These are my opinions as a 7 year, GM Peak, Mei Main regarding her current state in the game, the recent changes and how to nudge Mei slightly so she better suits Overwatch 2’s gameplay dynamic.
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FOR THE RECORD:
Mei’s abilities do not need changes.
Her Ultimate does not need changes.
Her primary… might not need changes…
The only thing Mei does need, is a minor increase to her secondary fire rate.
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Both Mei’s Primary (55 DPS) and Secondary fire (94 DPS) do less overall DPS than almost every support in the game, including Mercy’s pistol (100 DPS)
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In Overwatch 1, Mei having low damage wasn’t an issue as having two tanks would compensate for the damage she doesn’t offer and her utility enabled two different tanks to get greater value out of their kits than they otherwise would.
This fact does not translate smoothly to Overwatch 2, with having a singular tank.
Her individual damage plays a far more significant role for the overall damage output of the team and in her current state she struggles to compete, especially against the ever growing support lineup.
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The “Deep-Chill” buff was a genius change, shifting her towards being more skill expressive while compensating for the loss of damage, without directly buffing her secondary fire base damage.
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Despite this, even in a rush meta, this effect will not come into play significantly enough to compensate for how lacking her damage output is and her utility now doesn’t provide as strong of a benefit after losing a tank.
The change benefits her moreso against mobile squishy targets, returning some of her old dualing capabilities allowing her to burst enemies quicker, however, it’s incredibly difficult to land the Deep-Chill icicle on these targets, causing a high-risk, high-reward situation which often doesn’t pay off
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My solution;
Increase Mei’s secondary fire rate from 0.8/s to 0.7/s
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While not seeming like a meaningful change, this will enable her to secure hitting the icicle on a slowed target much easier, allowing players to benefit from the Deep-Chill bonus more consistently, while also giving her a slight general damage boost when poking at range.
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~~ Boring Math to prove I’m not making up bs ~~
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Deep-Chill, 0.8s fire rate.
197.5 dmg / 2.3s = 85.87 DPS
= 5152 DPM
Triple shot, 0.8s fire rate.
225 dmg / 2.4s = 93.75 DPS
= 5625 DPM
Deep-Chill, 0.7s fire rate.
197.5 dmg / 2.2s = 89.77 DPS
= 5326 DPM
Triple shot, 0.7s fire rate.
225 dmg / 2.4s = 107.14 DPS
= 6428 DPM
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NOTE:
This is consistent damage output assuming there is no breaks, no misses, no reloading. The damage per minute (DPM) values in-game will decrease significantly based on individual skill, time in combat, among other factors.
There is a lot of downtime when proc’ing Deep-Chill so values don’t change much because of how the mechanic works. 1.5s freeze time, 0.8s icicle shot.
It is designed for short bursts, not sustained damage output.
These values are just proof that this change is beneficial but not overkill.
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~~ Final Thoughts ~~
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In my opinion, Mei is actually in a really decent spot in the overall state of the game, not overpowered, has counterplay and has playmaking potential.
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The current meta isn’t rush so her playstyle is vastly inferior to other DPS options. Doesn’t mean to say she’s bad for not viable.
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She’s not designed for high damage output. This change won’t turn her into a frosty Gatling gun.
It’ll increase her already low damage output a minor amount to align her with the shift to OW2.
She needs to offer more individually to compensate for losing a player, this change will subtly increase her output without making her too prominent in the meta or broken.
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Her base damages are perfect.
The nerf to her 100 dmg/s freeze was a great change, if not somewhat required.
Her abilities are impactful and versatile, without being incredibly oppressive.
The Deep-Chill change was an amazing design choice, implementing the original playstyle with a new, skill-expressive mechanic.
She just needs this small adjustment and she’d be in an idyllic position.
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I don’t expect this to actually go anywhere but I’ve had the idea since the OW2 beta and even sometime before it and seeing people play her just by running around holding freeze bugs me from time to time. Feels so skill-less and empty.
Be nice if this change worked in testing and got implemented, but I’m not a developer, just a really long time fan of the game.