With the release of Season 9: Champions, Overwatch 2 has seen a significant overhaul to many systems and a massive list of balance changes. Overwatch 2 was critiqued for often being too deathmatch-like, with less focus on teamwork, which made Overwatch different from the rest when it was first released.
One Big Collaboration Would Be a Logical Progression for Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 has been enjoying some high-profile and successful collaborations recently, perfectly setting up the game for its next big crossover.
With the recent changes, Blizzard hasn’t brought 6v6, but they have made many other changes that massively help remedy a few pain points players have commonly voiced, such as a bizarre competitive system, the overbearing nature of one-shot Heroes like Sojourn and Hanzo, and the developers have shifted the power balance to be more equal between roles.
5 New Champion Rank
The New Rank Provides A Goal For The Best Players
One of the more interesting changes is the addition of the all-new Champion rank. Champion can be found above Grandmaster and replaces GM as the top rank for players to shoot for. While it may not be as accessible as the recent Twitch Drops for a Legendary Skin, it is a good addition for higher-ranking players to compete for. The badge also looks brilliant, which is always a bonus.
Some high-ranking players have raised concerns about how players might achieve the Champion rank and that players who reach it may play constant games rather than genuinely being ‘the best’. This issue was common for players reaching Grandmaster and even Top 500 in previous seasons, and it is not a stretch to think that Champion may suffer the same problems.
4 Pharah Rework
Pharah Has Finally Seen Some Changes To Her Playstyle
As Pharah’s character continues to be fleshed out in the comics, Blizzard finally decides to begin making her more viable on her own, as a common complaint about Pharah has been her lack of viability without Mercy. With an all-new ability that propels her horizontally, Pharah players can have a bit more maneuverability in the skies.
Overwatch 2 Concept Gives Mercy’s Controversial Lunar New Year Skin to Lifeweaver
An Overwatch 2 fan creates a Lifeweaver skin inspired by Mercy’s controversial Lunar New Year skin, which released last year.
Alongside her new ability, ‘Jet Dash, ‘ Pharah has seen some buffs to her Rocket Launcher and Concussive Blast and a rework to her Jump Jets and Hover Jets. Pharah will no longer be able to hover forever in the air and recharge her Hover Jets. Instead, she will now have to land to refuel them. This shifts Pharah from a constant aerial threat with Mercy to a niche Hero who looks to control the high ground and pressure enemies through spam or rapid horizontal movement.
3 New Ranked System
The 5-Win System Is Finally Gone
One of the longest-awaited changes arrived with Season 9, which is a rework to the profoundly flawed rank system that Overwatch 2 had. Previously, players would be unable to see their ranked progress after a game and instead had to win 5 games before they saw any change to their rank. Obviously, this was appalling to play and was widely critiqued by the community, prompting Blizzard to rework the system entirely.
With this change, every player’s rank has received a soft reset, with many having their predicted rank at the start of placement matches around two entire divisions lower. For example, if a player were Masters 3, their predicted placement at the start of their 10 placement matches would be approximately mid-Platinum. Alongside this, players can now see their rank updating after each match, with certain factors influencing how much players gain, such as an uphill battle against a higher-rated team or win streaks netting more rank progress.
2 Projectile Size Increase
Aiming Is Now Much Easier
Arguably, the most controversial change with Season 9, Blizzard has made it much easier to land shots by increasing the size of all projectiles and bullets. This change has been met with a variety of responses, with some players enjoying the lower skill floor and others finding the size increase to be too heavy-handed, reducing the potential mechanical skill expression. Overwatch 2 is often said to be one of the most demanding games to aim in, and with this change, that simply isn’t as true anymore.
Overwatch 2’s Cowboy Bebop Crossover is a Double-Edged Sword
While past collaborations in Overwatch 2 have been well-received, the upcoming Cowboy Bebop crossover for Season 9 does come with some drawbacks.
The biggest winners from this change are projectile-focused heroes such as Mei or Zenyatta and rapid-fire aim-intensive Heroes like Sojourn or Soldier: 76. These Hero types, in particular, have seen significant changes and can deal consistently high damage with relative ease. Negative feedback mostly seems to be coming from high-ranked players, meaning Blizzard may want to look at some issues, especially with the Overwatch Championship Series starting soon.
1 Health Pool Changes
Everyone Is A Bit Tankier Now
By far the most revolutionary change is the global adjustment to Hero health pools across the board. Essentially, every Support or Damage Hero has seen an HP increase of 25-50, and Tanks have seen a health increase of approximately 100, massively changing the health breakpoints for many heroes. A notable example is Hanzo, with his arrows now only able to one-shot Tracer and Widowmaker.
Certain Damage Heroes have become pseudo-tanks with this change, too. Heroes like Torbjörn can reach up to 400 HP with Overload, and Bastion now has 350 health, making them incredibly tough to kill. Players must focus on shooting high-priority targets as a team to compensate for these health buffs. While the projectile size increases will help, every Hero being a bit tankier will undoubtedly shake up the game in a massive way.
- Franchise
- Overwatch
- Released
- October 4, 2022
- Genre(s)
- Shooter
