Will Latest Overwatch Changes Fix the Meta?

Over the past few months, Overwatch has been plagued by a fairly crippling meta. If you aren't aware of the term "meta," it basically means the most effective team comp. Lately in Overwatch, the meta has been to have three tanks in literally any situation, attack or defend. Usually, those tanks are accompanied by an Ana. By pairing the huge health and decent damage of three tanks along with Ana's long distance and AOE healing, the team would be unstoppable. However, a recent update to the PTR aims to chance that.

Ana

• Biotic Grenade - Healing boost on allies has been decreased by 50%

Developer Comments: The healing boost from Anas Biotic Grenade was providing too much healing, especially when used on targets with large health pools.

D.VA

• Health increased from 200 to 400
• Armor decreased from 400 to 200
• Fusion Cannons - Bullet damage decreased from 3 to 2, but number of bullets per shot has been increased from 8 to 11

Developer Comments: D.Vas armor often made her feel like she had no weaknesses, even against heroes that are often effective against bigger targets (like Reaper). The changes to her Fusion Cannons will result in a small overall decrease in damage, but they should feel more consistent now.

Roadhog

• Targets of chain hook are now pulled directly in front of Roadhog (rather than straight to him), except in cases where Roadhog drastically rotates
• Hooked targets are now released if they leave Roadhogs line-of-sight before being pulled
• Line-of-sight checks (which detect if targets should be initially hit by the hook) are now done from Roadhogs position, rather than the hooks position

Developer Comments: The hook should now feel more consistent for Roadhog players, but it should also feel more reasonable to his enemies, as they cannot be hooked or pulled around corners anymore.

Sombra

• Hack - The time it takes to hack a target has been decreased from 1 second to 0.8 seconds

Developer Comments: Sombra often had difficulty hacking enemies, even when she surprised the target. This change should help her execute hacks more easily.

The above may not look like much, but it may be enough to drop the tank meta down a peg or two. First of all, D.VA's armor loss stops her from being a complete nightmare to DPS characters who deal with spreadshots. In Overwatch, armor drops the damage from any single shot by a couple of points. This doesn't do much to huge hits, like a rocket or an arrow, but it does wonders against a barrage of light damage shots, like from Tracer or Reaper.

The proposed fix to Roadhog's hook is also a big deal. We've already mentioned that gamers have been complaining since launch that his hook is unfair. This fix is necessary to drop the use of this tank.

The most valuable change, though, is in Ana's nerf. Her AOE biotic grenade was far too valuable before. In higher levels of play, she was a must-have for any serious team. This change is likely to be a welcome addition to the game.

Whether or not the triple-tank meta is finished is yet to be seen. We won't know for sure until the full update rolls out for the main game. Until then, all we can really do is hope.