Overwatch 2 players divided as some want Hanzo to have big HP nerf

Overwatch 2’s Hanzo is sparking debate over whether his health should nerfed to put him in line with other heroes in the game.

If you’re an Overwatch 2 player, you probably have that one hero who drives you up the wall. Everyone has one character they loathe to see on the other team. For some, that can be the defensive heroes like Bastion, Symmetra, or Torbjorn who can be a pain to breakdown.

For others, it might be Mercy with her ability to negate kills, or Sombra, who can demolish supports from being invisible. If you’ve played Overwatch, there is a hero out there you don’t want the enemy taking.

However, undoubtedly for many, that hero is Hanzo. The archer is a pain to deal with, especially with the enormous hitbox of his arrow, making a one-shot kill all too common. For many, taking a Hanzo log to the head is an all too familiar feeling. Because of that, it’s not surprising to see players calling for Hanzo to get a pretty sizable health nerf. 

Should Hanzo get the Widowmaker treatment?

In a Reddit thread by user 0_0_, which has garnered over 1.6k upvotes, they propose that Hanzo get the “175 hp treatment”. This is in reference to Widowmaker, the game’s other damage sniper. Widowmaker, back in Overwatch 1 went from 200 health to 175. This was a fair trade-off, making her more killable, while she retained her one-hit kill potential. 

The Redditor argued: “I just feel in a game where you have five characters, having a guy who can one-shot, reposition efficiently, burst down targets, and scout out the opposition’s position, and has a zoning ultimate is actual insanity.”

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Others voiced their frustration, saying: “Dying to Hanzo feels worse than dying to literally anyone else. 9/10 it’s just spam. He shoots logs that register headshots more often than not.”

Another offered a suggestion for how to make Hanzo more engaging to play against, saying, “ I’d like to see him get reverse falloff damage. Essentially, the closer Hanzo is to a target the less damage he does to them”.

That said, not everyone agreed. Some higher-level players say these are issues that only plague lower-level players. A Redditor said: “Friendly reminder this sub is full of gold players giving each other gold-level advice.”

Another thinks Blizzard should tread carefully as if they do this, it could kill the character. “No meaningful Hanzo nerf will fix the hero in a way most of you want. You can’t take away his one-shot or he’s a dead character. Reduce his HP and he’s a dead character”. 

Hanzo has long been controversial, with many hating on him since the start of the game. Hanzo is a pseudo-sniper, so there is reasoning for him being 175 health. That said, he’s often much closer to the enemy team than a Widowmaker would be. On top of that, a nerf that drastic would likely see more power put into other parts of his kit, which could make him even more frustrating to play against.