Overwatch 2’s next patch will nerf Zarya, Sombra, D.Va, and Genji (but not Sojourn)

The next update for Overwatch 2 will attempt to address some currently overpowered characters, which should be relief to any tank facing down a double-bubble-powered Zarya or a support player being regularly harassed by Sombra. Blizzard’s mid-season balance patch for Overwatch 2 — which also includes tweaks to D.Va, Genji, and Kiriko — is coming Nov. 15, ahead of the game’s second season, when the developer is expected to roll out further changes.

Blizzard detailed the game’s upcoming changes on its official Overwatch forums, explaining next month’s specific adjustments and the reasoning behind them.

Zarya is getting hit pretty hard, with her Barrier duration reduced to 2 seconds, down from 2.5 seconds. Barrier’s cooldown time is also increasing from 10 seconds to 11. Opponents should have more time to do damage to Zarya, while she’ll have less time to build up energy from enemy fire.

Sombra is also getting a substantial nerf, with her Hacked damage multiplier dropping from 40% to 25%. Players who are hacked by Sombra will only be locked out of their abilities for 1.5 seconds, down from 1.75 seconds. Sombra players will also no longer to be able to hack an already hacked opponent. That’s all pretty good news for support heroes without great escape capabilities, like Zenyatta and Ana.

Genji’s nerf is a bit more slight: He can hold a maximum of 24 shurikens (down from 30), and will do less damage (27, versus 29) when the balance update goes live. D.Va too will get a slight nerf, with her Boosters impact damage reduced from 25 to 15, and her Fusion Cannon spread increasing from 3.5 to 3.75. Kiriko’s getting just one minor nerf: Her teleport ability, Swift Step, will make her invulnerable for just 0.25 seconds, down from 0.4.

Overwatch lead hero designer Alec Dawson said in a Twitter Spaces conversation on Friday that the dev team is also looking at adjustments for Doomfist to “find a bit more of an identity” for the tank-class character and at Sojourn, whom Dawson said was over-performing in higher competitive ranks, but under-performing in ranks below Master level.

Overwatch 2’s second season is slated to arrive in early December.

Update (Nov. 15): Blizzard announced Tuesday, the day the mid-season balance patch for Overwatch 2 was expected to go live and currently disabled hero Mei was set to return to the roster, that the update has been indefinitely delayed. An Overwatch community manager posted the following notice on Blizzard’s official forums:

Today’s patch is delayed as we work to resolve a critical issue. We’ll provide an update here and set the patch live as soon as the problem is addressed.

This includes the upcoming balance changes, bug fixes, including those that affect Mei, and core content updates we have planned for this patch. This delay also impacts the delivery of Overwatch League Viewership Incentives & Perks from the Postseason matches during the period between Oct 30 - Nov 4, along with the rotation of cosmetics in the Overwatch League shop.