Ana - the little things

General Discussion
1

So, I’d like for Ana to feel less frustrating to play. I love her, she has an amazing kit, but currently there are just so much stacked against her. I have previously suggested she get a slow wall climb and a way to bit by bit regain health without using her nade, but there are other small ways to make Ana’s life easier. I do not think she needs any big changes except possibly to her ult (so no, she should not shoot through shields and she should absolutely not have two grenades). Here I will give a few suggestions of small changes that could be considered (mind you, not suggesting everything should be implemented):

Biotic rifle

  • Increase the speed of healing/damage effect. People sometimes die even though I shot them with healing because the healing effect applied just too late.
  • Increase ammo to 15. The reload can be very punishing in a fight, and even the best of Ana players will miss some shots.
  • If not above, shorten reload animation from 1,5 to 0,8. It’s really too long with the amount of ammo she carries.

Sleep Dart

  • Slightly increase the projectile speed from 60 m/s to 80 m/s. It’s not uncommon for me to fire it at a High-Noon:ing McCree and he shoots me before the dart even hits him, cancelling the dart altogether.
  • Shorten the cast time. It would help with aiming the projectile, it being projectile already making it harder to hit.
  • It’s super annoying to sleep that ulting Genji only for a stray pellet from someone to awaken him. Make it so either:
    - Target is not awaken until it takes more than 30 damage.
    - Target can not be awaken until 1 second after being hit by dart.

Biotic nade

  • Slightly increase the projectile speed from 40 m/s to 50 m/s. When thrown at long range I do feel it’s a tad bit too slow.

These are just some suggestions from the top of my head. Discuss away as you please!

4 Likes
2

Hopefully the Dev’s see all these Ana posts and take note. Her pickrate may be high but that’s because she is the only other main healer. Her win rate is abysmal compared to other supports and heroes in general.

3

Yeah, she needs some help. I do think it’s not that much really needed, once dive is less prominent she’ll probably come out a lot stronger, so I don’t want to over-tweak her so she ends up horribly over-nerfed again.

4

I really like these ideas! Nothing too strong that would make her OP. They’re basically QoL changes that would make her more viable.

I’d be glad with the rifle changes only, but I agree her sleep dart is hard to land so I’m totally not against that.

5

The only one I can really agree with is the slow wall climb (which I also suggested! :grin:). Her abilities are just SO good that even minor tweaks can make them too much. Sleep Dart and Biotic Nade, when used optimally, can win fights individually.

I rather see them go in another direction to get her up and running. The aforementioned wall climb will give her choice positioning without giving her actual mobility. Alternatively, an alt-fire that only damages enemies and her primary changed to only heal, then make both pierce through unaffected targets would also be great.

6

I think Ana’s issues have more to do with the current meta and her skill cap. But I think a passive and/or some extra ammo would be welcome.

I think the defense hero’s are the real problem, allowing a strictly dive meta that counters Ana well.

7

Dive really is her biggest issue, and it’s hard to suggest changes as long as it’s strong because it’s difficult to gauge just how balanced Ana is when she’s so beaten down constantly. That’s why I suggested some small changes that would at least remove some of the annoyances Ana players experience without risking it turning out to be too OP if she later turns out to be more balanced once dive is curbed.

1 Like
8

Completely agree. That’s why I think something like the delayed passive would be realistic. Higher levels usually have 2 healers and more coordination, so chip damage isn’t as big of an issue.