Overwatch players complain of one hero dominating the game with latest buffs

"I literally can't believe what I am seeing."

An intense battle in Overwatch, featuring heroes like Genji and Hanzo.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2 welcomed new balance changes yesterday, and some players aren’t happy with a specific hero who received significant buffs.

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In season five’s mid-cycle balance patch from July 11, Soldier: 76 saw his Heavy Pulse Rifle’s damage increased by one, Helix Rockets’ damage buffed by 10, and Biotic Field’s healing per second improved by five.

In a Reddit thread from July 11, one player complained about these buffs. “Basically his whole kit was buffed in a single patch,” the Reddit user said. “Hero that was viable and pretty OK or even strong. I don’t know what else to [say] but why?”

It quickly gained traction as players massively agreed with that statement in the comments. They feel like Soldier: 76 wasn’t underpowered and didn’t need any changes, which makes this significant buff all the more confusing to them.

Related: Overwatch 2 tank meta might be in for shake-up after season 5 mid-cycle update

“Prepare to see a pocketed soldier every game,” one user wrote in the comments. “It’s that time of the month when they force a hard meta,” another said.

Still, these changes have only been up for a day and Soldier: 76 isn’t the only hero who saw his ability numbers tweaked. Four tanks received changes, for example, which might impact the DPS meta, too.

The latter category of heroes also received other changes, including Symmetra, Torbjörn, and Sojourn. It’ll likely take more time to properly assess the real changes that the update had on the season five meta.

Author
Image of Eva Martinello
Eva Martinello
Eva is a Staff Writer from Paris. Her part-time job is charging into walls with Reinhardt. She has been covering League of Legends esports and other titles for six years. She still believes in a Moscow Five comeback. She also fell into the MMO pit and covers FFXIV and Genshin.