Overwatch 10th Anniversary patch nerfs Pharah and Kiriko as mid-season balance shakeup arrives

Overwatch marks its 10th anniversary with the mid-season 2 patch notes, and it is one of the bigger shakeups the game has seen in a while.

The patch, which dropped on May 12 alongside the start of the 10th Anniversary event, covers hero balance, competitive changes, a progression overhaul, and a wave of anniversary content running until June 1, alongside celebrating ten years since the game first released to the anticipation of many. It marks the halfway point of Season 2 and the new ranked season, hence the massive shakeups to Pharah and support roles.

The meta gets a shake up in the Overwatch patch notes

It could not be a big mid-season patch without balance changes affecting some of the current meta picks. Support got a lot of attention, with Blizzard attempting to rejig the win rates of some over and underperforming heroes.

Mercy’s Guardian Angel launch speed has been reverted to its previous value, partially restoring the movement feel that was reduced earlier in Season 2. However, Blizzard also removed Divine Momentum to deal with the extreme mobility cases that caused the earlier reduction in the first place. Losing Divine Momentum could indicate her skill ceiling is lower than it was before the Season 2 changes, but she should see slightly better performance for the average player. Mercy, at least according to Blizzard’s own stat page, is still one of the most popular supports across each ranked elo and in casual play too, so the changes target a mix of skill ranges and player bases.

Kiriko’s Protection Suzu has had its extra cleanse healing removed, a change that has caused significant discussion among competitive players and OWCS-focused communities. Suzu has long been a contested ability at the top level for its ability to swing fights, and stripping the healing from the cleanse reduces its value as a panic button without touching the cleanse itself. Whether that is enough to shift her out of priority pick territory in organised play remains to be seen. Either way, it could affect her popularity and win rate, as she is often the most picked support from Gold onwards and has a rather strong win rate despite her pick priority in-game.

Lucio’s Sound Barrier has also been nerfed, while Baptiste has received buffs to both Regenerative Burst’s healing output and its cooldown, dropping from 14 to 12 seconds, reflecting their respective over and underperforming win rates.

Outside of support, Pharah is one of the most notable damage dealers right now. She is by far outperforming everyone on the stats. Master tier players are reporting a win ratio of around 56%, which is pretty much unheard of in most competitive games, highlighting just how strong an otherwise difficult character with projectile rounds has become.

Blizzard confirmed her damage-focused perks had pushed her burst potential too high, so both Concussive Force and Rocket Salvo have been reduced, with Concussive Force dropping from 50 to 30 damage and Rocket Salvo dropping from 40 to 30 damage per rocket.

Yet it seems some comps and builds are still strong in the competitive scene. So we shall see how it really affects the meta soon enough.

What is in the Overwatch 10th Anniversary event

For those of you celebrating the anniversary, there are a few things going on. The event runs from May 12 to June 1 and features rotating classic arcade modes across three weeks, letting players step back into different eras of the game.

• Week one kicks off with Overwatch Classic 2016
• Week two brings Mystery Showdown on May 19
• The final week closes out with Overwatch Classic 2020 on May 26

Players can earn Anniversary Loot Boxes by completing challenges, which also contribute to a global community progress bar. Each week, the community can work together to push the reward bar past checkpoints, upgrading that week’s reward from a single loot box to include Epic and Legendary boxes as well. Completing the full event rewards a Legendary 10-Year Cheers Tracer skin, and players will also receive login rewards based on their years of play, recognising time at the one, three, five, seven, and ten-year marks.

The patch also brings updated menus, new music, and the return of the original Winston cinematic asking “Are you with us?” as a nod to the game’s launch.

On the competitive side, new accounts now need 50 wins instead of 20 before accessing Competitive Play, and hero progression levelling has been sped up across the board.

You can read the full patch notes on the Overwatch site here.

The post Overwatch 10th Anniversary patch nerfs Pharah and Kiriko as mid-season balance shakeup arrives appeared first on The Escapist.