Overwatch 2 fans furious at Sojourn being balanced around “lower ranks”
Blizzard EntertainmentSojourn has been dominating the DPS role as one of strongest characters in Overwatch 2. It’s been revealed that Soujourn isn’t receiving nerfs because she’s underperforming in lower skill brackets.
Three new heroes were released alongside the launch of Overwatch 2. Kiriko and Junker Queen haven’t stirred much controversy following their inclusion, but Sojourn has been dominating the DPS category since launch.
Sojourn’s constant presence in the Overwatch 2 meta has had pros and casual players alike calling for nerfs to the hero, nerfs that aren’t coming according to a conversation about Overwatch 2’s hero balance held on the game’s official twitter account.
The reasoning behind the lack of nerfs against the hero fans are complaining about? That she’s performing poorly in “lower ranks” and isn’t being nerfed so that her win rate among less skilled players doesn’t drop.
Sojourn isn’t getting nerfed despite dominating at high ranks
Nerfing Sojourn has become a meme at this point, something high-ranked players have been asking for since she was officially put in Overwatch 2.
Even Overwatch League pro teams are getting in on the action, with Washington Justice calling for change.
Sojourn’s right-click is the main culprit when it comes to what players are asking to be nerfed on her, along with the amplified power gained from her ultimate that allows her right-click to penetrate multiple targets.
Players capable of headshotting consistently with this are making her a must-play DPS hero, while those who don’t have great aim are underperforming with the hero. While fans already weren’t happy about the lack of Sojourn nerfs in the upcoming patch, the reasoning behind this decision has only poked the hornet’s nest.
According to Blizzard’s balance team, nerfing Sojourn would make her perform much worse in lower ranks where she’s already struggling.
“When we think about changes for characters that have these really polarizing win rate differentials, we want to make sure we’re making changes that sort of effect that potency at high ranks, but also don’t make characters worse at the lower ranks.”
The rift here is between the philosophy of Blizzard wanting to keep heroes viable at low levels of play, even if they’re overpowered at the highest level of play, while those infuriated by the concept want Sojourn to be balanced around the highest level of play exclusively.
Overwatch 2’s first set of major changes is slated to arrive on November 15, 2022.