Junkrat needs a fix, and Blizzard is going to deliver.
In a post on the Overwatch forum, principal designer Geoff Goodman wrote that a Junkrat adjustment will hit the game’s public test region when it comes back up after Doomfist’s live release. “Currently on our internal builds, Junkrat has two charges of his Concussion Mine,” Goodman said. “This allows you to do all kinds of cool stuff like launch yourself into a fight and still have a charge to escape with, or launch yourself up into a Pharah and still have a charge to try and kill her with.”
You can do this Pharah knockback move on Overwatch now, Goodman added, but you have to wait until the Concussion Mine’s cooldown expired before you could execute the strategy.
“That is still possible [on the upcoming PTR build], which allows for a triple jump now if you want/need that, but now it is a lot more reliable to do with two,” he said. And apparently that’s been pretty fun—and effective. These adjustments will buff Junkrat’s survivability and mobility, as he’s able to both engage and retreat.
Concussion Mine does 120 damage and causes knockback for enemies and for Junkrat himself, which makes it a pretty versatile ability.
Blizzard is also interested in making his ultimate, RIP-Tire, more powerful. The developer is experimenting with movement speed and health increases on the tire itself. Both won’t be implemented, but either option should make the RIP-Tire a bit more reliable, Goodman said.
With Overwatch’s current meta, Junkrat just isn’t the most viable pick. Buffs to his kit will likely fix that, especially because folks already enjoy playing him.
