With the start of Overwatch 2 season 9, several changes were made. Players feel that tanks have suffered the most as a result.
Season 9 of Overwatch 2 came with a huge update, which revised the Ranked Mode and healing mechanics, among other things. According to fans, one change caused Tanks to become the weakest role in the game.
The Latest Overwatch 2 Update Turned Tanks Into "The Most Miserable Role"
Just a few days after the patch went live, a trend seems to be emerging. Many players have completed their 10 placement matches for the Ranked Mode by now and are noticing some significant differences compared to before. The change in question involves the projectile sizes, which have been increased for almost all weapons, resulting in bullets hitting much more frequently. One player shared their experience on Reddit and concluded, "Tank is now by far the most miserable role to play after the update."
Tank is now by far the most miserable role to play after the update by u/Y62201 in Overwatch
They describe that they performed much worse in their main role as a Tank than before, simply because they literally get shredded by Damage (DPS) players due to the larger projectile hitboxes. As a DPS, on the other hand, they found themselves much higher up in the rankings than they were used to, even though they don't even consider themselves a good player in this role.
Another user agrees that DPS is the only role that has benefited from the update. According to them, it takes Tanks far too long to be fully healed, and supports are being degraded back to their previous role as "healbots." They continue:
Idk, maybe matchmaking and people getting used to changes will make this better, but it does not feel fun playing babysitter simulator again nor is it fun as a Tank to STILL get shredded because of the healing reduction cancelling out the extra health in a team fight.
As you can see, not only are the new projectile sizes a problem, but also the health changes. Due to the new passive heal, healing abilities have been nerfed, too. The update makes it so, that every hero heals themselves, when they're not taking damage. This change affected other healing mechanics as well. For example, Roadhog's "Take a Breather" ability no longer heals him when he takes damage, due to the update.
The last patch is undoubtedly one of the biggest updates Overwatch 2 has experienced so far, and it was clear that there would be significant changes for the players. It remains to be seen whether the difficulties players are currently facing will resolve itself as people become more accustomed to the new mechanics. Perhaps Blizzard will also make further adjustments.