Overwatch 2 Announces Nerfs for Sombra, Genji, Kiriko, and More

BY BAYANI MIGUEL ACEBEDO

Bayani Miguel Acebedo

Writer and Storywriter

Bayani is a freelance pop-culture newswriter that's been covering the news cycle since 2017. He writes mostly about TV and movies, but he also covers the biggest game news and makes sure to keep you up-to-date on the hottest titles. Though he does specialize on topics like Star Wars and Comic Book films, he also keeps up to date on none superhero properties like the latest movies and most buzzed about tv shows. He also has a podcast called Feed the Geeks which you can check out on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. He also draws original webcomics from time to time.

PUBLISHED 1 YEAR AGO

If you’ve played Overwatch before, you’ll know that nerfs and buffs are a regular thing that’s expected whenever a new hero or game mechanic is introduced. Several characters have been overhauled before, and now we have an announcement of upcoming nerfs for Sombra, Genji, Kiriko, Zarya, and D. Va.

Overwatch 2 Announces Nerfs for Sombra, Genji, Kiriko, and More

This latest Hero Balance Update reads:

While we talked about our plans for Season 2 in our previous Dev Blog, there are some Hero balance adjustments we’d like to make sooner. As promised, we’re focused on some tactical adjustments meant to bring current standouts like D.Va, Zarya, Genji, and Sombra more in line with the rest of the roster.

Here’s the breakdown of nerfs for damage heroes:

Sombra

Hack ability lockout duration reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds
Hacked enemies are no longer valid targets for hacking for the duration of the effect
Hacked damage multiplier reduced from 40 to 25%

Genji

Maximum ammo reduced from 30 to 24
Shuriken damage reduced from 29 to 27

Here’s the breakdown for the tanks:

Zarya

Barrier duration reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds
Barrier cooldown increased from 10 to 11 seconds

D.va

Fusion Cannon spread increased from 3.5 to 3.75
Boosters impact damage reduced from 25 to 15

And here’s the nerf coming to new healer character Kiriko:

Kiriko

Swift Step invulnerability duration reduced from 0.4 to 0.25 seconds

For full details on the nerfs, you can check out the official site here.

So far, the plan is to incorporate the nerfs this coming Nov. 15, but if anything should change, Blizzard will just make a new update.

The 5v5 format has definitely lead to some balancing changes, and while some fans say that the change is infinitely better, there are some characters that have managed to shift the balance of the game.

This probably isn’t the last of the character changes, but hopefully this will be a fix for the current unbalance issues that players are complaining about now.