Overwatch 2 community split on leaked HP and damage changes coming in S9 patch

Michael Gwilliam
soldier 76 nerfed in season 6

Overwatch 2 Season 9 is set to completely change the game with major updates to damage, HP, a new DPS damage and more, but the community is divided by the leaked patch notes.

On January 28, Overwatch pro Rupal leaked the Season 9 patch notes on stream, with the updates being confirmed as legitimate by some content creators.

The patch, rumored to arrive on February 20, will revamp many heroes by upgrading their health pools significantly – but at the same time, doing damage will now be much easier with an increase to the size of projectiles

Such a radical update has riled the player base up. Some fans are excited about the changes, while others believe they’re going too far.

Overwatch 2 players divided by game-changing Season 9 patch

Across Reddit and social media, members of the Overwatch 2 community began discussing the leak and whether it will be healthy for the game.

Some argued that doing damage in Overwatch is already challenging and opponents don’t realize there’s room to make it easier, yet still rewarding.

A screenshot featuring Sombra taken from one of her highlights in Overwatch 2.
Overwatch 2 is getting major changes in Season 9.

“I want to remind everyone that the #1 game mechanic nullifying the value of good aim is not the difficulty of doing it, but the ease of healing it away,” one explained. “If they make aiming a little easier, but they also nerf the mechanics in the game which directly counter it, the end result may well be the most fun and rewarding patch for strong aimers in years.”

“People have complained about DPS being a cosmetic role and healing being too abundant and too free. These patch notes make shots land more frequently, cause damage received to cut healing potential,” someone else added in another thread.

“The OW devs got balls,” another praised.

Not everyone was on board, though, as some felt the patch will take away some element of skill for those with good aim.

dva using suit in overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 is changing forever and fans are mostly excited.

“Personally, I hate the idea of bigger projectiles and more HP when playing a relatively low damage hero like Lucio,” someone complained.

“It shouldn’t be easy to land shots. Give everyone a participation trophy just for queuing into game, and get rid of scoreboard at that point,” added another.

Overwatch 2 streamer Samito voiced his own concerns, noting that Widowmaker will still be able to one-shot with the hitbox increase.

Of course, such massive changes are definitely something that players may need to experience before jumping to conclusions, but it’s clear that Season 9 is going to completely flip the game on its head when it arrives next month.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam