Your main is safe: No Overwatch 2 hero balance nerfs or buffs planned just yet, says Blizzard
No imminent changes to Overwatch 2 are coming – even though some players would probably like to see them.
It's been a rough old launch week for Overwatch 2. As well as a languid and unrewarding battle pass, players have been plagued with connection issues that prevent them from even signing into the game. It's been the most Blizzard launch we've seen for some time.
If you do manage to get into the title, you'll notice that the gameplay changes (or lack thereof) remain a frequent topic of conversation amongst the Overwatch hardcore. Some are complaining that things feel too similar, whilst others are miffed that the likes of Torbjörn and Bastion got temporarily taken out of the game because they were unfairly buggy.
But, now that we've seen those initial bugs fixed, we're not expecting any more massive changes any time soon. The developer behind the title, Blizzard, noted that it isn't planning “any immediate balance changes” for any of its heroes, aside from - perhaps – a small alteration to Zarya in one mode.
“While some heroes are performing better than others, and there are differences across player skill levels, we have been happy to see that no hero’s overall power level is far out of line with our goals. Every hero on the roster has a win-rate between 45% and 55%,” the studio noted in a blog post.
If you're waiting for big changes, you're going to have to twiddle your thumbs for Season 2 – that's when Blizz notes it'll roll out any more fundamental updates. With that in mind, the developer did note it's got one eye trained on tank heroes; now there's only one slot for them, they're more important than ever. For Season 2, we may see some more top-line alterations to Zarya, Junker Queen, and Doomfist (with Genji, Sombra, Symmetra, and Torbjorn also under the microscope thanks to their higher win rates).
Blizzard has also outlined a map rotation pool for each season. This is the Season One rotation for Quick Play and Competitive in Overwatch 2:
Control
- Ilios - Evening Lighting
- Lijiang Tower - Dawn Lighting
- Oasis - Night Lighting
- Nepal - Morning Lighting
- Busan - Night Lighting
Escort
- Circuit royal – Night Lighting
- Dorado - Evening Lighting
- Route 66 - Night Lighting
- Gibraltar - Morning Lighting
- Junkertown - Morning Lighting
Hybrid
- Midtown - Morning Lighting
- King’s Row - Evening Lighting
- Eichenwalde - Evening Lighting
- Hollywood - Morning Lighting
- Paraíso - Morning Lighting
Push
- New Queen Street - Morning Lighting
- Colosseo - Evening Lighting
- Esperança - Morning Lighting
If you're playing Overwatch 2 right now, you probably miss loot boxes – I know I do. You can check out our best Overwatch 2 heroes tier list at the link.