I can attest to that. That annoying double barrier comp
isn’t as common as it used to be, but it’s true that
Overwatch fights often consist of two confusing blobs of
colourful characters huddling behind a barrier and
shooting at each other. Taking away a single character on
both teams doesn’t sound like a monumental change (I
was sceptical at first, too), but a single tank setup has
some immediately noticeable effects. No option for a
double shield comp is the most obvious. I’ve already
noticed this encourages players to spread out more and
use cover to avoid threats. There are
also fewer large bodies on screen, so
it’s easier to focus on a single target.
THINK TANK
Once Blizzard decided 5v5 was the
direction for Overwatch 2, it began the
process of tweaking and reworking
heroes to make sense on a rebalanced
team. Unsurprisingly, that meant
changing a lot of the game’s eight tanks.
“We are definitely tweaking the tank role to be a bit
more aggressive,” Goodman said. The goal is for every
Tank to feel “brawlier” and more capable of doing the job
that they’ve had all along – escorting the team through
chokeholds, absorbing the brunt of incoming damage and
putting pressure enemies with close-to-mid-range attacks.
Orisa has seen the most dramatic rework, with a
complete kit overhaul that ditches her deployable shield
for a javelin that can skewer enemies or briefly absorb
attacks. Reinhardt, too, is now better equipped to charge
toward enemies and lob ranged Firestrike attacks into
groups. Doomfist, a melee-focused DPS hero, is switching
roles to a tank who specialises in disrupting the enemy
backline. Basically, ‘hunker down’ tanks are out and ‘lets
push forward’ tanks are in.
After hearing about the tendency for shields to bog
down Overwatch, I posed a question to Goodman: is the
game better without shields?
“To broadly answer the question, no, I don’t think
[Overwatch] is better without shields,” he said. “But
clearly it’s worse when there are too many shields.”
Goodman believes it’s not a question of if there should
be shields in the meta, but how
they’re used. He explained that
Reinhardt, for example, is an
interesting addition to the Overwatch
meta because he creates a
threatening one-directional area. He’s
powerful, but “the second you’re able
to flank the team or surround them
in some way, the shield becomes a lot
worse very quick”.
Whether or not Blizzard’s sweeping balancing changes
will be well-received in the long run is yet to be seen, but
after a few days in the beta, I’m having a good time. What
makes me nervous is what’s getting left behind – abilities,
maps, and team configurations that will disappear when
Overwatch 2 overwrites Overwatch.
I’m sad I’ll never again get to do the Reinhardt/Zarya
combo my friend and I have practiced hundreds of
times, or play in iconic Overwatch locations like Temple
of Anubis when the Assault game mode is swapped for
Push. Overwatch is entering a new era, and not
everything can come with it.
Morgan ParkNEW ERA What exactly will be in Overwatch 2?
A CAMPAIGN
The part of Overatch 2 that returning
players will actually have to pay for is the
new PvE campaign.5V
Overatch 2 moves away from the 6v
format in favour of 5v5, dropping one
Tank role from each team.PUSH MODE
Push is a new mode that will replace the
old 2CP objective maps. It’s a bit like two
concurrently moving payloads.NEW HEROES
Overatch 2’s PvP beta only features one
new hero at the moment (Sojourn), but
more are planned for the final release.LEFT: (^) New maps will
include downtown
New York and
snow-covered Torono.
ENCOURAGES
PLAYERS TO SPREAD
OUT MORE AND USE
NATURAL COVER
NEWS | OPINION | DEVELOPMENT