Overwatch 2 Hero Balance Patch — Is Overwatch 2 Actually Balanced?
Blizzard has released a hotfix for Overwatch 2 in an attempt to keep heroes balanced. Here are the full February 21 patch notes or Overwatch 2.
The latest patch was a hotfix that included tweaks to many heroes, including Zarya getting a damage increase, Widowmaker getting a longer range before her damage falls off, Lucio's projectile size being reduced, and Zenyatta's base health shrinking.
Overall, it's not the biggest patch to exist but it will be noticeable to some players that main particular heroes.
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Is Overwatch 2 Balanced?
Ever since Overwatch 2 introduced five-hero teams with just one tank, the community has been torn about the game's balance and strategy.
The thing is, however, Overwatch 2 isn't about balance. At least, not in the same sense as you'd discuss balance in Call of Duty or VALORANT. While Overwatch 2 is a shooter, the game has heroes with a wide range of abilities that won't always mesh together perfectly. For this reason, certain combinations will be more powerful than others and certain strategies will always work better than others.
Every hero counters another and also has counters. This means there will always be an answer to your hero or an answer to an enemy that's getting on your nerves. Instead of having perfect balance, Overwatch 2 is instead about teamwork, communication, and team compositions. You need to work with each other to find a group of heroes that works for you and then play to their strengths. You may even need to change heroes and strategies based on what the team is doing.
As of spring of 2023, Overwatch 2 was considered the most balanced it's ever been. This claim goes up and down as months go on, but Overwatch 2 is largely considered pretty balanced — at least for a game of this nature.
Instead, players should be focusing on an individual hero's viability. If a hero doesn't fit into the meta at all and has no instances where they will make an impact or be worth playing, that's when the developers attempt to make some changes. In the right hands, every hero should have maps, comps, or moments where they can do something.
Overwatch 2 February 21 Patch Notes
Here are the full patch notes:
HERO CHANGES - TANK
D.Va
- Light Gun
- Base projectile size reduced from 0.25 to 0.2 meters. Total projectile size is now 0.3 meters.
Roadhog
- Take a Breather
- Damage reduction increased from 40 to 50%.
Zarya
- Particle Cannon
- Primary fire minimum damage increased from 85 to 95 damage per second.
- Primary fire maximum damage increased from 170 to 190 damage per second.
HERO CHANGES - DPS
Hanzo
- Base projectile sizes reduced from 0.1 to 0.075 meters. Total projectile size is now 0.175 meters.
Junkrat
- Concussion Mine
- Cooldown decreased from 8 to 7 seconds.
- Maximum damage increased from 110 to 120.
- Minimum damage increased from 20 to 55.
Soldier 76
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- Heavy Pulse Rifle
- Now uses the smaller 0.05 meter hitscan projectile size modifier. Total projectile size is now 0.05 meters.
Tracer
- Pulse Pistols
- Minimum falloff range reduced from 12 to 10.
Widowmaker
- Widow's Kiss
- Now uses the smaller 0.05 meter hitscan projectile size modifier. Total projectile size is now 0.05 meters.
- Scoped shot damage falloff min-max range increased from 40-60 to 50-70 meters.
HERO CHANGES - SUPPORT
Illari
- Healing Pylon
- Cooldown decreased from 8 to 6 seconds.
- Cooldown when destroyed by enemies decreased from 15 to 12 seconds.
- Captive Sun
- Sunstruck explosion damage increased from 100 to 160.
- Sunstruck explosion now has damage falloff again, reducing damage by up to 25%.
Lucio
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- Sonic Amplifier
- Base projectile size reduced from 0.15 to 0.1 meters. Total projectiles size is now 0.25 meters.
Mercy
- Caduceus Blaster
- Base projectile size reduced from 0.25 to 0.2 meters. Total projectile size is now 0.3 meters.
Zenyatta
- Base health decreased from 100 to 75.
- Snap Kick
- Knockback decreased 25%.
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats. Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!