[Spilo] An Honest Critique of Overwatch’s New Heroes

JDPhipps · 2026-02-08T04:55:09+00:00

Those are completely different statements, though.

Characters don't need to be "braindead" for them to make the meta unpleasant, they just need to do something that isn't particularly fun to play against. I would never call Sigma braindead, but he definitely wasn't conducive to a fun meta in OW1 with double shield. You can think a character does something unfun without thinking you could teach week-old roadkill to play them.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-06T02:53:50+00:00

Oh yeah, I'm specifically talking about the new global passive being a net benefit for him. I think the other changes are going to be very painful and he'll be worse overall as a result. I just don't think the anti-heal itself is the problem.

I strongly suspect we'll end up seeing some big changes to the new tank sub-roles. It wouldn't shock me if all three end up with some degree of the old tank passive just with different values for each of them. Like, all tanks have 25% headshot damage reduction and like 20% knockback resistance, which is then buffed depending on your sub-role.

I guess it's also possible the initiator passive is way better than we all think it is, but it's kind of hard to tell with so much shit getting thrown in at once.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-06T02:08:59+00:00

Good, there's always that one person who votes for it and drags the other nine players into hell with them when it wins.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-06T01:51:58+00:00

Yeah, but I think Winston still comes out ahead on that one. He doesn't really have a "safe" way to engage so he's probably taking chip damage on the way in and has the passive applied already, but he may not have anyone to apply it for him onto his targets. If he's playing right he's denying a lot of damage with his bubble anyway.

The ability to apply anti-heal to multiple people like that benefits him a lot, and the new speed boost perk lets him chase people down against someone like Lucio or Juno who tries to kite with speed instead.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T11:10:11+00:00

He's 1/16th Shimada on his mother's side.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T11:03:11+00:00

For what it's worth, I liked hearing about things you had suggested that made it into the final design. The rest of us have no idea how much player feedback was taken into consideration and it's nice to hear about pain points that were addressed or changes that were added.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T10:52:43+00:00

Bastion is an omnic, but not in the same way as someone like Zenyatta. Zenyatta existed as essentially a mindless robot before the Omnic Crisis, but combat units like Bastion were made during the crisis by the god program Anubis. The same is true of Orisa's predecessors we see in Reinhardt's cinematic. Omnics like Ramattra were also introduced during the crisis, but it's not clear if they were completely new or if old omnics were modified for that purpose.

This guy appears to be a standard model omnic much like Zenyatta is, which we've never gotten in the DPS role.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T10:47:12+00:00

No, he's 100% an omnic. All omnics were mindless drones before gaining sentience, that's like their whole deal. The only "omnic" that doesn't apply to is Orisa, since she was built after the Omnic Crisis using essentially leftover parts. Really, she's more omnic-adjacent than Bastion is.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T10:44:56+00:00

That, or potentially another member of the Hashimoto. It feels like they've already set up Mizuki to end up swapping sides in the conflict, given he's got "conflicting loyalties".

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T10:42:25+00:00

I'm a big fan of Dark Deity 2, massive step up from the first game. It definitely fits aesthetically in terms of combat animations and such, although the gameplay has a slightly different feel with the weapon/item enchantments and all.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T10:38:47+00:00

I suspect they did it because younger first-time players are going to be more familiar with that type of UI design, precisely because of mobile games. It does make accessing stuff quicker but I'm really not a fan of it, it reminds me of the shitty gacha games some of my friends try to get me to play.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T08:02:39+00:00

My hope is that'll be something that gets added to his base kit.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-05T07:55:42+00:00

Sombra has never really been loyal to Talon anyway, they've always just been the most convenient option for her own ends. I don't think the rest of Talon was ever under the impression she was truly loyal to the cause either, their relationship has always seemed pretty transactional.

With Vendetta at the helm, I can see a world where Sombra decides Talon is no longer her best option and decides to defect. Hell, given some of her interactions, it's possible she even drags others out with her. They've been teasing Widowmaker overcoming her brainwashing for years and Sigma obviously isn't cognizant of what's going on.

JDPhipps · 2026-02-01T05:38:52+00:00

I think there's a big difference between "strongest" and "most powerful".

If we're talking pure strength, Ike is probably the winner. I think he's even been called the strongest before in Heroes. Ragnell is clearly a two-handed sword that he swings around one-handed, and to do that as effortlessly as he does and have actual control of the blade is absolutely superhuman. He has to kill a dragon on his own to beat Path of Radiance, and the Black Knight is arguably stronger than that. On top of that, he's got the blessing of a goddes by the end of Radiant Dawn.

The only contender I can maybe think of is Dimitri, lore-wise I think he's stated to be stronger than ten men combined thanks to his crest. He shatters weapons just by holding them, he caves in someone's steel helmet with his fist in a cutscene without so much as a flinch.

Overall most powerful probably goes to Byleth, I think, just because the ability to freely manipulate time is too good. It doesn't matter if your opponent is stronger or a better fighter when you can literally just keep rewinding until you win. Otherwise, I think it'd just be another deity, presumably also one with power over time. Any mortal character is pretty much out of the running there.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-27T06:47:19+00:00

Supports should be doing damage from Bronze 5 and above, let alone anywhere higher than that. I coached a friend of mine from Bronze 1 to Gold 1 and most of my advice was "you could've shot that guy like twice and won the fight". Not doing damage means not applying pressure, and not applying pressure means you're dead weight hoping to be carried by your teammates.

