Death to shields? Seagull and Dafran react to Overwatch’s “bold” patch
The Overwatch landscape could be changing once again with massive changes to the strength of barriers fresh on the Public Test Realm. With most significant changes, the community is very vocal, and this is no different as the likes of Twitch stars Dafran and Seagull have weighed in on the patch.
While the November 13 PTR patch did nerf barriers for Sigma, Orisa, and Reinhardt, the latter two had other parts of their kits buffed to accommodate for the nerfs.
Some in the community have claimed the nerfs will spell the doom of the infamous double barrier meta, but on the flip side, armor received a global buff, which means Brigitte could become a massive threat once more.
Former pro Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned seemed wary about the armor buff in particular and classified Blizzard’s decision to buff armor without nerfing Brigitte in the process as “bold.”
Buffing armor without a nerf to Brig who already had some of the most absurd healing/armor generation in the game?
B O L D https://t.co/synHEUOZGM
— Brandon Larned (@A_Seagull) November 14, 2019
On the flip side, he appeared happy with the changes overall, writing “now THAT is a balance patch.”
While testing the changes, the Twitch star discovered that it now takes Roadhog only four shots to destroy Orisa’s barrier – an unexpected surprise, but a welcome one.
Roadhog can now Break Orisa's shield in only 4 SHOTS.
Ft. @SwimmerOW / @A_Seagull pic.twitter.com/3thmRvcTTH
— PHΛЯΛӨH (@PH7RAOH) November 14, 2019
Additionally, suspended streamer Daniel ‘dafran’ Francesca seemed overjoyed at the nerfs to shields and impressed that the developers listened to the community.
Unfortunately, Dafran is currently suspended on Twitch for 30 days, so those wanting to watch the DPS legend play on the new patch will need to wait. Luckily, Dafran says it’ll be worth it as he plans to “pop the f*ck off” when he’s unbanned.
They nerfed shields.!! They listened to the community, holy shit. Its time to pop the fuck off…… When im unbannedhttps://t.co/t56LKAdYEx
— Dafran (@dafran) November 14, 2019
Elsewhere, top YouTube streamer Samito took issue with the fact Orisa’s barrier was nerfed, but her Fortify ability was buffed as the cooldown was reduced. Fortify gives the Omnic tank a 50% damage reduction for a short period while making her immune to stuns and boops.
if this makes it to live…@PlayOverwatch @Blizzard_Ent i shall spell it out
ORISA'S BARRIER IS NOT THE PROBLEM. HER FORTIFY (which u guys buffed lol) MAKES HER 800 HP 400 OF THAT BEING ARMOR WITH CC IMMUNITY. MAKE IT 20% DMG NEGATION AND GAME IS GOOD
other changes good tho https://t.co/W7I31xSygF
— Samito (@SamitoFPS) November 14, 2019
The Contenders star pleaded with the developers to decrease Fortify’s damage negation to 20%. He was also sad to see the bunker playstyle seemingly get demolished by the shield nerfs.
Now bunker just won’t be a viable strategy. Literally all we had to do was nerf fortify. Orisa will lose her niche bunker play style that added diversity to the game because we don’t know how to fix double shield when there are dozens of pros who would help them FOR FREE. I’m sad
— Samito (@SamitoFPS) November 14, 2019
For Samito, the changes kill bunker, which added some diversity to the game. However, just like Seagull and Dafran, the Triumph DPS was happy with the rest of the changes made.
Hopefully, the Overwatch League’s third season provides some much-needed head-clicking action and with fewer barriers. Only time will tell how the pros adapt and take advantage of the decreased shield health.