Blizzard aims to address complaints around tanks and suports in Overwatch 2, and those changes are starting with Doomfist.
“Doomfist we hear a ton about. We’re trying to find a bit more of an identity for Doomfist,” lead hero designer Alec Dawson said in a recent Twitter Space (opens in new tab) stream. “I think one of the things Doomfist lost in the beta was that slow,” referring to the effect his slam ability had back when he was a damage hero in the first Overwatch. Trying to overcome Doomfist’s weakness when missing that ability is a point of priority for the team.
“Right now we’re looking at the block and empowered punch,” Dawson said. “Is there a way we can get more empowered punches happening throughout a match?” In a follow-up tweet (opens in new tab), Dawson noted that these changes are likely to start landing in Season 2.
Other tanks are in line for some major upgrades, too. “Actively looking at Junker Queen and Wrecking Ball. Queen buffs would look at her self-efficiency vs. providing sustain for whole team. Ball is a bit trickier, knife’s edge for balance,” Dawson said (opens in new tab).
Ultimately, the idea is to (opens in new tab) “have more diversity for different Tank playstyles and finding new spaces for the role in general. Shooting barriers will be good for you again.”
While these three heroes are sitting at the bottom of the Overwatch 2 tank tier list, the game’s supports have been suffering much more fundamental issues since the relaunch, with players facing massive queue times as everyone seems to be avoiding the role.
Bringing in more supports is “one of our long-term focuses,” Dawson said. “Right now the pool is quite small for two players to choose from. May see more new supports than other roles to bolster that pool. Also, there’s still lots of interesting space for us to explore as designers when making supports!”
Dawson also noted that while the recent balance patch features some pretty conservative changes, you can expect that future Overwatch 2 seasons will make much more substantial adjustments, “possibly even some reworks.”
One Overwatch 2 charm costs more in-game than it does in real life, causing a veritable kerfuffle among the community.