The Battle for Olympus Overwatch 2 patch notes bring surprise buffs to Junker Queen, Zarya, and Moira. What’s in store?
Boons from Olympus from on high! The Battle for Olympus Overwatch 2 patch released today and in addition to the new, limited-time mode there's also a number of Hero changes in-store. Now, these balance adjustments don't send Roadhog back down to Hades where he belongs. However, they do give Junker Queen a much-needed boost in viability, while also giving surprise changes to Zarya, Brigitte, and Moira.
Let's look at the various. For the gods! And Olympus! For the Giant Woman!
Return of the Queen
JUNKER QUEEN
Adrenaline Rush
- Now heals for the remaining wound damage when an enemy dies with wounds on them
Carnage
- Cooldown is now reduced by 2 seconds for each enemy it impacts
Jagged Blade
- Thrown impact damage reduced from 80 to 50
- Thrown direct impacts now add a 30 damage wound to the stuck target. Stacks with wounds caused by Quick Melee or returning Jagged Blade hits.
Junker Queen dominated Quick Play queues and the OWL meta upon her initial release. However, the release of Kiriko and a shift in the meta towards large amounts of burst damage made her a tanking liability. Not to say she was bad, but a lack of survivability hurt her chances at hanging in a crowded Tank field. The biggest, almost busted change has to be to Carnage. On an eight second cooldown, Queen now can swing that axe into a group and get it back in an instant. The other changes lend the tank a ton of self-sufficiency, which may make up for her ability to soak damage like Ramattra or Sigma.
The high-energy monster
ZARYA
Energy
- Energy degeneration reduced from 2.2 to 2 per second
- Delay before energy degeneration begins after gaining energy increased from 1 to 2 seconds
Zarya was dominant in the first months of Overwatch 2. Her ability to juggle bubble cooldowns while keeping energy at high levels made her more lethal than most DPS Heroes. While her ability to steamroll through opponents was lessened in the last patch, it might have also been too much of a de-tuning. This buff allows her to hold onto energy for a bit longer, meaning she'll be able to keep being aggressive in short fights.
Support buffs aplenty
BRIGITTE
Barrier Shield
- Health increased from 250 to 300
MOIRA
Biotic Orb
- Dealing damage with Biotic Orb now restores a small amount of Biotic Energy
There's been much talk in the Overwatch community about the difficulty in playing Support. Whether its accusations that the class isn't fun or the fact that a Support never gets Play of the Game. It's hard out there to be a Support main. Both of these changes do help prop two Heroes in meaningful ways, but in the case of Moira the change to her energy generation might be a bit too far. In multiple games under the new patch I was seeing Moira players drastically leading in DPS and healing.
Only time and data will tell if Moira will have yet another game-shattering buff taken away from her. Regardless, the Battle for Olympus Overwatch 2 patch is a nice appetizer before a meatier patch near the end of the month.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more information on Overwatch 2 news.