Time goes by and no one, including the developers in their 1-3-2 experiments, has come up with a promising idea for addressing the major mismatch between the player population and 2-2-2 role queue. Predictably there are plenty of voices not greatly affected who claim there is no major problem but from an objective perspective there is clearly a major problem - a large portion, the single biggest group by far, of Overwatch players is sitting in long queues across matchmaker ratings and across regions. Queues are regularly 2/3rds of game duration.
Extreme problems can require extreme solutions. The timid call them a dumpster fire but as we can see presently irl a dumpster fire now may be necessary for a viable future tomorrow. Iâve seen many games head down a path of degradation and obscurity, most recently Heroes of the Storm, as developers kept walking the beaten path and âcommunity membersâ kept making excuses for why things were fine. Having the largest group of players sit in queues that creep up to the time it takes to play an entire game, sometimes equaling and exceeding that time, is a bad sign.
Iâve come up with a set of ideas that target not only the primary objective of reducing queue times but several others:
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Greater compositional variety
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Guaranteed role selection
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Greater in-game adjustment
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More attractive and fun tank and support heroes
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Main tank competition without the prospect of double shield
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Competitive involvement of neglected heroes
These are achieved by the following:
- The matchmaker looks to create games in the fastest way by choosing one of seven possible role compositions dependent on player queue ratios at a particular time on the condition both teams are of the same composition - 2-2-2, 3-2-1, 3-1-2, 1-3-2, 2-3-1, 1-2-3, 2-1-3
Basically the matchmaker is looking to create games of mirrored compositions that include at least one player of every role and at most three players of a role. However, players wonât be locked into playing the match generating composition. Role specific Skill Ratings will be gone.
- Once everyone has selected a hero the roster is unlocked and players can pick heroes from other roles as long as there is at least one hero of every role and at most three heroes of a role
The seven mirrored compositions ensure fairness, relatively fast queue times, and that everyone picks the role they queued for but players are free to change their composition as long as they abide by the basic restrictions. The basic restrictions will be enforced at the hero selection screen. A player who has occupied a solo role will be unable to select heroes from other roles. He/she will be able to switch role only if a player from another role picks a hero from the heretofore soloed role. If a role already has three heroes it will be disabled for players of other roles. Only a player from the tripled role switching will enable selection from the role.
A behavior of queuing for a role that possibly has a shorter queue time only to get into a game faster and switch to the desired more popular role does not make much of any sense under this system. You would only want to do this if the role you want to play is queued for by significantly over 50% of players. In such a circumstance the matchmaker will be generating compositions with the role being maxed out, i.e. you would be unable to switch to the role. Furthermore, if you end up in a solo role you wouldnât be able to switch to any other role unless someone else switches to your role.
- There will be sub-groups of substantially buffed tanks and supports [with the âmainâ prefix] limited to one hero per sub-group per team
Let me explain the fallacies involved in objecting.
- Sub-dividing roles that already have relatively few heroes limits choice further and is thus very stupid. Really, itâs the last thing the game needs.
As far as tanks are concerned the only choice that has existed is Reinhardt + off tanks or dive. Given the extreme distaste for shield stacking no one argues it should be meta. So what we currently have is a continuation of a story as old as Overwatch of Reinhardt dominating the tank role. This severely limits choice. The developers have repeatedly tried to get other tanks involved and somehow balance Reinhardt relatively but have always failed. They only succeeded in creating triple tank metas anchored by Reinhardt and most recently in demonstrating what happens when you have other shield tanks at or beyond his power level. In other words, the choice restricting Reinhardt shield problem has never been solved despite its constant presence.
By sub-dividing the tank role you expand hero selection in the âReinhardt or dive slotâ, essentially turning it into a âReinhardt or Orisa or Sigma or dive slotâ. This is an expansion of tank diversity, not a reduction. Itâs counter-intuitive but easy to understand.
As far as supports are concerned Iâve come up with a main support version for every hero that will either be rotated or exist simultaneously.
- All the game needs for queue times and role preferences to be balanced is more fun tank and support heroes.
