The Overwatch 2 midseason balance patch is upon us, and with it, 11 of the game’s 36 characters received a hero update.
Competitive and hero balance in Overwatch 2 is a fickle beast, and even the slightest changes can lead to massive meta shifts. While it will take time for the full meta to develop around any given set of balance changes, there are always a few changes that stand out.
For the current set of midseason changes, there are only a couple of especially notable alterations, despite almost a third of the roster getting tweaked in some capacity. In some ways, this makes buffs for certain heroes especially impactful, but in other ways, it makes the lack of changes for others feel that much worse for players who feel like their favorite toon was, again, neglected.
Here are our picks for the biggest winners and losers of the latest Overwatch 2 patch.
Winners
Baptiste
As one of the least picked support heroes with the worst win rate on the competitive ladder, according to Overbuff.com, Baptiste was overdue for some attention. Buffing his Immortality Field to give allies 25 percent HP is a massive 150-percent increase from what it previously was at just 10 percent.
With such a long cooldown of 25 seconds, one would have hoped that the ability would be more impactful, and now it will serve as such. The change likely won’t make Baptiste as powerful as the top healers in the game like Ana and Mercy, but one would hope that he’d find a more respectable position in the game’s meta. In all likelihood, he will probably be a situational selection that can help players rank up if played well, likening him to middle-of-the-road supports like Lúcio and Zenyatta.
Hanzo
In the right hands, Hanzo has been a lethal selection for a long time. And in season three, he’s remained one of the best characters in the game at getting a quick pick to start a fight. Reducing his Lunge cooldown by 20 percent to four seconds, down from five, is a massive boost to his survivability.
This change won’t necessarily make players rush to pick him when they otherwise wouldn’t, but it will make those pesky Hanzo mains that much more frustrating to deal with. Hanzo was already one of the stronger DPS heroes in the game with a ridiculously high skill cap, and now he’ll be that much more annoying, even if his skill floor remains as low as ever.
Losers
Roadhog
While a reduced cooldown to his hook looks like a buff, it’s at least partially negated by the fact that his cooldown clock doesn’t start until later than it previously did. Roadhog’s changes in the mid-cycle patch are perhaps one of the biggest jebaits imaginable for fans of the Pachimari-loving Aussie.
After being nerfed into the ground at the end of January, Roadhog has been among the least usable tanks in Overwatch. Previously touted for his solo survivability and infamous one-shot potential, the hog is still on the side of the road with a flat tire, holding his thumb out and trying to hitch a ride.
Winston
This poor scientist can’t get any love. Since the start of Overwatch 2, Winston has struggled to find his way in the meta, and he hasn’t gotten much help. While other tanks have ebbed and flowed, receiving nerfs and buffs, Winston has consistently been around the bottom of the totem pole.
Going through yet another set of balance changes with no help from Blizzard, the astronautical silverback will likely remain one of the least-desired tanks in the game with one of the worst win rates. At this point, he’s so far behind all of the other tanks that any patch that doesn’t include a buff for Winston is one in which he can be deemed a loser.
