Overwatch 2 balance changes coming soon Zarya, Sombra and more early

With Overwatch 2 out for a few weeks now and the servers and launch issues largely fixed, Blizzard is now focused on balance adjustments. While the first major balance update isn’t due until Season 2 in early December, Blizzard is looking to push a smaller balance update out a bit earlier to adjust a few particular heroes who feel a tad bit too strong right now. Specifically, D.Va, Zarya, Genji and Sombra are about to get hit with the nerf bat in order to bring them more in line with the rest of the roster.

In a post on the forums, Blizzard detailed the nerfs coming to each of the characters. Sombra is having her hack ability lockout duration reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds, while the hacked damage multiplier is being reduced from 40 to 25 percent. Sombra’s rework led to her gaining a ton more damage. This was originally to make up for her reduced ability lockout duration of Hack, but she’s just too strong right now. Another big change is that you’ll no longer be able to channel hack on an already hacked target. This was one of the most frustrating mechanics, so with the change, there will now be a per-target cooldown, which also allows the Hack to keep its current cooldown at four seconds for multiple targets.

Genji is another hero that feels too strong right now. The change to 5v5 with one tank and the reduction of crowd control has been a great benefit for Genji. So his maximum ammo is being reduced from 30 to 24 while his Shuriken damage is being reduced from 29 to 27.

Zarya’s Barrier lasts a bit too long, resulting in limited windows of vulnerability. Her Barrier duration is being reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds while her cooldown is being increased from 10 to 11 seconds. This should help with her feeling invincible while ramping up damage.

D.va feels a tad bit too deadly for a tank, especially with her improved Defense Matrix. She’s hard to take down which makes her high damage output a bit overpowered. Her Fusion Cannon spread is being increased from 3.5 to 3.75 while her boosters impact damage is being reduced from 25 to 15.

Kiriko is the final hero to get an adjustment with her Swift Step invulnerability duration being reduced from 0.4 to 0.25 seconds. This was intended to prvent instantly dying to something unseen when teleporting through walls, but it’s a bit too long in its current state.

Blizzard is hoping to get this round of balance changes out in an update on November 15th. Fans interested in seeing how these changes will impact gameplay, you can tune in to the Overwatch League Playoffs on October 30th.

At first glance though, I actually agree with many of these changes. Even as a Zarya main, I can acknowledged that she’s super strong in her current state. Genji and Sombra are also two really annoying heroes to deal with right now, so I’m glad to see them getting tuned down.