Many posters idly dream of more fun tank and support heroes without considering that the additions of Orisa, Sigma, Hammond, Ana, Brigitte, Moira, and Baptiste have covered a broad range of qualities on top of the already existing tanks and supports. There are two walls Overwatch runs into when it comes to dramatically increasing the appeal of the tank and support roles - the simplicity of hero kits and the necessity for balance. Dream up a bunch of balanced tank and support heroes with Overwatch consistent kits that are supposed to make these roles as popular as the damage role and then we can take the claim that what the game simply needs is more fun tank and support heroes seriously. Posters who make this ill-considered claim also fail to acknowledge that there is strong evidence of gamers preferring damage roles in general.
Main Tanks
Reinhardt
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Armor increased by 50
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Base movement speed increased by 0.5 m/s to 6 m/s (~10%)
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Rocket Hammer reduces movement speed by 0.5 m/s with a 1 second lingering effect
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Barrier Field shields increased by 400 to 2000
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1.5 meter long perpendicular side sections attached to Barrier Field
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Fire Strike damage increased by 20 to 120
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Fire Strike cooldown increased by 1 second to 7 seconds
As with all main tanks the barrier is substantially buffed. In addition the impact of Fire Strike is increased with a slight increase in cooldown and the base movement speed is increased. These changes should make Reinhardt more fun to play. The side sections of the barrier are meant for extra protection against Sombraâs Hack.
Orisa
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Armor increased by 50
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Fusion Driver movement speed penalty reduced to 10% from 30%
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Fusion Driver damage reduced by 2-3 to 9-8
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Fusion Driver ammo reduced by 50 to 100
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Fusion Driver reload time reduced by .55 seconds to 2 seconds
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Protective Barrier shields increased by 400 to 1000
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Protective Barrier cooldown reduced by 2 seconds to 8 seconds
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Fortify nerfs reverted
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Fortify blocks Reinhardtâs Earthshatter in a cone but has a casting time of .25 seconds
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Halt! nerf(s) reverted
The developers donât know what to do with Orisa at this point. On release she was touted as an anchor tank meant to protect her team. With 2-2-2 role queue and the double shield meta her barrier has been reduced to a paper shield and her Fortify has been weakened. She is no longer an effective anchor tank and the most recent buff to her damage, which I realize is a reversion to an earlier state, suggests the developers may be trying to turn her into an off tank with a shield enhancement to that of another tank - a watered down version of double shield with her strength being shifted offensively. She can no longer be conceived of as a main tank. Of course this only serves to continue the Reinhardt problem and indeed she has been played competitively with Reinhardt in another version of the strongly disliked double shield tank pairing. The changes here both make her competitive against Reinhardt and prevent shield stacking.
The buffs to her barrier coupled with a stronger Fortify make Orisa an anchor tank that can absorb serious damage for her team. The cooldown reduction of her barrier enables better control of its positioning. Fortify blocking Earthshatter is necessary counterplay. Dramatically reducing the movement speed penalty when shooting is not only a significant quality of life improvement but also increases the time Orisa will be shooting. Her gun already deals serious damage so it needs to be nerfed.
Sigma
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Health increased by 50, shields increased by 50
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Experimental Barrier shields increased by 600 to 1500, regeneration increased by 80 per second to 200 per second after barrier being down for 2 seconds, cannot be removed by Sombra once moving or set
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Experimental Barrier 1 second when recalled cooldown is removed, only a .25 second delay before barrier starts to come out exists
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Hyperspheres damage reduced by 10 per charge to 45 per charge
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Hyperspheres maximum range increased by 3 meters to 25 meters
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Graviton Flux impact slow duration nerf reverted
I had underestimated how potent this hero can be so Iâve toned him down from earlier versions.
Winston
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Health increased by 50
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Tesla Cannon stuns any enemy damaged continuously over the course of 4 seconds for 0.5 seconds
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Jump Pack cooldown reduced by 1 second to 5 seconds
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Barrier Projector cooldown reduced by 5 seconds to 8 seconds
As a dive tank Winston is active and these buffs make him more active. A mini-stun is added to his gun to give him a reason to aim. Given there are only three dive tanks Iâve left Hammond out of the main tank category.
