Send heroes flying off the map
I was thinking I was probably done with the Overwatch 2 beta for now as a support main, but after hearing about a couple of hero ability shakeups, I had to check back in. My boy, Zenyatta, has an overturned new Snap Kick and I’m going to super enjoy it while it lasts.
Our transcendent omnic can send opponents flying off the edge with Snap Kick, a new passive ability that increases quick melee damage by 50 percent and also “significantly” increases knockback. After seeing a funny demonstration on Reddit, I tested it out, and sure enough — I was able to take out a Wrecking Ball with Zenyatta’s full-throttle kick.
This silly move shouldn’t be that all noteworthy, but Zenyatta was my favorite character early on in Overwatch and I’m happy to see a gameplay twist, doubly so in the overly familiar Overwatch 2 beta. It’s also interesting in the context of what Blizzard was recently saying about needing to make support characters more “attractive” compared to the tank and damage roles. “New” and “refreshed” abilities can liven them up. More, please.
“This is legit the best change in a long time IMO,” said one player on Reddit. “I wish we got more stuff like this, kinda silly changes but they’re fun. Running around booting people is legit hilarious. I feel like hero changes get strangled by the competitive side of the game, stuff like this reminds me why I liked [Overwatch] in the first place.”
It’s a common sentiment at this point, at least in my circles. It’ll be hard to shake.
Elsewhere in the Overwatch 2 beta update, Roadhog — another early favorite I’d love to pick up again — got a rework to his ultimate, Whole Hog. Now, it’s a “transform” ultimate, not a “channeled” ultimate, so Roadhog players can choose when to fire and use “normal abilities” without canceling Whole Hug. Stuns won’t cancel it out, either.
Blizzard also adjusted Soldier: 76 to have a “more interesting” ultimate — now, Tactical Advisor “allows for critical hits, if a shot would have been a critical hit outside his ultimate.”
I also feel like it’s worth noting that newcomer Sojourn’s railgun alt-fire has a wider projectile as of this update. According to Blizzard, the designers “saw a lot of players at varying skill levels struggling to land shots.” I may be lumped in that group.
You can find these and other hero changes in the patch notes. The other big one: the Overwatch 2 beta has a separate Quick Play Open Queue option, as promised. You can hop right into a match without needing to stress about your chosen hero like in Role Queue.
Jordan Devore
Jordan is a founding member of Destructoid and poster of seemingly random pictures. They are anything but random.
