Home Gaming Looks like there’s a Zenyatta nerf, and a Mei and Mercy buff on Overwatch’s horizon

Looks like there’s a Zenyatta nerf, and a Mei and Mercy buff on Overwatch’s horizon

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Mei-and-Mercy.jpg

It’s been quite a while since Overwatch received a significant balance change. The last time it did in fact, was around a month ago, in a chunky July update that saw big boosts handed out to D.Va, Mercy, and most notably, Zenyatta. The Omnic monk saw very little play, but his health and Discord Orb buffs fixed that.

But now, it seems he is performing just a little too well for Blizzard’s liking. Overwatch’s Principle Designer Geoff Goodman said as much in a recent forum post (via Siliconera):

“Zenyatta is definitely playing a lot better these days. At this point anecdotal feedback, internal stats, and competitive feedback are all showing hes actually a bit *too* strong at the moment. At this point we’re looking likely to reduce some of his power in an upcoming patch, probably related to his Discord Orb.”

Zenyatta isn’t getting a health nerf thankfully. His Discord Orb however, looks like it’s going to be tweaked in the near future.

Zenyatta nerf

Zenyatta isn’t the only hero due for change. According to Geoff, Mei and Mercy are in Blizzard’s sights for a few adjustments too.

Mei

“While Mei currently doesn’t see a ton of tournament or competitive play, I don’t think she’s super far off. Currently her ult can feel a bit unwieldy and inconsistent, especially when you compare it to other similar ults such as Reinhardt’s. We’re internally testing allowing the ultimate projectile she throws to pierce barriers (such as Reinhardt’s shield), and increasing the radius a bit on it.

Mei

Mercy

I’ve been looking at Mercy for some time now. If you guys saw the last PTR iteration, you could see the kinds of changes we were trying with her. I’d love to give her damage buffing alternate fire more power, but there are too many degenerate cases that pop up when we try that.

There are some other ideas, and many more things we’ve been trying on and off that you guys never get to see. At one point (a couple months ago) she had a new E ability that put a slow heal over time effect on everyone around you, that meant you could use it to toss onto people that needed topping off without having to swap beam targets as often. That particular design ended up having some issues, but just so you know we are iterating on her internally.

That doesn’t mean shes necessarily due for a new ability either. She already has a lot to do and think about when you’re in the thick of combat. You’re constantly deciding which beam to use, where to be positioned to stay safe and still help your team, and her Guardian Angel ability has almost no cooldown so its always on your mind as a re-positioning option.

If she were to get a new ability it would ideally have to be something that she could use more ‘outside of combat’ or something that is generally used much more rarely. That said there are some things we can do to help her out in the near future.

Mercy

Personally, I think both Mei and Mercy are fine as they are, but I wouldn’t say no to the latter getting another utility ability perhaps. As fun as it is to do nothing more than heal and revive (seriously, it’s surprisingly enjoyable), I do think another trick up the medic’s sleeve could go a long way.

Hell, I wouldn’t say no to a Mei buff either truth be told. She’s easily one of my favourite Overwatch characters, so being a little stronger in future agrees with me just fine.

Poor Zenyatta though. He received such a nice buff, and already, he’s at the risk of being knocked back down to where he was. At least it appears to be just a Discord Orb buff on the horizon, which isn’t too bad.

(Header)

Last Updated: August 12, 2016

4 Comments

  1. Mei is a righteous pain in the ass already as it is.
    if they want to buff her ulti, then just change the timer from its effect from the time her character announces it, imo its only real “unweildy” feature is that its dodgable from the time you hear it, if you catch it early enough.

    Reply

    • Donnamcreamer2

      August 13, 2016 at 10:24

      <<hp. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????::::::!ir337m:….,…..

      Reply

    • Adrianarlopez4

      August 14, 2016 at 08:09

      <<hp. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????::::::!ir266m:….,…..

      Reply

  2. Deceased

    August 15, 2016 at 10:57

    Zenyatta is broken AF in the current meta – that’s why you see him in EVERY game – played him this morning, so I know what I’m talking about 😐

    ( I mean – I’m not just another kid flaming him without understanding the hero )

    Side note – as someone who plays Mei a lot, and I mean a LOT, I don’t think she needs a buff – she’s great as is 😀

    Reply

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