Overwatch’s turret-based hero Torbjörn is about to see some serious changes.
Blizzard is reworking his abilities internally, and one new tweak is already likely to reach players’ hands: throwable turrets.
Lead designer Geoff Goodman talked about the new design changes in an interview with VG247. In Blizzard’s internal build, Torbjörn can toss turrets from a small range similar in scope to Tracer’s Pulse Bomb. After they deploy, each turret automatically goes active on level two without requiring players to hammer the turret for an upgrade.
“This plays a lot better on offense—especially because you can run up, throw it in a flank spot, and be immediately shooting again and not feel like you have to sit there hammering it,” Goodman said. “Being able to use that and have an extra threat shooting from the side feels really powerful. We can obviously tune the turret if it ends up being too strong or anything, but that’s the place we’re starting from.”
Blizzard’s top priority is changing Torbjörn into a hero that is not “overly defensive focused,” a problem that has haunted the pick across both competitive Overwatch and casual matches. The team’s goal is to make him “more viable on offense in a non-payload situation.” To achieve that, Blizzard wants to make sure his strength isn’t based on gradually snowballing into power halfway through a match.
While Blizzard is still figuring out how to change Torbjörn’s abilities, Molten Core poses a big problem for the new design changes, and the team is working on a few solutions to change around his ultimate. One idea involves bumping Molten Core down to a normal ability and only giving buffs to the player’s turret. Either way, Goodman suggests that Torbjörn will most likely see a new ultimate in the near future once the rework is done.
“We may end up with a completely different ultimate at this point because it ties up too much of his power, but that’s still very much in flux so it’s hard to say,” Goodman told VG247. “As of now, I think we’ve decided to move away from Molten Core entirely.”
Blizzard is still working on the Torbjörn design tweaks internally, so expect more news about the changes down the road. In the meantime, Overwatch’s latest hero Wrecking Ball—piloted by the intelligent hamster Hammond—will join the game’s roster on July 24.
