Overwatch devs respond to “broken” Moira & Reinhardt buffs in new patch

Michael Gwilliam
Reinhardt charge

The latest Overwatch patch on January 6 introduced a slew of new controversial changes that fans are enjoying, albeit while admitting that they could be a bit broken, leading the devs to step in.

It had been a long while since Overwatch received a legitimate balance patch. Despite having fun creator-designed Experimental cards, the main game went a bit without any hero buffs or nerfs.

That all changed on January 6 when Blizzard introduced a patch that took some fun ideas from the creator Experimental card and tweaked them for the main game.

Now that the dust has settled, many players are concerned that Moira, and even Reinhardt, may be too strong and the devs have been forced to address the commotion.

Overwatch developers listening to player feedback

In a post on the official Blizzard forums, Community Manager Andy B commented on a post taking issue with some of the changes implemented.

“Bugs not withstanding (sorry about that), we knew some of these changes would drive a lot of conversation. We also knew that the patch would shake up the meta a bit, something we’ll be closely monitoring this week. As usual, we’ll be summarizing your feedback and sending that along to Geoff and co,” he said, referencing a Hanzo glitch that forced the update offline for a bit.

The potentially meta-altering buffs include Moira’s new Fade, which gives her extreme new mobility, and a Reinhardt Earthshatter buff that can instantly kill 200 HP heroes hit by it at close range.

“Your measured feedback about your play experience once you’ve tried out the patch is going to be super helpful in said summary. If you don’t care for the experience, let us know what frustrated you about it,” he added. “Try to be specific, avoid hyperbole, and just speak to your experience. If you like it, tell us what you enjoyed about it.”

We’ll have to see what ends up happening with these buffs and if they’re toned down a bit in the coming weeks once players have had even more time with them, but at least the devs seem aware that they might be too much.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam