Overwatch 2 Beta Update Reworks More Abilities

Overwatch 2 is still very much in beta form, but that hasn't stopped it from getting its first balance update during this trial run. Blizzard announced this week the release of an update on May 5th that targeted several different heroes while also fixing bugs and other issues. Some of those changes were more general bumps up and down for stats, but in at least two cases, heroes have gotten totally new or reworked abilities.

Those two heroes which received the most notable changes in this update are Roadhog and Zenyatta. Roadhog's gotten a new version of his ultimate ability while Zenyatta has picked up a new passive ability that allows the Support to deal more melee damage and send enemies back further once they're hit.

The patch notes for those changes can be found below:

Roadhog

Whole Hog

• This ability has changed from a 'Channeled' ultimate (e.g. Pharah, Reaper, Cassidy), into a 'Transform' ultimate (e.g. Soldier: 76, Genji, Winston). This is what that means:
• The weapon no longer automatically fires, and you must press Primary Fire to use the ultimate
• You can use normal abilities during Whole Hog without canceling the ultimate
• Stuns will no longer cancel the ultimate

Zenyatta

• Base shields increased from 150 to 175

Snap Kick

• New Passive Ability
• Increases Quick melee damage by 50% and significantly increases its knockback

In some developer notes provided with these balance updates, Blizzard said the new Roadhog ultimate is meant to be a "more interesting, effective, and fun" ability for the hero. For Zenyatta, Blizzard's comments echoed past guarantees that the developers were paying attention to the state of Supports in the Overwatch 2 meta where there's one less player to watch a Support's back.

"We think this new passive will be a fun adjustment to his kit, but we also want this change to acknowledge community concerns," Blizzard said about the new Zenyatta passive. "We understand 5v5 has made support heroes feel more vulnerable, and we wanted to give Zenyatta tools to help create space between him and enemies."

Overwatch 2's beta is ongoing, so expect to see more changes big and small like the ones listed in these patch notes throughout the beta's duration.