Main Supports
The main supports Iâve turned into a more complicated but also more flexible story. Iâve given a main support version to every support hero. Each should naturally be more fun to play and substantially more powerful. There are two ways to implement these main support versions. One is a straightforward rotation. For some period of time, say a season, around one half of the supports will have their mutually exclusive main support versions replace the default versions. Same principle as the main tanks, when one of the main supports is selected the others are disabled. The second way is to randomly designate a main support player from those queued for the support role who, and only who, automatically picks from the main support versions of every support hero. This would enable including all the main support versions alongside the default versions as well as every combination of supports. A designated main support player can give up his or her role by deselecting and not selecting a hero for 3-5 seconds, which would result in the next player choosing a support hero to become the designated main support. Ultimate charges are reset for the players involved in a main support player designation change.
I have divided the main supports into four groups suggesting equal representation under a rotation, which at the moment I find to be the less preferable option.
Basic
Mercy
- Health increased by 50
- Regeneration gains a base constant passive of 10 health per second, to which the existing 20 health per second after not taking damage for 1 second is added
- Caduceus Staff healing increased by 20 health per second to 70 Hps
- Guardian Angel maximum range increased by 10 meters to 40 meters
- Guardian Angel cooldown reduced by 0.5 seconds to 1 second
- Valkyrie healing increased by 90 Hps to 150 Hps, self-healing increased by 30 Hps to 50 Hps, chain healing max range increased by 10 meters to 20 meters, duration reduced by 7 seconds to 8 seconds
Mercyâs healing is virtually guaranteed, which is probably why its value is kept relatively low. Resurrection is also a powerful ability. I have increased her healing substantially, improved her regeneration and her mobility. Her mobility coupled with regeneration is what is supposed to keep her alive. Her ultimate is also converted to a more potent healing version.
Aim dependent
Ana
- Health increased by 50
- Biotic Rifle healing lingers for an additional 75 health over 3 seconds if Ana crits, which is not stackable but refreshable
- Biotic Grenade cooldown increased by 2 seconds to 12 seconds
- Biotic Grenade reduces enemy healing by 50% as opposed to blocking it
- Gains Steroid Injection on Weapon 2 with a 0.5 second cast time, a 5 second duration, and a 25 second cooldown - 50 Hps regeneration affected by Biotic Grenade, movement speed increased by 1 m/s to 6.5 m/s (~20%), 100% faster cooldown recovery, Biotic Rifle rate of fire quickened by 0.3 seconds to one shot per 0.5 seconds and reload time reduced by 0.5 seconds to 1 second
- Ultimate changes - Ana gains Nano Shot rounds she chambers by pressing Q [I was previously thinking of MOBA ultimates at R] starting with 1 at 0% ultimate charge and gaining a round every 20% of ultimate charge excluding 100% with a maximum of two unused Nano Shot rounds; Nano Shot rounds heal for 100, donât crit, and reduce damage dealt to the recipient by 25% for 1 second
- Nano Boost is available at 100% ultimate charge after each available Nano Shot has been fired - every player who has received a Nano Shot is affected by Nano Boost including Ana automatically, damage buff is reduced to 10% from 50%, healing is reduced by 150 to 100
Ana is the ultimate high skill support. These changes take her skill ceiling to another level. Steroid Injection is her stylistic survival ability that can alternatively augment her support contribution.
Zenyatta
- Shields increased by 50
- Orb of Harmony healing increased by 10 Hps to 40 Hps
- Orb of Harmony returns after 7 seconds of not having Line of Sight as opposed to after 3 seconds
- Gains a second Orb of Harmony assigned to E, Orb of Discord goes to Weapon 2 (his Secondary Fire volley remains)
- Gains Mind of Buddha ability on key 3 and a 15 second cooldown which is a 2.5 second state of invulnerability along with a 1 m/s movement speed increase and immediate commencement of shield regeneration but Orb of Destruction and Orb of Discord become unavailable, can be cancelled
- Orb of Destruction damage reduced by 8 to 40
Zenyatta has fallen out of favor recently but like Ana he has an especially broad appeal. His healing is substantially buffed, elongated, and by assigning each Orb of Harmony to a button he has full control of it. Like Ana he gains a survivability ability which promotes repositioning. His damage is necessarily reduced in this role.
