Overwatch 2 needs to fix its heroes before the official release

The Overwatch 2 PvP beta is still currently underway till 17 May 2022.

While it has some tweaks to heroes like Doomfist and Orisa for its updated 5v5 gameplay, there are still some teething problems that need to be addressed before the final release of the game, if the devs want it to be a palatable experience for newcomers and old fans of the series alike.

Activision Blizzard seems to be aware of the problems according to their latest developer update blog post, but we feel like the problems go far beyond what is discussed in the post.

A lot of the heroes in Overwatch were made and balanced to compete in a 6v6 environment in the original. The shift to the 5v5 meta requires much more than a tweak to some of these heroes abilities.

The problem with Tank heroes

Some tanks like Roadhog and Wrecking Ball were meant to be off-tanks, a term coined for tanks that were used to support a main tank like Reinhardt.

They have numerous tools that were meant to go in and disrupt the gameplay of the enemy team, and have a different playstyle than your average main tank with a shield.

One may argue that Overwatch 2 promotes aggressive play that is beneficial to the likes of Wrecking Ball and the now newly tuned Doomfist (who is currently tweaked to be a tank) due to their mobility, but then it also leaves slow moving tanks like Reinhardt and Roadhog much less effective in this current meta.

Although Reinhardt now has two charges for his Fire Strike ability, this barely cancels out the fact that he is mostly a short-ranged, close-quarter hero.

Meanwhile, Roadhog seems to be the hero that suffers the most in this new format, only having his hook to pull in one enemy at a time, and having absolutely no crowd control unless he has his ultimate.

The problem with DPS heroes

While some of the tanks have the problem of being non-effective, some of the DPS heroes have the problem of being too effective, so much that it drowns out the rest of the cast.

Some DPS heroes also have tools and ultimates that can instantly wipe out five heroes, especially when four of these heroes are squishy, with one fewer tank to absorb the damage.

Genji can instantly wipe an enemy team due to how mobile and damaging his ultimate is, compared to a DPS like Widowmaker, for example.

Granted, the beauty of Overwatch is being able to switch heroes at the drop of a dime to counter the enemy's team composition, but with the more aggressive playstyle that Overwatch 2 has, some utility from heroes like Widowmaker makes absolutely no sense anymore, and further tweaks need to be done to ensure that these heroes remain a viable pick.

The problem with Support heroes

Blizzard is also aware that the support heroes need some tweaking.

Having one fewer tank to heal also makes it longer for these support heroes to acquire an ultimate charge.

At this moment, playing a healer isn't fun at all.

Not only do you have trouble getting as much ultimate charge as possible, you are also extremely vulnerable without any extra ways to defend yourself due to the fact that there is one fewer tank to hide behind, and their abilities are not tweaked to be more self-defensive.

Blizzard did increase the health regeneration for all the support heroes, but it doesn't seem to matter if you get burst down instantly by a DPS hero.

Also, due to the more aggressive style of the 5v5 meta, heroes like Moira, Zenyatta and Baptiste have an upper hand because of the fact they can continuously deal damage and defend themselves while healing.

But even then, without the additional tank to protect you and absorb the damage, the support heroes are easily squished if they get targeted.

It's still a beta, after all

Blizzard did say in the blog post that there will be tweaks coming to the overall gameplay and hero balance before the game launches.

Hopefully, these areas of hero balance are improved on before the final release of the game.

This is, after all, a beta that Blizzard is using to test the the 5v5 gameplay and also the new game modes.

We at Yahoo Gaming SEA are definitely looking forward to see what other changes and improvements Blizzard will be bringing to the upcoming updates of Overwatch 2.

Dominic loves tech and games. When he is not busy getting headshotted in VALORANT or watercooling anything he sees, he does some pro wrestling.

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