Blizzard is hyping players up with some new information about Doomfist and Orisa, two previously troubled characters who are now receiving top-down reworks by the Overwatch team. In the new set of reworks, we’ll see Orisa rise up as the railgun juggernaut donkey we all wanted her to be. Doomfist is becoming a displacement tank, a role he deserves. (I certainly won’t miss his toxic and disruptive design as a DPS hero.)
These two tanks will shape up the new 5v5 gameplay that players will be subject to, as you can now only have one tank on your team. This controversial change will surely change how Overwatch plays as a whole, especially with Doomfist switching places as a full-blown tank. Imagine if you only had a Doomfist on your team as the damage sponge. Soon he’ll punch you into the wall while taking much less damage, too.
Doomed to be a tank
Fortunately, all the Doomfist players transitioning into a tank means you might have less trouble finding the important space-making role on your team. (We all know how many players aren’t a fan of the role as a whole.) In redesigning Doomfist for the tank role, Lead Hero Designer Geoff Goodman explained the importance of keeping his main identity intact as a “combo hero,” straight from the fighting games.
Doomfist’s health has been increased to 450, making him tougher as a result. He will no longer have his Uppercut ability, meaning he can’t fly into the air like before. Additionally, his damage, with his primary gun, Rocket Punch, and Meteor Strike, went down overall. To compensate, some of his crowd-control capabilities were buffed considerably (ugh), and he has the new ability: “Power Block.”
Power Block is a new tank ability that allows Doomfist to “protect [himself] from frontal attacks,” Goodman said. With this ability active, any damage taken in front of him will be reduced by 90%. Additionally, the more damage you block, the stronger your next Rocket Punch will be in terms of damage, knockback, travel speed, and distance. Goodman says this similar in concept to Zarya, who gets strong as people shoot into the tank ability.
The railgun horse
Meanwhile, the Overwatch 2 rework coming to Orisa’s design philosophy has made her shift the opposite way from Doomfist. While Doomfist gained power in his defensive capabilities to turn him into a tank, Orisa instead is brawlier in nature, due to the issues she had with toe-to-toe fights in the original game. Senior Hero Designer Brandon Brennan stated the team wanted her to rework to be “meaningful to the game and feel good for players attached to her.” With her changes, the team hopes she’ll have more tools and opportunities to engage in team fights.
As a result, Orisa is losing much of what defined her in the first place. She no longer has Halt! or Protective Barrier, removing her shield from the game completely. Orisa’s gun has changed considerably as well, shooting projectiles that start “large and shrink down.” Instead of ammo, she has a “heat mechanic” that makes her gun unusable if it overheats.
She’s also gaining new abilities: the Energy Javelin, Javelin Spin, and Terra Surge. Energy Javelin launches a javelin at the enemy to stun them and knock them back, which is more effective if the enemy hits a wall. Javelin Spin, meanwhile, shoots out a javelin that destroys projectiles, increases movement speed, and pushes enemies back. This is an aggressive ability, coupled with the new Terra Surge, which grants her Fortify and deals tons of damage. Fortify received some changes too, also increasing her health and reducing her movement speed.
These changes for Doomfist and Orisa will be playable once Overwatch 2 drops in the near future. If you signed up for the Overwatch 2 beta, look forward to these changes and try them out.
