For April Fool’s Day, Blizzard introduced a comprehensive series of changes to Overwatch this makes many heroes on the list a nightmare to deal with. Mei is now a tank with a ton of health. Junkrat can drop three of his bear traps at once. And McCree receives ammunition reimbursement every time he is shot in the head.
Oh, and D.Va can crush his opponents to death by summoning his mech, leading to full team kills like this:
So when I say that some heroes are now a nightmare to deal with, I really mean that they are fun to reproduce com (and occasionally against).
Of course, these changes are currently restricted to OverwatchExperimental game mode, where Blizzard typically tests minor balance changes. Don’t expect it to last forever, especially with a new seasonal event (Overwatch Archives) that starts on April 6th.
Many Overwatch“joke” changes must remain or be incorporated into the main game, many fans say, because they did Overwatch fun again. Almost five years after the hero shooter, a number of April Fools’ idiots have given the game a new lease of life. (The full patch notes for Experimental mode are also delightfully cheeky.)
Some of the best changes for Overwatch in Experimental mode, solve the problem of the game’s shield. Sigma no longer has a shield; instead, it can fly around the map without worrying about gravity. Baptiste’s Field of Immortality, effectively another layer of protection, no longer provides its characteristic immortality, instead it decreases the overall damage.
Zenyatta increased mobility through limited levitation (fun!). Reaper can now “fly” in his ghostly Wraith mode (it makes sense!). Mercy can now target enemy players and approach them using her Guardian Angel ability (which makes Mercy in Valkyrie mode even more terrifying).
Few of these changes seem “balanced”. The Roadhog’s chain hook getting a shorter cooling time when it lands looks a little broken. I’m not sure if Soldier: 76’s ult really needed a buff. And the number of characters flying now seems unsustainable in the long run. But almost everything seems Fun.
Some of these changes in heroes are actually a preview of Overwatch 2, which will include character progression and hero talents. These talents will be restricted to the cooperative PvE component of the game, as far as we know, and they will confuse the way we play the heroes we have spent half a decade with now. The experimental patch also seems like an easy way for Blizzard to break everyone in the game a bit and try dramatic changes at once.
With Overwatch 2 still far and without new blood in the game for almost a year (since Echo arrived), it was great to see Overwatch feel refreshed again, even for a short time.