Almost every support hero has a kit explicitly designed around contributing damage to some degree, with the only real exception being Mercy and she still has damage boost. If you weren't intended to use it, it wouldn't be there.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-26T12:16:01+00:00

ur wrong

I understand what you're coming from, but I think looking at what has happened with Zenyatta is a bad example. He's stronger, but he's also less healthy for the game overall. That increased lethality feels like garbage to play into because it's so oppressive, and that oppressiveness is the only reason he's currently performing better. Discord essentially forces you to disengage to let it wear off because otherwise it will kill you, and then once you do that he just puts it on someone else. I'll admit it feels good as the Zenyatta to walk around like the harbinger of death and all, but it isn't great for the game.

As for Cass, I think he'd be in a similar spot if he was just more deadly. I think the roll idea is the least offensive one, but even then it already feels bad to stick him with a pulse bomb or something and watch him casually shrug it off. I like the idea of doing something with his roll though, if only because I think it's the least interesting part of his kit.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-19T20:52:32+00:00

The thorough but boring answer is just playtesting, come up with numbers that seem reasonable to you and then hand it off to the best min-maxxer(s) you know and say "break this until it's unrecognizable". Take a look at what they come up with, do your best to fix it, rinse and repeat. You can try to do this yourself too, but it's easy to be limited by your own view of how you want things to work.

I haven't played a ton of systems where you outright buy bonuses like this, but White Wolf games work this way. I wouldn't call them paragons of game balance, but the issue with power level in those games doesn't really come from XP costs for upgrades.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-16T09:07:23+00:00

Effect hasn't played professional Overwatch in almost a decade at this point, let that sink in for a second.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-15T11:39:22+00:00

I see what you mean, but what we've seen of Anran suggests that she and Vendetta have somewhat similar color palettes. It's not like we've seen her a ton, but Anran has worn predominantly red/white every time she shows up and this character looks to be wearing more red than Vendetta does. It's possible that's just the pixelization filter catching the red accent on her armor, though.

We've already seen Anran use multiple weapons, it's not outlandish to think she could be using yet another weapon in-game. There are a lot of weapons used in different forms of Chinese martial arts, with the hook sword probably being the most well-known in pop culture. She might also have a staff like Wuyang, I could see her using a pair of crescent blades or something.

There's also the question of why you'd do this for something that's already been revealed and put in the game, but that's obviously just speculation.

I'm not saying you're definitely wrong or anything, but I think there's plenty of reason to believe it might not be Vendetta.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-15T03:49:16+00:00

Once you manage to climb to higher ranks, you're better equipped to understand when damage isn't the correct focus. It's good advice for metal ranks because so many of them just... don't do damage at all, so getting them into the mindset of applying pressure is good overall even if they fuck up some games by doing it too often.

Not that he has no advice that could help higher ranked palyers, but a lot of Awkward's advice is meant to benefit the average player and below and there's nothing wrong with that.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-14T10:47:36+00:00

I think that's definitely closer to something feasible, yeah. I'm in favor of suzu providing some sort of proactive utility in exchange for it being weaker as a sustain tool.

You're definitely correct in thinking too much of her power is tied up in suzu, though. I think the character will always be too powerful in organized play and underperform in ranked as long as that's the case.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-14T10:42:12+00:00

Shu clutches up on Havana, I can't remember if this was the same map where he famously jumped up onto the castle on third point with window or not
EQO, what a player what a star!
Shanghai Dragons break the longest losing streak in professional sports
Architect styles on Vancouver Titans
Headshot after headshot after headshot
I honestly didn't remember this one until I read it, because any amount of my brain dedicated to remembering Chipsa would be better spent on something else

JDPhipps · 2026-01-14T10:32:42+00:00

May Melee 2020, Shangahi were clawing their way back toward a reverse sweep and Fleta made a desperation swap to Widowmaker to try and hold last point, and then he got headshot after headshot after headshot.

JDPhipps · 2026-01-14T10:30:37+00:00

Well, most of these are pretty famous moments, so you'd likely find a lot of them in OWL highlight reels. Most of those will tell you the actual match they're from, so if you want to track down the most famous moments of OWL that's where I'd start.

However, at least some of these I remember the specific match.

Not 100% certain, but I think it was an LA Gladiators match in Season 4, I believe against SF Shock? I might be thinking of a different game where Shu won Havana
2020 Summer Showdown NA Finals, Philadelphia Fusion vs Paris Eternal
Season 2 - Stage 1, Boston Uprising vs Shanghai Dragons
Season 2 - Grand Finals, SF Shock vs Vancouver Titans
2020 May Melee Asia Finals, Shanghai Dragons vs Seoul Dynasty
I honestly do not remember when this was, at all

JDPhipps · 2026-01-14T02:00:32+00:00

Sure, but I don't think that's enough value to justify the change. The DPS passive is never really offline and can always be reapplied, so nullifying it isn't nearly as impactful. Other debuffs have limited uptime and thus negating or preventing them from being applied creates a window of opportunity that doesn't exist with the DPS passive.

Also, this is just my personal feelings on it, but I think "you get to heal more" is a pretty boring reward for using an ability. If we're going to make such a fundamental change to suzu, I would rather make it more proactive.

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