Dive
Moira
- Health increased by 50
- Biotic Grasp Primary Fire maximum range increased by 10 meters to 25 meters
- Biotic Grasp Secondary Fire damage reduced by 10 to 40 per second, self-healing increased by 20 to 40 per second
- Fade maximum range increased by 25 meters to 40 meters, duration increased by 1.7 seconds to 2.5 seconds, vertical movement enabled by Jump for up and Crouch for down, can be cancelled
- Base movement speed increased by 0.5 m/s to 6 m/s
Itâs essential that main supports complementing dive compositions have mobility that can keep up. Moira already heals monstrously so aside from increasing her healing primary fire range I donât think a further buff is needed, which says something about her current state. The self-healing of her secondary fire is necessarily increased while the damage is nerfed.
Lucio
- Health increased by 50
- Crossfade healing increased by 14 per second to 30 per second for allies and by ~7.7 per second to 20 per second for self
- Crossfade healing area of effect increased by 13 meters to 25 meters
- Crossfade movement speed area of effect increased by 3 meters to 15 meters
- Sonic Amplifier damage decreased by 2 per round to 18
- Soundwave gains a second effect either toggled or simply activated by Weapon 2 where as opposed to knocking back enemies Lucio knocks himself in the opposite direction
Lucio certainly needs a healing buff in this role and combined with the increased range of his aura the effect should be substantial. I didnât want to extend his movement speed aura to the same degree. The second Soundwave effect is intended to increase his vertical mobility in particular although it will clearly have more general use.
Control
Brigitte
- Inspire healing increased to 30 per second for allies and to 30 per second for self
- Repair Pack cooldown reduced by 1 second to 5 seconds
- Rally healing increased by 25 armor per 0.5 seconds to 40 armor per 0.5 seconds, up to 150 armor on self and allies as opposed to 100
- Rally area of effect radius increased by 6.5 meters to 15 meters
I think this is straightforward.
Baptiste
- Health increased by 50
- Biotic Launcher Secondary Fire self heals, slows enemies by 0.5 m/s for 0.8 seconds
- Regenerative Burst cooldown reduced by 3 seconds to 10 seconds
- Amplification Matrix becomes Baptiste Cage - area of effect 20x20x20 meter cube, damage amplification and healing amplification removed, allies and self within the Cage receive 50% less damage regardless of the location of the damage source
I think making his secondary fire self heal goes a long way. Aside from a reduction of the Regenerative Burst cooldown I didnât think heâd need more help. The ultimate of course had to be reworked.
Other Balance Changes
These start with anti-âGOATSâ buffs to three chronically neglected heroes who havenât had a competitive role in the game but at the same time shouldnât have a prevalent role.
Bastion
- Configuration: Sentry spread tightening reverted
- Configuration: Sentry regains critical hits
- Configuration: Tank shots knock back.
Bastion used to be able to melt tanks with their large critical hit boxes. However, the last thing the developers wanted was for Bastion to be meta even for a month so when it became apparent he would become meta they overnerfed him. I would flip how to buff him. As opposed to tightening his spread he should be given critical hits back. This way heâll be relatively ineffective at range and thus more generally counterable while being lethal to large targets from closer up.
Torbjorn
- Overload decreases Rivet Gun Secondary Fire damage by .3-1 depending on range per pellet (maximum of 10 pellets)
- Overload increases Rivet Gun Secondary Fire damage by 0.15-0.5% depending on range per pellet (maximum of 10 pellets) of the victimâs maximum health with the critical hit and armor effects applying
- Deploy Turret damage reduced by 3 per round to 11 (12 per second reduction to 44)
- Deploy Turret gains AI Learning - After shooting 20 rounds (the equivalent to 5 seconds of uninterrupted shooting) its damage increases by 1 per round until it crits (over another ~3 seconds of uninterrupted shooting). The Turret will have to destroyed or redeployed for the damage to reset.
