Overwatch 2 hero designer reveals what players can expect from next three supports
Blizzard EntertainmentWith multiple support heroes planned for Overwatch 2 post-launch, the developers have provided more insight on what players can expect from them ability-wise.
Overwatch 2 will only be launching with three new heroes: Sojourn, The Junker Queen and a mysterious fox-like character. While these heroes are damage, tank and support respectively, there are plenty of other supports in the works.
According to Game Director Aaron Keller, two of the three next post-launch heroes will be supports and with OW2’s seasonal model, they could be all be released in 2023.
During a June 22 AMA, Senior Hero Designer Joshua Noh chimed in on what players can expect from the supports currently being worked on.
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When asked on Reddit about the team’s design philosophy for the upcoming support heroes, Noh explained that giving players a wide array of playstyles is paramount.
“In general the broad goal is to provide a wide range of playstyle options. There isn’t really a big shift in that regard towards being weighted more toward healing/damage/utility etc,” he said. “We do need to make sure they fit well into 5v5 and are able to have a significant impact on the outcome of a match but that can be achieved in a variety of ways depending on the individual hero kit.”
He went on to add that while some could require more mechanical skill, others could reward good game sense and positioning while not being focused on aiming.
This lines up with what Lead Hero Designer Geoff Goodman said in an interview where he revealed that the team could be adding more “Mercy-style” supports that don’t require one to have good aim.
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Additionally, Noh further was asked about the possibility of having supports that don’t have healing as part of their kit.
After reminding players that when Overwatch first launched, Symmetra fit this criteria, he explained that because of the importance of healing, “trying to design pure utility supports is a difficult task.”
“It’s possible we try it again at some point,” he added. “But at the moment we try to give all support heroes some amount of healing, though playing with the ratio of healing/utility/damage a hero has can make for unique and very different feeling gameplay experiences.”
We will have to wait and see what support heroes the team has in the works, but it seems like gamers of all playstyles will find something suited to them.