Blizzard is toying with changes to two of the current meta staples.
Ana – the support which is one of the main enablers for the cookie cutter triple and quad tank meta – has undergone PTR changes, Blizzard’s official PTR patch notes indicate. The latest support in the Overwatch hero pool has been a mainstay in competitive game and a big reason for that is her Biotic Grenade. An AoE effect which provided both immediate heal and heal amplification, the Grenade provided such high burst recovery that it could restore even high-health targets such as tanks from red to full health in seconds.
To combat this, Blizzard is reducing the amplification effect of the Grenade from 100% down to 50%. The static healing provided will stay at 100 but the overall burst of Ana’s grenade into double shot, for example, will go down from 400 to 325 health restored.
D.Va, another staple in multi-tank compositions, will also be adjusted and in two ways. The first change is the balance between health and armor on the character. Previously at 200/400, respectively (which gave D.Va a lot more survivability), the ratio will now be flipped, making her more similar to Reinhardt in how quickly her health pool can be taken down. D.Va Fusion Cannons have also been slightly nerfed: Instead of shooting 8 bullets for 3 damage each for a maximum of 24 damage per fire, D.Va will now shoot 11 bullets for 2 damage each for a maximum of 22, resulting in a downscale in damage but upscale in hit consistency.
“D.Va’s armor often made her feel like she had no weaknesses, even against heroes that are often effective against bigger targets (like Reaper),” Blizzard writes. “The changes to her Fusion Cannons will result in a small overall decrease in damage, but they should feel more consistent now.”
These changes are in addition to the nerf to Roadhog’s hook – as reported earlier – which will now require persistent line of sight to pull targets to their doom.
