Overwatch 2’s season 3 changes make Mercy weaker


Other than a new map, a dating sim, and a tie-in with One Punch Man, Blizzard is also touching up practically every aspect of Overwatch 2 with the introduction of the game’s third season. A blog post provided an overview of the big changes players will see when the game is updated tomorrow, February 7th, but now the patch notes have all the details.
Major changes include a health reduction for tank characters during non-role queue modes, the return of the Workshop Editor, and an update to the game’s ping system so you can tell your allies if an ability like Immortality Field or Resurrection is on cooldown and for how long and allows players to choose any Ping to place on their Ping wheel menu. It’s a small change, but it should make it easier for folks to communicate even if they avoid the often-toxic voice chat.
The ability to endorse enemies as well as teammates is coming back
A mid-season patch already came out to lessen the ability of Roadhog to one-shot kill many enemies, and now that adjustment is affecting other tank characters, too, as the developers have reduced the damage of Reinhardt’s Earthshatter ultimate while slightly increasing the time enemies are knocked down.
Otherwise, Junkrat’s Concussion Mine has seen its damage drop from 120 to 100, Zenyatta is carrying more ammo between reloads, Brigitte’s Armor packs deliver some instant healing now at the cost of slightly less healing applied over time, Soldier 76’s rifle is less prone to recoil, and Widowmaker has a little less health, going from 200 to 175.
The notes also dive into the specifics of a nerf for Mercy, who is losing the passive ability other support characters have that gives them self-healing by default. Instead, Mercy will now self-heal by 25 percent while she heals allies using her staff, while the staff’s healing rate has changed as well — it’s 50 percent faster for allies under half health, but the base rate of healing per second has gone down from 55 to 45, and her Guardian Angle ability that flies to nearby teammates has had its cooldown increased from 1.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds — enough to make her much more vulnerable.
The list of changes is long, but the last one I’ll note is one returning from Overwatch 1, which is the ability to endorse enemies as well. So instead of only having the option to 1v1 someone on the other team who has had the misfortune of picking your main, you can also tip your hat when they represent them well.
Other than a new map, a dating sim, and a tie-in with One Punch Man, Blizzard is also touching up practically every aspect of Overwatch 2 with the introduction of the game’s third season. A blog post provided an overview of the big changes players will see when the game…
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