As fans eagerly await the launch ofOverwatch 2in October, the developers are still hard at work making adjustments to heroes and attempting to rebalance the game. Luckily, theOverwatch 2betas have been chock-full of helpful information that allows Blizzard to understand which heroes or abilities need to be rebalanced or adjusted for the final game. After analyzing the statistics from the betas, as well as looking into the professionals in the Overwatch League, it became clear that one hero, in particular, needed to be better balanced: Junker Queen.
Considering that Junker Queen is the newest hero to join theOverwatch 2roster, it would be fair for fans to assume that she still has to go through the adjustment process. Because Junker Queen was only made playable duringthe secondOverwatch 2beta, only a very small amount of players actually got to try out her devastatingly powerful weapons and abilities, but the general consensus is that the new Tank hero may be too powerful. Fortunately, developers have also taken notice of Junker Queen’s impact on the game and have decided to rebalance her before the game’s full launch.
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Junker Queen’s Beta Reactions
Prior to her full introduction toOverwatch 2,Junker Queen’s kit and abilitieswere teased by developers, a few of which piqued the interest of fans. The first notable ability is Junker Queen’s passive, Adrenaline Rush, which allows the hero to heal herself through damage dealt to other heroes via her Wound weapons. Wound is also a new type of ability that is specifically tailored to Junker Queen’s skillset which allows her melee weapons to damage enemies over time. Further, Junker Queen’s ultimate ability, Rampage, allows her to charge into the battle while spinning her melee weapons, dealing Wound damage and negating healing to any enemy she is able to make contact with.
All of Junker Queen’s abilities make her a very powerful and aggressive hero. ConsideringOverwatch 2’s new direction and change to the Tank role, Junker Queen seems to perfectly embody the brawler style of fighting that developers want to see from Tanks inOverwatch 2. However, after players got to experience Junker Queen firsthand, it became apparent that her new abilities may make her too powerful in close-quarters combat. Even though the limited number of players who had access to the second beta only had a short time with Junker Queen, it did not take long for fans to master her abilities and become almost indestructible while also dealing a massive amount of damage.
Why Junker Queen Needs to be Rebalanced
Thanks to her passive ability and her Commanding Shout, which allows Junker Queen to heal herself as well as nearby allies, Junker Queen is able to survive most skirmishes and often comes out of each match with the most amount of heroes defeated or total damage done. Though it is not entirely uncommon for Tanks to have a high kill count or damage output,Junker Queen’s mobilitycombined with her almost endless health pool and ability to self-heal make her nearly impossible to fight against, which players took note of. Soon, they quickly noticed not only how often the new hero got picked, but how devastating her presence was on the battlefield.
Fortunately,Overwatch 2developers also noticedJunker Queen’s excessive powerand have decided to nerf her before the launch of the game in October. The information comes from the game director, Aaron Keller, who did not state exactly how the hero was going to be rebalanced but did express that theOverwatch 2team is aware of Junker Queen’s unbalanced abilities and will “bring the overall power of Junker Queen down”. Ideally, the rebalance will affect Junker Queen’s survivability and damage output while still making her a viable choice for the new Tank role.
It is important to note that Junker Queen has been available for professional players in the Overwatch League since her introduction during the second beta. So not only have developers been able to see the statistics of casual players and internal playtests, but they have been able to observe and dissect how Junker Queen’s abilities affectOverwatch 2in the hands of some of the world’s best players.Overwatchfans should be reassured knowing that the developers are extensively looking into each new and adjusted hero to assure that the game remains balanced, and any otheradditional heroes coming toOverwatch 2will likely receive the same type of attention to ensure no hero feels too powerful.
Overwatch 2launches on October 4 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
