Overwatch’s Bastion insane ultimate ability was removed in early development

An insane clip from Overwatch’s early development days shows that Bastion was originally planned to have a completely different ultimate ability, and proves just why it was changed.

Bastion is one of Overwatch’s most popular damage-per-second heroes due to his ability to melt through armor and shields in just a few seconds – pair him with Orisa and Mercy, and you’ve got yourself a formidable combo.

The robot’s ultimate ability is excellent for taking out DPS and healer enemies with one hit, but did you know that he originally had a completely different move during the game’s early development phase?

Bastion’s original ultimate ability

A clip uploaded to Twitter on November 8 by infamous Overwatch insider Naeri details the hero’s initial ultimate, and displays it in all its deadly glory.

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Fittingly named “Remote Mine”, the powerful move shows Bastion deploying a small mine that is controlled and positioned by the player – think Call of Duty’s Recon Car.

Once placed accordingly, it flattens out to appear less visible to enemies before rising up and detonating multiple small explosions to cause maximum devastation once a foe enters its radius.

While the robot’s original ultimate was undoubtedly crazy, it was canned during early development due to balance issues – AKA it was way too powerful. You can imagine the outrage if it had been left in.

For some, the unearthing of Bastion’s initial ability will be old information, as it’s always been a known ‘secret’ amongst the most knowledgeable Overwatch fans, but many regular players were shocked by the news.

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There was even an ultimate icon made for the ability, and it showed a logo of the remote-controlled mine with its six deadly points.

This wasn’t the only ability that Bastion once had early in development, either. The Omnic hero once had a shield in Turret mode during the beta, though this was removed quite early on. 

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Since Overwatch 2’s announcement on November 1 during BlizzCon 2019’s opening ceremony, fans of the first-person shooter have been eager to find out what changes their favorite heroes will undergo in the sequel.

Bastion is just one of the heroes who will be receiving a new look, though his redesign was only briefly shown off in a piece of key art at the convention.