Overwatch 2’s upcoming new hero, Mauga, looks formidable, but according to player feedback and developer Blizzard’s own data from the character’s free trial period, he actually proved to be on the weaker side. That’s something Blizzard would like to fix ahead of his debut at the start of Season 8 on December 5.
In a blog post discussing Mauga, BlizzCon 2023, and other potential changes coming to the free-to-play hero shooter, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said Mauga was “on the average to weak side, with him underperforming even more at higher-skill tiers,” based on the developer’s data from the characters free trial weekend. In order to make Mauga as strong as he looks, the team is looking to buff his survivability and increase his ability to deal damage against smaller targets.
Keller didn’t go over exact numbers, but did state Mauga will receive armor, increase the damage reduction granted by his Overrun ability, and increase the amount of lifesteal on Cardiac Overdrive. There will also be “quite a few changes” to his signature dual gatling guns, with different bullet spreads, firing rates, and damage numbers in the works.
It seems Blizzard is a fan of having gotten Mauga in player hands ahead of his official launch. Keller said the team received valuable data and great feedback from players during the trial period. Better yet, the character’s launch is far enough out that the team will have time to incorporate that feedback into significant changes. Keller said the idea of releasing new heroes (and even other pieces of content) in a trial form “could be a great template going forward.”
Though the Mauga changes were the main focus of Keller’s blog post, the game director did touch on a few other topics, including iterating on the game’s upcoming Clash game mode to ensure matches don’t go on too long. He also addressed toxicity, and stated the team is looking at ways to help reduce the number of people who leave or “sabotage” matches and will continue its ongoing efforts to improve matchmaking and anti-cheat.
In addition to announcing Mauga at this year’s BlizzCon, Blizzard gave fans a glimpse at a new map, Hanaoka, and two other upcoming heroes. A damage hero, named Venture, will debut with Season 10, while a new support character, codenamed Space Ranger, will release with Season 12.
Blizzard recently reworked one of Overwatch 2’s original tank heroes, Roadhog. A few days after BlizzCon, Blizzard officially announced the Overwatch League was ending, with the developer looking to transition from the league and evolve “competitive Overwatch in a new direction.”
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