- Deploy Turret attack range decreased by 10 meters to 30 meters
His secondary fire becomes stronger against high health pool targets while staying constant against 200 hp targets during Overload which can be active for half of any engagement. His turret becomes stronger when a composition is in its line of fire without being able to destroy it. Iâm uncertain as to whether its range should be 30 or 35 meters down from its current 40 meters.
Junkrat
- Frag Launcher projectiles deal 20 more damage in the first 1 second after being fired to total 150 damage on direct hits and 30-100 splash damage
More damage at closer range.
In response to these changes I want to give dive some help.
Genji
- If Deflect deflects damage every 0.5 seconds its duration is increased by 0.5 seconds up to a maximum of 1 additional second (3 seconds overall)
Tracer
- Health increased by 15 to 165
When I was looking at making the main tanks solo playable the problem of Sombra arose. She is already an underpowered hero, although the effect of her recent buff is yet to be determined, but I had to give Reinhardt and Sigma some help against her. Furthermore, she screws some heroes too much - Lucioâs ultimate, heroes with personal shields. Her playstyle is also hugely problematic - cheap, toxic, and susceptible to being boring. In essence, she is an exceptionally poorly designed hero who the developers donât know what to do with. When she is good she is extremely despised and doesnât last at such a power level. You could say she is a damage âGOATâ - an effective option for players who lack FPS skill that a large majority has exceptionally little tolerance for. When she is bad while most are glad she is just a waste of effort, assets, and an existing option. The developers have kept her bad like Bastion for much of her existence to little incident but she becomes another neglected hero although she pops up in the OWL.
For the time being I have avoided nerfing Hack. What Iâve done is given her a duality - she can be a utility hero with little damage or she can be a real hero who is a factor in team fights as opposed to a little b****.
Sombra
- Machine Pistol damage reduced by 0.8 at the low end up to 2.6 at the high end (~33% damage reduction across her damage range)
- Gains Akimbo - 5 seconds after being out of Stealth a second Machine Pistol is automatically pulled out doubling damage (~34% damage increase relative to her current state), weapon spread is increased by 10%, movement speed is increased by 1 m/s to 6.5 m/s; Translocating does not end Akimbo but entering Stealth does
- Attempting a Hack during Akimbo will have an animation delay
- Attempting a Hack during Akimbo puts Akimbo on a 2 second cooldown, completing a Hack puts Akimbo on a 5 second cooldown
- Footsteps during Akimbo are much louder, if Sombra doesnât move for 3 seconds during Akimbo she starts audibly talking to herself
- EMP deals 10,000 damage against barriers, 200 damage against temporary shields, and 100 damage against shields (as opposed to 10,000 damage against all types of shields)
A note should be made regarding Sombra mains. Conventional wisdom would suggest these are the players to listen to most when considering what to do with a hero. My wisdom points out these are the people - the few, the proud, the Sombra Mains - who have kept playing one of the least effective heroes in the game that relies on being invisible, a single button press complete escape, a hero that spends much of her time going back and forth and has a close range weapon with a large spread that can hardly kill anything. Her âutilityâ consists of looking in the direction of a target and holding down a mouse button. I.e. just because in gaming youâll find people with an affinity for everything doesnât mean you should be satisfied with asinine heroes.
Widowmaker
- Widowâs Kiss charge time increased by 0.3 seconds to 1.2 seconds
- Widowâs Kiss power indicator is to have the three markers correspond to three significant damage values denoted by the damage values flanking the markers
Her skill floor for dominance is not high enough.
Soldier: 76
- Helix Rockets projectile speed increased by 10 m/s to 60 m/s
- Helix Rockets cooldown increased by 2 seconds to 8 seconds
- Tactical Visor inflicts critical hits when shooting at the head, critical hit multiplier reduced by 0.5 to 1.5 for its duration
It would be preferable to have his Helix Rockets be more useful as opposed to more frequent. His ultimate could use a fun buff.
