Two DPS heroes are getting major reworks in Overwatch 2.
During the Overwatch League Watchpoint pre-show, lead hero designer Geoff Goodman showcased some big updates to Sombra and Bastion. Both heroes will have completely different playstyles in Overwatch 2 compared to what fans are used to.
A Sombra visual update was briefly shown off during the Summer Games Fest in June. Now she has a new kit at as well, which includes big changes to her ultimate.
The goal, Goodman explained, was to reduce Sombra’s crowd control effects and make her deal more damage instead. This was accomplished by improving her Hack ability. It will now last eight seconds and only have a three-second cooldown.
Goodman stated that Hack will only take abilities away for a single second in Overwatch 2. The seven remaining seconds will show an enemy’s location to Sombra’s entire team. Hacked enemies take 50% extra damage, allowing Sombra to burst down enemy heroes.
Sombra will also be able to hack while Stealth mode is activated although opponents will be able to see her briefly.
But the biggest change to Sombra is her ultimate. In the current game, EMP disables enemies’ ability to use skills within its AOE. In Overwatch 2, EMP deals damage to enemies equivalent to 40% of their current health while simultaneously hacking them. Not all shields will be removed, allowing enemies to escape.
Ultimately, this will make Sombra’s bread and butter her ability to destroy enemies in one-on-one situations while setting up some big team fights with her ultimate.
Bastion is being heavily changed in Overwatch 2. Many of his current abilities are gone completely, including Self-Repair, which should make the robot a bit more vulnerable. But Bastion will also be able to move while in sentry mode, although this has a cooldown.
Bastion has a new ability called Tactical Grenade. The projectile bounces off walls and sticks to enemy players, dealing a large amount of damage. Alongside this, Bastion will play very differently in recon form. Instead of having a weaker machine gun, the omnic has a rifle that has no spread but a slow rate of fire. This lets Bastion play as a faux-sniper and makes recon form more fundamentally different from sentry mode.
With the ability to move in sentry form, Tank is out as Bastion’s ultimate and is being replaced by Artillery Strike. He can select three areas on the map where rockets will rain down on opponents. The attack does a total of 600 damage on a direct strike, divided between impact damage and explosion damage. But, Goodman noted, direct strikes are rare.
Another big change that’s coming to Bastion is its hat. Along with the bird, Bastion’s hat makes the hero even more wholesome despite his deadly ultimate.
While the updates to Sombra and Bastion are major, Goodman stated that playtests have been going well. It’s still unclear when Overwatch 2 will be released but so far things seem to be on track.
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