Overwatch 2 PvP Beta: Week 2 Developer Blog
A renewed interest and excitement for the support role, improved queue times, improved survivability for support heroes, behind-the-scenes testing of Moira and Mercy, and thoughts around historical “shield-breaker” heroes are top of mind for our team as we reflect on the second week of the PvP Beta.
We’ve been closely monitoring the performance of the support role following last week’s balance patch that saw improvements for Baptiste, adjustments for Ana, and the introduction of a montage-worthy new passive ability for Zenyatta.
As is often the case when we increase effective health for a hero, Zenyatta saw all-around improvements in performance over the weekend. Even with a higher pick rate, we saw our resident Omnic monk’s win rate improve by 5%, putting him in a healthy—albeit slightly strong—position. Perhaps not as surprising, the additional 25 shield health resulted in a 7% reduction in his death rate, with a halo effect of a 10% improvement in kills secured. Anecdotal feedback regarding his new passive, Snap Kick, indicates that the knockback is an effective way to line up kills more consistently.
A decrease in the duration of Ana’s Biotic Grenade netted a slight 2% decrease in her win rate; however, the increased Biotic Rifle uptime ensured her overall healing output on average remained unchanged. Even with the adjustments, Ana remains a popular pick, with her usage rate staying the same.
Queue times across the board have improved significantly since last week’s patch. While correlation might not always equal causation, we're optimistic that support improvements had a lot to do with it. Following Thursday’s update, players on average experienced 48% less time spent waiting for a match, gradually leveling off
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