Overwatch 2 patch attempts to fix previous tank bugs

Overwatch 2 released a hotfix today in response to the much-hated balance patch that buffed tanks.

The Season 11 patch has been called the worst balance change in the game so far. The buffs to each tank significantly outclassed them in the current meta. Mauga was the biggest offender, as his Cardiac Overdrive ability was given too much power. Now, Mauga can heal himself while dealing damage and also heal himself to the equivalent of his damage dealt. This has allowed him to be a tank at an extreme level.

What was intended to make tanks feel tankier in an attempt to allow support heroes to stop pocketing that player has outraged the Overwatch 2 community so much that an urgent fix has arrived.

Here are the full hotfix patch notes:

Ramattra
Nemesis Form:
→ Cooldown increased from 7 to 8 seconds.
→ Base armor reduced from 100 to 75.
→ Base health reduced from 275 to 250.

Zaria
Particle barrier:
→ Shared cooldown increased from 10 to 11 seconds.
→ Duration reduced from 2.5 to 2.25 seconds.
Projected barrier:
→ Shared cooldown increased from 10 to 11 seconds.
→ Duration reduced from 2.5 to 2.25 seconds.

Pharaoh
Base health:
→ Reduced from 250 to 225.

Illari
Healing Pylon:
→ Cooldown increased from 12 to 14 seconds.
Captive Sun:
→ The final cost increases by 12%.

Pike
Sonic Amplifier:
→ Recoil reduced by 10%.

Ramattra saw an increase to the cooldown on Nemesis Form and a reduction to armor and health. This should make him feel a little less oppressive, as he was easily jumping into fights without much consequence. Zarya had a similar change that increased the cooldown on her Particle Barrier and reduced its duration so she can’t run around and soak up damage as carelessly either.

Overwatch 2 players were shocked by Lucio’s sudden nerf, on top of everything else. Many had already complained that Lucio wasn’t good enough and this only confirmed that the developers must “hate” this hero. Some argued that Lucio is currently the strongest support and that his “boop” was too powerful.

For similar reasons, Illari was also nerfed. She has been performing extremely well in competitive Overwatch 2 and is actually the best support player in the Top 500. She has become too strong and there weren’t enough answers to her abilities like there used to be.

But why wasn’t Mauga nerfed? It’s probably because these heroes are used more frequently and are considered part of the meta, so they needed more immediate action. We’ll have to see what players think about the fixes and if there are any further updates from Blizzard regarding tank heroes.