Blizzard recently released a new Overwatch Experimental Card, which includes Hero balance adjustments from Twitch content creators and streamers.
Blizzard has reported that they are bringing back Overwatch’s Experimental Card in-game and that a temporary game mode allows the development team to experiment with game changes without breaking everything. This Experimental Card, on the other hand, is unique. Blizzard is delegating design to three different Overwatch content creators in the latest Experimental Card. Violet, Flats, and Somjuu, three Twitch streamers, will update Support, Tank, and DPS Heroes, respectively. Overwatch players should expect some significant changes.
As expected, the changes made by the creators have a significant positive impact on each hero. Flats’ Tank changes are perhaps the best example of this. For example, Zarya’s Barriers have been increased from 200 to 250 health, though their size has been increased by 50%, and her alt-fire explosions no longer hurt her and have 150 percent more knockback. That translates to more power and utility. Wrecking Ball’s Roll jump height has been increased by 100%, Winston’s Jump Pack has been speeded up, Roadhog’s Chain Hook has a shorter cooldown, D.VA boosts faster and longer, and Reinhardt can cancel his charges.
Somjuu’s DPS changes are surprisingly simple, but they are character-appropriate. To name a few key changes, Ashe now has two charges for her Coach Gun and only suffers a 10% movement penalty when aiming-down-sights, Cassidy can now roll in mid-air, Genji’s wall-climb speed is 50% faster and refunds Double Jump, Reaper moves 40% faster after using Shadow Step, and Tracer regains her Blink after Recalling. Somjuu obviously wants DPS to use their cool non-DPS abilities more.
Violet’s support changes are straightforward, but far more experimental than anticipated. If Ana kills her sleeping target, her Sleep Dart cooldown is reset, Baptiste’s Regenerative Burst now damages enemies instead of healing allies, Lucio’s Sound Barrier now deals “massive damage” if it lands on an enemy, Moira can use Biotic Grasp even if she’s out of energy at the cost of her own health, and Zenyatta’s Transcendence now applies Discord to nearby enemies automatically. Violet, it goes without saying, wants her supporters to be more aggressive.
Of course, there are many more changes than those mentioned. All characters’ health, damage, and cooldowns have been tweaked a tad in order to better balance them for their more drastic changes. Blizzard is fine with the creators bending, but not breaking, Overwatch’s balance.
It’s fascinating to see how each designer reimagined Overwatch’s heroes. Needless to say, the new Overwatch Experimental Card will allow players to test whether or not some of the changes they’ve been hoping for actually work in practice.
