The latest patch for Overwatch 2 (opens in a new tab) has made significant changes to two heroes that have been at the center of recent community debates over one-shot kills.

Sojourn and Roadhog have been reduced in power just enough to add predictability to the most lethal pieces of kit; Roadhog's hook is no longer a death sentence, and Sojourn's railgun shot is no longer affected by Mercy (opens in new tab) and other heroes' damage boosts and are now charged at a slow, constant rate.

This is definitely a nerf to both heroes' ability to kill targets quickly, but it also makes their most deadly abilities more predictable. Getting caught by a roadhog or getting dueled by a sojourner is a different level of threat depending on which hero you are playing. If Overwatch 2 wants to maintain the fun of asymmetrical hero abilities, it must give players room to use abilities in response to such heroes or switch to a more suitable hero.

Here are the specific changes I am talking about (out of the full list):

Roadhog's Chain Hook

Roadhog's Scrap Gun

Sojourn

This is a major change to the way Roadhog has been played This is a major change to the way Roadhog used to play. With the reduction in hook damage, squishy DPS and support heroes are less likely to get chased down. The 4m leash also means that Roadhog's prey will have more time to use their mobility and protection abilities to survive. His Scrap Gun shoots faster and has more ammunition, so the ability to chase down hooks is still possible, but requires some shooting aim. The Rail Gun's slower and more constant charge rate requires more thought and aim with each shot. Both heroes move slower and have less time for the target to react.

Speaking live with streamers (opens in new tab) about today's patch notes, Alec Dawson, lead hero designer for Overwatch 2, said that teams should be looking for heroes that can effectively one-shot enemies, especially shots before a proper team fight begins He said the team is considering a wide range of heroes that can get quick kills by firing a series of Dawson said, "We want to look at it from a holistic perspective, not just at the moment the one-shot occurs, but what is the risk of getting a one-shot, is it possible to counterplay?

Dawson, in particular, sees the potential problems for those trying to jump her before she is sniped: the Widowmaker's health (increased in "Overwatch 2") and dying by a junk rat firing grenades randomly at the choke point. Frustration was brought up. Neither of these heroes have been changed today, he said, but it is something the team is discussing.

For many, the problem with one-shots and fast time to kill is the inability to react or predict what is about to happen. Roadhog and Sojourn have dominated the meta for the past few months, partially because of their "all or nothing" combat loop. Today's adjustments are the first step toward slowing down overwatch and creating counterplay opportunities.

A slightly weakened Roadhog could very well be kicked out of the meta. I don't know if this is a problem that Blizzard can prevent, but it's a problem that could be prevented by the fact that the Roadhog has a one-hit-kill hook combo, and if it can't rely on that to protect its team, it could become a target for highly ranked Competitive players looking for something to blame when it loses. I don't know, but incremental changes like this can help push heroes in the right direction without completely changing the way they work.

"A lot of our changes are not about data, but about frustration points," Dawson said of the team's approach to changes like Roadhog's in today's patch. The team plans to compensate for his one-hit-hook combo nerf with some utility he can bring to the team in the future, but the goal is to take a lighter approach first. Other heroes like Sombra and Ramatra will get the same treatment in the near future. "I want to make sure I don't completely run out of heroes"