Off tank compositions (optional)
What are known as off tanks have always been subordinate to main tanks. Generally speaking you canât run a composition comprised of them without a main tank and they are out the door in solo tank compositions. The 1-3-2 experiment the developers ran where they attempted to turn off tanks into main tanks wonât work competitively and the changes preclude multiple tank compositions of any sort. As I canât think of a good enough natural and exclusive synergy to make sense of stacking off tanks there is the option to alter the heroes in the absence of a main tank. Five seconds prior to the doors opening at the beginning of rounds âmain tankâ or âno main tankâ is locked in based on what players have selected. If a main tank isnât present the main tank sub-group becomes unavailable for selection and the altered versions of off tanks apply. The main tank/no main tank configuration can be switched at any time during a match if tanks are simultaneously deselected for 3-5 seconds by the team, which would obviously require teamwork and agreement to minimize disruption.
Roadhog
- Take a Breather becomes O Lord Heâs Coming - duration unlimited, cancellable, healing reduced by 150 to 150 per second, Roadhog swells to twice his normal size over the course of 4 seconds and stays at that size for the duration, deflates over the course of 4 seconds at maximum after the ability is ended
Taking Roadhogâs gameplay reputation and voluptuous body type to its logical culmination. He is given the capacity to become a damage soaker himself.
Zarya
- Gains 0.15% as opposed to 0.2% energy per damage blocked by her barriers (maximum energy gain per barrier decreased from 40% to 30%)
- Particle Cannon Primary Fire damage per second decreased by 0.2 to 0.55 damage per second for each percentage of energy (at 100% energy damage becomes 150 as opposed to 170 per second)
- Particle Cannon Secondary Fire damage increased by .85% as opposed to 1% for each percentage of energy
- Particle Barrier cooldown reduced by 2 seconds to 8 seconds
- Projected Barrier gains a second charge
A greater tanking capacity in exchange for some damage.
D.Va
- Defense Matrix maximum duration increased by 1 second to 3 seconds
Apparently the way Defense Matrix recharges is affected by its maximum duration so this should be a serious protective buff.
The intent is obvious enough. The goal of these changes is to increase the tanking or protective capacity of off tanks in the absence of a main tank. These changes arenât meant to make off tanks soloable but to perhaps make compositions of multiple off tanks work, thereby increasing tank play variety.
Making Sense of Multiple Hero Versions
I think itâs to some extent important to make sense of multiple hero versions in the game world. This concerns main supports and the stackable off tanks in the absence of a main tank, the latter being an optional set of changes. The heroes are singular. Their so-called multiple versions are based on them recognizing that their teams require them to make a greater effort, contribute more to the fight for the teamâs survival. These arenât multiple versions, theyâre the same individual heroes pushing themselves to do more depending on the circumstances. Main supports may have a voice line conveying the greater responsibility they feel for the well-being of their team while off tanks would convey greater motivation in whatever way.
Implementation feasibility is most important, but I donât buy for a second that the core changes are prohibitively hard to implement, neither do I believe the notoriously slow Overwatch team would need years. Work smarter, not harder.
WHY?
This community is full of cowards who have little to no vision. This may be par for the course in video games and most of the crap this forum spews slides into oblivion but sometimes key problems emerge that hamper the game. When developers donât know what to do either - and the failures of numerous games, including Blizzardâs, should be a testament to game developers being no god figures in their domain - a game enters the danger zone. In my opinion Overwatch has entered the danger zone. Given Heroes of the Storm is still going I donât foresee Overwatch dying at any point worth speculating about but it can certainly recede much further. Overwatch 2 will pump the brakes but an infusion of heroes and some short term content wonât last forever.
These queue times for the gameâs most popular role, the role that has defined FPS games, are unacceptable. It doesnât matter what any featherbrained tank or support main that really doesnât care for the game claims. A substantial price will be paid.