Blizzard has finally confirmed the Season 9 changes for Overwatch 2 that were leaked not long ago. In a recent blog post, the company has explained in detail what players can expect in the upcoming season, launching next week, February 13.
Projectile Sizes
Blizzard is truly shaking things up in Season 9 with some major adjustments to the core gameplay of Overwatch 2. First of all, projectile sizes will receive a noticeable increase to address an issue where players have a hard time hitting enemies, especially from a distance.
The company stated that because of the many abilities that allow certain heroes to change directions on a whim, hitting them is difficult even for Overwatch 2 pro players. Hence, players can expect to be a bit more accurate when landing shots in Season 9.
For example, heroes that fire hitscan projectiles like Soldier 76 and Cassidy are going to receive a +0.08-meter increase in projectile size. "Hitscan," in this context, refers to projectiles that hit enemies almost instantly and without any travel time.
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Self-Sustainability
All Overwatch 2 heroes come Season 9 are going to have their HP increased. As to the amount of the bump they will receive, that depends on their current HP pool.
Heroes that have 150-175 HP are going to receive a 25 HP increase. Those who have 200-300 HP will get their HP raised by 50. And, tank heroes will receive a massive 75 to 100 HP increase, solidifying their role as a damage soak.
Now, with the increase in HP values, one can already see how this will impact Support heroes like Mercy or Ana. To address this, Blizzard is going to implement the controversial self-healing mechanic for all heroes in Overwatch 2.
Basically, heroes who received damage and are out of combat for five seconds will start to heal their wounds at a rate of 20 healing per second. Support heroes do not have to wait several seconds to initiate self-healing, though, as they regenerate HP 2.5 seconds after being out of combat.
With these adjustments, the company is aware that fights might take too long to conclude. For this reason, Blizzard is adding a new passive effect to all DPS heroes in Overwatch 2.
In Season 9, heroes like Tracer and Reaper will reduce the healing their targets receive by 20% if they deal damage to them. This change also encourages players to coordinate with each other if they want to take the opposing team down more effectively.
So, what can you say about the changes that are coming in Overwatch 2 Season 9? Let us know in the comments!
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