Post-Launch Updates on Gameplay, Maps, and Competitive | Developer Blog #6

This is a summary of the Post-Launch Updates for Overwatch 2 from the sixth Developer Blog. Read on to learn about the range of changes and balance updates scheduled for gameplay, maps, and competitive in Season 2.

Hero Balance

This latest Developer Blog had 3 primary focuses: Reflections on week one performance of heroes, Potential areas for balance updates and improvements for Season 2, and addresing known bugs.
Overwatch 2 Developer Blog #6

Tank Heroes

D.Va, Zarya and Junker Queen are the top performers in the tank category, according to play data during Season 1 so far.
All Tank Heroes

D.VA

Blizzard reflected on D.Va's increased popularity and perceived dominance in the tank category, following the buffs given to her Defense Matrix and Micro Missiles. Despite these buffs leading to her increased survivability, fellow tanks, Reinhardt, Sigma and Zarya actually still lead D.Va in win percentage (53% unmirrored).
D.Va Hero Profile

Zarya

Zarya's latest buff to her Particle Barrier, where she can choose where to place both of them, is an area of concern for the Blizzard Development Team. She is able to build up energy much more quickly than previously. Hints that there may be a balance patch to Zarya in coming seasons.
Zarya Hero Profile

Junker Queen

Junker Queen was nerfed following the Overwatch 2 Beta. In this Developer Blog, the developers indicated that they are still keeping an eye on Junker Queen's performance. Indicators that they may still nerf her futher going forward.
Junker Queen Hero Profile

Doomfist

Doomfist's performance and play-rate was suggested to be under-performing compared to the rest of the tank class. In season 2 there will apparently be balance patches to buff his durability, as well as buffs to his Power Block and Meteor Strike abilities.
Doomfist Hero Profile

Damage Heroes

Blizzard indicated that the damage role passive has been benefitting certain heroes such as Genji disproportionately. In Season 2 this passive is slated to be adjusted.
List of All Damage Heroes

Genji

Genji has been over-performing in both popularity and win-percentage in the damage role. Blizzard are keeping a close eye on Genji's performance, so we may see nerfs or adjustments to him for Season 2.
Genji Hero Profile

Sombra

Sombra's Hack ability is too powerful in Season 1 of Overwatch 2. Players are said to not have enough time to react and break free once they have been hacked by Sombra. This is reportedly impacting tanks the most. Sombra is therefore slated for a balancing patch to nerf her Hack ability in Season 2.
Sombra Hero Profile

Symmetra and Torbjörn

Symmetra and Torbjörn have the highest win rates in the damage class. Blizzard regard this as a logical conclusion, as they are two of the most effective counters to Genji, who is currently over-performing. Rather than balance these two heroes, through nerfs to their abilities or stamina, Blizzard believes that nerfing Genji will naturally see a reduction in their usage and viability.

It is also worth noting that Torbjörn was affected by a bug during this season, which was doubling the efectiveness of his Overload ability. This undoubtedly had an impact on Torbjorn's win percentage as well.
Bastion and Torbjörn Removed From Play: Exploits and Bugs

Support- Kiriko!

Kiriko was stated to be the most popular hero at launch, with a play rate of 75%. This has apparently since tapered off, however Kiriko's win rate has been gradually increasing. Kiriko's healing prowess was stated to be middle of the pack, while her damage output is on the lower end, meaning these two aspects are likely not in need of an update.

Her evasiveness and speed were said to be her greatest assets, meaning this may be the area Blizzard focuses on if it is to introduce any nerfs or adjustments to Kiriko in Season 2.
Kiriko Hero Profile

Map Rotation and Updates

There will be some changes to how maps work from Season 2 of Overwatch 2. This will include rotations of maps, as well as slight modifications to returning maps each season.

Rotating Maps Each Season

Maps will be rotating every season. Some of the maps featured in the current season will fall out of rotation in the new season, being replaced by maps that were not featured that season. Maps that are not currently in rotation will still be available to select in Custom games and through the Arcade mode.

Map Updates to Returning Maps

Each time a map returns to the rotation, there may be updates made to it. This could be in the form of new areas, extra coverage points, or the expansion or shrinkage of the overall map size. One of the maps returning next season will be Rialto, which will have extra coverage points added.
List of All Maps

Competitive Updates

Faster Progression For Bronze 5 Bug Affected Players

For players who were affected by the Bronze 5 bug, Blizzard have added a patch to allow faster progress of division and tier for affected players. For competitive overall, the presentation and celebration aspects of skill tier, division and ranking up, are slated for some improvements. Blizzard also reaffirmed their overall commitment to the continued improvement of the competitive system.
Competitive Mode Explained:
All Ranks and How to Unlock

Bug Fixes

Rubber Banding

There are instances where players are experiencing rubber banding. This is where players or opponents move quickly forward and snap back to the original point again reapeatedly, resulting in a less than optimal play experience. A fix is reportedly being worked on.

Bronze 5 Bug

The Bronze 5 bug was a bug that was seeing players stuck on the lowest tier and division, no matter how much their win percentage increased. Blizzard has reportedly fixed this and added a patch for affected players which allows for the faster progression of division and tier as compensation.
Bronze 5 Bug: Error Preventing Competitive Rank Progression

Hit Registration Error

Players are reporting that although a bullet or attack did not hit their character, they still took damage anyway. This was mostly attributed to the replay system not being 100% accurate, however Blizzard reaffirmed their commitment to making every shot fired pixel-perfect.

Aim Assist Floaty Aim Bug

This is a bug where controller aim assist settings are leaking over and affecting PC mouse and keyboard players. Blizzard reports that this is not the case, despite several player reports indicating to the contrary. They did recognize one specific instance related to Junker Queen where this may be the case however.
Aim Assist Bug: How to Fix Floaty Aim

PC Input Response Lag

Players have reported lack of responsiveness and input lag when playing on PC. In regards to PC input responsiveness, Blizzard reccommended the following settings for PC users.

• Match the in-game resolution to your monitor’s set resolution.
• Set the capped frame rate to your monitor’s maximum frame rate.
• For those with NVidia graphics cards, turn on NVidia Reflex + Boost.
• For those without Nvidia graphics cards, turn on Reduced Buffering.
• In the gameplay options, turn on Enable High Precision Mouse Input. This will increase the frequency of mouse capture position checks in-game.

All Known Bugs, Errors, and Issues: How to Fix

Related Guides

List of All Developer Updates