Overwatch 2 Season 8 upcoming Hero balance: Tank buffs, Ultimate changes, and more

Blizzard Entertainment released a new developer blog for Overwatch 2 on their official website, which teases the Hero balance changes that will be implemented in the upcoming season. While the patch notes are yet to be released, the blog hints at how some Tank Heroes in Overwatch 2 will be receiving much-needed buffs.

Heroes like Winston, though popular in pro-play, have fallen out of the meta in OW2. Especially since Season 6, dive heroes, in general, have not enjoyed their share of gameplay due to the oppressive nature of crowd control effects and the relentless power creep of the Support Class Heroes.

Below, players will find a detailed brief on all the changes teased by developers for the upcoming season of Overwatch 2.

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All Tank Hero changes coming to Overwatch 2 Season 8

Overwatch season 8 changes byu/PizzaGuyFrank inOverwatch

Tanks in Overwatch 2 have the sole purpose of creating space and denying enemy teams the same. With Tanks like Winston, Doomfist, and Ramattra being instantly shredded by an Assault Configuration Bastion, it can be safe to say that these Heroes have not had a fun time in the past two seasons.

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Doomfist

Doomfist will now regenerate 75 health per second for the duration of his Ultimate Ability, Meteor Strike. It will only be in effect so long he stays in the air. Naturally, to balance this mechanic out, the developers have further implemented an increased Ultimate Charge duration and requirement as compensation.

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Ramattra

Ramattra's base form is quite underwhelming for a Tank. Barely having any impact without his Nemesis, heroes like Bastion, Reaper, and others can simply maul him down with little to no effort.

To counter this, the developers have transitioned 100 HP from his base form into armor. Furthermore, his Void Accelerator's projectile size and damage have been increased a few fold to make his presence more endearing on the battlefield.

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Winston

Winston is receiving a quality-of-life update and can now penetrate damage through armor while using his primary weapon, the Tesla Cannon.

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All Damage Hero changes coming to Overwatch 2 Season 8

Tracer

Tracer is seeing a slight buff to her Pulse Pistols. Her weapons had been nerfed to counteract a bug that allowed players to deal full damage even beyond her effective range. With the bug now dealt with, Tracer will now deal 6 damage per shot instead of 5.5 damage.

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Sombra

Since her rework, Sombra has seen a fair bit of playtime and has been quite a hot topic of debate. The developers believe that her Ultimate ability has been quite lackluster in contrast to the rest of her kit, and it will be adjusted in the upcoming Seasonal update.

The newly balanced EMP will raise the ability lockout time of her EMP by 1.5 to 3 seconds and reduce the damage it does from 30% to 25% of maximum health.

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All Support Hero changes coming to Overwatch 2 Season 8

Brigitte

Brigitte has been seeing quite an increase in playtime in Season 7. She has taken the spot for being the best-performing Support Hero for the previous Season. To balance out the Hero in anticipation of a power creep, her Whipshot's increased damage has been reverted.

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Baptiste

Baptiste's primary fire ammo will be reduced from 45 to 36 to balance out his overwhelming damage potential. Baptiste has been a dominant force in the higher ranks, and his untapped potential was showcased throughout the Overwatch 2 World Cup 2023. These nerfs will ensure he sticks better to his role of being a Support Hero.

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What are the Ultimate changes for Overwatch 2 Season 8?

The Ultimate economy for all Heroes will be adjusted with the upcoming Season, as commented by Game Director Aaron Keller. The amount of Ultimate charge retained when swapping heroes will be lowered from 25% to 15%. This change is targeted toward the constant counter-swapping issue that plagues the entire competitive ladder.

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