Support Improvements & Planned Balance Changes | Developer Blog #2

This is a summary of the Support Changes and planned Balance patches for Overwatch 2 from the second Developer Blog. Read on to learn about the result of changes made when playing support as well as what developers have planned for the future.

General Updates

Support Improvements and New Balance Plans

In their latest blog, developers have noted the improvements to support characters like Zenyatta and Ana with the recent patches. In addition to this, they note improved queue times and higher death rates among support and tank heroes!

Official Developer Blog #2

Support Improvements

All-Around Improvement for Zenyatta

With the additional health, Zenyatta received a higher pick rate as well as an improved win rate of 5%! With this improvement has come a reduction in his death rate of 7% and positive feedback of better efficiency in kills.

Ana Still Popular Despite Lower Win Rate

While Ana did receive an increased Biotic Rifle uptime and an unchanged healing output, she also received a 2% decrease in win rate due to the decrease in the duration of her Biotic Grenade.

Despite this, she is still a popular hero among players!

Queue Time Improvements

Players Spend Less Time Waiting for Matches

After the previous patch, players have had a 48% decrease in wait time per match! The Beta queue times are faster than the current 6v6 queues!

This does spell out some positive possibilities for future updates!

Death Rates

Support and Tank Heroes Die More Frequently

At present, Support and Tank heroes are dying more often from the lack of another tank character and the major changes to character toolkits.

This goes as high as 15% more deaths, especially in higher rank games. Developers plan to implement better tools and adjustments for Support characters in ways like Lucio and Moira, who have gained better mobility but stress that they do not want to rely on mobility alone.

Plans for New Balance Patches

Moira

In the current Beta, Moira has had no changes in performance. But, there are considerations for increased utility, and balanced damage and healing.

Mercy

Over time, many players have learned to maximize Mercy's verticality. It is a goal for future patches that this becomes more accessible to all players. So, players can expect some changes in mobility for Mercy over time.

Junkrat and Symmetra

In the current meta, these two characters have been left somewhat adrift in the new single tank team composition. Moving forward, they will be looking at better rewarding Junkrat's hits and differentiating Symmetra from characters such as Mei.

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List of All Developer Updates