As predicted earlier this month, a round of Overwatch 2 nerfs are inbound with the next update, due out November 15, Blizzard says. The hero balance changes are mainly aimed at helping keep the FPS game’s support characters alive, with nerfs to high-impact heroes like Sombra, Genji, and D.Va that will make it tougher for them to get at the opposing team’s back line.
The changes in the November 15 update include:
Sombra
- Hack ability lockout duration reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds
- Hacked enemies are no longer valid targets for hacking for the duration of the effect
- Hacked damage multiplier reduced from 40% to 25%
Genji
- Maximum ammo reduced from 30 to 24
- Shuriken damage reduced from 29 to 27
Zarya
- Barrier duration reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds
- Barrier cooldown increased from 10 to 11 seconds
D.Va
- Fusion cannon spread increased from 3.5 to 3.75
- Boosters impact damage reduced from 25 to 15
Kiriko
- Swift step invulnerability duration reduced from 0.4 to 0.25 seconds
Lead hero designer Alec Dawson explained the design team’s approach to each of the changes in a Twitter Space held October 28.
Sombra, he explained, has been lethally effective at getting to the back lines of opposing teams where she can wreak havoc on their supports. The team also wanted to cut back on her ability for “chain hacking”, and thus have prevented hacked targets from being re-targetable for the duration of the hack.
The design team has seen “just a little bit too much burst damage” out of Genji lately, which has also had the effect of making life tough on support players.
“We want to bring him in line with the other flankers,” Dawson said. “I think these numbers should do that – bring him more in line with the Reapers of the world.”
The nerf to new hero Kiriko’s invulnerability window after using her swift step ability is more about preventing confusion than rebalancing the character. Dawson says players have been a bit confused seeing the ability in action:”Hey, Kiriko teleported into a Reaper ult, and then didn’t die, what happened there?” he said.
Kiriko’s invulnerability window is staying around to prevent players from teleporting into instead death in someone’s ultimate, Dawson says, but the reduction should make it feel (and look) more natural.
Dawson says the team is currently looking at Doomfist and Sojourn for possible adjustments based on both player feedback and match data.
Check out our Overwatch 2 tier list for a rundown of the best characters to play as right now.