news and updates!