“Both her win rate and ban rate have stabilized.”
In a recent post, associate hero designer Scott Kennedy revealed some interesting data on Overwatch 2 hero bans. Freja, who's the game's newest damage hero, was at one point the most banned one in the higher ranks.
Overwatch 2 hero bans and Freja stats
According to Kennedy, in addition to being the most banned Overwatch 2 hero above Diamond rank, Freja also held the highest ban rate across multiple regions. When she first arrived permanently in the game, her win rates were low. Therefore, the Overwatch 2 team buffed her kit. However, as players mastered this kit, Freja's ban rate soared in the higher skill tiers.
The Overwatch 2 team reviewed player feedback, analyzed community input, and identified Freja's main pain points as a response. The biggest concern was how oppressive she felt, especially when spamming damage in the air. This led to increased cooldowns on Freja's Quick Dash and Updraft plus a nerf to her primary weapon's reload time.
"Freja is still a devastating damage dealer, but small tweaks make her less of a terror to play against," Kennedy added. "Both her win rate and ban rate have stabilized and we're continuously monitoring all of the data to ensure that she lands in a balanced, fun state."
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There's something about Sombra: Another Sombra rework?
He also mentioned Sombra's ban rates in Overwatch 2. This damage hero's ban rates are high across multiple regions on both PC and console, so future changes are under discussion. Kennedy noted that Sombra is a complex case that can't be solved overnight.
The Overwatch 2 community also noticed Kennedy's short blurb about Sombra. For example, some folks on Reddit recognized the challenge of balancing Sombra's abilities without losing her core identity as a hacker. Meanwhile, other players noted that although removing one ability might be necessary, removing the wrong one would result in backlash.
That's all for now. For more Overwatch 2 news and updates, stick around on esports.gg.
