This week, Overwatch 2 fans learned Cassidy’s magnetic grenade is on the verge of being reworked in season five, but the plotted nerfs may actually be buffs.
Cassidy’s grenade sticks to an opponent when they’re up close and in its radius, dealing a near-deadly explosion. This will soon be removed in favor of a movement-cutting alternative, Blizzard devs revealed in a blog on June 6. The grenade will still stick, but it will reduce enemy speed and make movement-based abilities useless.
The change has fans fearing it will be as annoying as his original grenade.
Although the plan is to take damage out of the cowboy’s grenades, the crowd control return should give him more playmaking power in matches.
This change—at odds with what Blizzard originally did in its widespread Overwatch 2 hero reworks—is geared toward more crowd control. This is why heroes like Cassidy and Mei are being reworked, OW2 director Aaron Keller says.
Related: Overwatch dev teases massive hero changes set for season five
Overwatch’s signature cowboy has been on a rollercoaster when it comes to his utility since the arrival of the sequel update. His grenade has already copped several nerfs in recent history, with two patches in a row reducing its damage. Players sick of dying to the Cassidy grenades have already been devising changes to the bomb for months, but Blizzard has instead kept the changes truer to other abilities in Overwatch.
Cassidy’s changes come alongside further tweaks for new support hero Lifeweaver. The petal-placing character has already been put under the microscope on multiple occasions, and season five will be no different.
While these Cassidy changes may be more annoying, no one will know exactly if they’re really nerfs or actually buffs until Blizzard puts the effects in place.
