Overwatch’s Winston and Mei mains won’t have to worry about the two heroes not being in Overwatch 2 since they’ve both been confirmed for the sequel, but there will be some changes made to the characters. Blizzard showed off a preview of those changes for Mei and Winston on Thursday during an Overwatch 2 event focused on gameplay, story, and more. There’ll undoubtedly be other changes to be revealed at a later date, but we know of at least two planned updates now.
For those who couldn’t watch the whole Overwatch 2 event, Blizzard snipped the relevant parts like Mei’s and Winston’s updates into bite-sized clips like the one below. The video shows Mei first and then Winston with some context on how the two heroes will play in Overwatch 2 compared to how they currently do in Overwatch.
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Further experimentation required.
All new abilities updates for Winston’s Tesla Cannon and Mei’s Endothermic Blaster coming to Overwatch 2. pic.twitter.com/adGLsGYLD2
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) May 20, 2021
Mei’s all about her ice powers in Overwatch, and that trait will carry over to Overwatch 2. In the sequel, however, her Endothermic Blaster weapon will no longer freeze enemies solid. It’ll still slow them down and will deal damage to them as they remain in its line of fire, but there won’t be any more frozen enemies as a result of its blast.
The change is one that Mei players have understandably been largely opposed to since it was announced seeing how from that description alone, this is a nerf. It takes away Mei’s freezing powers to a degree which have been a point of frustration for pretty much everyone playing against a Mei, but it’s an effect the Mei mains would obviously prefer to remain intact. Mei’s other powers could be enhanced to make up for this lost effect, but that remains to be seen.
Winston’s changes, on the other hand, seem to be going over pretty well with those who play the hero often. His Tesla Cannon weapon is getting an alternate fire mode where it shoots one long-range blast of lightning at foes. The term “sniper tank” has been thrown around a lot since the reveal in what could be the start of a new meme, but whether that name sticks or not, the update for Winston appears to be welcomed by his fans.
One thing absent from the Overwatch 2 presentation was a release date, so we still don’t know yet when we’ll see these changes and more come to fruition.
