OW2 Season 9: Everyone Gets More HP and Passive Healing

February 17, 2024

Season 9: Champions launched February 13, fundamentally changing how Overwatch plays. Every hero got thicc with health buffs and passive healing. After Season 8's Mauga chaos, Blizzard decided the solution to tank dominance was making everyone tankier.

Health Inflation: The Solution to Everything

Tracer gets 25 more HP (175 total). One-shot potential reduced, annoying factor unchanged
Tanks gain 75-100 HP because apparently they weren't unkillable enough
Everyone in between gets 15-20% more health

Time-to-kill increased across the board increased. Widowmaker mains in shambles. Support players slightly less frustrated and nervous.

Passive Healing for All

DPS and Tanks regenerate 20 HP/second after 5 seconds without damage. Supports start after 2.5 seconds because favoritism. It's Call of Duty health regen in a game supposedly about teamwork.

Poking damage has become quite meaningless. Chipping away at enemies health, just to watch them heal back to full behind cover is no longer a valid strategy unless you do it coordinated right before some one else jumps them from the sides.

DPS Passive: Anti-Heal Lite

DPS heroes reduce healing received by enemies they damage by 20%. Ana's anti-nade in shambles. Every Genji is now a discount anti-support.

The healing creep problem solved by... adding anti-healing creep. Not the solution we were hoping for, but it might be the one we need.

Projectiles Got Fat

All projectiles increased in size making hitting shots easier for everyone. Skill ceiling lowered, skill floor raised. Hanzo now shoots sticks, not arrows, which is certainly a visual change people will need to get used too.

Competitive Overhaul

Champion Rank sits above Grandmaster. "Exceedingly small percentage" will reach it. Exclusive for the 0.1%. A treatment a lot of other PvP games already gotten.

Rank Reset forces everyone through 10 placement matches. Again. Because nothing says "competitive integrity" like making everyone prove their rank every few months.

Progress Bar shows exactly how close you are to ranking up. Modifiers explain why you gained/lost SR. Which of course is great, but team difference is surprisingly absent from the list.

Jade Weapons: Green

Win matches, earn competitive points, unlock jade weapon skins. They're golden weapons but green.

Win = 10 points (up from 15? Math unclear)
Draw = 5 points
Loss = Still nothing, get good

The Real Impact

Fights last forever now. Ultimate economy matters more when nobody dies to regular damage. Supports enabled to DPS more with self-sustain. Tank diff determines more of the match now then it did before..

AS lot of one shot heroes are no longer able to one shot as easily, but still can on low health targets on headshots. Dive compositions require actual coordination instead of "jump the Zen." So there is certainly a lot more stretegy involved now, which should be considered a positive change. We will just need to see if it actually is.

Overal Feel of Changes

Brawlers dominate, purely because poking is no longer as valid as it was. Ultimates have become more powerful in comparison, because they are no needed more to kill, because normal damage is no longer enough if your enemy plays smart to hop behind cover at the right moment.

This makes heroes with higher health pools stronger in comparison, because they need less "rest". But it does help for healers their stress levels.

Season 9 Verdict

Blizzard threw everything at the wall. Some stuck (competitive transparency), some didn't (health inflation), some made everyone question game design fundamentals (passive healing).

It's Overwatch 2 becoming Overwatch 2.5. Different enough to feel fresh, but for those who quit, it might feel similar enough to stay away.

The game's easier, fights last longer, and individual skill matters less. Its interesting how it does feel more like a brawling game now then before.