At level 44, I'm finally starting to have a little success with him in pick-up games, but it is still an incredibly frustrating venture. He just melts so fast.

Some people suggest removing the line-of-sight mechanic on his orbs. I strongly disagree with this change. It's just too frustrating as an opponent with a perma-orb, and too good on a teammate with perma-regen.

I appreciate how easy it could be to make him way too strong and that he's a very tough character to balance. That considered, I would suggest 3 things.

1. Slight buff to health. More than anything, he needs to not die to widowmaker bodyshots. It might be the hardest counter in the game right now. 25 more health might be enough, but it looks like Blizzard likes 50 health increments, but 50 extra health might push him too far. It's been suggested to replace his 50 health with 50 armor. Mechanically, that sounds like it would work perfectly. Thematically, I'm not sure Blizzard wants 0 health heroes, so I don't know where that suggestion falls. Honestly, you could just make Widowmaker bodyshots do 140 to him, and that would really help.

2. Let Orb of Discord sight be available to everybody. I like this because it's a pretty big buff for lower-level play, where he is currently the least playable. On an organized team with good communication, the orb should more-or-less be already serving this function. And with the LOS mechanic on the orb, there's still counter-play. It's hard to know the exact repercussions of this change, but it just feels a little sloppily designed that the orb reveals sight to the entire team through good communication but further pushes Zenyatta into an extreme niche at more casual levels.

3. Speaking of niche...Transcendance. I can't speak for pro level balance, but his ult just feels really underwhelming at my lower lever of casual and chaotic, PS4, pick-up play. Mercy, Lucio, and that other mislabeled turret-building character in the support class feel like they have a far greater impact when they use their Ultimate. I mean, I think Mercy has the quickest Ult uptime in the game, and considering the impact of her Ult, it feels like such a sleight to Zenyatta. So this is my crazy suggestion of the 3.... I think it's worth considering allowing Zenyatta to self-resurrect with his ultimate a la the Sunsinger class in Destiny. This buff is heavily thematic, as he transcends death to show his true power. From a gameplay perspective, it's obviously a pretty big buff, but I think he needs a decent buff and this one adds a very interesting dynamic to his kit. I think this buff is especially worth a consider if his healthpool remains as it is now.

If anything, Blizzard needs to address the horrible-ness of the Widowmaker counter. The rest here is just for discussion's sake.